misa
Junior Member
Posts: 57
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Post by misa on Mar 28, 2007 11:42:48 GMT -5
Hey Ouchie! I had my hormones tested two weeks ago. I also had a vaginal ultrasound (that hurt with the endo! She was prodding me hard and I said Im sensitive, she couldnt understand why?? I said I got endometriosis and she still thought I was making a fuss!) Well she said I have a 2.7cm endometrial cyst on my left ovary and the appearance of polycystic appearance on both ovaries. Both ovaries are enlarged too. My endo surgeon told me that too and I said impossible! I get regular periods. He said ok but you do have the appearance of PCOS nevertheless.
My bloods were all normal and my testosterone was 2.8 (upper limit 2.6) My free testosterone was normal. My LH FSH Thyroid was all normal. Can someone please explain to me why I am not getting periods. I am not pregnant because I chart my temperatures and I didnt ovulate for 3 months so far.
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Post by ouchy on Mar 28, 2007 11:46:25 GMT -5
What day of your cycle did you have your hormone tests done on? The polycysts and not having your period go hand-in-hand, and you may find that you actually will wind up with anovulatory bleeding in the end, instead of a real period. The cysts are usually caused by the messed up LH:FSH ratio, though. That's why I'm wondering what day of your cycle you had the tests done. They're supposed to be done on day 3 of your cycle (3 days after the start of your period).
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misa
Junior Member
Posts: 57
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Post by misa on Mar 29, 2007 7:42:09 GMT -5
I had it done on cycle day 3 before and now it was before ovulation, cycle day 20 or something, but as I wasnt getting a period my Dr wanted to test me as soon as possible. Even when I was getting periods I was ovulating day 19 for 5 months. That is late. Then it moved to day 24, for 3 months, then I took the morning after pill and my period went awol. I think I may have ovulated yesterday as my temperatures today are above the coverline but I cant tell as yet. I have to wait for them to stay above the coverline. I must ask my dr why my LH FSH levels are normal, yet I got PCOS. I think I asked her before and she said all your bloods may be normal but you can still have PCOS. Its the symptoms that define PCOS and not the blood tests. I think she did mention that a slight elivation in testosterone is enough to throw ovulation off and cause multiple cysts, even though all the other blood hormone levels may be fine. I think this may be happening in my case. ANy input?
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Post by ouchy on Mar 30, 2007 9:13:58 GMT -5
First, day 19 for ovulation isn't extremely late. I used to ovulate day 40-something. You can have PCOS and have normal FSH and LH. Because it is a syndrome, not everyone will have the same characteristics. Usually with ovarian cysts, though, the FSH and LH will be out of ratio. Testosterone can mess stuf up for sure, though. Did she also check your tyroid and prolactin hormones? Usually, the elevated testosterone is what grows excess body hair in PCOS. I'm not sure about testosterone causing polycysts. Don't know much about that, but I do know that it is responsible for excess body hair.
The month you had the LH/FSH tested, is that the month you had the polycysts? Not all women get/have polycysts each month.
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misa
Junior Member
Posts: 57
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Post by misa on Mar 30, 2007 9:34:38 GMT -5
Hey Ouchy, thank you for your insight. It really helps to have someone who knows help me! Well my prolactin, thyroid were all normal. Also my thyroid stimulating hormone was normal. The only thing that was abnormal was total testosterone. Sex Hormone Binding Globulin was normal too and so was free testosterone. When I get my period I will get my blood done on day 3. I have an extra blood form. So PCOS isnt diagnosed by cysts, its the symptoms, you can no cysts and have pcos, with normal FSH / LH levels. When you got cysts thats when LH / FSH mess up? I thought anovulation cause cysts, and excess testosterone can cause anovulation. Phew confusing!
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Post by ouchy on Mar 30, 2007 9:40:22 GMT -5
Actually, I know LH:FSH can cause both PCOS-type cysts and anovulation. Anovulation itself doesn't cause cysts. In fact, one of the treatments for cysts is the birth control pill, which makes you have anovulation. I really have no idea about testosterone and anovulation. PCOS is a combination of symptoms and bloodwork. It's not one single thing. I've actually never had polycysts, just a cyst that keeps growing and growing and growing due to messed up LH:FSH ratio. Crap. I have to go to work now! Talk to you later!
