What Happens When You Visit Gyneac

Initially, most women wish for their primary symptoms, like acne, facial hair and weight to go away with exercise and cosmetic treatments.

Sadly, what begins with one or two symptoms later on intensifies. These women start noticing other symptoms as well.

Generally, women visit a gynaecologist once they have recognizable PCOS symptoms like periods irregularities, significant weight gain, mood swings, hair fall, or difficulties in conceiving.

When You Visit a Gyneacologist

History Taking

Many doctors may enquire about your family history/occurrence of such symptoms. Understanding your lifestyle and diet is also a part of decoding the issues.

Apparent Signs

Usually, the doctor will look for some apparent signs of PCOS/ PCOD like:

• Male pattern hair growth
• Weight gain
• Velvety skin patch or Acanthosis nigricans
• Hair thinning/ male pattern baldness
• Ache and hyperpigmentation

Once the doctor has completed the visual diagnosis and detected signs of PCOS, pathological and radiological tests are advised to confirm the diagnosis.

Medical Tests for PCOS

Radiological Investigation

USG Pelvis: This is a gold standard in detecting PCOS. This test helps determine if PCOS changes have started appearing in the ovaries in the form of cysts.

Pathological Investigations

Blood tests can be critical in determining hormonal changes occurring in the body due to PCOS. These tests also play a crucial role in determining the severity of the problem.

Some Important Blood Tests:

Insulin: Insulin resistance is usually the most common symptom of PCOS.

Testosterone- The Male Hormone: This is the main male hormone that rises in women, leading to PCOS changes.

AMH: Anti-Mullerian Hormone (AMH) levels in women indicate their ability to produce eggs that can be fertilized.

Prolactin: This is an important hormone that controls the function of the ovaries. It may also cause period irregularities, weight gain, hot flashes, and infertility.

Thyroid Profile: Women with PCOS generally also have thyroid hormone dysfunction as well. Hence, the doctor may advise a thyroid profile.

The discovery of PCOS is complicated and very confusing for many. The name PCOS indicates that it is related to the ovaries. The reality differs a lot. Although your ovaries may not have cysts, you can still have PCOS or polycystic ovarian syndrome.

PCOS/ PCOD is caused by hormonal imbalances. There is no specific test to diagnose or rule out PCOS/ PCOD. Doctors make their diagnosis based on their findings of a set of symptoms existing together. Therefore, history taking, ultrasound, and blood tests make the diagnosis definitive.

Gynaecologist Assessment Protocol

The doctors usually follow the same treatment approach, whether you have early, late, or irregular periods or PCOS. More often than not, the doctors advise a course of contraceptive pills for the next 21 days to induce periods. In the case of insulin resistance, the doctors advise Metformin. Some doctors might even suggest a few additional vitamin supplements.

This is a symptomatic treatment approach. The biggest problem with this approach is the delusion of relief it provides.

Once you start the contraceptive pills, they give you an additional and unnatural boost of the hormones that your ovaries are producing less. Hence, these pills are successful in inducing periods. You feel great relief. However, the relief is short-lived. Your periods aren’t natural. Hence, once you stop taking the contraceptive pills, you’ll stop getting periods at regular intervals.

The same is the case with Metformin tablets for insulin resistance. These tablets help your body manage the blood sugar levels. Therefore, you might see relief in the symptoms caused by high blood sugar like excess weight gain. If you have been trying to lose weight, you might even get successful. Sadly, this relief is also temporary. As soon as you stop taking blood sugar lowering tablets, insulin resistance will resume.

Symptomatic treatment of diseases only provides temporary relief. It doesn’t address the root cause of the problem. That’s the biggest difference between modern conventional medicine and Ayurveda.

While modern conventional medicine only focuses on immediate symptomatic relief, Ayurveda focuses on treating the problems from their roots. Ayurveda ensures the problem goes away completely, and you get freedom from doctors and medicines forever.

Hormonal Pills/ Contraceptives

Contraceptive pills/ birth-control pills/ hormonal pills have similar formulations to the hormones that your ovaries produce to induce periods.

When your ovary channels are blocked by excess Ama, the production of these hormones is affected. Your ovaries stop producing these hormones in adequate quantities. Hence, there is slow egg growth and no ovulation. This affects your period cycle. Hence, you might have delayed or early periods or no periods at all for months at a stretch.

The simple job of contraceptive pills is to provide an artificial boost of the hormones your ovaries cannot produce. That’s why you get the periods on the 21-day contraceptive pill course. However, there is a big downside to contraceptive pill dependency. Once you start taking these pills, the ovaries become completely dependent on these artificial hormones for inducing periods.

Regular periods by taking these contraceptive pills might not look odd, but you must remember that these periods aren’t natural. The regular periods will stop as soon as you stop taking these pills. In fact, the problem will get even more aggravated because now your ovaries will be completely dependent on artificial hormone boost.

These hormone pills affect the overall ovarian functions, egg growth, maturity, and ovulation. This is a very dangerous scenario. Your ovaries can become fully dependent on these artificial hormones that mimic natural hormones. These pills are not even trying to address the root cause of the problem.

These pills do not work on the blocked ovary channels. They don’t boost natural hormone production. They don’t help the normal ovary function. These pills simply induce periods. Once you stop these pills, you must remain prepared for irregular periods.

These pills make your ovaries dependent on artificial hormone supply. Your ovaries stop making an effort to produce those hormones at all because they are getting them effortlessly from outside. Hence, the possibility of having normal periods dwindles even further.

Are Contraceptives Safe?

While doctors prescribe contraceptive pills as the one-stop solution for most hormonal imbalances, these pills have short-term and long-term side effects.

As a rule of thumb, you must understand that every hormonal pill in this world will have some side effects. Artificial supplementation of any hormones will lead to certain side effects. Oral contraceptive pills carry two important synthetically produced hormones that might be in higher proportions than your body requires. Thus, some side effects are likely.

Oral-Contraceptive Side Effects

Dangerous Side Effects

• Shortness of breath
• Chest pain
• Pain in legs
• Edema or swelling in legs

If you notice any of these side effects, you must approach a doctor immediately.

High-Risk Category

The risk of these blood clots increases if you are

• Overweight or obese
• Above 35 years of age
• Have a personal or family history of blood clots
• Suffer from bleeding disorders
• Habitual smoker

Key Takeaways

Birth Control Pills are not the best option for PCOS Because:

• They only offer temporary management of the symptoms
• They cannot cure PCOS or other hormonal imbalances
• Pain in legs
• They aren’t suitable for anyone for long-term use