A life with pcos
“If a woman is having a problem between her belly and her knees, birth control is often the only non-surgical treatment option she has,” - Samantha Bee
Getting older as a woman has only made me realize more and more how flawed the education system is when it comes to educating women about their own bodies. While most of navigating womanly issues comes from just being a woman, having a period and dealing with it, there needs to be more guidance and education for women and young girls on their own bodies and what they’re capable of.
When I was about 17 years old I received a diagnosis for Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome (PCOS), to which I was simply told to switch to a plant based diet and get on birth control to combat that diagnosis. PCOS is basically a hormonal disorder in which a person has larger ovaries than normal and is prone to having ovarian cysts. Symptoms of PCOS can be anything from extremely painful and irregular periods, extreme exhaustion, adult acne, weight gain and subsequent trouble losing weight, and possible infertility. This was an extremely frightening diagnosis to receive only just graduating high school and finding out my periods weren’t supposed to be agonizing and almost debilitating. Not only this, but the “resolution” of a plant based diet was unrealistic for me, as someone with a life threatening nut allergy, I’d personally have a lot of trouble getting protein with this sort of diet. I didn’t have the tools and ability to really carve out an elaborate diet plan for myself as I was just leaving for college a few months later. I did wind up getting on birth control, which I’m grateful I had access to, although I can’t say I noticed any sort of improvement from it. I personally didn’t suffer from period irregularities, which birth control was the solution to.
I am currently 22 and in 5 years there has been no resolution from any doctors as to what to do to improve my symptoms of extremely painful periods, feeling like a walking zombie despite getting 10 hours of sleep, being able to physically feel discomfort when I’m ovulating and uncomfortable and frequent bloating. Maybe it goes without saying, but this is a problem. Not my Gynecologist nor my Endocrinologist have put forth any sort of resolution, no matter how many times I’ve questioned or asked, how I can make life more comfortable for me as I navigate PCOS. I’ve returned to doctors numerous times due to discomfort and frustration, to be met with “tips” such as “drink more water” and “work out more”. It honestly frighteningly seemed like they had no clue what PCOS really is and how to improve it. While these things would certainly help anyone feel good, they are not solutions to these problems, and are often the advice most women are met with as I’ve learned from digging deeper.
While my own experiences brought to light how flawed this system is, it was social media that truly emphasized to me the struggles we as women experience. It all kind of started with that weird thing that happens when you mention something in conversation and then it “magically” pops up on your social media. So I started receiving multiple Tik Toks regarding PCOS, with other frustrated women expressing their discomfort and how they kind of had to figure out a solution for themselves. There’s an entire community of women who are sharing how they helped themselves improving their PCOS symptoms with other women, which is a beautiful thing.
It’s crazy that I wound up learning that around 80% of women who have PCOS also have insulin resistance , which is too much insulin in our bodies, from a tik tok, rather than from one of the numerous doctors visits I paid for. Whereas insulin typically helps bring blood sugar back to normal after eating, there’s just too much of it in the body which results in hormonal imbalance (hence the acne, bloating, hair growth, exhaustion).
There’s unfortunately no solution I’ve come to yet for this, but it speaks towards the improper care and treatment women receive, especially in regards to feminine issues. It felt as if I was almost pushed to the side when everyday was pretty much agony for me. There are so many things I’ve learned about my own body and the PCOS diagnosis from everyday Tik Tok users sharing their own experiences with the diagnosis and how they found out what works for them. While I certainly have learned some things that could help me better treat my symptoms, It’s still tough to actually implement these lifestyle changes, like completely changing my diet or taking the time to closely examine what does and doesn’t work for me. While every gynecologist is specialized in vaginas, not every gynecologist is able to address PCOS.