Is there anything similar to a Cybiko?

Question for those with PCOS or anything with similar symptoms?

• I recently saw the dr to discuss my symptoms and had some blood work done. I wasn't hoping to have PCOS, but hoped that at least the lab results would point us in the right direction. She tested all my hormone levels (testosterone, thyroid, etc.) and had me do a fasting glucose test. I just got all my results back and everything was completely normal. Even my blood sugar! Normally I would be thrilled, but something is very wrong with me and with these normal results, we're back to square one. I do still have the ultra sound to do next week and then I meet with her again. I have a history of cysts rupturing, so we'll see what that holds. So, my question is this, have any of you been diagnosed with pcos, even though lab results were normal or do any of you have another condition that has these similar symptoms? Symptoms ~Absence of periods (cycles range from 4-6 months) ~Extreme weight gain. (more than 50 lbs in this last year. That includes 3 months when I made a huge effort to eat very healthy and was at the gym 1hour 5-6 days a week - still gained! I even gained weight when I couldn't eat for a week due to an allergic reaction to medication. Literally, my diet consisted of chicken broth and water and I gained 4 lbs in that 1 week.) ~Facial and body hair (I am growing actual whiskers like a man, I have to shave my face at least once a week and and now starting to grow hair on my belly and back) ~Problems with sugar. (a half a glass of sweet tea, pop, koolaid - anything - will have me visibly shaking, jittery, weak, light headed and dizzy with in 10 minutes. Even the glucose test did this to me) ~my acne is worse than it was as a teen ~I have a good deal of pelvic pain, even when not cramping, I'm always extremely tender (to the point that it effects my sex life) ~My blood pressure is also now beginning to skyrocket. I've never had it this high before Regardless of what I eat or how often I exercise, these symptoms continue to get worse. And if all my levels are normal, then what could be causing these things (namely the weight gain, facial/body hair and problems with anything sugary) Please help!

• Answer:

  Hi, I have PCOS but I do not have all the symptoms. I had irregular periods, every 3-5 months (once it got to as much as 7) and I went from weighing 145 pounds to 225 in about two years, even though I had been on a really strict diet and was a gym freak for about a year and a half into it. Like you, I've gotten tested for everything possible, thyroid, glucose, cortisol, etc etc etc etc etc and after doctor's disapproving looks of me being "fat" and "not putting enough effort into the gym" and hundreds of dollars of medical bills later I finally found the gyno who is helping me. She did an ultrasound, but not the standard one pregnant women get. It's trans-vaginal, which means they stick a, sorry for being vulgar, phallic looking thing up your vagina and there is a sensor at the tip which allows a much clearer picture of your ovaries. Sure enough, mine we full of cysts, hence, poly cystic ovarian syndrome. You normally cannot tell with a standard ultrasound. According to the gyno, the cysts are basically the eggs that never made it out of your ovaries. Our ovaries are supposed to let out an egg every month after it has matured, but in this case, they never fully mature, and never emerge and you do not ovulate, hence, you never get your period. Your sugar problems may be due to the fact that you do not metabolize insulin correctly- which is yet another symptom. They say there is no "cure" for PCOS but there is management. I'm currently on Metformin ( a medicine that is normally given to diabetics, but one that PCOS patients get to regulate their insulin management) and birth control (to regulate my period). I have been getting my period every month now, and I have lost a few pounds. I am not satisfied yet, but I am glad that I at least stopped gaining weight. I'm only 19..and this has prevented me from having a normal teenage experience (in terms of relationships) and has left me quite bitter, but yet optimistic at the same time. Best of luck.