I'm Tor and i am 24 and i was diagnosed with PCOS 3years ago.
Whilst snooping around i read some of your posts from all of the fellow cysters across the pond.
another uk girl, lovely. welcome to sc from one uk girl to another there is a link to the newbie roadmap in my siggie for you .
i think that usa treatments are slightly different than here in the uk. We seem to be miles behind, somehow do you have any meds? i have the ones in my siggie.
eva
Having lived on both sides of the pond, I think that the US medical service is more consumer driven. They are much more willing to give you the lastest treatment because, if they don't, you can just go to someone else... or get a lawyer.
You also need to have insurance or sufficent means to pay for your medical care yourself. Most employers offer health insurance, and there is usually an excess to pay, and sometimes a co-pay for some types of medical care. The good thing is that you don't have to wait months for treatment.
Most people who aren't employed will not have health insurance because it's too expensive, nor will they be able to afford the cost of medical care without insurance. Even with insurance sometimes there are treatments that are not covered which you would have to pay for yourself.
There isn't a fixed price for prescriptions either, and it's not uncommon for a prescription to cost $50 or more for a month. Insurance doesn't always cover the cost of medication. They may not pay at all, or they have a co-pay on prescriptions.
It is easier in the UK because you don't have to deal with difficult insurers, excess payments, or pay for expensive prescriptions, but it's also frustrating because I find that doctors here often offer the cheapest treatment first even if it's not the most suitable. And then there's the waiting list to get on the waiting list. I don't always have enough of a sense of humour for that.
I find it very interesting! The treatment i have recived has been way below acceptable! my doctor wont let me try and new meds as she thinks i havent give Met a reasonable chance! now... i personaly think i have, i was on it for 2 months and for the entire time i was on it i had a very poorly tummy ( if you catch my drift ) and now i think taking me off that would have been a good idea! she didnt! so i took myself off them and i am now waiting for another place to open up in another doctors.
I am thinking of going private!
I had similar problems... I was with a GP who must be on a personal mission to save NHS funds by trying to convince patients that they didn't need any treatment for anything.
I would suggest you ask for a referral to an endocrinologist, or change to another doctor in the same surgery. I did both and have had far better care since then. The first thing I did was ask to be given the extended release version of Met because it is so much easier to take.
You can see anyone GP, not only the one you've been assigned to by the surgery, and you don't have to give them a real reason for changing. I just told them that I felt I couldn't communicate as well with the GP they'd given me as I could with others that I'd had in the past. They couldn't really argue with that so they let me choose a new GP.
There is a special clinic for diabetics at St Georges in Tooting, South West London that I was referred to on the grounds of my PCOS. They monitored me while I was on Metformin for two years and despite the nasty side effects - bad tummy etc - never going away, they insisted I continue with it. In the end I took myself off it and the doctor has shown no interest since. My doctor just put me on Dianette and as far as they concerned, that's it sorted. It can be really frustrating!!
Having just started on Insulite, I'm going to take the booklet along to my doctors appointment on Wednesday and see if they will take blood tests in a couple of months to compare to ones I've just had done to see if it will make a difference.
I wonder if it is lack of knowledge or lack of interest? Has anyone in the UK had a good experience with their doctor?
With some it's lack of interest, some are so burned out that they just don't care, some think that if you're overweight it's all your own fault, and sometimes you end up with someone you just can't communicate with effectively. It could be anything that makes for a bad fit with a GP. I've moved house several times and as a result changed GPs several times.
I usually try a few GPs in a surgery before I settle on the one that's most suitable. The ability to listen is the top of the qualifying criteria list.
I've just changed surgeries again after moving to a new area in the same town and got lucky with the first try. I found, to my obvious shock, a GP that was not only aware of PCOS but capable of conversing on the subject at a very high level --including several interesting tangents -- he'd even done his own studies on medications and supplements.
I was fortunate enough to have the last appointment of the day so he and I spent an hour talking about the role of genetics in the development in PCOS, the possibility of a male form of PCOS, epigenetics, neurolinguistic programming and the ability of the mind to influence the body, the merits of finasteride versus saw palmetto, chromium deficiency and glucose metabolism, whether or not a person's handwriting could show signs of illness before a clinical diagnosis... it was a thoroughly enjoyable conversation that changed the way I think on several levels.
And then it was time to close the surgery so that the staff could go home for the evening.
I'm convinced that there are some very good GPs out there, some of whom also understand PCOS.
American treatment Vs Treatment in the UK 
there is a link to the newbie roadmap in my siggie for you .
do you have any meds? i have the ones in my siggie.
