[DSemcho]

Okay so I have two separate questions, but rather than putting them in two threads I'm putting them into one...

I was diagnosed with PCOS in Oct 2009, I knew before then that I had it, but oh well.. I had the cysts on my ovaries as well as the messed up hormone levels and the weight problem. Is it possible for PCOS to go away?? Since April I have had my hormone levels checked and they were normal, now back in Oct 09 my Prolactin and Testosterone levels were elevated, so now that they are fine. Also I had a vaginal ultrasound today, and they said that my ovaries don't look polycystic anymore, that the cysts on them are the normal size and kind.... So.. Am I better?!

Also I found out that when my bladder is empty, my uterus tilts back, (apparently they usually tilt forward?) can this be a bad thing? I don't understand exactly what this means...

[katzintheclouds]

Hi Dsemcho. I guess it's my turn to comment on your posts! Don't quote me on this but the last time I went to my gyno to have a second ultrasound, I was interested to see if the cysts had left. When I asked her this, she said that we will continue to see cysts, they won't go away. Do you experience any mid-cycling cramping, possibly around your ovulation? I have this and she told me that is because of the cysts during ovulation, that sometimes the small cysts are breaking away. But she said because of my condition & my diagnosis, I will continue to see cysts on my ultrasounds. This was surprising to me because as you asked, I thought maybe I would see them gone after my hormone therapy. She made me feel better about it though, because she didn't seem too worried. As I've said in my previous posts, the cysts are the only symptom I have so I guess I don't have PCOS, I just have PCO. The cysts I've always had though have always been small in size, causing little worry. Perhaps you had larger ones that have gone away, but will continue to have the small ones...I guess that might not be much help, but I thought I would share my experience & what my doc told me. I guess really the only person that would be able to answer you for sure would be your doctor.

I also have a tilted uterus (or otherwise called retroverted uterus). I found this out on my first ultrasound & it scared me but I found out that a lot of women have this & that it usually causes no problems. The only thing she told me was that it may cause some issues in early pregnancy but in most cases the pregnancy will cause the uterus to return to it's normal position. I wouldn't worry too much about it, especially if your doctor doesn't seem to be worried about it. The only thing my doctor told me was that it may cause me to have slightly more painful menstrual cramps but I haven't had any problems, at least not related to that.

I hope that helps!

[DSemcho]

From what the ultrasound technician told me, women always have cysts on their ovaries, and as their cycle gets closer to ovulation day, the cysts get bigger until they rupture to let the egg out (I didn't know they got bigger I just knew they ruptured). I used to have many cysts on my ovaries, actually even at the beginning of January (before I got pregnant) I had one that was roughly 1 1/2 - 2 cm while my ovary itself is only 3 cm, but they did nothing about it. As far as the mid-cycle cramps sometimes I notice them, but sometimes I don't because I have a high pain tolerance. I just guesstimate when I ovulate by the normal 2 weeks from the first day of your period thing. And any of the vaginal ultrasounds I've had (which I've had about 5 or more) they have never told me I had a retroverted uterus! So this kind of freaked me out a little that no one has told me this before.

[FortunsFoole]

Are you by chance seeing a different doctor that the initial diagnoses? I've found not all gyn's are equal in their knowledge of PCOS. Is it possible with the ultrasound in January that the cyst was a follicle and you were getting ready to ovulate? If I recall correctly most follicles before ovulation will be around 18mm or larger before rupturing and releasing the egg.

As far as I've read up on it it's not something that goes away, or at least the health risks associated with it don't. I have heard of some women after pregnancy having most of the symptoms of it seem to disappear. I sincerely hope that you never have an issue with it again. That would be amazing :-)

[DSemcho]

I am, but I don't have a choice considering we PCS'd to Turkey lol. I was actually 2 days from starting my period with the ultrasound in January, and with the one yesterday I was on the first day of my period. But now I'm scared that the pains I experienced for 3 weeks straight were a sign of endometriosis. But also, me not having PCOS anymore scares me, because I'm also working on losing weight, and my husband doesn't like condoms, and I refuse to use birth control because of the PCOS issues (hormone wise) I had... I didn't want to mess with my hormones anymore.

[katzintheclouds]

Huh, that's very strange. I know that retroversion is usually found during the first ultrasounds, so I'm not quite sure what to say about that. My first ultrasound (standared, done by a technician) was where I found that out. The subsequent ones I had were vaginal & with my doctor, but they all saw the same thing. I wonder if it might be worth getting a second opinion? I guess that might not be an option since you're in Turkey..

As far as the ovulation/cysts go, that's about what my doctor said. I know I didn't know anything about that & was assuming we wanted there to be no cysts, but she explained the whole egg/cyst/ovulation cycle. The pains mid-cycle were new to me so when I began to have them last year, that's when I started to question things & found out I had the PCOs. Are you experiencing any pain/discomfort now? or just mentally anguished with worrying about it all?

[DSemcho]

Well the day I had my ultrasound was the first day of my period for October, so yes there was pain. lol. But the reason for the ultrasound is because from September 13th until even today I've been having lower abdomen pains, so it was for about 4 weeks.... Technically it's been from the 5th but I only count that as pre-period pain.

[katzintheclouds]

Huh. Well keep me updated with what you find out, I'll keep checking up because I'm interested to get more information about the retroversion myself. I never really explored anything more with mine. The only things I came out with from the whole experience was that it could explain the occasional pain I get during sex as well as the more significant cramping. I hope everything is okay with you, the same goes for the PCOS. I am still on the fence of what to think about my cysts, because my doctor was doing that wavering "this could be a problem/this is normal for women your age/this is what you don't want/this is what you want" situation. I'm hoping to work closer with her through this next period of time since we saw that "spot" on the last vaginal ultrasound that suggested a possible dermoid cyst. Keep me updated!