PCOS Messages for May, 2002: Re: 1ST TIME ON BOARD AND NEED SOME HELP

Re: 1ST TIME ON BOARD AND NEED SOME HELP

From: jodi (anonymous@obgyn.net)
Wed, 1 May 2002 10:07:05 -0500 (CDT)

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It depends on what lab work he ran that he is saying is "normal" and how he interpeted it. There are a bunch of things that a doc might look for in your blood if you are being checked out for PCOS. There are the sex hormones, LH, FSH, testosterone (total and free). Then there are insulin/glucose levels and ratios. The only test that I have read of as being an accurate prediction of PCOS id the LH to FSH ratio. It is very important to look at the RATIO of these two hormones, not just the levels. Your LH might be in the normal range. Your FSH might be in the normal range. (Mine both were.) But if your LH is more than 3 times greater than you FSH, it is thought that PCOS is present. My ratio was something like 3.5:1, I think.

Any chance you know your lab results and can look at this yourself?

Another thing that can be looked at with a simple blood test is insulin to glucose ratio. If there is less than 4.5 times the amount of glucose as insulin, suspect insulin resistance, which is thought to cause PCOS.

High free testosterone is also associated with PCOS. You can have normal levels of total T, but high levels of free.

There is also the issue of lab normal values not really corresponding to normal levels for health. My lab gives 20 or less as a normal for insulin. Mine was 19. But a lot of doctors agree that anything over 10 is high. Same with testosterone. I think normal cutoff is in the 60s of 70s but a lot of doctors consider enaything over 50 in a young woman to be high.

ANYWAY those are the tests you should have had run. As you can see, it IS possible that you had "normal" values that were not looked at closely enough by your doc. It's also possible he doesn't know that lab normals aren't good enough for health.

It's also possible, however, that he did know what he was looking at and you really don't have PCOS. Not every woman with ovarian cysts and facial hair and infertility has PCOS. Granted, this presents a STRONG case that you have it... but it's not neccassarily so.

Whatever the truth is with regard to the above... it sounds like you have a bumbling idiot for a doctor who doesn't seem to care all that deeply about you. For that reason alone I'd say get another doctor, and it sounds like you have. Good luck at the high risk specialist, and with the baby!

- jodi

At Tue, 30 Apr 2002, BRANDI wrote: >
>Hi may name is Brandi and I am 20 weeks pregnant. Prior to this
>pregnancy I had a misscarriage that started me on my road TTC. I'll try
>to keep this short although I have alot of questions.Three yrs ago I
>miscarried and prior to this had no problems with my period. Afterward
>the only way I would start is with progesterone. My Dr. kept me on
>that for about 2 1/2 yrs and one day I came across this thing called
>PCOS. Every symptom that goes along with this I had. I have cysts on
>my overies, I have gained alot of weight since coming off the pill,
>couldn't get pregnant and had started getting hair on my face, belly and
>now on my breast. I went to him about the PCOS and he said that there
>was just a blood test that had to be done to tell if that was causing
>all of my symptoms. I am a little upset that he had never mentioned
>this to me, I had to bring it to him. But anyway he sent me for a blood
>test and he said that all my levels had come back o.k. He said that I
>did not have PCOS. So I after a couple of weeks I called and asked the
>big question about fertility. I was very scared but he said that what
>he would give was a mild form and I should only get pregnant with one
>child. I started clomid 50mg in Nov. 2001 and by Christmas I was
>pregnant. I am so excited I had read that alot of women have to take it
>for a long time and even then with no results, but I am pregnant and I
>thank god everyday. Well back to my questions. This week I was
>supposed to have my U/S
>done this will be my first although I have already had some
>complications. I got to my Dr. office and he was out of town. My
>husband had taken off and my
>mother for this and no one even bothered to call. Needless to say I was
>very
>upset. The last 6 times that I have been there I havn't seen him. He
>is always out of the office and his nurses have to answer my questions,
>2 weeks ago I started having some real bad pain and called they asked me
>to come and make sure that I wasn't having contractions, as soon as I
>got there he left and said he would call and check on me. He did call
>before I left and told the nurse to tell me to go home and just put my
>feet up. I was so scared. Anyway after yesterday I came home and
>called a high risk dr. in my area my first appt. with him is next
>Tues. I can't wait. What I want to know is if it is possible to have
>PCOS and all the blood test come back normal. I don't want to go to my
>new
>Dr. just doubting everything my old Dr. said. I am so sorry about
>rambling on anyway I hope that I have not confused everyone and you can
>understand what I am trying to ask.
>Thanks Brandi

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