What Is Polycystic Ovary Syndrome?

Hey y'all! I hope everybody is having a great day so far and enjoying this warm and beautiful weather we are experiencing right now! I am going to hop right into today's post because this is something really personal to me and something not a whole lot of people know about. After I said something in the 10 Things I Am Doing Different In 2018 post about my bad part of the year, I got a lot of questions as to what was going on so I thought I would share.

At the beginning of 2017, I was diagnosed with Polycystic Ovary Syndrome which I have come to find out is not uncommon for women to have but there is no cure to fix it. I went to my doctor because ever since I started getting my period, it has always been very irregular and I could go months without it and just thought it was about time I got it checked out. My doctor did an evaluation and an ultrasound and confirmed it was what she thought it was. She even had me come in and do blood work and that was a little bit of sigh of relief when the results came back clear of Diabetes and any Thyroid issues.

This was devastating for me though in more ways than one. For as long as I can remember I have always wanted to be a mom and wanted to have a family but when the doctor told me this I kind of saw that image getting derailed. As you can imagine for me this was not good for my mood or in this case my depression that seems to stick with me. Once I kind of let it all sink in, I knew it was time to make a change and it was time to start doing things for myself. I have always been the type of person that puts other people before myself but I knew in this case I had to make a change for the good of me.

So right now I am trying to get my health on the right track by getting my eating right and trying to get as much regular exercise as I possibly can. I am soon visiting a nutritionist so she can help me get my proper proportions and tell me what are the proper things for me to eat and not to eat. I am trying to not let this get the best of me and make it a negative situation. Instead, I am trying to make good life decisions and continue to make sure that my health stays #1 so I can have that family that I have always dreamed about having later in life. Looking forward into the future is kind of hard and I don't know what is going to happen in a few years but I am staying optimistic and continuing to work on myself.

WHAT IS POLYCYSTIC OVARY SYNDROME (PCOS)?

Polycystic Ovary Syndrome is when small cysts grow on the ovaries. The cysts aren't harmful but they do lead to a hormone imbalance. My doctor told me that on the ultrasound, my ovaries would look like a chocolate chip cookie and the cysts would be the chips.

WHAT ARE THE SYMPTOMS OF PCOS?

The common symptoms of polycystic ovary syndrome are menstrual irregularity, excess hair growth, acne, obesity, and depression (check, check, check, check, and check). And then of course the more long-term and in the future symptom is having difficulty getting pregnant, heart issues, and diabetes.

WHAT ARE SOME TREATMENTS FOR PCOS?

Now I did say up above that there are no cures for PCOS but there are some treatments to help manage it. The biggest and most obvious would be birth control pills but unfortunately for me I cannot take the pill because of my history with severe migraines. The doctor told me that because of this history, that the pill could actually cause me to have a stroke so that was an easy thing for me to rule out. Some other treatments are physical exercise with at least 20-30 minutes/ 5 days a week, weight loss, Electrolysis (electric current removal of unwanted hair), and medications. My doctor has actually prescribed me medicine in case I go a long time without my period to help jump start the process.

I appreciate all of you for stopping by and reading all of this, it really means a lot to me! Stay tuned for more to come!

Love, D