How to Find the Right Doctor for Your PCOS (+ Questions You Should Be Asking)
Communicating With Your Care Team
The most important thing to remember when talking to your doctor about PCOS is that this is a partnership. There needs to be mutual respect for the way you want to do things, and for your doctor's professional expertise.
However, I've heard too often from clients about how doctors are not well-versed in alternative care for PCOS (not to say that all are not! Simply that PCOS is a very niche condition that requires specialized knowledge and is often misunderstood). Keep that in mind and seek a second opinion if you're not satisfied with your care plan. Remember that your doctor probably means well, but these visits can be intimidating and we can often defer to doctors, even when it may not be how we want to pursue our care.
Make sure your desires, opinions, and questions are heard and answered.
Here are a few things to keep in mind before and during your visit.
First, make sure you're seeing the right doctor for your goals.
As Dr. Rashmi Kudesia shares: "If you’re not looking to conceive, a medical endocrinologist or reproductive endocrinologist & infertility specialist (REI) who specializes in PCOS would be a good choice. For fertility treatment, you should specifically see a REI (and again, one who lists a specific interest in PCOS is always a plus!). This is important because not all REIs provide longitudinal non-fertility care for PCOS women, and medical endocrinology offices are not going to have the capacity for cycle monitoring that may be helpful in fertility treatment."
Before You Go: Things to Share With Your Doctor About Your PCOS
Previous bloodwork, pap smear results, or ultrasound results + health history
Cycle charts if you are not on hormonal birth control (HBC) and take your morning BBT temperature (you should! It's a helpful health tool). A few months of data is helpful, but whatever you have is fine!
Any symptoms you have of excess androgen hormones: scalp hair thinning, unwanted facial or body hair (often dark and wiry), strong body odor, acne, inflamed skin, irregular cycles.
What you've tried so far
What kind of treatment and support you'd like from them (diet and lifestyle interventions and recommendations, medication options, hormone-free birth control) - Note: “Just lose weight” is not a treatment plan! Continue to ask for answers, or enroll directly in the Holistic PCOS Method.
If you don't want to use hormonal birth control, ask your doctor about non-hormonal options including a copper IUD, barrier methods, diaphragms, the Fertility Awareness Method (if they can't help you understand the 3 major fertile signs, poke around this blog for more info or email hello@holisticpcos.co), and others.
What measures you’ve implemented that have helped you so far
What changes have been made in your treatment routine (many women end up seeing more than one doctor during treatment, which makes it hard to achieve continuity of care).
Current medications and supplements + any healthcare or alternative providers you're working with (us included!)
At the Visit: Questions to Ask Your Doctor About Your PCOS
Diving deeper and getting curious with your doctor can:
Help you to better understand your body and symptoms
Feel more confident
Give you more information on how to treat your specific type of PCOS, instead of stabbing in the dark with random medications, diets, and supplements.
Questions like:
“What is causing my high androgens?”
“Am I insulin-resistant or prediabetic?”
“How will insulin resistance affect my treatment?”
“Is my thyroid healthy and functioning well?”
can make all the difference between fast symptom relief, and stabbing in the dark for months (or years).
That’s why we’ve created a free take-home guide covering the best PCOS tests and questions to ask your doctor.
Because informed healthcare is good healthcare!
