Personal PCOS Story with K. Saks

My PCOS Story

K. Saks

Michigan

My PCOS story began at an early age.  I was always the first child in my class to develop—whether it be with regard to height, weight, shoe size, any immutable quality.  I started wearing a bra at the age of 8 and got my first period at the age of 9.  At the time, I never realized anything was different about me—just quicker.  I was considered “overweight” from the age of 8 on.  Doctors would try everything to get me to lose the extra pounds which, in hindsight, were probably not that detrimental.  I was told that I was lazy by doctors, offered forms of speed to increase my metabolism and even told that if I didn’t loose weight that a doctor might, one day, have to stick a needle in my heart if I had a heart attack.   

At the age of 12 I began having serious bouts of depression.  I was originally sent to a social worker and placed on Zoloft.  When that no longer worked, at the age of 14 I was switched to Paxil without much thought to side effects, and after self-mutilating episodes landed in the hospital.  My medicine was changed to Prozac and I entered therapy with a new therapist after that time.  I learned to control that part of the disease through medicine, activity and therapy

After having steady and overly-predictable cycles for approximately seven years, at the age of 16 I had a stretch of 6 months without a period.  A family doctor gave me a five-day dose of hormones to “jump-start” my period.  That worked once, but when it didn’t work again I requested another doctor.  A caring and intelligent young intern noticed the correlation of many of my medical conditions—the weight, the depression, and the break in my cycles.  She diagnosed me with Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome (PCOS) right away and placed me on birth control pills to regulate my periods.

The birth control, though helpful for that one symptom, did not help regulate any other symptoms of the syndrome.  When I was 20-21 I did research regarding PCOS and found a corollary condition—Insulin Resistance—which seemed to describe me perfectly.  My family doctors told me that I was incorrect—that they did not test for such a disease and did not prescribe medicine for such a disease and sent me on my way.  After again switching doctors, I was diagnosed with Insulin Resistance—with insulin levels twice as high as the normal person.  Although the doctor I was seeing attempted to place me on insulin-controlling medication, the medication proved to be too harsh on my stomach and so I stopped taking it.

I am now 24 years old.  Approximately one year ago, after reading a story regarding Type II diabetes and Insulin Resistance in the news, I decided it was time to take control of my health.  I started to see an endocrinologist after my primary care physician refused to place me on a regular dose of proper medicine.  I was given Metformin, an insulin controlling medication. I started on a low-carbohydrates diet, and began working out (a habit that I had for awhile, but because of the insulin resistance never led to genuine weight loss).  I have lost approximately 50-plus pounds since then and continue on both the Metformin and birth control to help my symptoms. It is my hope to get to a healthy size in the next three years and within the next ten years, be able to start a family without many fertility complications.