Maddy's PCOS Diary > April 2005 Archives

April 30, 2005

Symptoms of PCOS

Firstly I'll reply to my journal comment!

I found out I had PCOS in 2001 though now I recognise I have always had it.
When I was a young teenager I used to spend hours in the bath scrubbing away at darker patches of skin which used to look "dirty" (now I realise it's caused by insulin resistance)
I was always sporty and a bit of a tomboy and never had a problem with my weight. I loved sports at school. When I reached 16 I started to gain weight quite rapidly and took up weight training and dieting. I have been dieting ever since.
Over time the weight loss has become harder and harder. After having my son when I was 24 the weight seemed to jump on me quite rapidly. I spent a few years on a "healthy diet" of low fat, high carbs only to gain more weight and start sprouting extra hair!
I visited my Dr over the course of weeks and months never really getting anywhere until I read an article on PCOS and asked for the tests to find I do have it.
PCOS is where small cysts form all over the ovaries; your body becomes resistant to insulin and produces extra to compensate; too much sugar in the blood causes fatigue and general aches and pains and fat gain. Fat gain causes more hormonal imbalances and that coupled with insulin resistance causes the body to produce too much testosterone which in return can cause male hair pattern baldness; excess body and even facial hair; lack of periods and more cysts. And so the cycle goes on.
I will collate some better information than that to post in my journal. After all, if this is a journal about PCOS I should include some information on the syndrome right? But it's quite ironic that today I have decided to stop focussing on PCOS!

Posted by Maddy at 12:19 PM | Comments (1704)