PCOS Awareness Month and My Journey

Today is September 1^st. A new month. With a new month, a new beginning.

My Story
For the last few years, my health has not been the best. It started in high school, when my menstrual cycle just stopped. I was sixteen at this time. My boyfriend (husband now) and I had barely kissed. Yet my doctor was confident I was pregnant.

Obviously, I wasn’t. So my OB just handed me some birth control and that was that. Over the next couple of years, I would take the pill, and every six months stop for a month in hopes my period would return. It rarely did, and it was only once. I’d have to resume birth control to have a “period.”

At this same time, I never had energy. After eating, I would be ready for sleep. I clogged drains with how much hair I lost when I showered. It was bad. I thought it was normal, since I had a lot of hair and I was lazy.

Fast-forward to 2014. My husband got orders to England, and I was able to go. Thank God! Sixteen months of separation was coming to an end! I just had to visit a doctor, something I hadn’t done in years, to get medically cleared. So I found a doctor through Tricare, and went in for my first appointment.

After bloodwork, and a couple of panic attacks, the doctor diagnosed me. Hypothyroidism and anxiety (who would have thunk? Not like I was near tears sitting in the doctor’s office or anything). I started my medication that day, and got onto a few supplements.

Through research, I saw all of the symptoms and I had a lot. Also, Hypothyroidism can stop periods. To see if it was my thyroid, I stopped taking birth control. If it truly was my thyroid, once my levels were steady, it would return, right?

By the time I got to England, they hadn’t returned. My lack of energy returned, as well as hair loss. I talked to my new doctor on base and he suggested something that my OB never did: PCOS. He referred me to an Endocrinologist off base and I began my new journey.

What is PCOS?
PCOS stands for Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome. It is a hormonal imbalance that affects 5-10% of all women. It often goes undiagnosed, because a lot of doctors don’t know about PCOS, or don’t know enough to diagnose you.

Symptoms:
- Weight gain
- Hirsutism (excessive hair growth for women)
- Cysts on ovaries
- Infertility
- Infrequent, absent, or irregular periods
- Acne
- Male pattern baldness
- Skin tags
- Darker skin around neck, arms, breasts or thighs
- Pelvic pain
- Anxiety or depression
- Sleep apnea

These symptoms don’t typically seem like they would point towards one condition. I personally have weight, cysts, and absent periods. I didn’t think about it until recently, but I do also have pelvic pain randomly, as well as anxiety.

PCOS is not curable. It is treatable, thankfully. Your doctor may prescribe birth control, which just puts a band aid on a huge cut. It may not help. It gives you fake periods. Their hope is to get your body tricked into the cycle.

Another medication is Metformin. Some of you may know it as the diabetic medication. A lot of women with PCOS suffer from insulin resistance, which means their insulin isn’t working optimally. Insulin helps with hormone balance. It’s the reason why I get tired after a carb-filled meal. Metformin can help your body regulate itself and ideally get your period back.

Clomid is another medication. I personally do not know much about it, but it’s used to induce ovulation. From my understanding, this medication is given to women who are trying to have a baby. I am not one of those women.

September is PCOS Awareness Month, as well as Ovarian Cancer awareness month and child cancer awareness month. PCOS’s ribbon color is teal. This month I wear teal, knowing my new journey has a lot of bumps ahead of me.

I’m already feeling some of the effects. I can’t eat chips like I want (thank God Pork Rinds are 0 carbs), and I have been craving McNuggets like something else. It’s bad. I felt sad grocery shopping yesterday because I saw things I couldn’t have. Anything processed is out. Anything with sugar is out. Even a lot of healthy foods are out, because of the fruit in it. I am trying to eat 20 carbs or less a day, since I have insulin resistance. A banana has 21 carbs. I can’t have a banana!

But I want to be healthy, and I’ve already lost about 7 pounds. I’m slowly getting energy back, but I did just recently have a very fatigued-filled day last week. It’s a learning process, and I’m very grateful for Joshua to endure most of my diet with me. He still gets taco shells, when I get a lettuce leaf for a shell. 

It's Been A While! (Heads Up: Novella Length!)

It's been quite some time since my last blog post. Life was uneventful. Joshua was in South Korea, I was in the States... Nothing too exciting, really. A few major things did happen, however, so I'll briefly cover them! Afterwards, I'll get onto some more exciting things.

Health

Since Joshua's next duty station was overseas, I needed medical clearance just to prove I didn't need constant healthcare. The problem with that was that I hadn't been to a doctor since I was under 18. I'm 23 now. So I had to find a doctor, get serious stuff done in a short amount of time. On top of that, my civilian doctor couldn't read basic instructions and kept messing up military paperwork. If you have access to a base, and need military paperwork by a doctor, go to the base doctor! 

During this time, I had my "yearly" physical, but found out it's every three years now (woo!). Everything was normal that way. I did get blood work done, and that's where the eye opener happened. I had a few issues.

