Women with PCOS sometimes struggle with depression. PCOS often has challenging symptoms that can affect women’s self-esteem, including weight gain, acne, and hirsutism (excessive dark, coarse hair on body areas where hair isn't typical, usually the face, chest, and back). Other women struggle with trying to have a baby, either from infertility or miscarriages. Sometimes the treatments for PCOS include hormonal birth control, which some women have experienced depression as a side effect. Support becomes essential when dealing with these PCOS symptoms.

On myPCOSteam, the social network and online support group for women living with PCOS, members talk about a range of personal experiences and struggles. Depression is one of the top 10 topics most discussed.

Here are a few question-and-answer threads about depression:

• What do you take for depression if you also take Metformin?

• What birth control method/brand do you use? I am on Minastrin and just learned some women experience depression with it...

Here are some conversations about depression:

• I always wanted to be a mom, and now that I’m fully ready, I just can’t seem to conceive. It makes me so depressed and I don’t know what to do anymore.

• I've been really struggling with my weight, depression, and recently diagnosed high blood pressure. I've been on Zoloft for about 6 months and I'm extremely agitated and paranoid.

• I got a call that I'm vitamin D deficient. That would probably explain my depression and low moods lately.

• Every day is a struggle for me. I didn’t know that my anxiety and depression would be this bad.

Have another topic you'd like to discuss or explore? Go to myPCOSteam today and start the conversation. You'll be surprised just how many others may share similar stories.

Feel free to ask a question here.