January this year, my hair started falling out. It was coming out in clumps. I was scared to brush my hair or run my fingers through it due to the amount that was falling out. I was crying on a nightly basis, scared of becoming bald! 6 months prior, I had decided to come off the contraceptive pill. I had been on it since I was 16 and wanted to give my body a break. My periods didn’t occur during comp time, but I figured it was due to the weight loss and low fat in my diet. When 4 months after my comp, my periods hadn’t returned, I knew this, combined with my hair loss wasn’t normal. Something wasn’t right.
I went to the doctor and requested a multitude of tests – thyroid function, hormones, full blood count etc. What came back surprised me. It turned out, my hormone levels were completely out, with low estrogen levels and high androgen (testosterone) levels, indicating potential Polycystic Ovary Syndrome.
SAY WHAT?
I had none of the classic symptoms of PCOS – I wasn’t overweight, no excess hair, no dark skin patches, no insulin resistance…. So it couldn’t be that. But then I connected the dots… lack of periods, hair falling out, hormone imbalance…. I went for an ultrasound, which confirmed the diagnosis. I had multiple cysts on both of my ovaries.
So what did that mean for me?
Since I wasn’t having a period, my ovaries were not producing eggs that were reaching maturity, therefore could not be fertilized. Basically, I can’t get pregnant naturally (extremely low chance), and if I want to, I will need to take medication to kick start my hormones and begin the process. I’ve always said that I didn’t want children, but that devastated me. I felt like having kids was what women do, and that had somewhat been taken away from me…
On top of that, my test results came back with a few other irregularities. My liver function (ALT - these are enzymes released by the lever which indicate liver damage) was high. This stumped me. I very rarely drink and have a fantastic diet, so how could this be? After doing a lot of research, I discovered that this is quite common in women with PCOS. Excess androgens and / or insulin resistance change the livers ability to metabolise fats. The liver will still metabolise fats, but it’s ability to store extra becomes quite limited. Due to this, unprocessed fat molecules become inflammatory, damaging the cells of the liver. This puts women with PCOS at higher risk of Non Alcoholic Liver Disease.
Furthermore, my LDL (bad fats) are equal to my HDL (good fat), which was also extremely strange, considering the amount of good fat I consume. My risk of heart disease was still low, but this shocked me. Apparently nearly 70% of women with PCOS have high levels of LDL and low levels of HDL.
What a shock to my system. So what to do? How do I fix this? The specialist recommended a new contraceptive pill. I wasn’t opposed to it, but I was a bit unsure. I took it anyway. 3 weeks in, my hormones were going crazy. I was up and down, crashing and crying, even though there was nothing wrong. I felt bloated and my brain was foggy. My body felt weak and tired and just generally horrible. I knew it would take some time to change, but I didn’t know if I could do it. I knew balancing my hormones was important, but was that the only way to do it?
I don’t know the answer yet. After hours and hours of research, reading and chatting with friends, I have decided to go off the pill and try and attempt to regulate my cycle and balance my hormones, somewhat with diet and with the introduction of some herbal remedies and see how I go. I know that due to my low oestrogen levels, I am at higher risk of endometrial cancer if I do not have a period, but I figure that 6 months off the pill is not going to kill me.
There is not a lot of information out there for “lean” PCOS women. Diet recommendations are geared towards women who are overweight, with the majority of advice being “lose weight and exercise more”. Well I don’t need to lose weight, and I already exercise…
I currently eat a diet that is pretty balanced, but generally higher calories and carbs than majority of women. I find this works for me. I am willing to try something else though. Low carb diets are highly recommended for PCOS in order to stop insulin spikes and to regulate blood sugar. I’m thinking this could be the way to go with me. I like the idea of eating a lower carb diet, this would regulate my insulin levels, hopefully help my liver, as it will not continually need to secrete glucose in the presence of insulin. However, this kind of diet could also be detrimental, potentially causing altered thyroid function (if too low carb).
September is PCOS awareness month. 1 in 10 women has PCOS, many undiagnosed. Thats quite a lot of women. 3 people in my workplace technically should have it. I hope that my experimentation with diet can help at least 1 person with their PCOS battle!
Do you have any advice / tips for me? I would love to hear your feedback!
Stay tuned....