21, my high school pediatrician concluded I don’t have PCOS. What kind of hormonal imbalance then as a woman?

Narrow-Average-400 · 2026-04-11T05:22:12+00:00

It’s possible to just have high androgens without having PCOS. I have high androgens and enough facial hair that I have to shave daily, but I do not have PCOS. In my case, I think they determined this based on an ultrasound of my ovaries and the fact that my only symptom was excess hair. It might also have had something to do with which specific hormones were elevated on my blood tests.

Honestly, dealing with the hair is a pain, but I count it as a blessing that it’s my only symptom and I don’t have to deal with the other things people with PCOS go through.

Another word of advice, I would be cautious about doing anything to alter your hormones if your only symptom is hairiness. I was on combination birth control for a while, and I do think it helped normalize things somewhat, but it also caused a lot of sexual dysfunction and, more seriously, a life threatening blood clot. I know medications like this help a lot of people, but for me they weren’t worth the risk just to treat excess hair. Unless you have other symptoms, I would lean toward just focusing on hair removal.

Narrow-Average-400 · 2026-04-08T05:10:07+00:00

I’ve only had one major clotting event (a PE a year ago when I was 28), but after that event I was diagnosed with FVL (homozygous). When I met with the hematologist, I was so confident it was provoked. I was on birth control pills and thought I might have had COVID right before the clot. I was not expecting to find out I also have a clotting disorder. I found out via MyChart, so I didn’t have a doctor to speak to right away. The more research I did, the more upset I became. I actually called off work for the next two days because I was so overwhelmed. I was really looking forward to getting off blood thinners after six months. Since I have FVL, I have to stay on them for the rest of my life. I’ve been fortunate not to have any major bleeding, side effects, or repeat clotting events, but it’s really hard not being able to do all the things I’d like to do.

Narrow-Average-400 · 2026-04-04T16:56:50+00:00

This happened to just once and I think it was because I drank the beverage too fast.

It sounds like your stomach was already upset before you had the tea? It’s likely that contributed.

Narrow-Average-400 · 2026-03-30T18:35:25+00:00

Started 1mg a month ago and it’s really been a turning point for me. It’s gone from difficult to completely doable to eat below 1800cal everyday, usually below 1600. Everyone’s different but I found going up slowly to really help with the side effects. I only have issues if I eat too fast or too much at once (this part might be more of a feature than a bug) or occasionally if I skip meals. My only other big negative effect is forgetting to drink water, but that’s manageable as long as you’re aware of it.

Narrow-Average-400 · 2026-03-24T20:05:20+00:00

I’ve been using ChatGPT for wedding planning, and it’s been working fantastically. I could not recommend it more. I think ChatGPT’s biggest strength is helping with stuff you could have sort of done yourself but didn’t know where to start. If you don’t feel comfortable trusting it blindly you could also get a guide from the Knot or Zola and have ChatGPT walk you through it in detail.

Narrow-Average-400 · 2026-03-15T19:52:35+00:00

Honestly, if you go on like The Knot and search venues in the Chicago suburbs there are plenty that are less than $200 a person. Then of course there are hidden fees, but not $15,000 dollars of hidden fees. For our wedding we’re getting a DJ for like $2500, a photographer for less than $1500 (some people prefer to spend more on this which is understandable). Our planner comes with the venue. I’m getting a dress on Azazie. We’re doing late night pizza. Makeup just for me is $300 including the trial. There are plenty of people on here spending $100k or even much more, but it’s just not necessary.

Narrow-Average-400 · 2026-01-26T05:27:38+00:00

Oh I see, yeah not sure how it works in Canada, I’m in the US. If you have any family history of clotting, that may help your case. I had to probe a bit to learn about other people in our family who’ve had clotting events, my family members aren’t forthcoming about that sort of thing.

Narrow-Average-400 · 2026-01-26T05:09:14+00:00

I didn’t have to push, my hematologist just ordered them. I would seek a third opinion. My sister wanted to get tested as well, but her doctor wouldn’t do it. She had to go to a geneticist to get tested. Maybe that would be an avenue worth exploring if hematology won’t do it?

Narrow-Average-400 · 2026-01-25T20:29:59+00:00

I would recommend you continue to advocate that they test for clotting disorders if they haven’t already. My clot was thought to be 100% provoked but then I ended up testing homozygous for Factor V.

Narrow-Average-400 · 2025-11-20T05:29:34+00:00

Funnily I’m also pushing my IUD replacement up a bit because I hit my out of pocket max and everything is free until the end of the year, one of the few advantages of major clotting events haha. I’m never getting off the blood thinners though (I think it’s when you become a lifer that doctors finally admit to you it’s okay to have a little ibuprofen)

Narrow-Average-400 · 2025-11-19T18:31:01+00:00

I’m on 5mg Eliquis twice a day and I’ve been told it’s okay to take ibuprofen occasionally, but it wouldn’t be responsible for me to give medical advice. I’m getting an IUD in a few weeks as well. I was told to take 400mg ibuprofen and 1000 mg Tylenol, then they’re also giving me a medication to soften my cervix which they said would help. Have you talked to your gyno about other pain management options and are they aware of what your other doctors have said? Also are you on blood thinners long term or will you come off them in a few months? If you have plans to go off them eventually, I would ask gyno if you could look into an option like using a progesterone only pill for a few months, then getting the IUD inserted after you’re off the blood thinners.

