Today my post is going to be a little bit of a rant, but I think that I should address something. I recently was talking to a lady about PCOS who knew a little bit about it. She is studying nutrition and was curious about my problems. What she said to me has really been bothering me for a few weeks. As we talked about nutrition and other things she said to me "PCOS isn't as hard as people think it is. It's all about your lifestyle". Okay... I do agree to a point. While lifestyle is a factor, it's not necessarily the problem. I know that I personally have been making some changes to my lifestyle, but I also know many women who struggle with PCOS that live very healthy and active lives. I'm sure she didn't mean it this way, but to me it sounded like "you have a hard time with this because you don't have a healthy lifestyle". What I heard was, it's my fault.
I was diagnosed at fifteen. As a teenager, I was healthy. I had a great body (I often wish I could have it back). At my heaviest I weighed in at 130 pounds. I now weigh in over 190 pounds. I have always had jobs that required me to be on my feet all day and generally running around helping customers. I don't think that I am sedentary by any means. Should I exercise more? Probably, but I think about 80% of the population could stand to be more active. None of us are as healthy as we could or should be. So lets not be judgmental of others. If you don't have to personally deal with some of the health issues that others do, then you have no right to make any judgements. What may be hard for someone else, may not be hard for you. That's fine, but that doesn't make the other persons struggle any less real for them or any less difficult.
I also want to add that hormones control, quite literally, everything in our bodies. They control how we use food for energy, how we maintain our weight...I can't even name all of the things that hormones control, especially for women. My hormones are messed up. This will never go away. There is no cure for PCOS, and medical professionals still don't really know what causes it. This is something that, like a diabetic, I will have to manage my whole life. It won't go away when I have children. It won't get better with age, if anything it will probably get worse. I will end up having more symptoms to manage, more medication to take and other health problems to avoid. I will repeat that ONE IN EVERY TEN WOMEN has PCOS. As I've written this blog I have truly come to find that statistic to be fairly accurate. There are some of you who read my blog that I didn't even know had PCOS too. You've been coming out of the wood work. Every single one of you ladies have expressed to me how difficult this has been for you. It's not something that simple lifestyle changes will fix. While a healthy diet and exercise regiment will help, and can possibly alleviate some symptoms, that's not the case for everyone.
Everyone's symptoms vary. My symptoms became worse the older I got. As I said, I was a healthy teen. The only symptom I had was the irregular periods. The only reason that the doctor could even diagnose me is because she tested my hormone levels, which were very abnormal. Some women have embarrassing facial hair growth, some women gain weight no matter what they do because of Insulin resistance. There are some women who are never able to have children because of this, there are some women who deal with horrible depression and anxiety. With so many women struggling with this, shouldn't we be a little more mindful of others? I don't think that God looks down on these women, or any person that has struggles. All of His children have their own problems, and he takes the time to listen and understand every single solitary one. Shouldn't we give others the same curtesy that God our Father gives our brothers and sister?
I know that this is sort of a rant, but I'm feeling a little cheated. The whole reason I decided that I needed to open up about this is because I wanted people to be more understanding of me and others. Quite frankly if some of you had to wake up and look at this body every day, you might be a little frustrated too. Some of you know how it feels to not be able to conceive and the feeling of losing a child, some of you don't. For those of you who don't, I wouldn't want anyone to have go through these experiences. If you were taking a million different medications, having to do tests, not being able to follow through with a craving that could probably be compared to any pregnancy craving in intensity, and simply deal with the feeling of having no control over your body there would be days that you would probably want to give up. Those of you who know me well, know that I don't have patience for ignorance. Please be kind to others. All of you have your own struggles that you deal with. They may not be something that I struggle with, but that doesn't make it any less real or hard.
Whether you deal with health issues, addictions, low self-esteem, being a new mother or father, being a tired mother or father, or anything else in your life that is difficult for you, we have been commanded by Christ to love each other as He loved us. Shouldn't that also mean being understanding of others trials and tribulations. The things that we deal with are specifically designed to make us better people. We go through our trials and tribulations, not only to gain knowledge, but also to gain perspective and to learn to have compassion on one another. So this week, with it being Christmas, a time to truly focus on giving, give your ears to listen to someone you know really needs to talk. Give your time to someone who needs it. Give your compassion to those who can't find it anywhere and are feeling lost. Give your love as a brother or sister to those who just need to know that they are not alone.
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