Iron level of 71 is low???

[ebon_aurora]

I've had blood tests for hormones and my estrogen is always normal. But my testosterone is always high. But that's because I have PCOS. Maybe I do just need to let the doctors convince me to go on the pill...What did you do to treat your hormone levels? And which hormones were out of whack? Were they too low? Too high? Thanks again!

I want to add that I'm 22 years old and all of my doctors have told me that chronic bv is not associated with PCOS. Although the bv started when my PCOS symptoms started to develop...

[Audrey-B]

As my monthly cycles were all over the place i had to do something and i felt whatever was wrong with me, going on the pill would only mask what was wrong, rather than fix it. I did try 3 various forms of the pill and each had very bad side effects for me and i've never been back on the pill since.

I found a naturopath who made up a herbal liquid tonic which i took day and night. It helped greatly in making my cycles regular, but every time i tried to go off it my cycles would begin messing up again, so i stayed on it and began looking at what else could be the cause.

After i had a hormone saliva test it all became clear. Basically you give a saliva sample at various times of the day and it is a much better way of getting a clear picture of what is going on with your hormones. Years ago i did blood tests for my hormones and they always came back saying all was fine. I did the saliva test earlier this year and my testosterone is a little high, but my estrogen is double what it ought to have been, something called E3 was low as well as my DHEA-S which are the cortisol levels for my adrenal function. (can't recall is E3 was progesterone as he highlighted low progesterone on my paperwork - will have to look that one up - too many things to look up )

My doctor gave me lists of symptoms and for excess testosterone it said you could have any of these symptoms: Acne, deepening voice, irritability/moodiness, loss of scalp hair, male pattern hair growth, PCOS, hypoglycaemia, ovarian cysts, insomnia.

I'm still in the process of treating all my issues. I have been on meds for i think 7 weeks now. If you have thyroid problems you can also have hormone imbalance issues and they now believe this is what my hormone problem is a result of. The thyroid has a very important job and if it cant perform it's job then a heap of other things don't function correctly.

I had an external and internal ultrasound and i don't have any problems with my uterus or ovaries or anything else and they say everything is looking perfect. So that rules out any internal issues and as i said, the only link they can find is the thyroid related one.

I'm now glad the pill gave me all those side effects each time. If the pill had worked, i would have stayed on it and would possibly never have found out what the real cause of my messed up cycles was, especially as my cycles used to be perfect.

The problem with BV is that nobody really knows why that happens. Different doctors give different reasons and some doctors have no idea at all. I thought it was only sexually active women who were suffering with it, but on the Womens health section of the board there were a few ladies who were not sexually active and had problems with it. I'm beginning to wonder that it could really be linked to a hormonal imbalance and when you look at it, way too many females have a hormonal imbalance these days.

You are too young to be having all these issues, but at least you are attempting to do something about them sooner than later. How do they treat PCOS these days? I hope you get some answers soon.

[Audrey-B]

Ebon aurora - Wouldn't you know it, after discussing BV on here i end up with it and i haven't had it in about a year!!

Today i saw a different doctor at the clinic and she says all women have it, only some get the symptoms more so than others. I had been told this by another doctor a couple of years ago. I told her that most times i get BV it is accompanied by an 'amonia' type smell. She said that is the natural smell from "down there". I asked why doesn't it ALWAYS smell that way down there. She said if i'm always getting BV inbetween ovulation and my period starting, then it must be due to hormonal change.

The reason for me coming to post back on here is that i went to the Womens health section of the boards and there is a sticky note there by a poster regarding BV and how she treated hers. She did some research and BV is apparently a disturbance of the natural flora in the vaginal area. This is also what my doctor today said. My doctor today also told me that just because you take antibiotics doesn't mean it has been successfully treated.

For the BV she gave me Metronidazole (5 tablets which are taken as one single dose).

She also took a look at my cervix as we had had issues with my pap tests last year due to it bleeding every time they tried to do a pap test and the fact i suddenly began getting a lot of BV incidences out of the blue a few years back. She put me on a HPV type of medication used i think to treat pelvic inflammatory disease. Not that i had any of these conditions, but she said it can be used to treat many other things as there are so many varieties of bacteria and not every form of bacteria has had it's own antibiotic formualted. I can't recall the name of the one i was given last year, but they put me on one again today and it's called Doxycycline. It can't be taken within 2 hours of taking dairy products, antacids, iron or calcium, but must be taken with food. I think it will be a tricky 7 days with this particular antibiotic.

Last year they also advised my partner to get a gram stain test of his urethral opening as apparently men can carry a form of bacteria, which gives them no symptoms what so ever, but can cause problems for females vaginally. He tested negative.

At the end of the day i think the BV could be mostly hormonal in my instance. I began shedding hair in Jan 2001, then my cycles went all over the place later that year, then in 2002 i had my first ever bout of BV and have had it off and on since then. I know my hormones are out due to my thyroid, but am wondering when my hormones settle whether my BV will lessen. It has in fact lessened in the last year compared to previous years.

Hoping you are keeping well