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Questions to take to your own clinician

The end of this course is the beginning of a conversation you have with somebody who has examined you.

Lesson 5 of 5

8 min Text

What this lesson says

  • Which criteria were used, and on what evidence
  • What else was ruled out, and how
  • What each medicine is aimed at, and how we will know it is working
  • What should be monitored, and how often
  • What changes when I want to try for a pregnancy

This is general education. It is not advice about your own situation, and it does not replace seeing a clinician.

Written lesson.
  1. 1. Everything in this course is general. The only person who can say what applies to you is a clinician who has your history, your examination and your results in front of her. This lesson is about making that conversation useful.
  2. 2. Ask which criteria she used and what evidence she has for each. You are not challenging her; you are finding out whether the diagnosis rests on two features or on one scan report, which changes what it means.
  3. 3. Ask what was excluded and how. Specifically: was my thyroid checked, was my prolactin checked.
  4. 4. For every medicine, ask what it is aimed at and how you will both know whether it is working. Add: what are the common side effects, which of them should make me contact you, and do I need contraception alongside this.
  5. 5. Ask what should be monitored regardless of treatment — blood pressure and blood sugar are the usual answers — and how often.
  6. 6. And if a pregnancy is anywhere in your plans, say so now rather than later. It changes which treatments make sense, and it changes how long she would want you to try before investigating.
  7. 7. Write these down before you go, in the order that matters most to you. Appointments end sooner than expected.

All lessons in this course

  1. 1 What PCOS is, and what the name gets wrong 10 min
  2. 2 How it is diagnosed, and what gets ruled out first 12 min
  3. 3 Treatment is aimed at goals, not at the condition 13 min
  4. 4 Lifestyle: what the evidence supports, and what it does not 12 min
  5. 5 Questions to take to your own clinician 8 min Reading now

No lesson is locked. Ticks appear once you have an account, so that what you have read is yours and not this device's.