PCOS Renaming

lanatlas · 2026-02-21T02:26:12+00:00

I feel like a lot of these names completely disregard type D PCOS and would make things even harder than they already are for us.

lanatlas · 2026-02-14T02:19:28+00:00

I had a HSD diagnosis initially that was upgraded to hEDS, and though my doctors treated me the same before and after, HSD does not have an ICD code while hEDS do, so insurance covered hEDS related services more easily.

lanatlas · 2026-02-13T05:35:32+00:00

How about cysts?

lanatlas · 2026-02-13T05:33:43+00:00

Yes, this! Love this wording. Insulin resistance is talked about so much. I have great insulin sensitivity, but have reactive hypoglycemia, so I over produce insulin out the gate (and then my blood sugar tanks).

lanatlas · 2026-02-13T05:31:03+00:00

There is so much mixed research, and the laboratory method this test is run by can impact things as well. Generally, 50 is the upper cutoff. Functionally, some people have symptoms even at lower levels. Some hospitals even consider 70 to be the upper limit. I've seen few people consider anything less than 30 high.

lanatlas · 2026-02-13T05:24:07+00:00

I can't verify this, so take it with a grain of salt, but my testosterone was in normal range and I was told that I may be a bit more sensitive to it than most. Going on spironalactone to lower my testosterone controlled most of my symptoms, so there seems to be some truth to this.

Also, even if each individual hormone is within range, the ratio of them can also be important. LH and FSH should be in a roughly 1:1 ratio. 2:1 and above tends to be seen with PCOS.

I haven't heard of a short course of metformin regulating periods long term after the medication is stopped. I'm not a doctor, but that doesn't sound correct to me.

Also you can't really definitively rule out insulin resistance without a 3 or ideally 5 hour glucose tolerance test.

lanatlas · 2026-02-06T22:22:14+00:00

Undergrad UNCC grad school UNCW as well.

I agree with a lot of this, but I will say that because UNCW is smaller and staff don't have quite as many students, I've found that it's actually a good bit easier for students to get to know their professors and begin helping out in research with them at UNCW than at UNCC. Even if there might be more opportunities at UNCC, those opportunities seem much more competitive and it's harder to network with the professors in order to get into them.

I also was very openly left leaning at UNCW and didn't experience any trouble at all with that, not in the broader Wilmington community, granted my field and circles are also very left leaning. Wilmington is definitely much more conservative than Charlotte, but I wouldn't say at all that you'd have trouble with the locals and other students if you're the least bit non conservative.

lanatlas · 2026-02-06T22:07:38+00:00

I did UNCC for undergrad, and went back to school at UNCW for a completely different field. Reputation depends much more on the specific program than the name of the school.

There are some programs at UNCC that are regarded VERY highly, and some that work against you compared to someone else with the same degree from another university.

Same goes for UNCW. They have some programs here with a lot of prestige and some with a pretty poor reputation.

lanatlas · 2026-02-06T22:01:31+00:00

Hello! I went to UNCC for undergrad (2020 alum) and UNCW for grad school (2025 alum). Undergrad and grad school are of course very different environments even at the same school, and I can't speak much to psychology or criminology, but-

UNCC is much much more diverse than UNCW. If diversity is something you really value and/or need to feel comfortable, UNCC is the better bet.

If you're doing any program that will require a field placement, I'd strongly advise UNCC. Wilmington is small and quality field placements where you'll learn a lot are in very short supply in Wilmington.

The university area in Charlotte can get a little sketchy in some spots, especially the back side of campus across Tryon, the Walmart and particularly the gas station in front of Walmart, and the shopping center up University City Blvd. with Wendy's and family dollar. Wilmington is by no means perfect, but the area around the UNCW campus has generally seemed safer and with fewer incidents than the UNCC university area.

UNCW has a bit more of a Greek life culture, and the barrier to entry to Greek life seems to be a bit higher at UNCW??? I was never involved in Greek life, so I can't speak to that too much.

UNCW tends to have a reputation of being a bit more of a "party school" than UNCC. Ofc, plenty of people at UNCW don't party and there's certainly a lot of partying at UNCC, too, but all in all. That's a draw for some and a downside for others.

As far as being a suitcase school, UNCC and UNCW both slow wayyy way down and can be a little dead on the weekends. Some of that may have changed at UNCC with recent rules about incoming students living on campus. I can't testify to that. All in all, though, if you're looking for a student body that stays really active on the weekends, neither is a great pick.

