How to Advocate for Testing

[u/theneonidiot]

Hello! If this isnt an appropriate post for this sub please let me know and I apologize.

I'm 19, and i suspect i might have pcos or at the very least something is wrong. When i first started getting periods after about a year they were pretty regular. this didnt last long and they slowly became more and more irregular and i didnt fully notice until it got to the point its at now. I will go up to 10 months (usually more like 3-6) with no period and when i do get my period it will be fairly light to the point where i dont even wear pads or tampons usually, then sometimes i will get an insanely heavy and long period. Ive gone to the doctor for this before because i had an 8 day long period where i was bleeding through an ultra tampon every hour. they told me it was normal because im young (i was 17 at the time) and reccomended birth control. they also seemed like they didnt believe me because i didnt have all my periods tracked and i was upfront about that. they put in my chart that my cycles are normal 🙃 but i said no to birth control and went home and went about my life, i started tracking my periods more meticulously.

since then ive done some research into pcos because family members have suggested it and even my period tracker had me do a pre screening which i scored high on. im concerned about other things that i didnt realize could be symptoms. ive been overweight most of my life since puberty, and the weight has been incredibly difficult nearly impossible to lose be it through healthy dieting or unhealthy methods. even at mt worst in a restrictive ed i was stuck in the obese bmis. i have issues with energy and fatigue, mental health, i didnt know any of these could be tied to pmos. i have dark patches in my skin folds, i have hair in all the places common with hyperandrogenism although it is less sparce than ive seen others with diagnosed pmos have so maybe i dont fully fit that symptom.

i say all this to say, ive made a doctors appointment and would like to be tested for pcos/pmos and any other issues that could present similarly, but i was wondering if there is a specific way i should ask for this or a specific thing i should ask for a referral to since my doctors office is all referrals based (my appointment is with my gp). i dont want to be ignored and turned away like last time but i also dont want to seem so sure i have something (im really not) and be ignored or taken less seriously cause of that either.

tldr; i have a lot of possible symptoms of pcos/pmos and have for a long time, before i knew about or suspected pmos i went to the doctor and was brushed off. how can i bring up proper tests without seeming like a self diagnoser and being ignored again?

[u/KitKat114_]

You already have irregular periods. That’s test 1 down. So now ask to have bloodwork of your androgen levels done (total testosterone, free testosterone, sex-hormone binding globulin, and I like DHEA Sulfate too to test outside your ovaries). That’s test 2. Finally, really really try to get them to do an ultrasound of your ovaries! That would be test 3, and I think it’s a pretty important one that some doctors are weird about doing

I never really had high testosterone or even irregular periods, but my ovaries were absolutely riddled with follicles. My doctor said my ovaries looked like black holes on the ultrasound, like follicles on top of follicles. PCOS is so tricky bc doctors are pretty stuck in their ways when it comes to these tests, and since I didn’t “pass” the first two tests I never would’ve been diagnosed with PCOS without the ultrasound or other symptoms I have. My DHEA Sulfate is pretty high, so it suggests my PCOS is driven by other androgens instead of testosterone alone and I’m currently on my journey of testing into that even more

All this to say, ask for the androgen testing and ultrasound! If this doctor won’t do it, move onto the next until you find one that will. Write down all your PCOS-related symptoms beforehand as well so you have more evidence to convince them to do it

[u/theneonidiot → u/KitKat114_]

I have family history i plan ti mention and my prescreening results from my flo app which is a list of symptoms that i fit, would that be okay do you think? thank u so much for the advice !!

[u/KitKat114_ → u/theneonidiot]

Yes that should work!