Wednesday, June 17, 2009

PCOS

For S.-it’s early, keep charting, stay calm, find inner strength and peace. Prayers for you.

PCOS
What it is: Hormonal Imbalance can lead to diabetes and heart disease (which my doctor said I am at risk for after my blood work). Typically the small amount of hormones most associated with males, is produced in larger quantities.

Symptoms:
Weight Problems (insulin levels get out of balance due to hormones)-while not an excuse it explains a whole lot. It is murder to drop weight but I have no problems packing it on eating LESS then what everyone else does!
Extra Facial and Body Hair-Uni-brow anyone? Extra eyebrow over my lip, course patches of whiskers on my chin, a goody trail over my lower abdomen that doesn’t point to anything at all as its not in a line, the most recent favorite, those three long black hairs that appear above my shoulder blades (SEXY BABY, YEA!). I spend quite a bit of money on waxing, bleaches, VEET, and razors.
Acne-I do not have BAD acne but I have constant tiny clogged pores and black head with random mountains and horns that sprout all over my body at the most inconvenient times.
Thinning Hair on the scalp/dandruff-I do have issues with dry scalp and a place on the back of my head that I feel is thinning but my hair is so thick its hard to tell.
Irregular Periods-Have always had irregular periods since a teen often going MONTHS without a period and then having a painful, clotting, mess for 2 weeks.
Fertility Problems-I’ve been TTC for over 2 years. Until Clomid, my charting had shown maybe one possible ovulation in over six months. Who knows how long it had been since I had truly ovulated.

Why Me?:
PCOS is hereditary. In my family I know of two females in my generation (1st cousins) who have it. Of those two, one had two children when she was very young, and the other has resorted to adoption. Recently learned that the next generation also has one confirmed case of PCOS. We are not sure who we inherited it from as previous generations have all been supremely fertile (6 children or more) that we know of and we have a pretty extensive genealogy thanks to the hobby of one of my cousins. A few of my aunts show classic symptoms but they all had multiple children (3-4 each) starting very young. Maybe that is my biggest problem is that I did not start trying till I was 29.

How I was diagnosed:
During one of my horrible periods complete with clotting and pain so bad I wanted to die (or more accurately go to the hospital for morphine which I had done before), my regular OB could not see me so I saw a PA. She asked me several questions, did a pelvic exam (which if you have never had a pelvic exam while bleeding and clotting heavily, it is completely uncomfortable embarrassing and unpleasant. It makes a regular PAP look like a walk in the park on a summer day. If I could have crawled in the drawer under the exam table, I would have), gave me a preliminary diagnosis and ordered blood work to confirm.
Aftermath:
I will admit, since I did not know much about it at the time other then a few mentions of the acronym on BOTB, my world shattered. You would have thought they had told me I would have to have a hysterectomy or something. (I’m a bit of a drama queen sometimes). So through the tears and nerves I proceeded to do a follow up with my regular Dr. who wanted to try Clomid and wanted me to follow up my Bloodpressure etc with a regular dr. I have since found a regular family Dr. (as I didn’t have one before) but I have only been there Once.
What does this bring to my life? Frustration, mad charting, Clomid, increased exercise, constantly working on improving my eating habits and making better choices and I was able to quit smoking for good. It’s been 5 months since I have had a cigarette. I do drink a bit more now though *wink*. (not really, I’ve never been too much of a drinker).
How does my story end? I don’t know, I haven’t given up completely yet. For those of you who are having difficulties, I pray that you are not one of every 15 women who have PCOS. I pray that no matter what comes your way, you have strength and courage to get through it. If any of you ever need to talk, please feel free to contact me. I am always here for you. My cousin (the one who adopted) gave me one of the most heartfelt long discussions about her journey and what would happen to me as I sat in my car and cried in my Dr.’s office parking lot. She prayed for me and told me how she had made it through. I’ve found strength in that and while we never have had the best relationship, I have counted her friendship through this and her strength as one of my saving graces through this ordeal. Thank you Renee. I admire you so much in not only your faith and strength but for turning your ordeal into an opportunity of love in adopting your beautiful babies and providing a wonderful home to countless foster children.
It is my turn to pass on my story and hopefully provide knowledge if not hope and faith for someone who reads this.

1 comment:

  1. B, thank you. I know I am being an irrational baby. But, why is it that we can recognize we're jumping off the deep end, yet we can't do a damn thing about it!?

    Thank you for your kind words and for sharing your story. I think you touch more people than you know.

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