[JennyLee]

Talked to the doctor's office today, and I have been diagnosed with PCOS based (only) on my blood tests. This really surprises me, and I'm not sure I believe it. I don't have any PCOS symptoms, other than not getting pregnant. I am underweight and have been my entire life and I haven't noticed any extra hair growth (though I have always had hairy toes, does that count?). I have regular 30 day cycles (occasionally varies by a few days) and have confirmed O with temps every month for a year. I just don't see how I can have PCOS if I'm ovulating regularly?? And even if I technically have it, how can it be affecting my fertility if I'm ovulating? I'm starting Glucophage (metformin), which I also know nothing about. Oh, and they want to retest my platelets next cycle, not sure why. I would really appreciate any insight, especially from anyone with PCOS and no symptoms.

[dansyl]

I know I posted a reply to this somewhere and now I can't find it... but... I have PCOS too and the TTC with PCOS board is sooooo helpful. I know it sucks to hear something like that, but it's not a TTC death wish like I know some DR have told people. I also do not have any symptoms of PCOS.

[Crystallee]

PCOS can actually cause you to be underweight and have trouble gaining which is the exact opposite of what some people experience with PCOS. It is definitely easily diagnosed with only blood work as far as the elevated testosterone and excess insulin in the blood. I am a bit of a weird case. I have the same length of cycles for the majority of the time but sometimes do and sometimes do not ovulate and my chart sometimes almost looks like i did. As far as the metformin goes it can lead to weight loss which might not be great if you are underweight and sometimes causes digestive issues though i didn't experience any. I felt more regulated hormonally after taking it as I think it backed of my testosterone level and let things be more natural.

[Sapphera]

I'm a PCOSer too, and like its been said, it affects everyone differently. (I also soluggest the TTC with PCOS board).

For the metformin, my only advice is make sure you have the ER version (extended release) and many say the worse food you eat, the worse you'll feel until you're used to it (but the ER version helps all that).

[-Brandy-]

I too am a PCOSer, and was diagnosed in mid-December. I am not overweight, i could stand to lose 10 lbs but that is more due to my lack of physical activity and working from home than anything. I am not insulin resistant, but showed high levels of testosterone (normal but highest amount allowed for normal), lh remained high throughout cycle causing erroneous opk's and fsh was low. After only 2 weeks on Met, this cycle has been like clockwork. If you have your blood results i can get mine out and tell you what the normal ranges are per Quest diagnostics. The reason they want to restest in a month is to see if the dosage you are on has evened out the hormones or if the dosage needs to be changed. Definitely shop in to the ttc with pcos board, the ladies are very helpful!

[Tammyms]

I'm kind of curious how they diagnosed you only doing a blood test? There are 3 main criteria in the PCOS definition and you need to have 2 out of the 3 for a diagnosis... So the criteria is your blood test confirms the presence of increased male hormones called androgens, you may show clinical signs of increased male hormones – this means having signs such as acne, or increased hair growth on your face or body called hirsuitism. You have infrequent or no periods( i.e. menstrual bleeding), this indicates infrequent ovulation and/or you have an u/s showing at least one ovary to have many small cysts. (It has to be 12 or greater cysts.)

Not that I know more than the docs by any means, but just a blood test and nothing else is kind of an odd way to make a diagnosis.

You can O with PCOS and you don't have to be overweight to have it, everyone is affected by it differently.

[JennyLee]

Thanks to everyone for your input!

Brandy - I don't have the test results yet, I just got a call saying 'you have PCOS, take this medicine'. When I get them, I will def. come back for input.

Tammy - that is why I'm uncomfortable with the diagnosis. I apparently do have the elevated androgens, but I haven't had an ultrasound, and I do have regular periods, with temps showing ovulation. I'm supposed to start 1000 mg of metformin daily, but I'm not sure how it's going to help me if I'm already ovulating, and I'm nervous about the side effects.

