Re: Scared and alone
From: Sonnet (anonymous@obgyn.net)
Sun, 30 Dec 2001 05:13:21 -0600 (CST)
I like your name, Hope :)
I'm 25, about your age. I was diagnosed through a freak accident
basically, in 1999. The 15 years or so before that were hell - it
sounds familiar. I cut my arms and legs too, although I hid it from
most people (and my parents didn't think it was serious enough to
warrant attention *rolls eyes*) I was always overweight, no periods. I
felt like a freak. My doctors always told me that not having a period
was normal for my age, up until I was 21!!
There's so much support out there, and I"m glad you've been coming to
this forum - just hearing that other women are like us and have gone
through the same stuff is so comforting. I'm REALLY glad you've been
diagnosed and treated properly too.
This is important - Removing your ovaries will NOT CURE the PCOS!! If
that's the reason you want it done, don't - then you'll have PCOS just
compounded by having to take hormones and infertility they can't treat.
Treating your insulin levels with Glucophage should keep everything in
order, and the worst of this at bay. Hang in there with it!
If you want to chat, I'd love to, feel free to email me any time! I can
help you find some support in your area too, if you like. It made a
world of difference for me just to hang out with other women who looked
and felt like me. Your doctor definitely sounds like a big waste of
time - not listening to you or taking your health seriously at all. Any
possibility you can find a new one?
I'm glad you wrote! I hope thigns start getting better and better for
you and you really get your life back. Please don't hesitate to give me
a yell if I can help at all!
At Sat, 29 Dec 2001, Hope wrote:
>
>Hi,
>I've never written anything here before, but I've been reading these
>postings for a while. The more I read the more scared I get. My
>doctors ignored my symptoms for almost 12 years. Im sorry this is so
>long. I don't have anyone to talk to about this.
>I was diagnosed with PCOS a little over a year ago, but I 've realized
>through my research and readings that I have had this since I was about
>11 or 12. All of the symptoms I am being treated for now, at age
>24,were present then and had been with me constantly until recently. I
>didn't understand why I was severely depressed and suicidal, lethargic,
>dizzy, and hungry all the time, overweight despite constant diet and
>exercise. I had skin problems they diagnosed as psoriasis, headaches
>atleast 4 days a week, and nonexistant periods.
>I continually complained to my doctor for atleast 11 years of all of
>these things. She would just imply that I was a hypochondriac, she
>would never test me for anything. I started seeing a gyno at 13 but
>they always said that it was normal at my age to have irregular periods.
>I didn't know that this existed, so I didn't know what to do. I didn't
>know what to ask for. I started believing that I was a hypochondriac
>and started believing that my mind was the ultimate problem.
>Over the years I drank and did drugs to try to stop the pain of my
>depression. I attempted suicide 3 times and continually cut and burn my
>arms and legs. I saw 10 psychologists and therapists during this time.
>I checked myself into a rehab and then a mental institution when I was
>18. I thought I was crazy. Life hurt so much and I wanted help.
>When I was 21 I finally saw an endochrinologist. She put me on birth
>control pills to help regulate my period, but still neglected to
>diagnose me. Within 3 months some of my symptoms were gone, the
>depression that I had everyday of my life for 10 years vanished
>magically. The headaches disappeared, my period reappeared a little bit
>and now i can function on 10 hours of sleep instead of 12 or 13. Now
>last year they finally diagnosed the PCOS and presribed glucophage and
>everything else has mostly subsided and I lost 40 lbs.I'm now having
>constant pelvic pain that my doctors are ignoring. Im scared it might
>be serious but I can't afford a second opinion.
> So, I was just wondering, was anyone else in so much pain?
>I don't know anyone else who has this. I felt like a monster for most
>of my life and finally im realizing what its like to be able to wake up
>and be able to function like a slightly normal human being. Im scared
>it won't last though. Im considering having my ovaries removed. I
>can't go through that pain again and the pain im in might not go away.
>Im trying to not even think about the infertility yet. So yeah that's
>my point, was it like this for any of you? Im sorry if it was.
--
Sonnet Fitzgerald, PCOS Association, Online Community Liaison. Email: sonnet@pcosupport.org
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