I think I wrote in the article that my blood sugars were slightly elevated and this was being treated with Metformin. I was on the maximum dose since February and recently I went down to 1 Metformin pill a day (450 mg), which I will probably be on for another 6 – 8 months as a prophylactic effect. I’m due to see my gyno soon for him to check my androgens, but I’m hoping and wishing that they are back down to normal. He certainly seemed happy with the last ultrasound.

You can get where you need to be, but you need to find a doctor who gives you the right treatment and that’s usually more than just the BC pill. If you do have high blood sugars, as many PCOS patients do, this will probably also impact your energy and this will get better as they are treated.

Let me know if you have any more questions. It’s a complicated topic, which is why I didn’t even cover all of it, but I learned a lot in researching it too and it took me a whole day to write, but I think it was worth it.

Love,

Sarah

I’m so sorry you had to/are having to go through such a rollercoaster ride. My thyroid doctor actually believes that PCOS is triggered by thyroid disease, so if you put on the weight due to your thyroid condition, this could potentially trigger insulin resistance and that in turn could trigger PCOS. Of course, it’s possible it was the other way round – that you developed the PCOS which caused you to put on weight. It’s also difficult for me to know whether my weight gain has been because of the PCOS or my Hashimoto’s. Either way, my docs want me to lose weight because they are worried that insulin resistance may be causing my elevated androgens and, if not taken care of, this could turn into full-blown diabetes. My blood sugar levels have always been normal, but now they want me to do the 2-4 hour glucose tolerance test to see how long it takes for the glucose to be cleared from my body as this is supposed to be a more accurate and subtle measurement of how my body reacts to sugars.

I’ve been on Metformin for about a month now and my androgens have actually gone up, although it doesn’t seem likely that this can be because of the Metformin because this is the main treatment for PCOS! I guess it could be hormonal fluctuations and I’m sure it also depends on when they take the blood. Either way, now my doctors are really being proactive, so my contraceptive has been switched to Valette and I’m taking Androcur (it’s a very low dosage – 5 mg – and it sounds like it will only be in the short-term to get my levels under control). Furthermore, they may have to increase my dosage of Metformin, so that I’m taking 1000 mg three times a day.

Their main aim right now is for me to get my hormone levels under control asap. My doctor’s main aim isn’t for me to lose weight, but because of the potential insulin issue, they are giving me the meds that should help lower my androgens/blood sugar, so that in turn the weight should come off. I’m around 172 pounds right now, but apparently any amount of overweight puts you at a higher risk when you have PCOS – it really sucks!

Concerning the weight issue – I read that there is an increasing number of women of normal weight suffering from PCOS – it affects us all differently, as does thyroid disease. It sounds like your doctors need to give you a break and be less discriminating about your weight! I am so sorry your doc kept you in the dark about your potential cancer. I am sorry you are still suffering symptoms too – have they put you on anything whatsoever to lower the androgens/alleviate the symptoms? The deeper voice could in fact be caused by elevated androgens (I have read about this being a symptom), but I also know that thyroid disease can change your voice and make it more hoarse and raspy.

If your docs don’t want to operate on you because of your weight, perhaps they can give you some more productive suggestions on how they expect you to lose it when you have all these hormone imbalances. I hate taking pills, but if taking pills in the short-term gets my levels under control and helps me lose the weight, thus reducing the risk of developing other health conditions, that is what I am going to do. However, I should also mention here that far too many people assume overweight people are unhealthy, which is not always the case! Skinny people or those of normal weight can suffer from just as many problems and sometimes more.

Please keep us posted on your progress. Good luck with your new doctor! I will have to check out the TV series Ruby (I’m in Germany, so we don’t get US television and I only see it when we are back in the US).

Fast forward to last year when I got my medical records and found to my surprise he had diagnosed me with endometrial hyperplasia. He did NOT tell me this, I read it in my records. I also read that due to “body habitus” he could not give me a thorough exam.

I have excess facial hair, male pattern balding, a deep voice due to the thyroid condition. And now I may have possible uterine cancer because my asshole doctor in the past decided I was too fat to live.

I found a new gyn and went to him on Friday. he told me that yes, I am overweight, but it did not cause the PCOS. It was the other way around. He said the weight was not my fault. But he said that it is “hard to examine” me because of my weight.

Can anyone tell me why Ruby (on the TV show of the same name) can have a thorough gyne exam and I can’t? I weigh only 250 pounds.

I’m glad I don’t have high blood pressure, high cholesterol, or diabetes.

I go for an ultrasound on Wed. to decide if they are going to do a D&C or just leave it alone. By the way, they said that they “probably won’t remove it” because of my weight. So ok they would rather give me a bypass surgery that I DON’T want, other than a hysterectomy that I NEED?

Thanks for mentioning gynecomastia. As I said in one of my previous comments, I don’t know as much as I’d like about male hormone imbalances, but this was one I’d heard of and it’s interesting to hear that it’s also linked to hypothyroidism.

I wouldn’t want to write a diatribe about hair growth because I think it would make others feel bad who are suffering from it. After all, it’s a very common problem. The title was supposed to be comical and, above all, to get people’s attention. Despite having PCOS, I don’t feel like I’m turning into a man because I still feel quite womanly. Then again, I am very lucky that I don’t have more visible symptoms. My main problem is the chemical imbalance of hormones. You are so right that hair growth is a cultural thing – we Brits and Americans are very fussy about any excess hair whatsoever, but from my experience some people here in Germany or parts of Europe are less so. There are times when I simply don’t have the energy to epilate (I have to epilate because when I shave I cut my legs and I get an allergic reaction to depilatory creams) and it doesn’t matter because my fiancé loves me for who I am, not for whether or not I have hair on my legs (although sadly that wasn’t the case with my ex whom I mentioned at the beginning – he was obsessed about anything he perceived as excess hair and, in hindsight, I think he went way over the top) and that is the way it should be.

As an interesting aside, one of the many symptoms of thyroid problems in men is gynecomastia- breast growth- brought about by similar imbalances in estrogen and testosterone.

I thought it was also interesting how the initial sign was something so benign-increased hair growth. I was all set to be irritated with what I would thought would just be a culturally biased diatribe against body hair. I’m really glad that’s not what this article was really about.

Zari

I have it under control now I had a full hysterectomy at 35 because it wasn’t under control and I had suffered since puberty with it I did manage to have one child and that was it. I’ve been on HRT ever since, as I had no ovaries.I’ve since had to have laparoscopic surgery to remove adhesion’s around the abdominal wall I think they are back again because of the pain and discomfort they won’t touch around the bowel or bladder for fear of perforating it. So surgery may have worked with endometriosis but also gave me another set of problems I have to deal with on a daily basis.I can go back anytime if I find it too much and it’s getting to that stage, so may ask for a referral back to my gyno

The only thing with the male hormones was I thought my voice was getting deeper and I swear i was growing balls and a dick but hey enough was enough when the tash and beard came.:-)
I wonder too if Endometriosis is linked to Graves disease as Katie’s obs/gyn states years ago they didn’t know what caused it just that it was one of the most leading causes of infertility in women. I had pockets of cyst in and around my ovaries and attached to bladder and bowel as they can grow outside of the female reproductive system.

I hope you can get a handle on yours and balancing everything endocrine will go along way to improving your quality of life and future children.

#Kathy your story touched me I hope that you and Sarah and link up and she can help you.

I will let my close family member know that the offer is there and pass on the links and write up to her.

Lolly