FUPCOS

I had my first appointment with the Reproductive Endocrinologist a couple weeks ago, and it was great! I really felt like the RE was deeply concerned with why I'm not getting pregnant and he was quite caring and understanding.

Despite already having an ultrasound back in August, the RE wanted to do another. He reassured me, and said the nice thing about this second ultrasound is that he'd be able to tell me what he sees as we go along. The first ultrasound was not with the OB, and the tech can't really comment on what they see - But I could have sworn I heard him saying "cyst...cyst...cyst..."as he was doing the ultrasound. My OB said that my ultrasound was "normal".

When the RE "got in there" so to speak - it took him less than 30 seconds to determine that my diagosis is PCOS - or Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome.

One of my ovaries. The black circles are cysts/follicles. Too many.

So what is PCOS? Polycystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS) is one of the most common female endocrine disorders. PCOS is a complex, heterogeneous disorder of uncertain etiology, but there is strong evidence that it can to a large degree be classified as a genetic disease. PCOS produces symptoms in approximately 5% to 10% of women of reproductive age (12–45 years old). It is thought to be one of the leading causes of female subfertility and the most frequent endocrine problem in women of reproductive age.

If you go by symptoms alone, you'd think all women with PCOS are fat, pimply, and mustachioed. While it is true that the majority of women with PCOS are overweight or obese, it's not that way for everyone. Not everyone has excess hair, or is insulin resistant. There's no cure for PCOS at this point, but doctors do recommend a diet low in processed foods and sugars - and that's what I'm trying to do. One of the doctors at the fertility clinic explained that it's very hard for overweight PCOS women to lose weight and admittedly that was a bit of a kick in the teeth. He assured me that a determined, dedicated person can do it, so that's what I'm going to have to be.

Determined, dedicated.

Never judge a book by its cover, kiddies. Despite being a little heavy, I'm quite active. I don't eat at fast food restaurants and I don't generally over-eat. I rode 100 miles back in August on my bicycle (in a single day!!) and training rides prior to that ride were at least 30 miles in length. It was very, very frustrating to work that hard and see my weight at a standstill, or to only lose a pound or two. At least I know why that's happening, now. That's how I have to view it. I got a lot of apologies and sympathy for receiving my diagnosis, and while it's appreciated... I'm actually relieved to have a diagnosis. It would drive me crazier to not know why things weren't working properly.

About a week after my diagnosis I went back to the fertility clinic to have blood drawn for various tests. I had to go in at 7:30 in the morning to make sure the clinic's nurse was able to follow through with my tests. One test I had done was a Glucose Tolerance Test or GTT to determine if I was insulin resistant. The test involved no eating/drinking after midnight. My blood was drawn for the GTT at the same time as for the other tests (11 vials in all!!). After the first blood draw, I had to drink a VERY sweet drink known as Glucola that had 75g of glucose. It was the sweetest thing I'd ever tasted. The sweetness of the drink burned my tongue, a little. After having half my blood drained and drinking several ounces of Uber Sunkist I had to go to the waiting room and wait - for two hours. At first I was horribly dizzy and nauseous. Have you ever thought for sure that you were going to throw up, so much so that you tried to stay as still as you could so you wouldn't get dizzier? Yeah, that was me. I sat quietly in the fertility clinic's waiting room and tried to locate the closest trash cans using only peripheral vision as my guide - just in case.

After 15 minutes or so I felt a little better, but was tired and had a horrible headache. I used music and Facebook on my iPod Touch to pass the time. I took a horribly unflattering picture of me yawning and posted it to my friends. After two hours they drew two more vials of blood they sent me on my way. I was pretty looped out the rest of the afternoon and had to eat fairly constantly to keep the sicky, dizzy feeling from coming back.

That was about a week ago and I haven't had the chance to talk to my RE about the results yet. I called to make an appointment but I can't get in to see him until Mid-November. I'm on cycle day 45 today and I feel kind of stalled/stuck, but I have to accept that there's nothing I can do about it.

In the meantime, I am participating in a study for PCOS vs. non-PCOS women. It involves a 3D ultrasound once a week. The behavior of the follicles/cysts on my ovaries are analyzed on a weekly basis. It's a high-tech way to tell if I'm ovulating or pregnant while the study is being conducted, that's for sure. I would have to leave the study if and when I begin medication and treatment since it would alter the results of the study. It doesn't get me any free fertility treatments or payment - it's strictly in the name of medical and scientific research. Since I'm married to a scientist and have a fairly analytical mind myself, I'm happy to do it. If my data can help doctors understand PCOS, then it's totally worth it.

My third ultrasound of the study is tonight. I had a dream last night that they found a collapsed follicle and told me that I just ovulated. Boy, that would be nice... Wouldn't it?