Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome Awareness

September is Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome (PCOS) Awareness Month. Even though this disease affects about 10% of Canadian women it is so little known.

I want to talk about my journey with PCOS, particularly how it has affected my weight, cravings, and my overall self worth feeling.

As a young child when asked what I wanted to be when I grew up I always answered that I wanted to be a mom, even as a teenager I didn’t understand that I might not have that opportunity. The reality sunk in at the age of sixteen as an endocrinologist explained to me that I was one of the 10% of Canadian women that had Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome.  I had never heard of the disease before, but the symptoms all lined up to what I had been experiencing. Over the year or two before the diagnoses I had been experiencing a lot of weight gain, irregular menstrual cycles, and irregular hair growth. All of these symptoms added up to be the initial signs of PCOS.

PCOS is a hormonal disorder. It’s something that I believe doctors don’t really understand, and it lacks research. The definition of PCOS according to the Mayo Clinic website is that it’s “a common endocrine system disorder among women of reproductive age. Women with PCOS may have enlarged ovaries that contain small collections of fluid located in each ovary as soon during an ultrasound exam”. There is no real concrete answer as to what causes PCOS. Some of the side effects that I’ve experienced that are linked to PCOS include insulin resistance, a build up of testosterone, and of course weight gain.

As a teenager I always suffered with my weight more so then any of the other symptoms. Once I began taking Metformin I noticed that some of the weight came off, mostly because I felt it helped curb my cravings for sugar. It wasn’t until I started my six week Eat to Live journey at the beginning of September that I realized just how addicted I was to sugar. PCOS makes it incredibly difficult to lose weight; one of the symptoms is weight gain. I can say that it’s been weeks since I thought about grabbing a piece of cake, or chocolate bar where that was a daily thing for me for a long time.

One of the biggest issues I’ve struggled with in regards to my PCOS is accepting myself for who I am. There is no shame in having PCOS, yet it’s something that I have primarily kept private. Often I feel as though if people knew the truth, knew just how much I struggled with my weight, or knew that I might not have children that I would be judged. It’s only been within the last year that I’ve come to accept myself and find joy in the little things.

In August of this year I hit one of the biggest milestones, I became medication free. After being on a series of different medications since turning sixteen my amazing family doctor suggested that I try to control my PCOS via diet. Through changing my diet I have so far lost eleven pounds, and close to ten inches. One thing that research has found is that it seems when an individual looses a significant amount of weight that their body resets; almost like forgetting it has PCOS. If an individual can keep their weight down after that time it seems that they will no longer have PCOS or any of the symptoms along with it.

PCOS is a leading cause of female infertility. As someone who knew from a young age that they wanted kids hearing this crushed my dreams. It has only been in the last year that I’ve come to realize that in order to try to defy the odds I need to lose weight, I need to have a healthier lifestyle both diet and exercise wise, and ultimately it is not the end of the word if I cannot conceive. For years I felt that if I found out I couldn’t have children that I would be a failure. Whether or not I can conceive and have children does not make me any less of a person.

Currently, I’m in a really good spot with my PCOS. I’m medication free, I’m loosing weight, and I’m making the necessary changes. It’s my hope that other women will remember that no matter what illness or disease they have it does not change who they are, and that we are all here for a purpose, whether we understand it or not.