What a sadistic syndrome this is.

Weight gain exacerbates the symptoms-one of which is difficulty of losing weight. It's a pretty vicious circle. How're we supposed to win at that one. Get better by not having the symptom of not being able to get better!

And then you get to endure it while having unpredictable, excruciating periods while also being infertile- the worst of being a woman, oily, acne-prone skin (the worst of a teenager), insulin resistance (the worst of a fat person), and while sprouting chin hairs and balding (the worst of a man).

It never goes away, and I'm not a voice of complete negativity here. I was 220 pounds and I'm down to 160 (though up from my lowest of 140, and hello resurgence of awful symptoms). It has gotten better, but it's also taken me 7 years of concerted effort to lose and keep the weight off. And it's without a doubt, been the hardest, most unpleasant thing I've ever done.

And the only ones who understand this are you.

Sorry. I just had to vent a little. I'm in this for the long haul, but it strikes me sometimes, as so unfair.

Agreed here too, it is so so so unfair that we have to deal with this every day and go through both physical and emotional problems. It really gets on my nerves when other women complain about having periods, I'd love them to experience these symptoms for say a month and then see how much they complain about bleeding once a month.
If only there was a magic pill that could solve it all

I'll be honest, my friends think I'm a wierdo because I look forward to having a period every month when my weights down, because it means its one less symptom that's went wrong.

If it settles into a cycle I'm overjoyed.

Pain. In. The. ***

Adalyn, don't despair. I was diagnosed 20 years ago ( when I was 14) with all the symptoms even at that age. Yes it's not fab, but I must pick up on one point. PCO does not mean infertility. I see girls and women at work who have been told they are infertile due to PCO and then they end up with unwanted pregnancies. It just makes things a little trickier.
Have you seen an endocrinologist? What have you tried for the hair growth? There is help out there.

I have my days with feeling like that. But i try and remian possitive... and as has been said, a friend of mine was told she has bad pcos and would need a hystorectomy and less than 2 years later, she has a 3 month old son now.
((hugs))