MY Own Personal PCOS story for PCOS AWareness month
September is PCOS awareness month and this is particularly close to my heart because well... I, myself, am 1 in 10!
It took me almost 7 years to get a diagnosis of PCOS! I went from doctor, to doctor, to doctor with my symptoms, only to be told to take the OCP and all my issues would be solved!
I went on the pill at 11 years old. All my issues - solved by a tiny blister-pack of yellow and white pills right? Wrong!
A full face of painfully red, cystic acne, horrific pill bleeds and bouts of intense anxiety and depression, all before any of my friends or classmates had even had their first period! I went from pill to pill, and tried them all! All the creams and cleansers! All the restrictive diets, all the health hacks!
I was told it was "normal", that I just had to "wait it out", "after puberty things would get better!"
Then the weight started to pile on! Despite any changes in diet and exercise. I was a gymnast at the time and this was especially challenging to navigate, getting larger and not being able to compete or simply move in the ways I was used to. Debilitating fatigue and depression just intensified. My hair started falling out and I even started growing a quite impressive moustache and beard to top it all off!
Again, I experienced medical gas lighting for months before I got diagnosed with PCOS. I was finally diagnosed overseas whilst in Saudi Arabia. My PCOS was picked up by a dermatologist of all things after I decided to try IPL for my steadily growing and embarrassing facial hair!
It was music to my ears! We know the cause now so I can be fixed! Sadly, I was wrong again. The advice was "go back on the pill and come see me when you want to get pregnant" and the incredibly dangerous "eat less, exercise more".
I was eating less than I ever had in my entire life and exercising even more than ever, obsessed with getting back to how I used to be! My body was foreign to me and I was fighting it tooth and nail. It comes as no surprise that I burned out completely!
I wish I knew earlier that I wasn't alone! That I am 1 in 10! I wish I'd received a better education regarding my hormones! I wish I knew these earlier symptoms were not normal and not just “part of being a woman” but instead my body’s signal for help. I wish I had known there was another way.
Like most natural health practitioners, I came into this space through seeking another way of healing - because there is always another way and always more to learn.
I was fascinated with herbal medicine and began studying naturopathy at first. It was after an 18 day long pelvic bleed - I had tried everything from pharmaceuticals to herbal tinctures to heat and cold therapy. You name it! It was then that a lecturer of mine recommended trying acupuncture - I was in my first semester of Naturopathy and was at my wits end.
Although a little sceptical, I decided to give acupuncture a try and my bleed slowed that very day and stopped completely the following day. Only a few days after my very first experience with acupuncture, I went to student services and requested a change from Naturopathy to a Bachelor of Chinese medicine. And here I am! An acupuncturist with a PCOS diagnosis and a passion for supporting women through their unique challenges.
Studying and practising Chinese medicine has been the biggest gift for my very own health and hormones. And making peace with my plate and daily practices such as meditation and yoga have helped me change my mindset for the better. Mindset and emotional health is equally important as physical health after all.
This is why I am so incredibly passionate about supporting women, not just with a PCOS diagnosis but any and all hormone issues that are chronically under diagnosed and often mistreated.
I still have weight fluctuations. My skin is clear now but I will still break out when I have cheese (damn!). I have to shave my face like a man most days and my partner must be a real saint, because the mood swings are REAL when they come; but for the most part, I am happy and well, and the great news? YOU can be too! Thanks for coming to my TEDtalk!
♡ Rachel
Post.Script: I will be sharing more on PCOS, acupuncture and Chinese medicine and how this ancient magic can help support your own PCOS diagnosis throughout the month of September! Keep an eye out!
