(no subject)
I've been talking about this in various places, but in case you missed it: I've been recently diagnosed with Polycystic Ovary Syndrome. A surprising number of people I know have this, it turns out, but if you're not familiar with what it is, essentially it's an endocrine disorder that prevents regular ovulation and screws up your hormones, which leads to a whole bunch of other fun symptoms. There is no cure.
That thing about not being familiar with it? I hadn't even heard of it before the doctor said I was a textbook case. I had no idea so many people I knew had it. From what I've read, something like 50% of the people who have it are walking around unaware of it. Given that, among other things, it increases your risk of diabetes, that's... bad. It seems like there's generally not much attention or awareness about this, except among the people who've got it. Of all the things I'm not okay with here, that's probably the biggest, and I can't shake the feeling that if people don't care, it's mostly because it's a lady-problem.
What other things am I not okay with? Wildly irregular periods. Bad skin. Weird hair. Belly fat - I'm naturally sort of fat, I think, but I may have more around the middle than I need to have and that bugs me. What I'm especially not okay with is the hair; stimulated hair follicles can't be unstimulated, so while treatment can keep that from getting worse, it's unlikely to make it better, at least in the short term.
Thing is, I would be fine with and even welcome facial hair if I had a much flatter chest. Gender problems. Go figure.
Sigh, anyway.
I'm due to start taking Metformin this weekend. I'm cautiously optimistic. Mostly I'm glad I'm finally doing something about it. I've never been especially comfortable in my own body, never had that great a relationship with it, and have often felt like it and I are directly at odds. So finding out about this was at once a relief - a bunch of things finally made sense - and deeply exasperating. Because it's like, really, body? This too? You serious with this shit? I don't expect treatment - if it's successful - to suddenly make it so we get along famously, but I'd like it to at least help a little.
Mostly I guess this just makes me tired. I think I need to talk about it, though, so I'll probably be doing that more here as things develop.
And if you or anyone you know is complaining of weird acne and weird hair and weird periods and general unexplained body weirdness, for the love of God if it seems appropriate suggest that they get checked out for this, because ugh.
This entry was originally posted (with
comments) at my Dreamwidth.
That thing about not being familiar with it? I hadn't even heard of it before the doctor said I was a textbook case. I had no idea so many people I knew had it. From what I've read, something like 50% of the people who have it are walking around unaware of it. Given that, among other things, it increases your risk of diabetes, that's... bad. It seems like there's generally not much attention or awareness about this, except among the people who've got it. Of all the things I'm not okay with here, that's probably the biggest, and I can't shake the feeling that if people don't care, it's mostly because it's a lady-problem.
What other things am I not okay with? Wildly irregular periods. Bad skin. Weird hair. Belly fat - I'm naturally sort of fat, I think, but I may have more around the middle than I need to have and that bugs me. What I'm especially not okay with is the hair; stimulated hair follicles can't be unstimulated, so while treatment can keep that from getting worse, it's unlikely to make it better, at least in the short term.
Thing is, I would be fine with and even welcome facial hair if I had a much flatter chest. Gender problems. Go figure.
Sigh, anyway.
I'm due to start taking Metformin this weekend. I'm cautiously optimistic. Mostly I'm glad I'm finally doing something about it. I've never been especially comfortable in my own body, never had that great a relationship with it, and have often felt like it and I are directly at odds. So finding out about this was at once a relief - a bunch of things finally made sense - and deeply exasperating. Because it's like, really, body? This too? You serious with this shit? I don't expect treatment - if it's successful - to suddenly make it so we get along famously, but I'd like it to at least help a little.
Mostly I guess this just makes me tired. I think I need to talk about it, though, so I'll probably be doing that more here as things develop.
And if you or anyone you know is complaining of weird acne and weird hair and weird periods and general unexplained body weirdness, for the love of God if it seems appropriate suggest that they get checked out for this, because ugh.
This entry was originally posted (with
comments) at my Dreamwidth.