I'm a young girl (20) and I've had more trouble with my weight recently than normal. I've always been bigger but I gained a rapid amount of weight in about a year. I even gained 20lbs in a month once and I was exercising two hours everyday. (This was when I was about 16.) However, I gain weight extremely easy now and it's very very difficult for me to lose weight. Even with having a good diet and exercising excessively everyday it's very difficult. (Though, I have done it.) Well, in about the past two years this time span I noticed that I started getting a few skin tags on my arms, my acne has been very bad and I've gotten VERY HAIRY. I have to wax my lip almost every week but that's not even the real problem. I get dark hairs on my chin, chest, stomach and I have a lot of excessively dark hairs on my backside. I also got a patch of long dark black hairs on my left shoulder blade that have come up in just the last year. It's a round patch of hair about as big as a cd and ONLY in that one spot on my back. It's incredibly frustrating because it makes me feel like a man.

Well, my sister-in-law has PCOS and she told me about it because all my symptoms were ones she had. Well, I finally went and got checked. I got lots of blood work done and even got two ultrasounds (abdominal and vaginal). All my blood work came back fine. No excess testosterone, good estrogen levels and no thyroid problems. Well, it took forever for the doctor to call me back about the ultrasound results but when they did they said well you had some cysts but they are normal so they didn't treat me for PCOS.

I don't understand how that is normal though. I mean wouldn't having cysts mean I have PCOS.

I guess what I'm asking is should I pursue it with another doctor and ask them? Also, when I was younger I was a borderline diabetic and the doctors wanted to put me on glucophage but it wasn't FDA approved at the time so my mom wouldn't have it. Could my insulin have something to do with it!?

Also, if I do pursue it and they treat me for PCOS will the symptoms (skin tags, hair) go away!? Will it be easier for me to lose weight!?

Any help is appreciated. Thanks in advanced.

Don't give up finding a doc. Def puruse it. PCOS patients come in at least 5 ways... it doesn't mean you still don't have PCOS... and yes, for some patients insulin resistance is a part of it.

traditional PCOS -- anovulatory, increased androgens, no insulin resistance

endocrine syndrome X -- anovulatory, increased androgens, insulin resistance or type 2 diabetes

non-traditional PCOS --anovulatory, normal androgens, obese, insulin resistant or type 2 diabetes

non-traditional PCOS -- ovulatory, increased androgens, mild insulin resistance

idiopathic hirsutism -- ovulatory, increased androgens, no insulin resistance

The Inciid FAQ is a good starting point for the dx hurdles/tests.
http://www.inciid.org/faq.php?cat=complementarymed&id=2

HTH!
A.

I agree with astrophe.

You may want to get a second opinion.

In the meantime, if you do have PCOS, losing weight will probably help your symptoms.

Exercise is going to be necessary, but not for losing weight, but managing your insulin resistance. I don't know how often you're exercising, but you should start with a little and increase it every day.

Your diet should probably eliminate as many refined carbohydrates as possible (sugars, white flour, white rice, plain pasta, white potatoes, etc.), and start putting in more complex carbohydrates like brown rice, barley, quinoa, etc.

Watch your serving sizes for the complex carbohydrates that you are eating. Also, eat protein with your carbs.

In the meantime, find out what kind of tests they did.

For example, a company like Lab Corp doesn't have good measurements for hormones (as my endo told me). You should probably get the opinion of a reproductive endocrinologist who will have probably seen PCOS before and will know the right labs to ask for and to send out to.

You should also pick up a book or two on PCOS from your library if they have it or if you have the money to purchase one, I would recommend A Patient's Guide to PCOS.

If you were borderline diabetic, you probably have something in the same family as PCOS, metabolic syndrome X, etc.

Ask your doctor to also test you for a vitamin D deficiency.

Last piece of advice. Don't look at this like you need to lose weight to look better, but because you want to be healthier. PCOS has so many long-term effects that I wish I had known way back when I was first diagnosed.

Absolutely! Pursue this with another doctor - your symptoms line up with PCOS, even if everything else is right. I just had all my bloodwork done again and I don't have testosterone/estrogen OR thyroid problems - but I definitely have PCOS!