Re: Mostly a success story (long)
From: Kristina (anonymous@obgyn.net)
Wed, 30 Aug 2000 10:56:05 -0500 (CDT)
Neeta,
This post is for somewhat of a personal reason... I was wondering if
you lived in the Southern California area in your teen years and
attended a Christian church in Anaheim. This may sound bizarre, but
Neeta is an amazing name that you don't get to see too often and I once
knew a woman named Neeta (of Indian descent) who moved away a couple of
years ago. Sorry that this post doesn't deal with PCOS, but I saw your
post and had to ask! Have a blessed rest of your day:)
<3 Kristina
At Wed, 30 Aug 2000, Neeta wrote:
>
>I read a post asking for success stories and I have one. I've had PCOS
>symptoms since I was 15. I am of Indian decent so the dark thick hair
>was the first thing to show up. I never had more than one or two
>periods a year. I knew something was wrong but it wasn't until I self
>diagnosed myself at 24 through these wonderful internet sites that I
>realized what I had had a name and was common and that I wasn't a
>strange and defective human being! I always had trouble controlling my
>weight. I've always been very appearance conscious so all through my
>teenage years I exercised like crazy and followed incredible strict
>eating regimens. But if I slipped for just one week, I would gain 7 or
>8 lbs. easily. I thought I was cursed. Now I realize that the high
>carb sugary world of food out there was the worst thing for me. At age
>23 I gained 30 lbs uncontrollably and began to get horrible acne on my
>previously flawless skin. I had long thick hair that was my best
>feature. Much of it fell out. The worst part was that I tried
>everything to control this and no doctor could ever tell me what was
>wrong. I even had one doctor say that it was because I was Indian! I
>don't see half a billion women walking around India with this problem! I
>was 'officially' diagnosed two years ago and now I take spironolactone
>and birth control. I have followed an eating plan that I think is the
>best from Anne Louise Gittleman's book called "Your Body Knows Best." If
>strict no/low carb doesn't work for you, this book will work. I don't
>crave sweets and carbs any more and that has made a world of difference
>in sticking to a good plan and avoiding the moods swings of PCOS. I
>lost the 30 lbs, now 5'6" and 125. My hair looks great. My skin
>completely cleared up, now I get lots of compliments. The only thing I
>have to contend with on a daily basis is the hair. But I find that when
>I feel as good as I do and everything else looks great, no one really
>notices. And if they do, I'm more okay with it than I was with the
>weight and acne etc. I recently moved and went to a new doctor. When I
>told her I had PCOS, she stared at me and said I didn't look at all like
>the typical PCOS patient. If she only knew how incredibly hard I worked
>to get here... But I think she's just thought I was a 'lucky' PCOSer!