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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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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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 »

Welcome to PCOS Journal!

Who am I?

I am a 29 year old female living in California. I came across the term PCOS, poly cystic ovarian syndrome at the age of 22. I stopped getting my periods and put on almost 40 lbs within 6 months. With my weight gain, lack of periods, body hair… the doctor suspected PCOS. But it stopped there… The suspicion was never proved. Because I didn’t have any cysts and there is no real test to actually find out if some one has this syndrome. After changing 4 doctors, 5 yrs of using birth control pills to get my periods and countless tests, I was finally diagnosed with PCOS almost 2 yrs ago using hormone panel tests. It has been a long and frustrating journey! First it started out as an annoyance of not getting regular periods… then came the embarrassment of serious weight gain… mood swings… depression… now the pain of not getting pregnant… Read the rest of this entry »