I’m feeling a little tired, hungry and have several needle marks in my arms.
Yup, more testing for PCOS for me.
One of the reasons that PCOS is often so hard to diagnose is that it’s a condition by exclusion. There’s such a mixture of symptoms that people with PCOS can have some symptoms but not others. As a result there is no one simple test to determine if someone has PCOS.
I’ll use my own case as an example. When I went to my first doctor to discuss my range of symptoms, PCOS wasn’t considered a serious possibility because I wasn’t a ‘typical PCOS looking woman.’ Nicely put, I wasn’t obese. I’ve never been obese but have always had the belly fat so familiar to us cysters. I’ve also had the typical range of blood tests performed when PCOS is suspected and all my results have come back in normal range.
I think the only reason I got my diagnosis this time round is because I went to a fantastic women’s ultrasound imaging clinic who found my many many follicles that were missed in the first ultrasound. So my first tip from this post is this: get a good ultrasound, if possible go to a clinic that specialises in women’s reproductive imaging. I’m pretty sure I didn’t go from 8 to 25 follicles in two years.
My second tip: Don’t rely solely on blood work. Remember your physical symptoms (body hair, weight gain, acne) all matter, you can have healthy blood work and STILL have PCOS.
Both times I’ve sought advice for PCOS I was sent for the standard tests to help diagnose PCOS and to eliminate other possible options for some PCOS symptoms. There’s a few websites out there that give more details about testing for PCOS such as
http://www.labtestsonline.org.au/understanding/conditions/pcos/start/2
but I’ll include a quite summary here.
Blood tests typically look for common biochemical signs of PCOS. Blood glucose and insulin, lipid profile (LDL and HDL), cholesterol and sex hormone levels (FSH, LH, testosterones and estrogen) are all measured since the levels and sometimes ratios between various hormones (such as FSH:LH ratio) can be indicative of PCOS. Thyroid function and DHEAS are checked to rule out thyroid disorders or an adrenal secreting tumor. These tests are all performed in one go and require blood to be taken after fasting.
Some doctors may send you for an oral glucose tolerance test, which some believe is a more reliable way to test for signs of insulin resistance or impaired glucose metabolism than simply testing for blood levels at a single point in time. And that takes up to today.
I finally got around to getting my OGTT test done. It takes about 2 hours in total since you have blood sampled after fasting then you’re given a glucose drink to down in ~5 min. Some people think this drink tastes bad but mine was like flat lime soft drink. But it did make me feel sick, that much sugar on an empty stomach will do that to some people. Blood is taken after 1 and 2hrs so be prepared for lots of needles. The aim is to see how your body processes sugar over time hence the multiple samples taken.
So hopefully this test will make it clear whether all my blood sugar related symptoms I’ve suffered from for 20 years is due to insulin resistance. Here’s hoping 🙂
Do my ovaries look fat? 