DD (14) has a hormonal imbalance.

[Chattenoire]

Posting here for traffic...but a bit of a sensitive matter. My daughter (14) has been diagnosed with a hormonal imbalance. We only took her to the doctor because in 2 years since she's started having periods she's had 4, and probably none this year.

The GP suggested to wait and see or putting her on the pill with no particular inclination for either (so helpful!)

Any words of advice? I think I'd rather we'd wait and see if it sorted itself out, but I've never been on the pill so really don't know what's best.

My understanding of the pill is that you don’t have a natural period because it’s stops ovulation, but rather you have a withdrawal bleed. I was on the pill from teen year for fifteen years of my life, and I will never go on the pill again. It made withdrawal bleeds very painful and gave me a litany of other issues. Unless they can justify a very good reason with medical backing I wouldn’t go down that route. It’s artificial hormones and not for everyone.

Update it turns out she has too much testosterone

Just above normal range, or refer to an endocrinologist high?

I have my teens records added to my app after I completed a proxy access form at the surgery ( which dd signed and was happy with).

That I still don't know as I still don't have access to said tests. My ecH was being all cagey about the access, but I've called the surgery and it's quite easy to get. So I'll do that next week.

I doubt it's deemed as too high as there were no talks of needing a specialist.

I've consulted my cousin (a pediatrician) and she said putting her on the pill was a terrible idea.

That plus her missing periods is a huge red flag for PCOS. Please don't let them put her on the pill and just mask the symptoms - she needs an ultrasound referral at the very least.

I was fobbed off for years until I got my diagnosis in my thirties - so many women only find out they have PCOS when they try to conceive because the pill just masks all the symptoms.

Read up on berberine. It can be great for PCOS type issues.

Depends how you look at it- mask or treat? PCOS isn’t cureable it’s a condition you manage which is very common and generally not a massive issue. Your daughter isn’t struggling with loads of side effects of the high testosterone and if it isn’t dangerously high I wouldn’t worry about it too much yet. The pill is a NICE recommended management for PCOS not just being fobbed off.

Yes fine, but ONLY after she finds out if she actually has PCOS and what her menstrual cycle is doing. Don't use the pill for management until you have the full picture.

Please listen to the recent podcast episode with Florence Pugh and SHE
She talks about the frustration of late PCOS diagnosis.
She is freezing her eggs at 27. Depending on egg count and quality it's sometimes recommended to do this in your teens to give you the best chance down the line when you might be ready to conceive.
Please don't cut corners. Find out everything now as these symptoms scream PCOS

Yes and myo-inositol

MyOva is good

That’s so vague and completely useless, diagnostically.

Insist on a referral to an endocrinologist.

Hypothyroidism is an autoimmune condition so my understanding is it does put DD at greater risk of an autoimmune condition such as PCOS. Even saying PCOS isn't straightforward- there's having polycystic ovaries which often causes fertility issues amongst other problems and then there's having the syndrome (two different things and some people have one or both issues). I would push for a scan now just so you know what she's dealing with and after that look at Dianette. It's one of only two pills which have anti androgen and used to balance the high testosterone.

Read up on spearmint tea and testosterone (not peppermint or other mint) and I second looking into berberine or myo-inositol and d-chiro inositol (as a combination) but check whether it's suitable for teenagers. Lots of good podcasts on the topic of PCOS.

I've finally got the test results.. her Free Androgen Index is 14%