PCOS .. or not apparently
I'm coming here to vent about my recent GP experience (UK).
Basically, I was diagnosed by a doctor a few years ago with PCOS due to excessive cysts on both ovaries, lack of periods (approx 2 a year), constant bloating, overweight and hair growth to name a few symptoms. When I was younger, I was significantly underweight and doctors told me I didn't have periods because of that. I was managing things with the pill and a fat building diet to help gain weight which worked a bit too well. I developed migraines with aura and had to be taken off but the weight has crept up since then. Since my periods never returned after coming off the pill, I was given Provera to induce periods every 4 months.
Since being diagnosed, I read up on the link between PCOS and insulin resistance. I have always been overly sensitive to sugar / sugary snacks (causing palpitations, sore tongue, headaches), so wondered if it was causing period issues too. A book I read suggested carbs also cause absent periods if you have insulin resistance issues. I also read up about the lack of estrogen and its trigger for migraines, so it all seemed interlinked.
I have worked hard over the last two years to lose weight and am now in the healthy weight range. Since December, I have significantly reduced my processed carb intake (bread, pasta, rice, cereal etc plus snacks like chocolate, cake and crisps) and upped my fibre content. This, alongside 3 gym sessions and 3 running workouts a week has overall made me feel significantly better and my excessive bloating has completely gone. However, now if I have a sweet snack like a chocolate bar or cake, I instantly feel unwell, get a really sore swollen tongue, and sometimes a blister in the roof of my mouth / throat area. Most recently I had a small chocolate binge over Easter and had swelling in my jaw and horrific toothache, which subsided after 3 days of hell. Which sounds to me like I am reacting to the high carb high sugar food since that was the only change I made.
I contacted my GP to check if there is something they can test to check why I am responding in this way, only to be told that it is merely a coincidence and there is no correlation between sugar and body reactions, and that it is not possible to have a sugar intolerance or allergy. Obviously I am not going into anaphylaxis, but something is happening. I know if I stay off the sugar and carbs I'll be alright, but was hoping for some kind of medical validation. The doctor reckoned I was responding to E numbers in a chocolate bar, completely dismissing the fact I get the same issue with cake made of flour eggs butter and sugar. He also said that I don't have PCOS because one of the symptoms is being overweight, and because I'm not overweight anymore I can't be classed as having PCOS. The whole experience has left me feeling massively deflated.
Anyway, since starting my health kick, I have had two consecutive natural periods at the end of March and end of April. This has never happened in my life, so I strongly feel that this is not coincidental. Overall I'm feeling a bit dumb, and the doctor acted like I wasted his time with stupid questions. Why they called me in for a face to face appointment I have no idea.
Overall, I guess this is a success story if you ignore the crappy doctor comments. But overall just wondering if anyone else thinks there is a link between sugar/carbs and negative body responses and period suppression, or is the crappy doctor right?