First and foremost: I have hypothyroidism, That means my thyroid is not working as good as it should. Secondly, I had somewhat high cholesterol, which was from the thyroid issue. Finally, I had low Vitamin D.

During this time, I was near tears and panicking because I feel doctors just give bad news, so I had this irrational fear that I was going to be told I was dying. The nurse asked how I even drive with how bad my anxiety was. So on top of vitamin supplements and thyroid medication, I was given anxiety meds. Thank God.

A few months after that hell, I am now here in the UK, but I still feel out of sorts. I did feel better briefly around January (about a month and a half of taking meds). It was short lived, and I told myself once I got to Lakenheath, I'd talk to a doctor there. So I scheduled an appointment.

I explained to my new doctor about how it felt like I needed a higher does of my thyroid meds because I still feel fatigued and I'm still losing a lot of hair, on top of no periods (a problem I've had since 16). He listened to me and told me he suspected PCOS, but he'd have to refer me off base. I also needed blood work.

After blood work confirmed my hormones were a little wonky, he scheduled me off base with an endocrinologist, a doctor specializing in hormones. So I took a copy of my blood work to the next doctor, and he looked over my results and asked me several questions.

He did think it was PCOS, but there were two other medical issues that could cause a loss of periods. So I'm getting blood work to check for all three tomorrow. On top of that, I had an ultrasound of my ovaries. I'm sad I didn't get to see, especially since Joshua was clueless as to what he was seeing. The technician said my ovaries had PCOS features.

I really hope I do have PCOS, because it can be helped with serious dieting and exercise, as well as Metformin (yes, the diabetic drug). 75% of women with PCOS are insulin-resistant, so Metformin helps a lot.

A Novel!?

Back in November 2014, I participated in my first serious NaNoWriMo attempt. NaNoWriMo stands for National Novel Writing Month, and it takes part in November. The goal is to write 50,000 words in 30 days. That averages out to 1,667 words a day. Not hard once you get into the writing groove.

Well, I did it! I wrote the rough draft to What Were You Wearing? It's a novel focusing on fictional people dealing with a social issue. I want to help people with my writing.

I'm in this awkward stage of writing where I need to rewrite it because half of it is in first person. But on the other hand, I have so many other stories (especially since Joshua gave me another great story idea).

UK Differences

There are SO many differences. Let's start with the cliché: driving on the opposite side of the road. I haven't driven, since I lost my license on the traveling over, but it's intimidating being on the inside of the lane. The roads are narrow and curvy. I really hate the road to Lakenheath, because it's narrow, windy, and 60mph. I scream internally most times.

Next, different types of roads. There are A, B, C, and motorway. Pretty much, motorway is the high way; A is the freeway, and B and C roads are residential. Motorways get most taxes towards them, then A, B, and C (in that order). So B and C roads have some pot holes or are literal dirt roads.

ROUNDABOUTS. EVERYWHERE. They don't have intersections like the States. Instead, it's a right-of-way roundabout. You know that scene in National Lampoon's European Vacation where the family is forever stuck in a HUGE roundabout? That's a legit issue. Pick a wrong lane during rush hour and you could easily go around a few times waiting for an opening.

Next, this country truly doesn't believe in street signs. Our GPS will tell us to turn down The Street, but you don't know which one The Street is. And yes, that's a legit street name. We live on it! Though, a major road may have a sign. Thank God for GPS's and their real time maps.

McD's! So there are a couple of differences I know so far with McDonald's (we don't go often). Firstly, the drink sizes. A large drink is a medium in the States. I like that, it's healthier. It's also nerve wracking to see a cup say "0.5 litre." Also, their McChicken patties are different. In the UK, it's pretty much a giant chicken nugget, instead of the soft patty the States use.

Lakenheath and Mildenhall Differences

So Lakenheath, Mildenhall, and Feltwell are known as the Tri-base area, since they're so close. But Mildenhall and Lakenheath are fifteen minutes apart, so we bounce between bases depending on what we need.

Lakenheath's BX (the mall), is like a JC Penny's. There are lots of clothes. There IS a Starbucks, Charley's, Baskin Robbins, and some small vendors in there, as well. Lakenheath's BX also has household stuff, like vacuums and electronics.

Mildenhall's BX is more of a furniture and gardening store. There's a small toys section, sports clothes, bikes, grills, etc. So if you want a patio set, you go to Mildenhall. It also has a really cute small Celtic store in this BX, as well as Taco Bell and Burger King.

Lakenheath's commissary is the one you want to go to. It's like a major grocery store. Mildenhall's commissary is a very small grocery store, and does not have nearly as much as Lakenheath's. It's sad in comparison.

Lakenheath also has Popeye's, which I just discovered a love for their biscuits, so yeah! Too bad once I'm officially diagnosed with PCOS, I most likely won't have their biscuits. A cruel twist of fate!

So that's that! Sorry it was so long, but it's been awhile!