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PCOS or something else?

Hello,
I was recently diagnosed with PCOS. My only symptom was new and excessive facial and body hair at age 30. I still menstruate regularly, am not obese, do not have acne, and am not insulin resistant. An intravaginal ultrasound revealed that I do not have polycystic ovaries.

My gyno explained that my blood work revealed a greater than 3:1 ratio of my LH to FSH, which is why she is diagnosing me with PCOS. I also have elevated DHEA levels, which she said may or may not be related to PCOS.

The thing is, I have a slew of other symptoms that presented at the same time of the facial hair. They are: dizziniess, episodes of extreme tachycardia (170 bpm and over with problems with the heart ruled out), excessively cold hands that happen in "attacks", a deep feeling of fatigue and lethargy, and what I think is a mild feeling of confusion and "brain fog". My urine was tested for catecholimines due to the tachycardia and it came back as normal.

I think I might have been misdiagnosed and was thinking it could possibly be a pituitary or adrenal tumor - given the other symptoms. I am due to see an endocrinologist but in the mean time wanted to see if anyone with PCOS has the other symptoms I have or if anyone else might have been misdiagnosed with PCOS and had something else and if so, what that was?
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14776903 tn?1437684392
It sounds like PCOS to me, but more tests are definitely need to be done to be on a safe side. There is no specific test that could diagnose PCOS and doctors often need to exclude other hormone-related disorders to make a final diagnosis.

Tachycardia could be caused by thyroid diseases, which can also cause lethargy, tiredness, COLD HANDS, fatigue and brain fog. Thyroid levels can fluctuate due to some type of abnormality in pituitary gland. So, you should have your thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH) checked, as well as ACTH and prolactin. I can see that you had LH and FSH checked. These hormones literally send the signals to ovaries and regulate their function.
In general, ovaries produce 90% of testosterone in your body. That is to say, if your ovaries are not functioning well, you may have high levels of testosterone which results in excessive hair growth in unusual places. The adrenal gland produces only 10% of testosterone in your body, so I doubt you could have an adrenal tumor.

I am not a doctor yet and I am gland that you are seeing endocrinologist soon. The hormonal system of human beings is very complex. I am sure that further evaluation and tests will give you a definite answer.

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Avatar universal
Thanks for the input. Yea, I was thinking thyroid issues as well but my TSH levels were normal. They checked them during an episode of extreme tachycardia in the ER. My prolactin and testosterone are normal also. I don't believe ACTH was checked though and I will make sure that is tested. Thanks for answering my question even though you aren't a doctor ( yet)!
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