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misa
Junior Member
Posts: 57
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Post by misa on Mar 30, 2007 11:12:17 GMT -5
Have a good day!
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Post by angelicadawn on Apr 11, 2007 22:38:10 GMT -5
I am new here and have been diag with both Endo and PCOS both classic cases...it only took the docs 9 years to put it all together. I am having laperscopy for the endo and ovarian drilling for the PCOS to poss help out with conception (we've been trying for 3 years and not preventing for 6) Has anyone else been through this operation and could tell me what the real recovery is and what I should expect, apparently the endo is pretty bad and the PCOS has caused my ovaries to be 4 times the normal size. I am very Hyperglycemic and did not respond to metformin and sipralatin. Losing weight is a up hill battle and I seem to keep gaining and nothing helps. Birth control makes most of my friends disappear and my husband hide, due to hormones, not to mention I have heavier and more painful periods while I am on the pill and I am trying to get pregnant. My immune system is crap, if anyone around me has any type of illness that is contagious I will get it with in the next 72 hours. Does anyone else have this problem with their immune system? Another thing, does anyone else get shoulder pain while they are cramping or working out? I would love any and all advise of what has helped with others.
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misa
Junior Member
Posts: 57
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Post by misa on Apr 13, 2007 18:09:13 GMT -5
Supplements supplements supplements!
I swear by them! For your endo you should take fish oil (not cod liver oil) around 2000mg a day atleast, this will lesten the pain. Vitamin B complex to filter out the excess estrogens. Vitamin C to help Immune system function and also calm inflammation. Magnesium and calcium to calm uterus, help hormone balance, lighten up heavy periods and excessive bleeding and clots. (Vitamins mentioned will all do this, as well as drastically cut endo pain) Zinc for inflamation and also to minimise ovarian cysts, and to boost immune system. I am following a low glycemic diet to see if it helps me ovulate more regularly. Do you get ovulations?
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misa
Junior Member
Posts: 57
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Post by misa on Apr 13, 2007 18:11:02 GMT -5
Right in addition for pain relief and possibly to help fertility I really would try acupuncture. It has helped me LOTS.
A sign of PMS is a key sign of nutritional deficiency and PMS can be cut to half or more with these supplements. PMS is common in endo sufferes I believe.
HTH xxx
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Post by ouchy on Apr 13, 2007 19:07:42 GMT -5
Taking supplements can lead to deficiencies in other minerals/vitamins. Vitamin C supplements are also not to when you're trying to conceive. You can't really overdose on vitamins/minerals or cause something to throw something else off if you're getting your vitamins/minerals through a healthy diet.
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Post by ouchy on Apr 13, 2007 23:22:50 GMT -5
I think it's probably best to get a workup to find out if you're actually deficient in anything before overloading w/ supplements (and I say overloading bc the amount contained in supplements is WAYYYY more than what you would get from the real thing in food). Especially for something like PCOS, which is greatly influenced by anything that can trip-up hormones. Just my thoughts.
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Post by ouchy on Apr 13, 2007 23:33:22 GMT -5
Here is a pretty good write-up I found on vitamin tests, what they test, and what the measurements are. __________________________________________________________
Vitamin tests
Definition
Vitamin tests measure the levels of certain vitamins in an individual's blood. They are generally used to aid in the diagnosis of vitamin deficiencies or in detecting toxic amounts of a vitamin in a patient's system.
Purpose
Vitamins are components of food that are needed for growth, reproduction, and maintaining good health. The vitamins include vitamin D, vitamin E, vitamin A, and vitamin K, which are the fat-soluble vitamins, and folate, vitamin B12, biotin, vitamin B6, niacin, thiamin, riboflavin, pantothenic acid, and ascorbic acid, which are the water-soluble vitamins. Vitamins are required in the diet in only tiny amounts, in contrast to the energy components of the diet, such as sugars, starches, and fats. However, not receiving sufficient quantities of a certain vitamin can be devastating, resulting in vitamin deficiency diseases such as scurvy, pellagra, or rickets. Conversely, consuming too much of a certain vitamin can be toxic to a person's system. Vitamin tests are used to assess the level of certain vitamins in an individual's blood so that doctors can more accurately diagnose vitamin deficiency diseases or vitamin overdoses and devise effective therapy. The vitamins that are most commonly measured by doctors are folate, vitamin B12, vitamin K, vitamin D, and vitamin A.
