Well after insisting that i think i have PCOS, my doc ordered up tests but i don't think they were the full monty of tests, i have normal fasting glucose, my hormones are supposedly all normal altho i didn't ask to see them or the reference range, cholesterol is high but its always been. so how can i explain the symptoms=ungodly weight gain and impossible to lose, hair loss, adult onset acne, skin tags, periods as teenager until i got on the pill were extremely erratic. i have a naturopath that is willing to put me on Met to see if it can help me with the weight. I've tried to wade through the oodles of information here before posting but can someone still have PCOS and have normal blood work? PCOS is insulin resistance related, right? Well does insulin-resistance always show up on bloodwork? Wonder if i should just go to my naturopath and pursue Met? But she said something that just blew me away, esp. specializing in women's health. She said PCOS is rare in the 8 yrs she's been practicing only seen a handful and it is hard to treat and most people don't try to treat and just live with it but she said Met is reasonable for me to try to lose weight since its extremely difficult for me. I KNOW she is wrong about PCOS, apparently it is the #1 gynecological problem among women (?) Argh
Well I am a living testament to a PCOS woman with normal b/w and I am not IR. I am also not overweight. HOWEVER, your b/w can be at the high end of normal to qualify you for PCOS. Have you had u/s? The other 2 components of diagnosing it are the antral (sp) follicles or string of pearls and the lack of a cycle. I too had an ob/gyn disagree with my diagnosis (which was given by a RE). He wouldn't treat me as such so I had to move on to a dr that knew what they were talking about.
I have classic PCOS ovaries. No doubt about it. As for met, it depends on your dr. My RE doesn't feel it would work for me yet others swear by it. I tried it once upon and time and didn't like the SE. I respond to clomid (slowly) and to inj (just have to catch the darn egg). It is one of the most commonly misdiagnosed problems for women.
I had read that fasting insulin levels are a better indicator of IR than fasting glucose levels. My fasting insulin levels, while normal, showed slight insulin resistance while my fasting glucose were great. From what I've read, that's because insulin resistance in PCOSers is a subtle thing--even though labs may be coming back "normal", they might be off just enough for your body to be making things go haywire. That's why I think it's important to see a hormone specialist. My initial labs all came back "normal" too, so my doc referred me to an endo and she diagnosed me on my symptoms, even though my labs were mostly within normal limits.
bloodwork normal, now what? 
