Soul cysters


       I was diagnosed with PCOS when I was 22. I had irregular cycle. At first doctor told I have cysts in both ovaries. I did not take it seriously. Shock awaited me only when she told me that I had to undergo laproscopic drilling and that I will have fertility issues. I did not know much about this disorder. Reading from websites only scared me further. I was very depressed. Now that PCOS Foundation is established, I feel those undergoing my condition will have a place to share their experiences and problems and understand about this disorder. I hope their motivational and PCOS management programs will help all women.

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     I (22, female) was diagnosed with PCOS in the summer of 2019. I used to skip periods for three months during stressful times and started to experience hirsutism and hair loss. The lack of early diagnosis had left me with lower self-confidence due to the noticeable facial hair I had, and due to the psychological disturbances like brain-fog and mild depression I was experiencing. It became difficult for me to pay attention to classes due to fatigue I was experiencing. After starting birth-control pills to regulate my menstrual cycle, I saw a drastic change in my mental health, stamina and hirsutism. The changes were seen after taking medicines, exercising and setting a clever eating habit for over 6 months. I stopped taking pills after a year and am regulating my periods by avoiding unhealthy food habits and sedentary lifestyle.

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    I was first diagnosed with PCOS when I was thirteen years old. Symptoms such as irregular periods, excess weight gain which is very difficult to reduce, acne, and excess hair growth in the body, hair loss, depression and anxiety were seen. Since I was young at that time I thought my weight gain was due to junk foods but when I missed my periods for two months my mother got scared. So we went to the hospital and got diagnosed. Yep as usual the doctor gave me medications and also told me to lose weight. When I started consuming the tablets, my periods were regular but I faced over bleeding where my periods last for more than 10 days a month. Again I went to the doctor and she gave me pills to get period and also stop over bleeding. After a year I was so fed up I stopped the medications and my periods were irregular. But in that scenario I got my periods every 3 months once but it lasted for thirty days. It was very hard for me as once my white uniform at school was full of blood. My mother took me to siddha, ayurveda and herbal clinics too but I was not interested at all. I hated taking medicine. Then I changed my physical activities by gymming and practicing dance. It really gave me a good result and periods became regular when weight was reduced. But due to a lot of stress my weight gained again. I won’t give up. I am fighting PCOS with Physical activities again which is giving me results.

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     In terms of having my menstrual cycle every month, I always felt that I’m easy like a Sunday morning. I was very casual and never understood that there is a big difference between being healthy and maintaining the state of healthiness.

My period cycles were always regular. Even if I hate to exercise, I always ensured that every week, I would have a cardio session for an hour. I was preparing for the abroad and Indian entrance exams for my Master’s degree in May 2022. I was under a lot of stress. I had the burden of clearing the exams, as I felt I was already two years late to enroll for the same. Every day, I ordered some junk food for the sake of so-called ‘my mood will be good, without realizing its side effects. Every day, I studied, ate a lot of junk food, and never exercised. Apart from this, I have trouble falling asleep. I felt very disappointed when I did not clear an abroad University’s entrance exam. I couldn’t bear the failure. Even after a month, I did not get my periods. I waited for one more month. My gynaecologist asked me to do CBC, a set of hormonal tests as well as Pelvis USG. All the blood reports were normal, and the USG report showed the presence of polycystic ovaries. This is how I got diagnosed with PCOS. I had to take Progesterone tablets for artificially inducing the periods.

I moved to Chennai for higher studies. I found out that one of my professors in SRM University, Dr. Usha B. is currently working on PCOS research. I approached her, asking the basic queries regarding diet and exercise. She suggested me to do cardio, to use the staircase instead of using an elevator to go to my classroom and lab. In terms of diet, I had to avoid junk food, include more of veggies and fruits in my diet. I knew that PCOS can never be cured, and it can be only managed with a healthy lifestyle. I attended a symposium in SRM University on PCOS organized by the PCOS Foundation. It was very informative and taught me a lot of things. I started realizing that if I have to make things better, be a healthy individual, I have to take my stand and start working for it. I started following all the things that I have learned from my professor and symposium.

I have kept some progesterone tablets with me and always controlled the urge to consume them. I wanted the process of ovulation to occur naturally inside me. After consistently working on myself, I got my periods naturally. I felt satisfied and happy. I believe, we should keep trying, go by the book and be consistent towards the good practices. I thank my professor Dr. Usha B. for enlightening and guiding me.

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 I was diagnosed with PCOS at the age of 19 (2018), when I came to know this, it doubled the stress I was already facing. I started to figure it out and was willing to do all kinds of activities, diet intake, and lifestyle changes suggested by others. In the beginning, I led a normal college life which automatically became my routine lifestyle. As a result, I reduced my weight and my periods were normal. Then came the COVID-19 lockdown: being at home, eating healthy food, and work stress-free actually made me lazy and increased my weight which in turn invited my PCOS condition back. Now again back to routine college life, my body started to adapt to the routine physical movements and my mind stopped worrying that I have PCOS. Month by month all my old dresses got fit to my body and my ovaries started to do their monthly cycle routine properly.

These 5 years of Journey have taught me that – Our body is made in such a way to go along with nature, do the basic regular works by ourselves, and eat healthy food. Personally, I think there is nothing such as good food and bad food but the portion we intake and never skipping the food are the two main things we should consider as a diet.

“Being a Quaintrelle and a Geneticist, I firmly believe that the universe and the cells in our body reflect our manifestations”.

Eyes Can’t See What Mind Can See...!