PCOS and meeeee

I feel kind of weird about the whole thing to be honest. I look around the community and I see very concerned, nervous, anxious...even frightened women (and understandably so! I can't imagine how I would have felt if this diagnosis caught me off guard). I feel slightly odd...because I know that if I heard the word "cancer" I'd probably freak...but hearing "PCOS" doesn't phase me THAT much. I'm so used to the idea the diagnosis basically was just an official confirmation of what I thought was going on for a while now.

Ever since I was a teen I been having very irregular periods. It wasn't until I had a 6-month stretch of no bleeding that I went to see a gyno. She pointed to some coarse hair around my navel and suggested I had a higher level of testosterone than most women. I had bled about 2 weeks before the visit. I ended up being treated for yeast infection...and that was it. For years I just lived with it blaming it on my hormones that I thought could only be fixed with BC...and to be honest I'd rather live with my periods than go on the pill.

Being a non-sexually active teen/young 20-something, I didn't really feel the need to see a gyno again until my marriage. While in college I came across a woman with PCOS on another message board I frequent and she rattled off a number of symptoms including irregular periods and higher level of testosterone. I began to suspect that this was the cause of my reproductive issues.

My NEW gyno considered my symptoms more seriously and had me go through a variety of blood tests. Most of the hormones came back within normal range...except for one while seemed a little high. He was no longer sure about PCOS (I was shocked! I was so sure of it!) but he sent me to a fertility clinic to meet with an endocrinologist that could check and make sure I didn't have any tumors.

Well the ultrasound confirmed it. I've got about 20 eggs/cysts in each ovary just loafing around and not being released. I made a little bit of an immature ass of myself on the table. "Heeeeey! Look at them all just hanging out over there!" You'd think I was 4-years old and had never seen an ultrasound before...

But the truth is that I was excited...very excited. There was an explanation behind what was messing me up. It had a name. It could be treated (which I know does not mean "cure"). My case apparently is not even that severe. I am ovulating...occasionally, which is a good sign. I could actually try and do something about this. That knowledge alone was enough to have me smiling the entire day.

I also felt seriously vindicated.

Assuming the testing shows I have insulin resistance, we're going to try metformin first. In spite of the fact my husband and I are not TTC right now (and won't be for about 3 years so we have time), we're going to try and get me to consistently ovulate. Thanks to classes we took in fertility awareness, I know enough about my cycles to not be comfortable using BC to have regular periods but not regular ovulation.

Just when I needed a kick in the pants to change my dietary habits as well.