As I mentioned in my previous posts, PCOS is a collection of symptoms. There is no one straight forward test to tell you whether you have PCOS or not. So the first thing the doctors do is order a lot of blood work. When I went for my first test it was very scary to see them take 10 vials of blood. It was even more scary to see the results – bunch of tests with weird sounding names and out of range values, without knowing the meaning of it all. Even if you don’t have PCOS, it is good to have a basic knowledge of the tests, the approximate hormone levels,  ranges and what it actually means to fall above or below the range. Here are some common tests categorized based on what they are used for and the normal values. I have included an explanation of out of range values. This is what I learned from my 10 years of tests and more tests.

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Sorry for my long absence. As the year’s end draws near, work has been busy with deadlines looming, goals needing to be met for this year & performance reviews drawing near. In addition preparing for the holidays has also been sucking up big chunks of time. I have many topics and half finished drafts in the pipeline. I will try to be more regular from now on. To start with, here is a recipe that is low in carbs, high in protein, filling and tasty as well – Quinoa Stuffed pepper. You can customize it in a lot of ways (possible variations are at the end of the recipe). Read the rest of this entry »

I went through a lot of doctors, sometimes it was because I moved, other times it was because I was getting nowhere. If I had donated all the blood I gave for the initial blood test every time I changed doctors I could have saved a lot of lives. I was getting really frustrated and was on the verge of giving up. The first doctor I went to, when I stopped getting my periods, said there is nothing wrong with me, that I was just over eating. At that time, I was not aware of any of the symptoms of polycystic ovarian syndrome. I just thought I was “born” with unwanted hair, skin tags, dark neck, etc. So it never occurred to me to question why I was having all these things and if they are even remotely connected. Read the rest of this entry »

How to prepare for your first doctor visit/questions to ask if you suspect you have PolyCystic Ovarian Syndrome

As I mentioned in my blog introduction post,  I was mis-diagnosed for a long time. Every doctor I went to said I was just overweight and I would get my periods if I stopped stuffing my face with food and exercised instead. At one point I almost gave up and thought that I would just have to live with the way I looked as well as my infertility. Luckily I didn’t give up and found a doctor who knew to put everything together.

Now if I have to do it all over again, I would have:

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Weight loss and culprit #1 Insulin Resistance

Ah. Weight loss. During my recent visit, my doctor told me that if I want to improve my symptoms, I have to lose weight, for the umpteenth time. I felt like hitting her. Did she think I wanted to look like this? Did she think it was my plan all along to become fat? Did she think I wasn’t trying?

These days this single concept seems to be driving my happiness quotient. If I lose even a single pound, I am very happy throughout that week and it gives me motivation to exercise more, eat right… generally the world seems to be better. If I didn’t lose any weight for 2 weeks consecutively, that drives me down. I start thinking – “what is the point?” and it turns into a down ward spiral from there. Even if I eat a single scoop of ice cream, I can see a double scoop of fat accumulate in my mid section, but slogging in the gym doesn’t reduce a single pinch of that stubborn fat. I exercise, I don’t eat junk… but I just can’t lose any damn weight.  Every single calorie I eat is stored as fat. I just have to see food to gain weight. Sounds familiar? Read the rest of this entry »

To understand how the hormone imbalance affects the PCOS menstrual cycle, some background about how the normal menstrual works will be helpful. You can find that article here – The tale of 4 hormones : Normal Menstrual cycle.

We saw that there were 4 main players in regulating the menstrual cycle. Two of them from the pituitary glands (Gonadotropins) and two from the ovaries (Ovarian or sex hormones). Read the rest of this entry »

To understand the differences between a normal and a PCOS menstrual cycle, let’s start with the normal cycle (which will be of interest even to women without PCOS).  If you want to directly go to PCOS mentrual cycle, check out this post – The tale of 4 hormones – Irregular Menstrual cycle / PCOS.

To make things a little easier to visualize, let’s watch a play that is directed by the “Brain Boss”. There are 4 main characters in this play.

1. Fiona – Follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH)
2. Lisa – Luteinizing hormone (LH)
3. Elle – Estrogen (Es)
4. Polly – Progesterone (P) Read the rest of this entry »

Poly Cystic Ovarian Syndrome (PCOS) is one of the most misdiagnosed syndromes. I was misdiagnosed. I was told that I was just obese and should cut down on the amount I eat and exercise more. I was tested for thyroid problems. I was even told that nothing is wrong with me and that if I get married everything will be fine(!).

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The best time to start thinking about the betterment of your health is always TODAY. Now. But for starting this blog, I couldn’t have chosen a better time. September is National Poly Cystic Ovarian Syndrome (PCOS) awareness month.  Over the course of this month, I will write more article on basics of this syndrome, symptoms, diagnosis, treatments and how to gain control over your symptoms. I will also include some posts on general women health. To kick off, here are some facts (don’t worry if you don’t understand any terms; I will write detail articles on every aspect of PCOS in this blog) and statistics. Read the rest of this entry »

Kellie Coffey song about wanting to have a child. Emotional. Powerful. Any one who has tried to get pregnant can relate to this song. I will write more about fertility, pregnancy, my own journey and what I learned, in the future. For now, I just had to share this…