Being a young teenager I never really thought much about my health because I always felt fine. That all changed when one day I started noticing I was always feeling anxious, I would have waves of depression, and I was always skipping my periods. My mom thought that it might be Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS), which affects women’s hormones. She had it when she was younger and she had the same symptoms. 

Sure enough, she was right. 

On my way to the doctor I was worried and anxious to find out what was wrong with me. I sat on the chair to get my blood work. I saw the doctor get seven glass tubes out to check me for multiple things. I could smell the rubbing alcohol from the wipe she cleaned my arm with. I was staring at the amount of blood that was getting taken out of my arm. 

A week later my doctor told me I had PCOS; I was asking myself why I had to have this. My doctor made me feel better because she let me know we could fix it. 

I am telling you this story because I want you to know that you are not alone. Five to ten percent of U.S women have PCOS.  But don’t worry, because it is curable. 

I also want you to know that people go through stuff in different ways and it gets better.  I learned that anything could happen unexpectedly. My having PCOS has changed me. I no longer complain about the little things that go wrong. Having PCOS has made me stronger. 

I look at people’s feelings differently now, because I understand that people can be low because they are going through something I don’t know about. 

I am happy to say I am getting better and I am almost fully recovered from my PCOS.  

The original podcast version can be heard here.