Hi All,
I don't know if anyone will ever read this, but I feel like making a place where people like me can talk freely about anything and everything. Well to start at the beginning, I have never had regular/normal periods, I had more facial hair then any of the boys my age growing up but when I was 17, one night I was in the worst pain of my life. I had previously ruined ligaments in my knee (and I thought that was bad), this pain was so much worse, I was physically being sick and unable to sit up by myself. So the next day I went to the doctors and begged for a reason for this pain. I was sick of all the pain (physically, and emotionally from being overweight, and not fitting in with all the other girls) and not knowing what was wrong with me. After many blood tests and doctors visits, my doctor (who was lovely, and was the first to notice the many symptoms) sat my mum and I down in her office and told me I had all the symptoms and the blood test results to back her diagnosis of PCOS, I also remember her telling me that I had triple the amount of testosterone in my body, then most boys my age. I don't remember much else of that visit.
After she put me on medication to help, I noticed a vast improvement in the amount of facial hair I had. It was reduced in the amount and the hair was not as dark as it once was. It was not all gone, by no stretch of the imagination. When I moved away from home for Uni (2010), the PCOS was under control, well not completely, but the medication was still working, I was for once in my life able to live my life and not have to play the guessing game with my periods, I finally knew when they where coming and I was still able to hang out with and have fun with my friends, as I was not at home curled up in bed with a hot water bottle.
That was until my 2nd (2011) year at uni when my new doctor at uni, decided to take me off Ginet and put me on a beta blocker. This did not help me at all, I now had the facial hair coming back even thicker than it was to start with, it was also becoming darker again, and now the acne was also starting to rear its ugly head. This was the time I felt the worst (emotionally) I climbed back into my shell, and started hiding away. At the start of my 3rd year, end of the 2nd year, I made the decision, with the help of my family and their amazing support, that I was not going to let PCOS control my life. So I started hanging out with friends more, making new friends and enjoying my life at uni, well thats what uni is meant to be about after all. In August of my 3rd year (2012), I meet a lovely nurse and physiotherapist who were very keen to become my support system at uni and helped me and continue to help on my journey with PCOS. Thanks to their help I have lost 7kgs between then and March of this year (2013).
I know this is a long post, but I felt like it was time to get this off my chest and share with people out there, both young and old, who are living with PCOS. I say living with, because I don't see us as suffers because I believe that we should not let PCOS define/rule us, or our lives.
It has now been 5 years since my diagnosis, and every day I am still affected by PCOS, but I am no longer letting it control me and the decisions I make. I also want people out there, especially young girls who have just found out they are living with PCOS, to know that you are not alone, and that with the right medication and life choices, life can become enjoyable again.
Thanks for reading, keep enjoying life
Love Laura
xx
