Poly cystic ovarian syndrome question.. a little scared?
I just turned 18 recently and I’ve struggled with acne and excessive hair growth for years. I was taking medication for my acne from my dermatologist and dealing with the hair growth problems through Laser hair removal. I was told to take a blood test to see whether I had Polycystic ovarian syndrome and the blood test showed that it was negative. However, I’m currently on vacation in India and our family dermatologist here claims that PCOS can only be diagnosed through sonography or ultrasound. I also noticed that my hair has started thinning out but my periods seem rather normal and i dont think i’m excessively overweight by any means (I weigh around 128 and I’m 5’3) but some medical websites stated that fat distribution with this disease tends to lie mainly in the stomach area and the thighs.
1) Who should I contact for a test for this, a gynecologist an endocrinologist or retake the blood test through my physician?
2) Is this disease lethal and are the statements about it being the cause of permanent infertility true?
PCOS is diagnosed differently in different countries.
But how it works is they check 3 different things, One is a blood test, one is an ultrasound the other is if you have irregular periods.
Blood test: This checks for excess androgens, (acne & hair are indicators).
Ultrasound: This checks for ovarian volume and folicle length/number.
Irregular periods : are they irregular yes/no (more than 4 day variation, cycles less than 21 days or cycles greater than 35 days)
The American diagnosis method:
You -have- to have a positive blood result and one of the other two positive. So if your blood test is negative in America, they wont check the other two.
The other diagnosis method:
You just have to have 2/3 of the conditions.. and they don’t care which two conditions.
So if you have problems on your ultrasound and you have irregular periods.. then in America you would not be diagnosed with PCOS but in another country you would be.
PCOS does cause fertility problems but just because you have PCOS, doesn’t mean you are infertile. It just means that there is a much higher chance of fertility problems. I don’t know if it is lethal I haven’t heard anything abut that.
Based on what you have said, your blood test was negative. Under the American diagnosis method you cant have PCOS.
If you want to check using the other method, ask yourself if you have irregular periods.
If you dont (periods are regular) then you cant have PCOS under either diagnosis method. If you DO have irregular periods then you will need to get an ultrasound to be sure.
[Note: It can't be diagnosed if you are taking any kind of hormones, e.g. combined oral contraceptive pill]
My wife has PCOS. They will do an ultrasound and some blood tests to diagnose. You might consider getting some material on the matter. Try http://www.polycysticovariansyndrometreatments.com