Now, the title of this post may have you wondering if this is going to be a replica post to the post about symptoms of PCOS. No, its not. In fact, one of my friend’s question is the main reason why this post is here. She chanced to go through my blog and started wondering if she had PCOS because in her words “3 of the symptoms do match”. To be honest I was taken aback and also thought how many women who are TTC (trying to conceive) might get a skewed perception by reading through the symptoms. So I thought, it would do more good to have a post on clarifying that point.

So here goes the list of points to consider before thinking that you might have PCOS too:

1. Acne: Don’t go thinking  “Am I PCOS?” if you got a pimple because you have your periods around the corner or if you had an exciting evening and went to bed forgetting to take your make up off. Trust me, PCOS acne is far worse than that, there is no reason why that pimple would come and that too in groups (instead of that cute single pimple on the cheek) and most importantly never take the name of leaving your face whatever you do about it. Having a pimple or two is not an acne issue.
2. Facial Hair: Most of the girls have small and very fine hair in the upper lip and lower lip regions and they are not visible and are definitely not an eye sore even if it is not removed. If you have PCOS, and if you are one of the unlucky few like me to have this symptom, the hair in these areas are not the fine cat hairs. They are dark and thick and the it is truly agonizing that it must be removed regularly to go out without embarrassment.
3. Mood Swings: It is absolutely normal if you have mood swings just 2 days before the periods or sometimes during ovulation too (around the mid of your regular cycle). These are not the mood swings that I am talking about in the symptoms. Ask yourself if you ever felt depressed so much that you started crying for no reason at all?? Had you ever had the experience of being so happy in the morning and going to bed crying in the night? That's the mood swing I am talking about. In my case, sometime I get depressed for no reason at all and later stay sad the whole day getting only negative waves.
4. Irregular Cycle: Some girls think their cycles are getting irregular when they miss an odd period or if they cycle started a week earlier (for ex: anxiety can cause an early period) once in a blue moon. FYI, those are not at all symptoms of PCOS! In PCOS condition, one would have lesser than 8 periods in an year with no/very less cramps and very little bleeding or have more than 15 periods in an year bleeding as if thats never going to stop ever.

You can find an excellent PCOS self test questionnaire here. If you have serious doubts, you could try filling this questionnaire up. But the best thing to do is to visit a doctor. Never come to conclusions on your own and don’t get medication ideas from your PCOS friends. A qualified doctor is the only person who can say if you do/don’t have PCOS and even if you conclude that you have PCOS from the self-test questionnaire, don’t do any self medication because the treatment for this may also differ based on your need (like TTC, not sexually active or sexually active but not planning to conceive) and based on your differing symptoms (few may not be insulin resistant as in the case of 70% of PCOS women and may not need diabetic drug).