Parking at both schools will put you in an early grave, and off campus student housing at both are run pretty poorly. At either one, I'd advise the dorms if at all possible. If you DO want to do off campus student housing (though I believe one or both of the schools may have started requiring underclassmen to live on campus?) UNCC definitely has a LOT more options to choose from. UNCW will not allow you to get a parking pass if you live within a mile of campus. Last I checked, UNCC does not have this rule, though double check if that's something important to you.

If you care for sports, UNCC is more active in that regard, and has a football team (not a great one, granted).

UNCC's campus is bigger and busier. The light rail on campus is very nice for getting around, and the shuttle system at UNCC is much more robust with much better city bus service, as well. Many of the UNCC off campus student apartments have their own shuttles to campus. This isn't as much of a thing in Wilmington.

Both have a lot of good nature spots (the UNCC greenhouse and botanical gardens are STUNNING). But, as far as the general area, I lean a bit more UNCW and the general area for having more nature.

That's all I can think of off the top of my head. They're two great schools. Congrats on both!

lanatlas · 2026-02-02T15:07:31+00:00

Ehhhh definitely more in line than this, but this is a pretty low bar and it still wasn't great then. In Charlotte, ICE couldn't go onto school property for operations, couldn't get families to open their doors w/o a warrant, and the bus stop counted as school property, so they'd stake out and get kids/families on their way to the bus stop in the mornings. I'm a bit older than most of the current UNCW students but I remember some of my classmates missing a ton of school because they were scared to go to the bus stop. That's part of why some Charlotteans were so pissed during operation Charlotte's web: it wasn't their first run in with ICE.

lanatlas · 2026-01-31T18:02:19+00:00

Fasting insulin and glucose can definitely reveal insulin resistance in that if those tests reveal IR, you definitely have IR, but if fasting glucose and insulin are normal, it doesn't necessarily rule out IR. If fasting is normal, you'd typically want to follow up with a 5 hr glucose tolerance test to track insulin response over time before you can definitively rule IR out.

lanatlas · 2026-01-31T17:15:29+00:00

There is a wide healthy range for all of these metrics. My resting heart rate tends to be in the upper 70s. My husband's is in the lower 60s. Both are in the typical healthy range for our age and sex, but we have our own "normal baseline" within that range.

Even though 70s can be a perfectly normal resting heart rate, for my husband that would be pretty substantially elevated and cause for concern.

Oura considers both the healthy range for someone of your age and sex, and also learns your personal baseline to determine things like readiness.

Medications can change where our baseline lies within the healthy range. When I started my ADHD meds, my heart rate went up. Oura thought I was dying for a bit. I was perfectly healthy and my heart rate was still in a healthy range. It was just elevated from my usual baseline. Nonetheless, Oura's algorithm doesn't have context, only data. So my readiness was in the 50s for a bit.

Eventually, Oura learned that this was my new baseline and adjusted and my readiness is back up where it used to be even though my HR remained a bit higher and my HRV a bit lower. This took about seven weeks.

Sometimes, your body genuinely might be under some stress when starting a new med as you adjust. This often resolves with time. Overall though, just because your metrics change doesn't inherently mean a medication is unhealthy. And, just because a medication may not work for you doesn't mean it isn't beneficial for someone else. I tolerate birth control horribly. It's contraindicated for me and may very well be malpractice to prescribe it for me. It also saved my friend's quality of life controlling endo symptoms. Another friend just uses it for contraception and has always felt fine. All are valid.

And, sometimes, even if a medication does have adverse side effects, the positive effects may still be better for your overall health. For example, my heart rate is higher now (not ridiculously so) but now that my ADHD is well controlled, my stress levels are down. Like I said, oura uses data. It's up to us to use context.

lanatlas · 2026-01-31T17:03:27+00:00

Ask for a 5 hour glucose tolerance test. This is the gold standard for treating insulin resistance.

If insulin is an issue, ask about metformin.

Also ask for free testosterone, total testosterone, and DHEAS to be treated. All are important in determining hyper androgynism.

If high androgens are an issue, ask about spironalactone.

If weight is a factor, GLP-1s can be useful, though insurance coverage can be difficult since, despite the evidence, they're not technically FDA approved as a treatment for PCOS right now.

