A Danae of All Trades

I had my followup on blood tests today. For those who don't remember, the clinic I'm at is affiliated with some of the top research hospitals in Canada, and the head doctor does research on PCOS.

Some interesting things I discovered:
-PCOS is comorbid with sleep disorders
-even though all of my tests came back "normal"...
->PCOS is a clinical diagnosis, done based on things like the absence or irregularity of periods, the hair, the acne, the PMDD, etc. So, even with all of my tests being within normal ranges, I'm still considered to have PCOS.
->They expect that I have Insulin Resistance BECAUSE I have PCOS, and stated, iirc, that IR cannot be tested for.
->They expect that I have elevated androgens, etc. *for what's normal for me*, even though in comparison to other women, my androgens are normal.

She was willing to prescribe Metformin, but recommended birth control. She said that birth control can make a medium difference to hair and acne, and no difference to weight, whereas Metformin might make a tiny difference to weight, but no difference to hair and acne.

In terms of birth control, she said that they don't believe that either Diane or Yasmin are particularly better or worse for women with PCOS. They recommended one of the 30 or 35s, and she prescribed the Marvolon for me (a 30). She explicitly would not recommend a lower dosage like Alesse, unless there are complications such as migraines that we are worried about (not the case for me).

So, my prescription:
Try to lose 5-10% of my body weight, go on birth control pills, see a psychiatrist for my mood disorder problems, and get a sleep study done, before my six month follow up appointment.

Today I plucked the first-ever coarse dark hair off my chin. I expect that it is only the first of many.

The PCOS is getting worse, I guess. I have a really painful zit on my chin and another near my nose (also a PCOS symptom). And I'm having difficulty with my weight... losing it, gaining it, both. I keep on saying it, but it really is past time I got back on my bandwagon and began eating properly.

Meanwhile, I try not to freak out about housing. No word from N. She's super busy with tutoring and working, but I just want a confirmation. The fact that she hasn't called or emailed to confirm tells me that this isn't an easy decision for her, and that makes me all the more nervous. It might be that she has misgivings about me, or that she's decided she wants to interview more options before reaching a decision, or that she has to calculate her mortgage and make sure that the amount she wanted to charge me is the amount she needs. Not sure about how the first possibility would end up affecting things. The second possibility would delay and possibly cancel things, something I really don't want to deal with. And the last possibility... if she comes back offering the place to me, but for more money, I don't know what I'll do. I guess I'd need to sit down with my budget and really think about things.

Positive things, thoughts
My ovaries have been bothering me a lot less lately. This is good, since they were really worrying me the weekend before Arisia.

This evening, I caught up on my HDD stuff but did not watch the two new episodes I had saved. Instead, while some old episodes were copied onto a DVD, I popped Bend It Like Beckham into my laptop and cleaned my room, emptied the suitcase from Arisia, packed the toybag back up, and otherwise organized things in my room. I started a cereals spreadsheet for consideration, since the low carb Special K I've been eating for breakfast is going off the market and I need to consider other options. Finally, I tried to sign up for AppleCare to no avail -- it kept on telling me my postal code was invalid. I'll try again from work tomorrow, when their helpline is actually on.

This morning, I woke up in a good mood. Not a normal mood, a good mood. I don't know if it will last, but boy is it nice! I think getting back into the swing of things, and getting a chance to socialize in a laid-back fashion with great friends might have something to do with that. :)

While I was in Vegas, my breasts started to fall out of my bra, so I moved it to the tightest notch. When I went shopping at Frederick's, it appeared that I had just barely gone down from a 40DD to a 38DD. Some of the 38DDs were still too tight.

Since I returned both my parents have commented that they think I'm looking slimmer, in subtle ways. Certainly, my clothing seems to be fitting better. Not loosely yet, but less tight.

Yesterday I popped into La Senza to take advantage of the bargain bin, and discovered that indeed, 38DD fit fabulously. I scored a really comfortable, nice new bra that fits perfectly for $17.

And, the scale seems to tell me that I'm losing weight. Not very quickly, but definitely.

The not-so-bad news

I'm still having some pretty bad dizzy spells. Some of them are so bad I feel nauseous.

I think this may be because I was only paying attention to balancing and linking carbs with proteins, and not also paying attention to the GI and GL of the foods I ate.

Either way, I've decided its time for me to start logging EVERYTHING. That way, when I get to see a doctor who will actually listen to me and believe me, treatment will be easier.

Does anyone WANT to see this log, or shall I just make it private posts?