Day two

Day two:   How have these illnesses affected your life?

PCOS:

PCOS has affected my life big time.      Growing up I always knew something was wrong with my body and no one would take me serious.   They thought I was over reacting or being dramatic and it made me feel completely insane because I knew something wasn't right in my body.    All doctors saw was a number on the scale.   My issues were chalked up to just going through puberty and that "this too shall pass" when in reality damage was happening, nothing was being corrected, and I suffered for it later in life after my wedding when my husband and I decided to start trying for a baby.

I had expected to have issues getting pregnant because I was over-weight, but I had no idea I'd have the hell I went through with chemical pregnancies and miscarriages.   Because I don't have the cysts on my ovaries, I think most doctors often overlooked a pcos diagnosis when in reality my body just screams it. Many women with pcos lack the actual cysts.

Even as I type this, I feel angry about the past which is completely ridiculous because I can't change what happened.   BUT I can be an advocate NOW for pcos awareness and IF my husband and I were to decide to have another child I now know what to "look for" if the baby happens to be a girl.     I just sometimes wonder "What if...." in regards to PCOS.    What if I would have been taken seriously?   How would my life be different?  

Thyroid:
When my thyroid is off it impacts my life mainly due to the level of exhaustion - I can't really function properly at all what-so-ever if I'm "off."     Prior to going gluten free I had joint issues and my hands locked up a lot.    That hasn't really happened (maybe once or twice) since being gluten free.    Also, when my thyroid is off my weight is just all over the place.   I typically know my thyroid isn't "right" when one of two things happens.   Either 1.) I'm super crazy tired, as in no amount of sleep is enough or 2.) My feet are usually ice cold.     When I notice these two things, I then step on the scale and if I have some sort of crazy gain that happened over night (literally), then I know it's time to get labs done.



I will say I am blessed with great doctors NOW and I know my body and I'm grateful.