Your dr and your PCOS

macchiatto

What kind of ongoing testing, monitoring, treatment, etc., does your dr do for your PCOS? And is it your gyn or your PCP?
I have a number of the symptoms of PCOS and at my preconception visit back in 2008 the gyn had a u/s done and I was told my ovaries had a PCOS-like appearance. I'm not even sure if he did blood work to go along with it.

Really, nothing in particular has been done to treat my PCOS since then. I did find out a couple years ago that I had prediabetes and high triglycerides. I went on the Dukan Diet for a while, lost 13 lbs and reversed it. I've lost some more weight since then and have kept the PCOS away. When I asked the NP about PCOS at my annual visit a few years ago, she just said to stay lower-carb and exercise. Beyond that ... I'm not sure if there's more I should be asking for, meds I should be considering, etc. I've gotten my weight to a relatively low BMI but still have a pretty disproportionate amount of belly fat. Irregular cycles and a few other symptoms but I guess my PCOS is probably milder. Is there more I should be asking for from my dr?

miranda_mom

I first went to the doctor about it nine years ago when I was TTC my first child. I was having periods but there might be as long as 10 weeks between them. I went to the OB/GYN and she basically said I should get blood work and an internal ultrasound. She also mentioned that I had gained 40 lbs. since I went off the birth control pill, even though I hadn't been eating badly. I got the blood work and the ultrasound but when they called to give me the results, the nurse basically ran through the numbers and I had no idea what they meant. (So she was like "Your blood glucose was this" but did not tell me if that was normal, high, low etc). I asked what it meant and she said I had to go to my PCP for him to explain it. So I did and he told me that my numbers were not enough to diagnose me with PCOS but they were borderline. He advised me to watch my carbs. I got pregnant shortly after that, after we had been trying for a year.
I went back on the pill and didn't think much about it until we started TTC our second child. I went off the pill, had one normal cycle, and then had nothing at all. I decided to go straight to the PCP this time and he had me do the same blood work and ultrasound as last time. This time he told me that I did meet the criteria (although mine is relatively mild). I think that was mostly based on having the cysts on my ovaries. My bloodwork has always been pretty good. I went on Metformin and still wasn't getting a period, even though I was steadily losing weight. Three months later my Metformin dosage was increased and I ended up getting regular cycles and was able to get pregnant again.
Personally, I found my PCP to be more helpful but I think that was more because of the relationship I have with him.