I am 22 years old. I have always had irregular and intense (cramps, bleeding, mood swings) periods. I have tried several types of birth control to help with this and of course they do regulate the periods, but they are never less intense and the other side effects of the pill (nausea, weight gain, mood swings) are always so severe that I honestly would rather just have the irregular periods. Every since my last trial of the pill a year and a half ago(it was called Sronyx and I was on it for 3 months), which made me gain ten pounds and gave the the worst mood swings of any pill, my periods have been even more irregular, sometimes with only two weeks between them, sometimes almost two months. I have also continued to gain weight despite working out more than I ever have before and becoming a vegetarian and watching what I eat constantly. I carry the weight around my waist, something that was not so pronounced before Sronyx. I have done some research on the internet and these symptoms correlate with a hormonal imbalance of some sort or even PCOS. I have been to a gynecologist and all he wants to do is put me on the pill, which I explained makes me miserable in a way that these irregular periods alone cannot. He refuses to test for a hormonal imbalance, saying that it's impossible to measure since women's hormones fluctuate so much throughout their cycle. I am going in for a pelvic ultrasound today, and I know while I am there he is going to try to get me to take YAZ (which I researched also and heard horror stories about) or some sort of IUD...I don't know how to feel about that either. Should I listen to my instincts and avoid birth control? It seems to me it's just a band-aid and not a real solution to a problem. If I do have PCOS, are there other alternatives besides taking birth control? Please give me some guidance.

Thanks.