OLDSMAR, Fla. - An Oldsmar mother who sought fertility treatments is highlighting a common hormonal disorder after discovering she had the condition long known as polycystic ovarian syndrome, or PCOS.
Its name recently changed to help doctors and patients better address and treat symptoms.
Oldsmar mother advocates for PMOS health
What we know:
Jilliam Ramos, 39, easily became pregnant with her 9-year-old daughter, June, shortly after stopping birth control. However, expanding her family later required years of trying and two miscarriages before welcoming her 11-month-old daughter, Jovie.
She said doctors initially brushed off her struggles as a normal consequence of getting older. Ramos pushed for answers, believing decades of birth control use had masked her symptoms.
"If it wasn’t for me saying I need to go to a fertility specialist, we never would have known," she said.
Tampa doctor explains PMOS name change
The backstory:
In May, medical authorities renamed PCOS to PMOS, which stands for polyendocrine metabolic ovarian syndrome.
The shift corrects a historical misconception dating back to the 1930s, when un-ovulated eggs were mistakenly identified as cysts.
Dr. Philip Johnson, an OBGYN at AdventHealth Tampa, said the new name shifts focus from just the ovaries to the whole body.
He noted that this change helps doctors intervene earlier and screen for related metabolic conditions.
"You need to be going to see a heart doctor. You need to be going to see your primary care doctor. You need to go see an endocrinologist," said Johnson. "It's more than just this one problem. And that's why the consensus that this name needs to change is something that incorporates all this into the diagnosis."
Recognizing subtle PMOS symptoms early
Why you should care:
PMOS affects about one in 10 women, but improper screening makes the condition easy to miss.
Symptoms can be subtle, including irregular periods, weight gain, or infertility.
Leaving the condition unmanaged places women at risk for long-term health issues, including diabetes, high blood pressure and high cholesterol.
Johnson emphasized that these signs require medical investigation rather than being dismissed as aging.
Managing PMOS through self-advocacy
What they're saying:
"I got off birth control and got pregnant like two months later. It was super easy," Ramos said of her first pregnancy. Addressing her later struggles, she added, "Doctors were just kind of like, it happens, like you have miscarriages, move on. Like that wasn't good enough for me."
"And so I sought out some fertility treatment, and unbeknownst to me, I actually had what was then called PCOS. And I had no idea," Ramos said. She noted, "it’s a very complex disorder. And I think that the name change will hopefully bring more awareness of that."
Courtesy: Robert McClory Photography
Johnson explained the impact of the updated medical terms: "And so we're seeing that this is a whole body problem. And that's what this new terminology does. It takes the focus off of the ovary and puts it on the whole person." He stressed, "All these things can be signs of PCOS and need to be investigated, and not just brushed off as, you know, oh, that's what happens as you age."
Ramos acknowledged the challenge of self-advocacy while working full-time and raising children. "I think for me, at the end of the day, it's being healthy for my children so I can be here for them for the long haul," she said.
The Source: The information in this story was gathered by FOX13’s Briona Arradondo who conducted an interview with Jillian Ramos, who shared her personal experience with fertility and diagnosis, as well as an interview with Dr. Philip Johnson, an OBGYN at AdventHealth Tampa.