83: Understanding your PCOS diagnosis and making sure it’s been done correctly

The PCOS Nutritionist Podcast

When were you diagnosed with PCOS? Was it a few months ago? A couple of years ago? Two decades ago? Regardless of your age when you were diagnosed with PCOS, the whole situation was probably all a bit confusing.

Questions, blood tests, maybe ultrasounds, explaining your symptoms a million times, hearing ‘mild’ or ‘severe’ PCOS thrown around, you hear ‘string of pearls’ being said but when it comes down to it, your doctor just tells you go on the Pill, lose weight (if they deem you overweight) and come back when you want to get pregnant. And then they kind of just leave you to it.

Uhhh what?! Yeah I know how you feel. I was just as lost when I got diagnosed but I don’t want you to be!

Getting a PCOS diagnosis should be a diagnosis of exclusion. This means that other possible causes for your symptoms have been ruled out. Then you should be diagnosed against the Rotterdam Criteria (of which you need at least 2 out of 3 of the hallmarks of PCOS). I’ve seen more and more women pop up in my emails and DMs saying they think they have PCOS but they aren’t sure how to go about getting diagnosed as well as women who don’t really understand their diagnosis and some who feel they don’t fit it all together.

In this episode of the podcast, my lovely colleague Sophia and I chat all about getting diagnosed with PCOS. We cover everything from understanding the difference between PCOS and polycystic ovaries, what’s considered excess body hair, how to ask your doctor to test you, what mild PCOS means, if you can have two root causes or if your root cause can change, the ‘string of pearls’ analogy and so much more! Regardless of if you’ve been diagnosed or not and where you are on your journey, this episode is a super important one to listen to.

This episode is for you if:

• You’ve just been diagnosed with PCOS
• Your doctor has told you that you have ‘mild’ PCOS
• The PCOS diagnosis you’ve been given doesn’t quite fit your symptoms
• You suspect you may have PCOS
• You don’t know your PCOS type
• PCOS types confuse you and you feel like you have all of them

Some things we cover in this episode:

• The Rotterdam Criteria
• What ‘mild’ PCOS means
• How to ask your doctor to check for PCOS
• Understanding your root cause and if you can have more than one
• What your doctor / ultrasound tech means when they say ‘string of pearls’
• Hypothalamic Amenorrhea
• Non-congenital adrenal hyperplasia (NCAH)
• Hypothyroidism
• The problem with the medical community and its hierarchy

Resources and References:

• 50: Could your thyroid function be contributing to your PCOS symptoms?
• 57: Why PCOS may not be the only thing causing your missing periods – and how to get your periods back
• Do you actually have NCAH and not PCOS?
• My Book: Getting Pregnant with PCOS

Links to our programs:

• The PCOS Protocol
• 1:1 consults with Clare
• Eggducated