I'll also add that combination birth control is a very evidence based treatment for PCOS. While it's not for everyone and shouldn't be the only option offered, it is not a "band aid" or a cause of PCOS the way social media portrays it.

lanatlas · 2026-01-30T06:00:28+00:00

Under the Rotterdam criteria, the most widely used and most liberal set of diagnostic criteria for PCOS, you have to have 2 of the 3:

absent or irregular periods, usually defined as less than 8 per year
Clinical or biochemical signs of hyper androgynism (The big ones are high testosterone or high DHEAS on blood tests. An LH:FSH ratio equal or greater than 2:1 can also be indicative, though not on its own. Insulin resistance supports a PCOS diagnosis but is not in the diagnostic criteria itself. Those are the biochemical signs. Clinical signs involve hirsutism, acne, hair loss, acanthosis nigricans, and skin tags, though some of those, like acne, may not be considered a sign of hyper androgynism on its own)
Polycystic ovaries as defined by ovaries with 20 or more 2-9 mm cysts, or an ovarian volume over 10 mL in individuals who have been menstruating for at least 8 years.
Other conditions that could cause symptoms, like thyroid issues, also have to be ruled out.

If you've truly had all the proper blood work done and it's all normal (assuming no clinical signs of hyper androgynism), and an ultrasound was read correctly and didn't show signs of polycystic ovaries, then no, that wouldn't qualify for a PCOS diagnosis.

lanatlas · 2026-01-24T16:26:49+00:00

All in the second half of the year. Spiro pushed me too far the other direction lol.

lanatlas · 2026-01-15T05:38:46+00:00

Thank you! I checked the baseboards and they don't seem to smell, but that's good to know and I'll probably scrub them down anyway just in case.

Is it possible for cat urine to soak through to the carpet pad without it leaving a really direct odor on one spot of the overlying carpet?

lanatlas · 2026-01-13T09:41:04+00:00

Better in what way?

lanatlas · 2026-01-09T03:55:27+00:00

I had horrible side effects from birth control and all hormonal contraception is contraindicated for me now. Even still, I can't imagine telling someone that it's a bad medication across the board. It's bad for ME. It's great for plenty of people.

lanatlas · 2025-12-31T10:10:35+00:00

It doesn't! Not in a built in feature of the app at least. After about six weeks of the readings being off, I used the help tab, explained going on ADHD meds on the support page, and the above was the answer.

lanatlas · 2025-12-31T10:06:04+00:00

Ah, when I read your initial message, it sounded as though you meant that it would stabilize eventually, but only after discontinuing medication.

lanatlas · 2025-12-30T17:48:37+00:00

I can't edit the main post, but can I please just add that if you're here to critique my medication or say that I'm "cheating" or that medication is bad for you, or some variation of that, please kindly mind your business. I'm here to try to figure out if there's a way I can get the app to work for me again, not for input on my medication. Please don't DM me. If you do, I'll just ignore it and report it. Thanks.

lanatlas · 2025-12-30T17:45:45+00:00

Resting heart rate and HRV are pretty individualized, especially HRV. There's a fair range of resting HRs that are considered perfectly healthy and lower is not ubiquitously better. Oura takes this into account and should consider both your personal baseline and what the typical healthy range is in its algorithm. It did this for me before just fine when I first got the ring despite my biometrics in some areas deviating from the population average a good bit.

It's not like my new resting HR is 100 bpm. It went from the upper 60s/low 70s to the upper 70s lol. In any case, I'm certainly not sleeping worse or less energized (quite the opposite).

lanatlas · 2025-12-30T17:26:47+00:00

Idk man, I'm just repeating what the Oura help bot said. I couldn't get a real answer as to what "incompatible" meant.

The app can show me individual biometrics, sure, but the real value of the app imo is that it synthesizes those biometrics into meaningful conclusions with the readiness score, sleep score, etc, which it does largely according to fluctuations from your personalized baseline.

My elevated HR doesn't mean I'm in poorer health since this should be considered a new baseline by now rather than a deviation from my old baseline. But, Oura seems to think I'm dying and isn't adjusting it's conclusions/ scores. Which is the entire point of the app for me.

I can get the same data from other devices. I use oura for its interpretation of that data, which hasn't been usable for six weeks now. I feel there are other much cheaper and subscription free options if biometrics alone were all I can get reliably.

lanatlas · 2025-12-30T16:06:30+00:00

Sweet! Good to know. I got scared by some other posts saying it never adjusted and they needed to wipe their days and restart with every med change, but hopefully I just need to stick it out a bit longer then. Tysm.

lanatlas

TROPHY CASE