PCOS – What Is It, Anyway?

I have complained in several of my posts about PCOS and how it makes it so much more difficult to manage my emotions and lose weight, but I never really took the time to explain what PCOS actually is.

Firstly, PCOS is an abbreviation for Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome. I believe it qualifies as an endocrine problem since it is a disorder of the ovaries. Some of the time, women are diagnosed after an ultrasound or other test discovers cysts on the ovaries (hence the name), but other times a doctor can just give an educated guess based on symptoms and physical characteristics that PCOS women generally exhibit.

If you are interested in learning in depth what PCOS is all about, you can check out websites such as womenshealth.gov, which can answer some technical questions that I will leave to the professionals. For actual practical experience with a disorder like this, it helps to talk to women like myself who have to deal with its effects on a daily basis.

The most outwardly noticeable problems that PCOS can cause are usually due to hormonal imbalances – PCOS women typically have a higher level of androgens (male hormones) than normal women. This causes such lovely things as acne and male-pattern hair growth / loss. Thankfully my visible symptoms are at a minimum, but I acknowledge that I am incredibly lucky in that regard. I have seen some unfortunate PCOS women with dark, coarse facial hair and thinning head hair, like some men. Before losing some weight, and thereby normalizing my hormones somewhat, I struggled with a little bit of acne, but again I was very lucky compared to some.

Internally is where PCOS really does its damage. PCOS is notoriously associated with insulin resistance, a condition that can easily lead to full blown type 2 diabetes. When you eat food, your blood sugar goes up. The hormone insulin is then released to lower the blood sugar back to normal levels, regaining homeostasis in the body. In people with insulin resistance, the body does not use insulin as effectively as it should, requiring more and more of the hormone to lower the blood sugar levels. Eventually, it is not possible for the body to produce enough insulin to do the job, and diabetes sets in. This of course is an extremely simplified version.

PCOS, and the resultant insulin resistance, cause weight gain, and make it much harder, if not downright impossible, for afflicted women to lose weight. Along with diabetes, PCOS women are at a higher risk for cardiovascular diseases due to the excess weight, and certain types of cancer are also more likely. Plus, added weight just worsens the hormone imbalance.

The hormone imbalance not only causes acne and male hair growth, it also tends to lead to mood swings, depression, and other mood disorders, which make it that much harder to deal appropriately with the rest of the symptoms by taking care of any weight problems that need to be dealt with. And if all that isn’t enough, many women with PCOS find it very difficult or impossible to have children.

The upside is that, while PCOS doesn’t really have a “cure,” it can usually be managed somewhat with birth control pills, drugs such as metformin that reduce insulin resistance, and a solid diet and exercise program. Many women have great success by eating low-carb in order to reduce the rise in blood sugar after meals, but I have never had much success with this method personally. Frequently, PCOS can go into a sort of remission after pregnancy and childbirth, although getting pregnant is often an ordeal in itself for severe PCOS cases.

Some women swear by taking cinnamon and other supplements to help deal with PCOS, and I do plan to experiment with this. I will probably write a review of it eventually. In the meantime, however, we just have to deal with being fat, hairy, and bitchy until a cure comes along.

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