I wanted to find a way for me to help heal myself and educate others about this silent horrible disease, PCOS, polycystic ovarian disease. It Sounds horrific doesn't it? Here goes nothing. Mind you it is taking everything I have to open up about my journey. Please ask questions, I'm more than willing to tell you what you want to know.
I believe my journey started way back when I was 16. I knew something wasn't "right" with me. I mean I never had a period. I just kept thinking it would happen. My mom told me some girls start late. So I didn't panic yet. A couple years passed, and I took myself to the doctors to be put on birth control because I still hadn't had my wonderful period. They just put me on bc and sent me off.
I also had struggled with my weight as a kid. I was active but always putting weight on my midsection. I had acne crazy. Once I graduated high school and started college I was able to drop some weight but not nearly what I wanted. I t continued to be a struggle. I had the acne under control, as much as I could.
During this time I had not known anything about PCOS or it even existed. I had been going to college and met my boyfriend at the age of 19. We ended up getting married 18 months later. I had went off bc because we knew we wanted to start a family. Everything during this time was ok. I had my period but not regularly. After a year of trying I made an annual appointment with a resident dr. To this day I will never forget her name or how amazing she was. Dr. Martha Binn met with me and I told her all my issues and she said without skipping a beat that she wanted to run a couple tests and do a pelvic ultrasound. She had a strong feeling she knew what was wrong but wanted those tests.
So tubes of blood drawn and an invasive ultrasound was completed. I was scared, I didn't know what to expect or what the results would show. Little did I know that this was the start to being poked and tests being done all the time. When the doctor called me herself to make an appointment, I knew it wasn't good. My follow up appointment was nerve wrecking. I had PCOS. what is this? The doctor gave me some information and support group information. I left the clinic in tears. My life and dreams had officially changed.
Many of you may not know what what PCOS is. Polycystic ovarian disease is inherited but it's really unknown, researchers say. It doesn't matter what parent it came from to me. The easiest way for me to describe this to someone that doesn't know is that it screws your entire body up, your endocrine and hormone systems especially. PCOS also affects heart, blood vessels, and your appearance. Not every woman diagnosed has every symptom. I am a classic case with almost every symptom. My ovaries have tons of cysts. They are just fluid filled. They don't just go away. They can rupture and the pain brings me to my knees.
It also causes you to be insulin resistant. Which means your are not diabetic but your body doesn't use insulin like it should. It can lead to diabetes. I am also over weight not by a little but by a lot and most of it is around my midsection where women with PCOS carry their weight. It also makes your periods nonexistent or very irregular, which is me. I have the acne and oily skin that goes along with this. I also have hirsutism, increased hair growth on face, chest, abdomen, back, thumbs, and toes. I also have a lot of skin tags. I have depression and anxiety issues.
That's a shortened version of what PCOS is. So I did my own research. I learned that some of the women in my family had struggled with conceiving. No one in my family has been diagnosis except for me. So what does this all mean to me? This means if symptoms are left untreated it could lead to infertility, heart disease, and diabetes. So to most people I just look fat and don't know how to control my weight. Boy, they are so wrong. It's a huge struggle. This is just the beginning......
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