Lara Briden - The Period Revolutionary
Leading the change to better periods and hormones
PCOS is defined as a set of symptoms including androgen excess and anovulatory cycles. In simplest terms, PCOS is the condition of androgen excess when all other causes of androgen excess have been ruled out. It’s an umbrella diagnosis which can be caused by different underlying drivers or functional types. The four functional types of PCOS are insulin-resistant PCOS, post-pill PCOS, inflammatory PCOS, and adrenal PCOS.
Lost your period? You might just need to eat more. A lot more. Losing your period to undereating is called hypothalamic amenorrhea and is common, especially in women under thirty.
Unfortunately, hypothalamic amenorrhea can sometimes be misdiagnosed as polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) because both hypothalamic amenorrhea and PCOS can have “polycystic ovaries” on a pelvic ultrasound exam.
The next time your doctor orders a progesterone test, ask yourself: “When is the right day to do this test?”
Forget “day 21 progesterone.” There’s no need to test progesterone until about one week before your period. That will depend on how long your cycle actually is.
Here’s what you need to know about progesterone testing.
Progesterone has anti-androgen benefits and can promote ovulation. That makes progesterone therapeutic for polycystic ovary syndrome, as described in my paper The central role of ovulatory disturbances in the etiology of androgenic polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS)—Evidence for treatment with cyclic progesterone.
Progesterone is beneficial because it lightens periods. It also reduces inflammation, regulates immune function, and supports healthy thyroid, brain, bones, and breasts.
Do you make enough progesterone? Are you sure?
The only way to make progesterone is to ovulate and have a healthy luteal phase.
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