Hello everyone,
Today, I bring you another PCOS story from Dr Laura. She was sent home at 18 years old with a diagnosis of menopause, instead of PCOS and no answers.
PS: The videos I upload here are available as podcasts on Spotify, Apple Podcasts or on YouTube. If you prefer reading, I have summarised the conversation below.
Dr Laura hosts her own PCOS podcast, Triggered by Testosterone, where she speaks openly about PCOS, hormones, mental health, and the realities of managing this condition in everyday life. Laura holds a PhD in Management Studies, where her work focuses on women’s health in the workplace and how organisations can better support women living with chronic and hormonal conditions. Her academic research is profoundly shaped by her own experience navigating PCOS.
In this video, she mentions a few key episodes from her podcast you might want to listen to:
Ep1 - It started with three periods
Ep6 - Fertility and misunderstandings
Ep8 - Day in the life
What were your symptoms before diagnosis?
Looking back, it still sounds crazy when I say it out loud, but before my diagnosis, I’d only ever had three periods in total. That was across my teenage years. Roughly one a year.
At the time, I genuinely thought that was normal. My dad brought me up. We didn’t really talk about periods or women’s health, and this was about 15 years ago, it just wasn’t a conversation anyone was having. Even now, we don’t talk about it enough.
Alongside that, I was experiencing things like brain fog, hot flushes, and a general cloudiness, but I didn’t connect them to anything hormonal. I wasn’t thinking about babies or fertility or long-term health. I was 18 and living my life.
How did you get diagnosed?
The turning point came when I went to university. I casually mentioned to a friend that I’d only ever had three periods, and the look on her face said everything. She immediately told me that it wasn’t normal and that I needed to get it checked.
I went to the doctor and explained my symptoms. Because my cycle was so long, essentially one period a year, they classified it as post-menopausal. They took the brain fog and hot flushes and concluded I was showing signs of perimenopause.
I was 18.
They didn’t do any scans. No blood tests. No deep investigation. I was handed a leaflet, told it was unusual but possible, and sent on my way.
At that point, I hadn’t even heard of menopause. I didn’t know what it really meant, but I very quickly understood the implications. The idea that I might not be able to have children hit me hard, even though I wasn’t thinking about that stage of life yet.
Something didn’t sit right. So I started researching myself. I had to push for further testing - really push. Eventually, they agreed.
That’s when I was diagnosed with PCOS. But even then, I was told I was a “special case.” I wasn’t obese, I had no cysts on my ovaries, and the main thing that showed up was elevated testosterone. Later, it also became clear that I was insulin-resistant.
How have your symptoms evolved since?
After the diagnosis, there really wasn’t much support. I was put on the contraceptive pill, the phrase used was “kill two birds with one stone”, and that was basically it.
Every six months, I’d go back to get my prescription renewed. They’d weigh me, check my blood pressure, tell me I was overweight or obese, and send me on my way. That was the extent of my medical care.
Everything else I’ve done has been self-taught. Trial and error. Some things worked, some didn’t. Mentally, it was exhausting.
I struggled a lot with anxiety, especially in the mornings. I’d wake up with this awful, sick feeling in my stomach for no obvious reason, what I’d call a PCOS flare-up.
For a long time, I also had a very negative mindset. I convinced myself I’d never lose weight, that PCOS meant my body was broken, and I used it almost as a reason to give up.
COVID was a turning point. I was at my highest weight and genuinely scared for my health. That’s when I started taking things seriously — not perfectly, but consistently.
What has worked the most for your PCOS?
I’ve tried everything.
Extreme calorie restriction. Cutting out food groups. Keto. HIIT. Doing workouts I hated because I thought I “should” be doing them. None of that was sustainable for me.
What finally worked was changing my mindset.
I got a coach who took a non-judgmental, structured approach and worked with me long-term. I started strength training, boxing, and eventually running, which I was terrified of at first because of everything you read about cortisol and PCOS.
Running has honestly changed my life. It helps my mental health more than anything else I’ve tried. I don’t wake up with that crippling anxiety anymore. I run two to three times a week, lift weights, and box, and I do it because I enjoy it.
With food, I stopped punishing myself. I still eat pizza. I still eat chocolate. I prioritise protein, I focus on feeling full, and I pay attention to how food makes me feel rather than labelling it “good” or “bad”.
I’ve also learned to treat my body like an experiment — noticing patterns without shame. That’s been far more powerful than any rigid plan.
A closing message for women with PCOS
You are not alone.
There is no one-size-fits-all solution for PCOS, and anyone who tells you otherwise is oversimplifying something incredibly complex. Trust your gut. Try things. If they don’t work, that doesn’t mean you’ve failed.
Medication is okay. Doing it “naturally” isn’t a moral badge of honour. We all live real lives with real pressures.
Ignore as much of the noise as you can, take what’s useful, and leave the rest. It will be okay — even if it doesn’t feel like it right now.
Thank you, Dr Laura, and thank you for reading or listening.
See you next Sunday,
Francesca
