Diagnosis and Treatment

So, if you recall, this all began in the summer of 2005. By the time I had my first appointment at RVH more than a year had passed and it was now late October, 2006. By this time I had read all that I could about hypothyroidism as well as PCOS and was pretty sure that I had a combination of both. I admit that I have a bad habit of self-diagnosing; however I cannot remember when I have been wrong in my diagnosis. I told the doctor about all of my symptoms and what I felt was wrong. He seemed to agree because he proceeded to run a bunch of tests on me that all relate to PCOS. He also referred me to a new endocrinologist that he works with so that all of my information would be together in one file.

A lot of the initial tests were routine blood tests along with a glucose tolerance test (because PCOS begins with insulin resistance). I also had a Hysterosalpingograhpy (HSG) (which I would not wish on my worst enemy because it HURT a LOT) and what I thought would be a routine ultrasound.

When I had this same ultrasound a year prior, they were able to see one cyst on my ovary. This time, they saw 20 on one and 22 on the other. I had gone from 1 – 42 in one year! I hadn’t seen the results from my other tests yet, but this was confirmation enough that I had PCOS – the “string of pearls” as they are called.

I met with both doctors for a follow up and sure enough, I had PCOS and I have been in treatment ever since. Over the years I have had varying doses of Synthroid for my thyroid problems (currently at 0.150mg), Metformin to treat the insulin resistance (850mg 3 times daily) and I recently began taking iron supplements twice a day because my Anemia seems to have returned. I also have a glucose meter because at one point the endocrinologist had told me I had become a type 2 diabetic but he was being slightly melodramatic and after meeting with the metabolic clinic dietician and nurses they confirmed that I was NOT diabetic. I had used the meter religiously for a few months before meeting with them and not ONCE was my sugar even CLOSE to high. I still test now and then but it is very infrequent and nothing shocking yet!

I had another ultrasound done this past summer (2009) and I am now up to about 50 “pearls” which isn’t so bad considering I had gone from 1-42 in one year and 42-50 in the following three years. I also had a Hysteroscopy done (which they tried to do without painkillers the first time which caused me to vomit and nearly pass out from the pain so I had to go back a month later and do it under the happy effects of nitrous oxide – laughing gas) and the results of that were all clear.

So, what’s next? Stay tuned…

(Note: DH has also been tested, although not nearly as much, and he's  fine.)

Pre-Diagnosis: In a Nutshell

The problems probably started before I was even aware of them, but I first began to notice things in Summer ’05. It had been months since I had seen AF, but this was normal for me as I had never been regular. What wasn’t normal is that in June of ’05 AF arrived with a vengeance! After about 3 weeks I ended up going to emergency and they told me my iron levels were extremely low and put me on iron pills. Other than that “I was fine”. Well, my gyno wasn’t so sure of that and wanted to do some tests but I was leaving for vacation so she decided to hold off. Well, that was a mistake. Half way through vacation (in Toronto) I got the worst migraine I have ever had in my life. I am prone to them, but this one was not normal. I took my migraine medication, crossed my fingers, and slept through it. AF was still very much present and I was extremely weak and scared. I called my doctor as soon as we got back home and she said that enough was enough. I had an emergency D&C followed by multiple tests, x-rays, you name it! In the end, she said that all she saw was a tiny cyst on my ovary and other than that “I was fine” and “not to worry about it”.

I was NOT fine and I WAS worried so I went to see my GP around September ‘05. He sent me for a barrage of blood tests and noticed something interesting. Since the last tests I had done at the hospital in June, my thyroid levels had gone down. He said he would monitor them before panicking and asked me to do more blood tests around November for comparison. The levels had dropped again only this time significantly. So, he sent me to an endocrinologist and sure enough, hypothyroidism. At this point I had so many of the symptoms (abnormal menstrual cycles, fatigue, thinning eyebrows, low body temperature, etc...) that I just sort of attributed everything to hypothyroidism and went on about my life... taking one pill every morning for the rest of my life. (Note: At the time this sounded horrible, but now I am up to 7 pills a day so in retrospect this was pretty good)

Almost a year passed and things were going well. But then, it started to happen again; AF from hell!  I decided not to go and see my gyno because I felt that she would just dismiss it so I went to see my GP. But, before seeing him I read websites, forums, books, you name it and I had discovered something; I had all the symptoms of Polycystic Ovary Syndrome (PCOS). Unfortunately, as this is a fertility issue and he is not specialized in that area he couldn’t really help me but he did look at some information I had brought with me and said that it definitely looked plausible. He wrote me the referral I needed and within a couple of months I had my first appointment (of many to come) at the Royal Victoria Hospital (RVH).

To be continued...