Copyright © 2007 • All Rights reserved
Written by Rachel Holbert
Annie's Story Dealing with PCOS
So my story with PCOS. It all started when I was about 13 or 14. I first noticed that there was some hair growing on my face. I asked my mom about it and she said that it was completely normal, so I just kind of shrugged it off.
A few years later when I was in my early years of my undergrad at what was then Mt. St. Clare College which is now Ashford University, the hair that was then no big deal became a big deal. My self esteem was dropping dramatically because I had all of this un wanted hair on my chin and upper neck. I also had a lot of weight that I couldn't seem to get rid of around my mid-section.
I tried dieting, that didn't work because the weight always seemed to come back. After going to the doctor and being poked and prodded, I still didn't have the answer I wanted. All they could tell me was that my blood sugar was high and that my A-1-C's were high. So, after finding out that my A1C's were high, which basically meant that they were going to diagnose me as a diabetic.
I read more into this and tried to figure it out. Because, blood sugar numbers don't change super dramatically over a span of 2 weeks. However, I was put on Metformin to help control my blood sugar and spironolactone to help curve the hair growth. The metformin worked with getting my sugar down, but the other one didn't do anything for me.
Time went on and the hair continued to grow and that was always my biggest struggle. I moved to Florida in June 2007, knowing now that I had PCOS because I read more into Insulin Resistance and unwanted hair growth, shortly before moving to Florida, I was diagnosed with PCOS.
Moving to Florida was hard because I was going to be loosing health insurance and not going to be able to get treated for anything. As time went on living in Florida, I started an internship with Disney in the scheduling department.
I thought that everything was going well and that I would be able to have a permanent position in that deparment and then be able to get insurance and get back on some meds to treat the PCOS. In March 2008 I was called into a meeting with my managers and they told me that if I wanted to move up in the company that I would get the hair on my chin taken care of. Easier said than done I told them. So, I did some research and I looked into laser treatments. I started the Laser Treatments in May 2008. The laser treatments were painful, but entirely worth it.
It is now May 2010 and I'm done with laser treatments and still reading all of my books on PCOS and still trying to get it all figured out of how to get it treated and under control. With the support of my family they are the reason I've been able to get through all of this.
A few years later when I was in my early years of my undergrad at what was then Mt. St. Clare College which is now Ashford University, the hair that was then no big deal became a big deal. My self esteem was dropping dramatically because I had all of this un wanted hair on my chin and upper neck. I also had a lot of weight that I couldn't seem to get rid of around my mid-section.
I tried dieting, that didn't work because the weight always seemed to come back. After going to the doctor and being poked and prodded, I still didn't have the answer I wanted. All they could tell me was that my blood sugar was high and that my A-1-C's were high. So, after finding out that my A1C's were high, which basically meant that they were going to diagnose me as a diabetic.
I read more into this and tried to figure it out. Because, blood sugar numbers don't change super dramatically over a span of 2 weeks. However, I was put on Metformin to help control my blood sugar and spironolactone to help curve the hair growth. The metformin worked with getting my sugar down, but the other one didn't do anything for me.
Time went on and the hair continued to grow and that was always my biggest struggle. I moved to Florida in June 2007, knowing now that I had PCOS because I read more into Insulin Resistance and unwanted hair growth, shortly before moving to Florida, I was diagnosed with PCOS.
Moving to Florida was hard because I was going to be loosing health insurance and not going to be able to get treated for anything. As time went on living in Florida, I started an internship with Disney in the scheduling department.
I thought that everything was going well and that I would be able to have a permanent position in that deparment and then be able to get insurance and get back on some meds to treat the PCOS. In March 2008 I was called into a meeting with my managers and they told me that if I wanted to move up in the company that I would get the hair on my chin taken care of. Easier said than done I told them. So, I did some research and I looked into laser treatments. I started the Laser Treatments in May 2008. The laser treatments were painful, but entirely worth it.
It is now May 2010 and I'm done with laser treatments and still reading all of my books on PCOS and still trying to get it all figured out of how to get it treated and under control. With the support of my family they are the reason I've been able to get through all of this.