Description
Most of the vitamin tests are conducted by acquiring a sample of blood, and then preparing plasma or serum from the blood sample. Each vitamin occurs at extremely small concentrations when compared to levels of most other molecules in the blood. Blood contains a great number of chemicals and molecules, and many of these tend to interfere with the vitamin tests. For this reason, a procedure that separates the vitamin from contaminating substances is usually performed immediately prior to conducting the actual test. Most laboratories use high pressure liquid chromatography (HPLC), also called high performance liquid chromatography, as this purification step. In HPLC, the sample is pumped at high pressure through a tube lined with an absorbent material, to which the different molecules cling at different rates. Following separation or purification by HPLC, the vitamin is detected by a color reaction or fluorescence reaction. In these reactions, the amount of color or fluorescence that is formed is proportional to the amount of vitamin in the sample, allowing the analyst to calculate the amount of vitamin present in the original sample. In the case of some vitamins, the purified vitamin is reacted with a special chemical (reagent) prior to detection.
Levels of some vitamins may be measured indirectly by a biological test that mimics the actual function of the vitamin in the body. Riboflavin status is often measured by a test in which the rate by which a certain enzyme converts one molecule into another indicates how much Vitamin B2 is present in a person's blood. Vitamin K is often measured by a test that times how long it takes for a spontaneous blood clot to form in a prepared sample. Vitamin E status is often measured by placing the red blood cells in a test tube, adding hydrogen peroxide, and assessing the resulting breakdown of the red blood cells. When a vitamin E deficiency exists, the red blood cells have a greater tendency to break.
Preparation
Most vitamin tests require no preparation; however, some may require that the patient fast for at least eight hours before giving a blood sample, or stop using some medications.
Normal results
The values that are considered to be normal for each vitamin can vary slightly. This variability can arise from different testing machines or from different types of chemistry that are used in conducting the vitamin assays. In interpreting data on plasma vitamin levels, it should also be noted that different normal ranges may exist for different age groups and genders. For example, the normal range for plasma vitamin B6 for males is 7-52 nanograms per milliliter (ng/mL) for males and 2-26 ng/mL for females.
The normal ranges for levels of certain vitamins are as follows. Please note that, by convention, the units referring to the levels of each of the vitamins may differ from each other. The units picogram/milliliter (pg/mL), nanogram/milliliter (ng/mL), and micrograms per deciliter (micrograms/dL) refer to the weight of vitamin in the specified volume. The units nanomoles/liter (nmol/L) and micromoles/liter (M/L) refer to the concentration of vitamin in the specified volume.
folate (folic acid): 3.1-18.0 ng/mL
vitamin B12: 200-1100 pg/mL
thiamin: 9-44 nmol/L
riboflavin: 6.2-39 nmol/L
vitamin B6: 7-52 ng/mL
vitamin C (asorbic acid): 28-84 M/L
vitamin A: 28-94 micrograms/dL
vitamin D (25-hydroxy-vitamin D): 25-50 ng/mL
vitamin K: 80-1160 pg/mL
Abnormal results
In all cases, abnormal results fall below or above the normal concentration range. However, as noted above, values that are considered to be borderline or severely abnormal can differ according to the discretion of the medical laboratory or physician.
Resources
Books Brody, Tom. Nutritional Biochemistry. San Diego: Academic Press, 1998.
Source: Gale Encyclopedia of Medicine, Published December, 2002 by the Gale Group
The Essay Author is Tom Brody, PhD.
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misa
Junior Member
Posts: 57
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Post by misa on Apr 16, 2007 10:17:35 GMT -5
Very true, vitamins can cause deficiency in others and it is like opening a can of worms. I had been on the pill for 7 years and had my vitamins tested, I was deficient in zinc, too much copper in my blood, deficient of vitamin B and essential fatty acids. When I added all of these to my range my period pain went down around 70% and my depression/mood issues lifted (severe mental disturbance and anxiety/depression caused by pill) Also do not get ill anymore, whereas Id catch any bug from anyone I came into contact with. Also do not get constant UTIs anymore. Being at balance really does help.
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Post by ouchy on May 16, 2007 13:49:42 GMT -5
Anyone doing anything different to treat their PCOS? I'm about 90% back on the insulin resistance diet now.
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