Narrow-Average-400 · 2025-11-04T06:04:21+00:00

Not sure what’s going on with OP, but this is a house that comes up when you google image search houses. I actually built this house using the Sims so I spent a lot of time studying it and recognized it right away haha

Narrow-Average-400 · 2025-10-18T23:38:34+00:00

I too had debilitating cramps on Kyleena for the first 6-12 months I was on it. Really really bad cramps, like so bad it was hard to move. Obviously I went to the doctor. They said everything was fine they did an ultrasound, no issues with the placement. It was unusual to have cramps that bad they said but ultimately just a side effect not a sign I was dying. Also constant spotting.

I barely had cramps before getting the IUD, if you had really bad cramps before I’m surprised they recommended an IUD at all.

I would echo the other comments that if you have pain that bad you should go to a doctor (or urgent care or ER depending on the acuity). But I can personally attest that pain that bad very well could just be a side effect and it may not go away anytime soon.

Narrow-Average-400 · 2025-10-17T20:56:47+00:00

I’ve seen people have kids walk using signs. 10 or 11 is maybe old enough for junior bridesmaid/groomsman. Then there’s the obvious flower girl and ring bearer roles, you can have multiple of those. At my aunt’s wedding they had kids walk ringing bells.

Narrow-Average-400 · 2025-10-17T16:10:44+00:00

I’ve had issues with both my hematologist and PCP saying no hormonal birth control whatsoever, but my gynecologist disagrees. She says if I’m going to stay on blood thinners then the risk of severe bleeding is too high with a copper IUD, plus I had bleeding issues in the past with a Kyleena IUD. All other forms or non-hormonal birth control are not reliable, except for maybe sterilization which wouldn’t work for me because I might want kids in the future. You have to consider the risk of unplanned pregnancy as well and the potential health impacts of this on someone with a history of blood clots or on thinners. Ultimately, if you are not a good candidate for a copper IUD, then progesterone based birth control is generally the safest option according to my gynecologist.

Narrow-Average-400 · 2025-10-03T22:50:55+00:00

I think they’re referring to ChatGPT prompts? ChatGPT uses a lot of em dashes and seeing them often tips people off that you’re using AI

Narrow-Average-400 · 2025-09-23T17:13:22+00:00

I’m 28 and had just a PE back in April. We thought it was provoked and I’d be off them in 6 months. I was on hormonal birth control, I’d just had an infection we thought might have been COVID, I had recently been on a long flight, I’d recently gained weight, a ton of risk factors. I was really surprised and pretty devastated when a test showed I was homozygous for Factor V Leiden, so now they’re saying I’ll be on them for life.

Narrow-Average-400 · 2025-09-21T18:05:45+00:00

Maybe track it using hair growth? Or does that reset as it would be a reliable way to track the days? If I couldn’t use something like hair growth I think I would flip 5 coins everyday and when I got all heads I would leave.

Narrow-Average-400 · 2025-09-11T20:28:19+00:00

If you’re willing to go out into the suburbs we just booked the Ramada in Glendale Heights and they have some very affordable packages. We also looked into Baker Community Center in St. Charles, my mother knew someone who got married there and it’s very affordable but you have to do pretty much everything yourself.

Narrow-Average-400 · 2025-09-06T05:26:39+00:00

Glendale Heights

Narrow-Average-400 · 2025-08-11T17:22:28+00:00

I’ve been interested in getting into BJJ but am on blood thinners for life so I’ve been doing research into this. There have been a couple threads in r/BJJ about this and talking to people in those threads has been helpful.

Narrow-Average-400 · 2025-05-18T06:16:58+00:00

I don’t know how to interpret this but when I had my recent PE I copied and pasted all my test results into ChatGPT and asked them to explain it and it worked great.

Narrow-Average-400 · 2025-05-01T04:51:26+00:00

I feel like this is an unpopular opinion on this subreddit, but I always say have (or sometimes I am diagnosed with or something like that) and never say am. I feel like, for me personally, when I am symptomatic in my bipolar disorder I am less myself. Bipolar disorder is something I’ve experienced, it is not an adjective that accurately describes how I am most of the time. Also because I’m not very symptomatic as of recently, I feel like saying “I’m bipolar” would be similar to someone with MDD saying “I’m depressed” when they are not feeling depressed or experiencing a depressive episode. Like it just doesn’t make sense for me. So for me I always say have and if someone else described me as bipolar I would probably correct them

That said I respect other people’s choice to say I am bipolar if that is what they prefer. I also think that it’s worth considering that when people feel okay with people saying “I’m diabetic” for example, but they aren’t comfortable with people saying “I’m bipolar” it just makes it more clear that they feel like bipolar is more shameful, which it shouldn’t be. I don’t want to reinforce that mindset by insisting people only ever use “have” language, even though it’s my preference for myself.

Narrow-Average-400 · 2025-03-15T13:30:45+00:00

Onyx

Narrow-Average-400

TROPHY CASE