Diagnosis Stories

[MedStudentP]

I'm wondering if anyone has had any trouble in getting diagnosed and if it took anyone quite a while with multiple doctors and is willing to share a little?

[abijep17]

It took 7 years, 5 doctors and 2 years of my partner and I TTC before I was diagnosed. I got my first period at 11, but didn’t notice anything wrong with not having regular periods until I was 14 which was when I started making doctors appointments. I wasn’t getting periods for months and sometimes years at a time, my hair was thinning, I was insulin resistant (dark patches of skin), I had anxiety/depression, high cholesterol, thick black hairs on my neck and chin and I was overweight (but not massively).

I had various different appointments and saw various different doctors (about 5 in 5 years) with every single one, without fail, blaming it on stress, weight, age, recent changes, my anxiety/depression or lifestyle. One doctor asked me to write a period diary over the course of a year, while another one sent me to counselling for my mental health to try and “relieve stress” and another put me on the pill.

None of these worked but my partner and I decided we were ready to start TTC. We asked doctor if there was anything we should worry about with me not having regular periods and she said no. After a year with no success we went back to the doctors. She said that it might be some of the medication I was on so she took me off of everything, including beta blockers, in the hope that we could “do it naturally” as she put it (she was a bit of a hippie).

Anyway fast forward another year and still no success. We went to see another doctor and he diagnosed me straight away. Although he said he’s reluctant to put me on any treatment until I try and lose weight and to come back in ANOTHER 12 months to see where we are (this was a couple of months ago).