Blood Test Results Back - HELP!

[JoeyJoJo]

I suspected after reading a lot on here that I have PCOS and so I had blood tests on Friday (3 tubes of blood were taken for 3 tests I believe)

I also on the 20th have a scan at the hospital.

Ive rang the doctors and 2 of the 3 tests are ok but one of them the doctor needs to speak to me about and Ive got a telephone appointment on Monday.

The test that the doctor wants to speak to me about is to do with 'Serum LH and Serum SSH Levels' the receptionist said.

Looking online it looks like its to do with hormone levels and stuff :-(

Does anyone know what this means? Im all nervous now that the doctor wants to talk to me about it.

Any help/advice appreciated X

 

[JoeyJoJo]

I guess no one knows what those levels mean! :-S

 

[LornaGrace]

Sorry I have no idea on this, but wanted to wish you good luck! hope everything turns out to be ok. x

 

[JoeyJoJo]

Thanks lorna - much appreciated X

 

[*jenjen*]

Hey, I'm sorry, I've never been told what all the tests are, other than my testosterone levels were high - I find the doctors don't go into great detail.

I hope you get answers and understand better and everything goes well when you get to speak to the doc.

 

[Lexie_dog]

The serum LH - Is the amount of leutenising Hormone in your blood. LH is the hormone responsible for ovulation, when it surges you ovulate. People with PCOS however have a high LH level in th early part of the menstrual cycle, but conversely do not always ovulate. LH is also responsible for preparing the egg for implantation and maintaing the corpeus luteum which is the ovarian function responsible for maintaining progesterone production, until Human Gonadotrophic Hormone secretion starts and tells the CL to keep producing progesterone thus maintaining the pregnancy.

SSH? I don't know what SSH is, FSH and TSH are the other two usually checked for PCOS.

FSH - Follicle Stimulating Hormone, they look at the ratio of FSH to LH to help with a PCOS diagnosis but not all Dr's do this and some may just look at the FSH as a stand alone level.

TSH - Thyroid Stimulating Hormone is also checked as women with PCOS have a higer incidence of hypothyroidism, although sometimes hypothyroidism and PCOS have similar symptoms, so the symptoms that as first present as PCOS may be hypothyroid.

Hope this helps some, and please let me know what SSH is - I'm not sure what it is in relation to PCOS.

Good luck

 

[JoeyJoJo]

Hiya,

Spoken to the doctor this morning - dont think it was SSH lol I think the receptionist must have meant fsh haha

Seems like Im not ovulating though basically.

Got my scan on 20th to see if there are any cysts on my ovaries

Doc said when I do want to get pregnant I'll need to go to a Gaenacologist (probably spelt wrong!)

Im guessing I'll need to take tablets or something so that I ovulate.

I'll find out more after my scan and I make an appointment with the doc afterwards X

 

[Cat Lover Sue]

Hi - don't worry about the scan either. If its the same as I had, I had an internal ultrasound. It was fine, slightly uncomfortable but didn't hurt. Plus I got to see my ovaries with all their cysts on the tv screen - which was nice!!

 

[Cat Lover Sue]

Forgot to mention, there are a number of books out there about PCOS but the one I found most helpful and easily understandable was Managing PCOS for Dummies - you know the yellow and black "For Dummies" range that do titles on just about everything.

Some others are great but get very technical and there are also a lot of american ones out there as well. These are ok but they have different names for medical tests and also assume that you can have every test going because over there folk pay for stuff whilst we have to be referred for the NHS so not everything is as readily available.

Good luck with the diagnosis. It can be a bit bewildering to be honest but there's plenty of us who have PCOS on here that can help with questions.

 

[JoeyJoJo]

Thanks guys Much appreciated

I'll soon find out I guess X

 

[Enough]

Hi Jo! I first went through this process years ago, and now I'm ttc I've been through it again. When I had the scan, the radiographer told me that what I could see on the scan wasn't actually cysts like they used to believe, but were in fact perfectly healthy viable ova that simply hadn't released in the normal way. She told me that that is partly why people sometimes have twins if they take clomid to help release ova. So, she said that what I could see was potentially the start of a future child or two and that it often is for women she sees.

I have not read anything to confirm what she said, but she sounded very knowledgeable/experienced/well read on the subject ,and she seems to be doing this stuff every day.

I hope that's a helpful thing to hear. It's not easy living with PCOS, but it's not the end of the world either and you can tackle each of the symptoms to some success. At least once you know, you'll find it easier to get the right support/advice..

Good luck xxx