Sep
19
The Results Are In…
I do not meet with The Special Gyn until Friday, but I couldn’t wait anymore and called the clinic this morning. The nurse I spoke to chirped “Everything looks Normal!” and would have ended the conversation there if I had not asked, though clenched and grinding teeth, for the Actual Numbers, rather than a breezy and vague assessment. So she read them to me, and, correct me if I’m wrong, but They Do Not Either Look “Normal.”
{I have been off the progestin-only pills since last cycle in preparation for these tests, so no effect on the results from those.}
On Day 5:
FSH: 4.5
LH: 9.4
TSH 2.12
DHEAS: 246
Prolactin: 9.1
17 OHP(hydroxyprogesterone): 88
Fasting Glucose: 80
Fasting Insulin: 15.4
So, fellow graduates of Google U…what’s your diagnosis?
3 Comments
All standard medical disclaimers about how my only medical degree is from Google (and loads of other research).
Your TSH, Prolactin, and DHEAS all seem to be within normal ranges (’normal ranges’ pulled from fertilityplus.org). Your 17 OHP looks a tad high, but still reads as within normal ranges (esp since the ranges are published for CD3 and you were CD5) - I don’t know as much about this one to know what’s significant. Your FSH and LH are okay on their own, but the LH is nearly double the FSH which is common in PCOS (not definitive, but it warrants further attention). Your fasting glucose/insulin ratio is okay (I’ve been told that gluc divided by insulin should be greater than 4.5, and yours is 5.2). However, the insulin is a bit high on it’s own (not enough to trip the lab’s ranges, but enough to notice). Also, they didn’t run testosterone? If the special GYN is going to investigate the possibility of PCOS, she should do a transvaginal ultrasound to look at your ovaries and I’d have expected her to run testosterone (both total and free).
Before your next appointment with the gyn, you might want to browse the quiz and PCOS 101 sections at PCOSupport.org (the site doesn’t look so great these days, but there might be some useful information). Also, the hypoglycemia thing could easily be linked to possible insulin resistance - one of the symptoms of IR is blood sugar swings. I don’t know enough about the endo to know if any of these tests tell you anything useful on that front.
Hope some of this is helpful…
I’m not much of a Google grad, but I wanted to share your frustration with the nurse who gleefully chirps “Looks great!” and then crabbily reads the numbers to you. It happened to me, and I was like, uh, no. Then she was all pissy, until she had to call back an hour later and tell me I either had PCOS or a pituitary tumor.
Anyway, the only one I know for sure is that your prolactin is totally normal. And your TSH is awesome. Good luck to you–
Wow - Cass ROCKS! I know nothing about the PCOS and thyroid indicators, but your FSH and prolactin are great.
I agree with Cass that it’s worth asking for a testosterone and transvag u/s to take a look at the PCOS issue.