I went back to the doctor today for my pelvic exam, which wasn't nearly as scary as I had anticipated, but I have a really sweet doctor. She said all of my blood-work came back as normal, including my "female hormones" but PCOS wouldn't show up, so I go for an ultrasound on Wednesday. My doctor thinks I will be able to get pregnant eventually, so I'm staying optimistic!

lost 2.5lbs this week nearly in the 150's woohoo

I had my ultrasound on my ovaries and after I left for work, the doctors' office called and left a message on my answering machine saying everything looked "great". I'm pretty confused, to be honest. So, as I said, my female hormones, thyroid, and blood sugar were all normal and apparently my ovaries didn't show cysts...? But still...

I don't menstruate.
I have excess facial hair.
I am obese; my weight came on fast when I was about to hit puberty. It is concentrated in the upper body.
I have a lot of abdominal discomfort and sex can be painful.
I have darker patches of skin in the usual areas.
I have an almost constant flow if clear discharge, which I've only seen on one symptom list for PCOS, but it definitely clicked for me if it is a symptom.

I certainly wouldn't mind a response. Are there ladies out there who can relate to my specific situation? I'm scared and feeling very alone and lost.

wow! that's awesome! and you are doing Weight Watcher's? That is how you have lost all your weight?

I'm sorry hun From my understanding, you can have all the symptoms of PCOS without actually having the cysts on the ovaries and it is still PCOS. I hope someone with more knowledge than me will chime in here and explain it better.

I should bump the thread that Astrophe posted earlier this year, because there are different types of PCOS patients.

It sounds like you need a new doctor, Beth. Have you seen a reproductive endocrinologist? They tend to see the most PCOS patients (and diagnose them correctly).

These are the types:

My own update. I had a birthday. And today, I am up 3 lbs.

I just finished entering all the food I ate and of course, that makes sense -- I had over 3000 calories yesterday! I was stuffed even before dinner and I had already reached my normal 1500 calories for the day. I could have easily skipped it, but boyfriend wanted to celebrate it with me (of course) so I stuffed myself with dinner (which was a high calorie mess, of course).

I'm so stuffed I'm not even hungry today and the scale is up 3 lbs.......

I can't wait to eat my normal light food..... I need to rethink my birthday for next year.

Violet - I will talk to my doctor about possibly having PCOS without cysts and see what kind of response she has, thank you for your post.

Rana - I have only been to my regular doctor; looking into this is still very new, so I may be sent elsewhere. I haven't actually got to talk to anyone about my ultrasound results, but the doctor is out today, so I won't be able to until Friday or Monday. Also, before that poll thread, I had no idea there were so many different kinds of PCOS!! I don't know which type I would be, but traditional jumps out the most. They checked my female hormones, but I don't get the impression they checked the more "male" hormones, so maybe that would help identify my issues. Thank you so much for responding and Happy Belated Birthday!

Something confuses me about the ultrasound... Towards the end, the lady doing it asked, "Are they going to send you to a fertility specialist? Because a lot of times they want to go up through the vagina and actually count all these little cysts." So I asked her if she could tell me if she saw cysts and she was not allowed but I had felt certain of it based her question. Then I get the message that everything looked great? I guess I'm frustrated because I'm finally ready for answers but they aren't coming easy. Hopefully I'll get there eventually.

update i have been in absolute agony for 3 days now with a constant heavyness and wanting to urinate all the time i went to the gp he tested my water there was no infection so i said could it be to do with endimitriosis and he said yes you could have a cyst pushing on your bladder if i still have it next week i have to go back but im still waiting to see a consultant its been 5 months since i was refered to be actually diagnoised i have only had a abdomal scan and it said bulky ovarys which suggest pcos but my doctor thinks i have both (((((

Violet yes i have lost the weight with weight watchers and exercise.

Rana hope u had a great birthday you will get that gain off in no time.

Hope everyone else is ok? xxx

ps i lost half a lb tonight xxx

Have you researched insulin resistance/syndrome x? Also, my doctor said you don't always have cysts all the time if you have PCOS. My ultrasound was fine but I had all the symptoms so she told me to manage as if I did. That said, metformin was EVIL for me so I'm just managing it with lots of exercise, low carb and cinnamon/chromium/fish oil supplements. Facial hair is no longer an issue. And even though I'm on the pill, my periods are regular--they weren't before. I couldn't even get a period on the pill! The dark areas of skin can be from insulin resistance too...but that wasn't ever an issue for me.

Hi everyone newbie alert.... I just join the site and loving all the support I'm reading. I have been diagnose with PCOS for 7yrs and it seems as if my life was placed on hold for 7yrs. I'm married to a wonderful man who deals with my crazy rollercoaster outburst and food cravings. I had hope one day to have children but I don't think its going to happen.
I'm currently scraping at the bottom of the coffin because I have been told I am borderline DM, which has consume my every emotion to the point that I'm numb inside. So with that being I have started up my life or shall I say taking back my life. I started SB on MOnday and going on 4 days now. I have to say the first 2 days were challenging but I have reach a point where I'm not craving potatoes or cookies, Yah! My goal is to complete phase 1 with some weight loss to maybe start up my monthly cycles and to incorporate some type of excercise into my daily routine. Any support would be greatly appreicated as I'm someone that never completes anything.

How are you?

Today I have a little more energy than usual and no carb cravings.

What are you working on?

Trying to figure out how to incorporate exercise into my life. I can be so lazy and tons of excusing. Also trying to find fun new low carb foods for someone who is a picky eater.

How was last month?

Last month was a blurrrrrrrrrrr

How's your PCOS management going?

I currently take 100mg/Metformin 2xdaily. I have a scheduled appointment with ReprGYN on 23rd, which I hope for good news.

