What is the criteria for PCOS diagnosis?

Question

New to PCOS. Can 1 ovarian cyst be classified as PCOS much less produce symptoms of PCOS? How are cases like this treated especially to restore normal ovulation/menstruation?

Are there alternatives to medication, such as draining of the cysts. Will this method effectively restore normal ovarian function?

Answer 1

Cysts can be a symptom of PCOS if the cysts are small and look like a string of pearls.

There is a way to deal with the cysts (which are immature follicles that when they are matured as they should come up once a month to allow us to have our periods) that is called ovarian drilling but that doesn't take care of the full problem with PCOS because PCOS is caused by high testosterone levels. Also, with ovarian drilling there can be a lot of scar tissue afterward and is not always guaranteed to work (almost had this done for myself 10 years ago). Also, the doctor that I had at the time told me that even if he did the surgery there's no guarantee that it would have helped regulate my periods.

There are medications such as the pill (because in women with PCOS the estrogen levels are usually very low) and an anti-androgen (medication to lower testosterone levels) called Aldactone which can help deal with water retention that occurs because of the high testosterone levels.

Some women with PCOS also get Insulin Resistance wich is one step below full-blown Diabetes so they may take a medication called Glucophage and also go on a low carb diet.

There are alternative ways to deal with PCOS. To find out more about them please check out the messageboards at: http://www.pcosupport.org

On another section of the site they have an e-mail list called PCOSNatural or something similar where you can find out the alternative treatments some women are using for their PCOS.

To rule PCOS in the doctors have to run a series of blood tests such as for Cushings' Syndrome (another hormone imbalance that has symptoms similar to PCOS) and check for other things. After those tests come back normal they can then diagnose the patient with PCOS.