This is a subject I have… danced around writing about…
I have a few issues.
Some… are major… Some are… not so major.
Today, I can discuss PCOS.
PCOS is short for Poly-Cystic Ovarian Syndrome.
This is a not fun disease. But let me explain it from my experience.
When I was 12, I had my first period. My second period wouldn’t follow for another two and a half years. When it did come, it was absolutely, positively normal, and absolutely, positively, horrifyingly painful. For a day before it would start, and three days after, I would cramp up, and just cry and moan and curl up in a bed. This of course, I was told was the pains of growing up.
Before I was 16, my periods would start getting weird. I would be a few weeks late, and then be on time. Miss a month, and then be ok. Then, before I was 17, they stopped.
It would be six months before they would start again, but that wouldnt last long. Just a four months later, they would stop.
Now, something else you should know about, is that as a little child, I was skinny. I started gaining weight around the age of twelve, and was overweight (as they called it then…) or obese, by the time I was 18.
Now, you would think that when my periods stopped, that I would tell my parents and see doctors. I did tell my mother, but, she being who she was, told me I was lying. I would try a few times to tell her, and each time I was told I was lying, and that I should stop lying… Well, that was my mother.
I went on with my life, gaining weight, not having periods. My acne kicked up huge, I was noticing more sparse facial hair. (No, not like a beard… but a small mustache was kinda visible, and then the chin had some strays.) I couldnt lose weight no matter what I tried, and I had massive amounts of depression. Yeah… so much typical stuff for a teen anyways, right?
I go see a doctor, and they love to say, “Any xhance you are pregnant?” And I would, of course, say, “Nope.” And then they would follow up with, “And when was the last time you had a period?” And I would say, “Two years ago.” Then they would insist on a pregnancy test.
So, life went on.
Down the road I found a guy, we dated, and then got married. We talked about kids, and I was seeing my doctor and her thoughts were, “When you are ready, I can get you on hormone therapy and artificial insemination.” Thankfully, we didnt go through that, and the marriage didnt last much longer anyways. Its ok. I dont mind. My life is much easier without kids.
So, the years went on.
Then, one day, in late 1998, I saw a news cast about PCOS. I watched with deep interest, and when they listed the symptoms, I had all of them but one. I now had a possible idea of what I had!
My next visit to my doctor, I asked him if I could have it. He sent me for a few tests. Thyroid, and most importantly, a ultrasound of my ovaries. Where they found hundreds and hundreds of cysts on each ovary. (Dont worry, they arent painful. At least for me. I know some women can get one and be in horrible pain.)
The doctor put me on metformin, a diabetic drug, that didnt help me, but did manage to make me feel seasick all the time.
Then, the doctor made a suggestion. He said, “Look into Gastric By-Pass. I am not saying do it, just look into it. Quite a few women who have PCOS manage to get straightened out by having it.”
I should mention, at this point, that PCOS is tricky. See, it screws around with your hormones. And the bigger you get, the more it tells your brain you dont have enough body fat.
June, 2001, I went in for Gastric By-Pass. Four months later, I had my first period. And it didn’t stop. Until recently.
***sighs***
So, there is that. If you have the symptoms, please, go see your doctor and insist on the tests.
i had pcos too……had to use a fertility doctor to have my daughter and that is why she is an only. my solution to the agony…..had a hysterectomy at 46. pcos combined with massive uterine fibroids equals hell! i feel your pain!
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