since the first time i got my period at the age of 12, i've been battling the hormones in my own body. i went from being a cute kid to an ugly duckling. puberty hit me hard. i gained hormonal weight, i grew facial and body hair, i had cystic acne. i heard everything under the sun about how i looked from the people that 'loved me most'...
"you used to be so cute as a kid, what happened?" my aunt asked pointing out my excess weight and facial hair.
"you should really remove your arm hair" my 26-year-old cousin said to me in front a party full of people when I was 13 years old.
"we say this because we want you to be beautiful" i was told over and over again.
i developed a thick skin from a young age, but it still got to me. i'd look in the mirror and wonder why i couldn't look like my older beautiful cousins, or my stunning mom. i dieted and couldn't drop weight, i played sports and couldn't drop weight, i started hair removal at the age of 12, i felt hopeless.
when i was 16 years old my pediatrician diagnosed me with Poly Cystic Ovary Syndrome (PCOS) because of my irregular heavy periods (usually one every 3 months, if i was lucky) and facial hair (signaling to the doctor that i had heightened levels of androgens). she didn't tell me much about what PCOS was or what it meant for me, but she put me on birth control. in the 6 months i took the birth control she prescribed, i lost 20 pounds, i ate whatever i wanted and didn't gain weight, my acne cleared, and i had easy 3 day periods every month. my hormones were balanced and i finally felt pretty.
so you're probably wondering what PCOS is. PCOS is a hormonal disorder impacting roughly 10-20% of women of a reproductive age. it is diagnosed in 2 of 3 ways:
irregular periods
cysts on ovaries
heightened androgen levels
symptoms and side effects of PCOS include infertility, gestational diabetes, miscarriage or premature birth, insulin resistance, inflammation, metabolic syndrome, sleep apnea and adrenal fatigue, depression and anxiety, cancer of the reproductive organs, among others.
i didn't start learning about PCOS until two years ago. still to this day, most doctors are not well versed in PCOS and there are many unknowns about the syndrome. through my time learning about PCOS and my body, i've discovered so much. this blog is about my journey.
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