PCOS Test questions?
 

Hi, all!

In reading posts in the SBD forum, it sounded more and more like I might be dealing with PCOS as a cause for my increasing weariness and other issues (skin tags, black hair where it should not be). I mentioned this to my OB/GYN when I had my yearly visit. She asked me a bunch of questions, and my answers led her to agree that PCOS was a possibility. She added a fasting glucose and fasting insulin to my regular cholesterol bloodwork, which she said will help her determine whether PCOS is an issue.

Looking back, this seems like a strange and/or incomplete way to judge PCOS...but I could be totally wrong. Does this sound like a familiar way to diagnose? How were you diagnosed?

Thanks!

I was daignosed based on my weight and raised testosterone levels. I don't have many PCOS symptoms other than obesity and acne, but my PCP sent me to an endocrinologist and he tested my serum testosterone, which can be raised in PCOS. I was given glucophage, which is a drug for insulin resistance and todl to come back in 2 months. In any event, it seems to be helping me lose weight :)

Fasting glucose and insulin, plus testosterone, is a good place to start. If there is any doubt, you can go to an endocrinologist with knowledge of PCOS and have them do a complete hormone panel. The one thing my doctors always wanted to know: do I or do I not have regular periods-- that still seems to be the question that separates PCOS from non-POCS, at least in their minds.

Most women with PCOS have insulin resistance, but not all-- I don't. So if you are diagnosed IR, you should at least suspect PCOS. Don't hesitate to get a second opinion if you have any doubts about your diagnosis or treatment. There are a lot of different opinions and approaches to PCOS, a disease that's still not very well understood even in professional medical circles, IMO. Good Luck!

I was basically diagnosed the same way you were, with a manual check of my ovary size. (ouchie) I then went to a PCOS specialist in town (an endocrinologist) and he did an ultrasound and saw some small cysts and also did the hormone panel. With what your gyn did, they can get a pretty good idea if you have it or not. There isn't an exact test, but instead a battery of symptoms that may or may not be present. If you have any doubt, I'd go check with an endocrinologist in your area. They are the experts. :)