Hi everyone,
I had my last period a few months ago, and since then I have rapidly developed terrible acne and gained 10kgs. I have been frantically trying to stop this slide into hideousness but none of my desperate efforts in dietary or skincare discipline has made a jot of difference: everyday looking in the mirror becomes more painful.
I'm 29 years old, and while I have occasionally had the odd pimple in the past, and have always dieted to maintain a healthy weight, the last few months these issues have spiralled completely out of control.
I work on a boat, this is my busy season, we are always in foreign countries and I rarely get ashore, but I managed to briefly see a doctor in Italy and was prescribed antibiotics to clear up my skin and Belara contraceptive pill. She suggested PCOS but was unable to carry out any tests as I only had shore leave for 2 hrs.
I have been trying to follow a low gi diet (I read this could help), but while this has slowed the weight gain down, I'm still getting fatter, just more slowly. Excercise is hard on the boat, but I do when I can, and my job is quite physical.
i hate myself for caring so much about my appearance but I cant stop crying about it. My job is a service role in a very image conscious industry and I am finding every day such a struggle. part of me wants to crawl into a hole somewhere and be left on my own to dream about the days when I was unspotty and only had a couple of kilos to lose. If i put on any more weight I wont have a uniform to wear...
I know a lot of you have had worse to deal with and you all sound so positive and proactive. I was hoping for some advice to kick start a bit of weightloss or something to get me feeling back in control.
Just knowing PCOS may be the cause has helped, though, and reading the posts on this site is making me feel better.
Look forward to hearing from some of you,
Best
Lu. x
