The gynecologist suggested that LuLu may have polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS). She was making this observation due to her elevated testosterone and other clues in her hormone test results from this summer. She ordered more tests to either confirm or deny this hypothesis.

Meanwhile, she sent me home to research PCOS. Didn’t she know I would have anyway? And then, of course, I’d share it with you. PCOS is a hormone imbalance. The main symptoms are irregular periods (too few or too many), weight gain, facial hair, and acne. One of the main hormone “clues” is high testosterone.

In our case, LuLu doesn’t have many of the symptoms of PCOS –only very frequent periods. She is developing acne, but not facial hair. But her blood tests are showing otherwise.

So, the gynecologist recommended that we go back on the first line of defense for managing PCOS, birth control pills. After all, we do want her periods stopped for psychological reasons as well. The doctor also said that PCOS is a bit of a misnomer, because many times young women who have PCOS do not have cysts on their ovaries, but instead of the hormonal clues that there’s an imbalance.

Because PCOS is truly a syndrome, it’s a life-long condition. It can be treated and managed, but not cured. The doctor said it has a genetic component and that there may be some relationship between this, LuLu’s thyroid testing and some underlying autoimmune disorder. It’s all very interesting…and very confusing.

PCOS can be serious stuff, because it can effect your insulin production, and many women with PCOS become diabetic. It also allows your cholesterol levels to rise and puts you at greater risk for heart disease. All in all, if you have PCOS, you should treat it and be under the care of a good endocrinologist or gynecologist.

So, we’re headed to the endocrinologist next, once all the blood work is back, to look at both her potential PCOS and that pesky thyroid that keeps testing abnormally.

What happens next is anybody’s guess. But it does give me a whole new focus for research – into the relationship between hormones and neurological disorders. (It’s good because I was getting bored with the gazillion disorders LuLu had already been diagnosed with).

Meanwhile, it’s back on the birth control pills…on a wing and a prayer. We’ll see what happens next.

Here are two very good websites about PCOS:



Boston Children’s Hospital Youth Women’s Health website.


INCIID’s FAQs on PCOS.