I will definitely check out the PCOS board!

[Tammyms]

Do they have you scheduled for an u/s at all? Because if you don't show polycystic ovaries, since your cycles are regular... my guess is that you wouldn't have pcos specifically... the met helps regulate insulin. For me, even though my numbers don't show insulin resistance, they want me to take the met anyway and when I go off it my cycles go back to being irregular. I ovulate on my own, it's just that my cycles are wonky.

Do you think you'll ask for more testing?? It's awkward, when I told my doctor she was wrong about a few things I had to find a new one, but that was because I knew more than she did about pcos and all things ttc so we fought!

[-Brandy-]

I only have the male androgens and was o'ing later each cycle causing longer cycles- the one i started Met on ended up being 43 days which is actually on the short side for a pcos'er. I was also diagnosed by blood work only. The way my Dr, who i love, explained it was that mine is a mild case since I was still o'ing on my own mine was a mild case and i just needed the met to normalize my hormones. She said that pcos is handled differently by each persons body.and the length of time you have been off bcp definitely will cause a difference. After 3 months off bcp my cycles got longer each time by about 4 days.

[Tammyms]

Originally Posted by -Brandy-

I only have the male androgens and was o'ing later each cycle causing longer cycles- the one i started Met on ended up being 43 days which is actually on the short side for a pcos'er. I was also diagnosed by blood work only. The way my Dr, who i love, explained it was that mine is a mild case since I was still o'ing on my own mine was a mild case and i just needed the met to normalize my hormones. She said that pcos is handled differently by each persons body.and the length of time you have been off bcp definitely will cause a difference. After 3 months off bcp my cycles got longer each time by about 4 days.

This diagnosis makes sense with only a blood test because you have the male androgens and the longer/irregular cycles. I know different docs will also have differing opinions on what a "long" cycle is. My current GP and RE say anything longer than 35 days is too long, yet my previous GP didn't understand why I wanted meds to bring on AF when I hadn't o'd by CD 61

What did your doc say about being off bcp? I remember when I came off I was all over the place, 19 day cycle, 42 day cycle, 36 day cycle, etc.

[JennyLee]

I would really like to have the u/s, just so I can stop questioning the diagnosis. I haven't even talked to my doc, the office just called me. I have an appt with her in March, and I will definitely be asking a bunch of questions then. Maybe she just wanted to get me started on the meds right away and already has more tests planned?

[Mrs.Paradise]

good luck! I know with Met Im taking it and I dont have pcos... but I have LONG cycles... and Taking Met has helped some what... before Met I had a 114 day cycle... and now that Im on Met its 45ish days... still too long I know but still I dont know what else to do...

[blueeyes25s]

I don't know much about pcos so I just wanted to say I hope you get some answers soon!

[-Brandy-]

Originally Posted by Tammyms

What did your doc say about being off bcp? I remember when I came off I was all over the place, 19 day cycle, 42 day cycle, 36 day cycle, etc.

When I came off bcp my first three cycles were 32, 30, and 31 days in length (with a 15 day lp) then the next one was 35 days, then 39, then 43. Each month my cycle was elongating by 4 days, the last cycle (43 days) was the one I started Metformin and didn't o until 33 days making my LP 10 days long... I think this was just my body getting used to the Metformin because before then I had 15 day lp's and it seems I am back to that this month.

[Tammyms]

I hope your doc is willing to work with you to confirm for sure

[JennyLee]

I have not started the met yet. I was prescribed 1000 mg before bed. I'm thinking of starting with only 500 mg for a week or so, based on what I've read about minimizing side effects. I figure being as small as I am, I would feel it more. Thoughts?

[Tammyms]

I initially was put on 2000mg per day and it took me 4 weeks to get up to the full dose as per Doctor's orders. First it was 500mg, per day, then 1000mg, etc. So I think starting slow is a great idea until you know how your body handles it. Some get really bad S/E and some get none, I hope you're all good with it!