MY SUPER LONG CHECK IN

Eldercare Land is still challenging, but at least we're moving now. Taking some classes and learning to manage my stress better. I'm trying to be helpful but keep healthy boundaries for my own sake. When it was all Drama City, I wasn't able to sleep for several days and had 2 or 3 panic attacks from the heavy stress. I saw my primary care and she put me on zoloft and xanax. After a few days I felt better because I was actually able to SLEEP! I dropped them after endoc labs told me my liver was elevated and that was the only new thing recently though. I wasn't planning on staying on them anyway.

I saw my endoc this week.

Hypothyroid, syndrome x, insulin resistance, blood sugar -- all stable in good levels/under control. I chalk that all up to diet -- because I suck at the exercise in times of stress!

B12, Vitamin D -- all improved. Last time I was low so she told me to add a separate b12 and d to my general multivitamin. I'm also taking fish oil.

HDL and triglycerides -- normal! Still have to work on the LDL and get more exercise, but good to hear it is improving and coming down.

The surprise was that I hardly ever have had normal tri's. Cutting back on the carbs helped a lot. I'm going to try to buckle down harder to the nutrition exchanges I'd been trying for PCOS.

Low GI, whole foods, kinda paleo seems to be working out. Really it is practically vegan with some lean chicken/fish but I struggle with dropping the wheat. It's a trigger for me -- bread, cake, pizza, flour stuff.

Since dropping the zoloft and xanax the liver biz is coming down quickly so endoc thinks it was from that. Anyone have experience with elevated liver enzymes?

Endoc. wants me on Fortamet even though not IR to try to get the weight to budge and lower androgens.

Taking a BCP break since I had break thru bleeding. Ultrasound were fine other than 2 little cysts so both primary care and endoc suspect it was super high stress causing crazy cycle. Have PAP in a month or so, and the plan is to see if I have menses on my own or what and then decide if I am going back on BCP or not.

So... here's the wrap up for the next 3 mos:

• Levoxyl for the thyroid
  
• continue multi, vit b12, vit D, fish oil (and I can tell the energy difference when I take it vs when I forget)
  
• Start fortamet
  
• try accupuncture
  
• get moving on the exercise
  
• Stick to diet but clean it up a bit -- weekends are my downfall
  
• schedule massage, accupuncture, PAP test
  

Alright... I'm back, gals! Let's do this thing and get back to kicking PCOS bootay.

I'll come back later to catch up where you gals are all at. Gotta bathe my kid.

A.

How are you?
I'm just getting back in - if you notice my last sign in date was Sept. of 09 . But I'm happy to say this time I'm going to do this!!! I've got to lose this weight and get healthy. Since I was last on the PCOS forum I've had a child (my miracle baby) even after the doc said it would be almost impossible if I didn't get my PCOS under control. She prescribed me a medicine called Megace (Megestrol) which flushed my entire system of unwanted tissues and a HEAVY period as well. After that I got pregnant in Dec. of 09' and had my daughter in Sept. of 10'. I'm not sure if it was due to the reproductive flush or not, but before that I'd never even had a potential pregnancy scare so who knows.
What are you working on?
I'm starting a new fitness program that I found on about.com "6 weeks to fitness for absolute beginners" It's the jump start I needed after almost a year of not working out and sticking to my diet plan. I'm couting calories this time around and staying away from the unhealthy carb variety.
How was last month?
Last month was BLAH!!! I worked most of the month and when I wasn't working I was with Chloe full time. She's a full time job all on her own!!
How's your PCOS management going?
I've honestly not been tracking anything going on with my PCOS. After having a baby I breastfed and finally got AF around the time I should have once I stopped breastfeeding. Shes been regular since - so I have'nt had any worries there. I'm sure soon I'll need to check in with the GYNO though.

Violet73: How was mother's day? Glad to hear you are doing well on the cinnamon and chromium!

Rana: You know you totally inspire me? All the stuff going on for you and you still hang in there. WTG and happy bday!

DinaAS: Welcome! Sorry the docs are telling you it is in your head. . BTDT -- keeping trying to find a doc that will listen.

JustSharing83: You remind me a lot of me when I was in my 20's and trying to get the formal dx. My labs kept coming back normal but I still had no menses, weight gain, and felt all weird.

It was a nurse practioner who told me to keep an eye on the labs because while normal it was "low end" normal on the thyroid and I might just not get a dx for that until it went off the scale. I asked her how come docs wouldn't LISTEN to how I was feeling instead of waiting for some dumb computer printout to be where they thought. She had no answer and wished me luck.

A few years went by and then my levels were low enough to get out of the normal range and I got the hypothyroid dx. I also got the PCOS. For me I took the PCOSA quiz, printed it out, took it to my primary care and they referred me to an endoc. The quiz is shorter than when I took it, but it may still be worth a try. Check the inciid faq for what labs to be checking too.

I also have acanothosis nigricans patches but my Insulin resistance is under control -- it just takes time to clear up and I think weight plays into it too. And I think if you are just getting them, it takes time for insulin to show up as off -- your body may be compensating so you test normal but the AN shows the excess insulin spilling out into the skin.

I also gained weight fast in late teens/20's and it has been up and down ever since trying to get it off!

Do you have skin tags? That's another clue.

Keep trying to find a doc that will work with you. PCOS manifests in many ways and to me you sound like maybe a traditional or syndrome x type. But def annovulatory if you aren't getting menses. GL!

ems81wales: Sounds like you are doing great on WW! Awesome! I hope you feel better though with that ab pain.

Gotta get kid to school... I'll keep reading and catching up later.

Hope you all have a great day!

A.