This is probably my third attempt at writing a blog about my stupid health conditions. I already have a blog that has nothing to do with health, and with 800+ viewers per day, I sorta need to keep up on that! With a full-time job working for the media and doing the regular house-wivey chores, I don't have much time to chit-chatting with my web buddies.. but that is all gonna change!
So what is my problem? Okay, go back to high school real quick with me: I was a 5'10 tall girl with red hair, freckles and weighed all of 130 pounds. I ate and ate and lost weight instead of gained. People hated me. I was modeling, in dance school, and in the theatre. I was doing everything I wanted to do and while living the dream, I was constantly picked on for being skinny. Fast-forward to college, where I was gaining a little weight due to the McDonald's and Taco Bell on campus. It was cheap and fast to just eat and run, so you can imagine that I totally gained some weight, but just enough so I looked good. I probably reached 145 and finally had a cute butt and body to flaunt around. Everything was perfect and wonderful.. roses and glitter.. and then I met the jerk. The Jerk was gorgeous but very troubled. This is when I went on birth control pills and messed up my body for life.
I started taking birth control and immediately I felt as if I wanted to kill everyone. I was hungry, irritable, and didn't feel like doing much except for eating! I gained 30 pounds in about 6 months, maybe less. The depression set in and I continued to receive both physical and mental abuse from the Jerk. I looked in the mirror and really looked... I looked like a blimp ready for take off. I went off the pill and decided to kick the Jerk square in the butt. He was gone and I was SO happy. Did I lose weight? No, I didn't.
That 30 lbs stuck on to me like bubble gum on the bottom of a shoe. I could not get it off of me despite taking gym courses in school and lowering calorie intake. I kept gaining more weight, but I was still in college where the food was sometimes free for the taking. One year before I graduated college, which was 6 years ago, I started gaining weight pretty rapidly and went to a doctor to check things out. They informed me that I had Hypothyroid. They sent me to see the OBGYN to check on hormones and also have an ultrasound on my liver. I then found out I had PCOS, Hidranitis (terrible skin condition.. Google it!) and a fatty liver. LOVELY!!!!
Right after I graduated college, it was safe to say I was a chubby cute girl. No more modeling, a little acting, and a whole lot of feeling sorry for myself. I was learning to be a makeup artist during college, so I had a job where I had to make myself and other look pretty. I definitely learned how to cover up the PCOS hair growth under the chin and the acne, and I'm a total pro. I learned how to make myself look thinner with the use of shading and highlighting.. because with PCOS bloated face, you don't feel very cute. I then started a blog with makeup tutorials and things like that, but I never ever exposed the fact that I had PCOS or taught any tricks how to cover up hair and baggy eyes. I am too embarrassed to do that at this point, yet I know it would help others. Someday...I will.
Going from Kaiser (who knew NOTHING about my conditions) who put me on Synthroid, to a Naturopath who was a total beeotch and put me on Metformin and a million herbs and spices that didn't do anything for me, but she did put me on Natural Dessicated Thyroid, which has improved my blood test scores, but not my symptoms so much. The PCOS was never relieved by any of these treatments.
I found yet another Naturopath who has me on another slew of pills. They don't take insurance for anything, and oddly enough, I have the best insurance in the world. I pay $600 per YEAR for insurance for myself and can choose from nearly any doctor except for a Naturopath! Ughhhhhh. SO I have to pay out-of-pocket for everything except for the Metformin which then I need to pair it with a box of Pepto Bismol tablets so I don't poop myself in a meeting at work.
Yesterday I was in the bathroom at work, pretty much wishing I could flush myself down the toilet. I thought .. do people with PCOS commit suicide? Do Hypothyroidians end up in the looney bin? Do people with Hashimoto's become serial killers? (Which yes, this year I found out I have Hashimoto's!) All of these questions popped into my head and I thought.. wow, I haven't done any research on my conditions in a really long time, I wonder if there are any new breakthroughs or blogs out there that I can read. So, that is what I did when I got home yesterday.
I found Katie Humphrey. Just by chance on YouTube I found her video taking about PCOS and she was so pretty and in-shape that I didn't believe that she ever had PCOS. LIAR!!! There is no way in hell that a sexy chick like that can have ever battled PCOS. Oh, but it's so true. It was 1 am in the morning and I stayed up til 2 listening to her seminar on freedomfrompcos.com. I cried. She was me.. sorta.. but totally me. When I heard Katie talking about birth control pills and symptoms of PCOS, I freaking bawled. Sure, I've read countless forums and posts about people having PCOS symptoms and unable to have children, etc. But when I heard her voice actually telling the story about her PCOS, it really hit me. I bought her book and all of that jazz, now I have to read it and follow-up. I am so excited I could scream.
I am going to skip work just to read the book today. It's THAT important to me. I'll update this blog as often as I can.. please bear with me and my busy schedule!
XOXO,
KayDee
