I have not been told this by any doctor as of yet, but I strongly believe that my issues began when I put Norplant into my arm at age 22. I had it removed 1 � years later but only after a year and a half of health issues. I never had any semblance of normalcy after I had Norplant put into my arm. I�ve had all of the symptoms of PCOS all this time but did not truly even know what it was or that it existed until last year. I read a few blogs and a ton of information on the Internet and then I went to the doctor.

So now, let�s assume there is no cancer in there.

I will now have one diseased ovary instead of two. And they may decide to remove both and or everything girlie if there is anything suspicious when they operate. However even with my one diseased ovary it is possible to get pregnant but it is far different than a woman who has one healthy ovary versus two. It also might require that they do a procedure later called �drilling�.

PCOS is a disease.

What are the symptoms of Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome (PCOS)?
These are some of the symptoms of PCOS:
� infrequent menstrual periods, no menstrual periods, and/or irregular bleeding
� infertility or inability to get pregnant because of not ovulating
� increased growth of hair on the face, chest, stomach, back, thumbs, or toes
� acne, oily skin, or dandruff
� pelvic pain
� weight gain or obesity, usually carrying extra weight around the waist
� type 2 diabetes
� high cholesterol
� high blood pressure
� male-pattern baldness or thinning hair
� patches of thickened and dark brown or black skin on the neck, arms, breasts, or thighs
� skin tags, or tiny excess flaps of skin in the armpits or neck area
� sleep apnea�excessive snoring and breathing stops at times while asleep

I have nearly every one of these symptoms except for the diabetes, pelvic pain, male pattern baldness, patches of darkened skin.

There is a fertility treatment.

Fertility Medications. The main fertility problem for women with PCOS is the lack of ovulation. Even so, her husband�s sperm count should be checked and her tubes checked to make sure they are open before fertility medications are used. Clomiphene (pills) and Gonadotropins (shots) can be used to stimulate the ovary to ovulate. PCOS patients are at increased risk for multiple births when using these medications. In vitro Fertilization (IVF) is sometimes recommended to control the chance of having triplets or more. Metformin can be taken with fertility medications and helps to make PCOS women ovulate on lower doses of medication.

PCOS does make it increasingly difficult to lose weight. Even if a woman diets and excercises she may not lose even one pound due to this disease. However, knowing the right diet can help, or so they say.

Why Don't The Typical "Low-fat" Weight Loss Diets Work?
Approximately 50 � 60% of women with PCOS are obese. It has been shown that losing even 5% of body weight can lead to an improvement in skin, regularity of menstrual cycles and decreased insulin levels. However many women with PCOS experience difficulty losing weight, possibly due to high insulin levels promoting fat storage. The standard low fat high carbohydrate weight loss diet may not be the best approach for women with PCOS. High intakes of carbohydrates, especially refined carbohydrates (ie. sweets, white bread, white rice, etc.) will quickly turn to sugar and cause elevated levels of insulin. Since high levels of insulin can cause a multitude of problems for women with PCOS, a better diet would be a low glycemic index diet. This is a diet that includes foods or combinations of foods that do not cause a rapid rise in blood sugar. The low glycemic diet will be discussed more in detail later in this article.