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.
Were you told you have polycystic ovary syndrome or PCOS based on a pelvic ultrasound? That may or may not be an accurate diagnosis because PCOS cannot actually be diagnosed or ruled out with ultrasound.
In episode three of my podcast/YouTube video, I discuss PCOS including topics such as: why PCOS is an umbrella term, the difference between polycystic ovaries and ovarian cysts, and why some women with undereating and endometriosis are being mistakenly told they have PCOS.
Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) is not one disease. Instead, it’s “a heterogeneous disorder with different underlying biological mechanisms.” In other words, it’s a set of symptoms (androgen excess and anovulatory cycles) caused or driven by several underlying factors. To successfully treat PCOS, you need to identify which factor (or factors) is driving the symptoms. In other words, you need to know your functional type of PCOS.
The four functional types of PCOS include insulin-resistant PCOS, post-pill PCOS (which is temporary), inflammatory PCOS, and the far less common adrenal PCOS.
If you suffer hair loss, facial hair (hirsutism), or acne, then you know all about androgen excess or high male hormones.
You may have been given the diagnosis of PCOS but there are actually several different reasons for androgen excess in women including androgen hypersensitivity, adrenal androgen excess, high prolactin, menopause, and hormonal birth control with a high androgen index.
According to a 2017 study, pain is the most frequently reported symptom of PCOS. Even though pain is not a symptom of PCOS!
The solution to this paradox is that both PCOS and period pain are common, so it’s easy to have both a PCOS diagnosis and period pain (including pain due to endometriosis).
That’s true whether the PCOS diagnosis is valid (i.e., there are symptoms of androgen excess) or invalid (i.e., the diagnosis was mistakenly based on an ultrasound finding).