Fully cured after 18 years: what finally worked for me

shareyourgood · 01-11-2006, 04:50 PM

I was diagnosed with Polycystic Ovarian Syndrom at age 16. My case was as bad as it gets: I wasn't able to menstruate at all... ever.

I am now ovulating and menstruating every month. My cycle ranges from 23 to 40 days. My body hasn't yet begun running like "clockwork", but my cycle is always short enough that I know both ovaries are functioning beautifully. I have no doubt that regularity will happen soon; I just want very much to post now to help anyone who might be out there searching desperately for an answer... as I was.

My period slowed, then stopped at age 15. At 16, my MD put me on the Pill, and I continued taking it until the age of 34. Twice during my 20s, I tried going off the Pill to give my body a chance to "do it on its own" and twice, after a full year with no periods and with ultrasounds showing enlarged ovaries, I went back on the Pill.

Mine seemed to be a very tough case. I was active, healthy and fit, but my ovaries didn't function at all.

At the age of 30, I developed dreadful side effects to the Pill, which I now realize were due to growing toxicity in my liver and kidneys from years of the medication. My hair was thinning at a frightening rate, my armpits were sweaty, my vagina was dry, and I was so hypoglycemic that I could never seem to eat enough to remain comfortable. I was eating meals with meat and cheese every two hours, and waking up in the night too hungry to sleep. Yet I was more muscular and fit than I'd ever been.

Determined that my body could learn to function on its own, I began searching for answers in alternative medicine. I tried a couple of different homeopaths and herbalists, but always remained on the Pill throughout the treatment, as I was wary of the roller coaster my body seemed to go through when I went off the Pill. At the age of 33, I visited an herbalist my sister recommended. He did blood analysis and other tests, and I took the leap of going off the Pill. I spent thousands of dollars on expensive, packaged herbs. I did have one period under his care - my first "real" period in 17 years - and I cried tears of joy at that miracle. I never had another one under his care, though, and eventually was too broke to continue the treatment. I went back on the Pill.

At the age of 34, a friend highly recommended another alternative doctor. By the time I finally made the appointment and took a commuter bus to go see her at her home office, I'd forgotten what kind of treatments she did; if I'd remembered, I probably wouldn't have made the appointment.

She was intuitive, and worked with energy. I considered this kind of thing to be highly suspect, and although I didn't necessarily disbelieve it in the broad sense - I would have admitted there probably were a few people in the world with such powers - I somehow didn't believe there could be a person in my near vacinity who could really cure a person in such an airy-fairy way.

From the moment I entered her office, she began to pick up bits of my history all on her own. She knew that I had the mumps at age eight, even though I had never written such an obscure fact down on the brief medical history form I'd filled out. She picked up that something profound had happened with my relationship with my father between age eight and 14. And something had, although it was nothing awful in comparison to the difficult childhoods some women have had. Essentially, I viewed the relationship from the perspecive of my current reality, with a great sense of guilt over never being able to love him enough.

Dr. Molly was filling up with profound emotional feelings, right there in her office. She was feeling the emotions of myself as a little girl. Talking with her, I suddenly felt my perspective of my entire challenging relationship with my father shift. I began to see it from the point of view of myself as a little girl, when he, for his own reasons, became needy and overpowering. I remember constantly feeling the desire to run away from him, but I wasn't allowed to because he would become hurt and angry. The relationship wasn't in any way sexual, but Dr. Molly, feeling those early emotions for me, called it emotional rape. I realized that our angst-filled state of affairs wasn't my fault - that I was just a little blank slate girl when it started - and that there was no reason for all the guilt.

What Dr. Molly believed was that, out of a sense of protection, my body created an energy block and this block stopped my ovaries.

She had me do some visualizations (imagining putting a white light of personal space between my father and me), repeat some affirmations ("My emotions are important"... which I thought was completely silly until I began to bawl like a baby), and then she began to move her arms around about 1 ft. above my body. My body began to respond, making loud gurgling noises and making little shifts inside that I could feel. This is how powerful this woman is: she was basically doing the same kind of treatment as accupuncture, but without the needles. My body made those same noises and inner movements every time I saw her for a year.

I literally left her office and walked to the bus stop with my jaw fully dropped in awe. It was the most incredible hour I'd ever spent. I could already tell it would be life-changing. But the biggest life-changing moment happened the next day. I spotted.

I had never in my life spotted. First of all, I was on the Pill, and you don't spot on the Pill unless you miss a pill, which I hadn't. Also, spotting requires ovarian function, which I'd never had. Well, now I did.

I went off the Pill and began to see Dr. Molly as often as I could get an appointment. Between alligning my energy and her incredible insights from her intuition, she helped me to change my life. All the parts of my life were failing when I began to see her: I was broke, my career was in the dumpster, my health was awful, and I was desperately single. I had been doing all kinds of work using affirmations and affirmative prayer. I had told myself and the Universe that I was healthy and fertile and womanly and that my perfect partner was going to arrive at the perfect time... every day for two years. I'd gone deep, feeling the emotions of joy these changes brought, sobbing. And then the next day more hair would fall out in the shower.

Under Dr. Molly's care, little by little, my life began to allign along with my energy. It was like all the things I wanted were waiting to snap into place, but I wasn't powerful enough to have moved the block on my own.

Over the course of one year, I had three periods with her, and each one was a miracle to me. After a year, we both realized it was time to see someone who could take me to the next level: the land of regular periods.

My own intuition led me directly to Chinatown, and to a wonderful Traditional Chinese Medicine herbalist with over 30 years of experience. As soon as I met him, I knew I'd found the right place. My treatment is a tea that I drink once a day, made up of ten different Chinese herbs and roots. My prescription is written out in Chinese characters; the dosage of each individual herb is tweaked each week, depending on my symptoms. (This is key: Dr. Chen says some other herbalists simply give you a pre-set prescription of the 10 herbs, and they don't switch them up. This would never have worked for me. One herb, for instance, made me very dry downstairs, so Dr. Chen switched it out for another herb. Another herb gives me hemorrhoids. Each week, Dr. Chen checks my indicators (wrists, tongue), asks me a bunch of questions, and adjusts my prescription accordingly.)

He gave me my first period within five weeks of seeing him. Every subsequent cycle has been between 23-40 days. I am ovulating like a normal mammal for the first time in my life. I am in love with a fantastic man and looking forward to having babies, something Western doctors always told me I likely would never have. I just bought a house. Life is beautiful, and I guess the neat part is I am fully aware of how beautiful it is every day.

The cost of my fertility: $24 a week.

Western medicine basically says our bodies are not able to produce the hormones needed in the right proportion to allow the egg to be readied for release from the ovary. I could never relate to you what TCM would say on the same subject. But I can tell you that my body produces the right hormones in the right proportion just fine now.

Could I have skipped the energy doctor step to be treated directly by the TCM herbalist? I really don't know. Would TCM have helped me if I hadn't first found the answer to how the block was created (and subsequently had a big discussion with my father to air that whole subject?) It's really hard to say. Perhaps with accupucture.

Both Dr. Molly and Dr. Chen said my liver and kidneys were weak and they needed to allign or "clear" the energy there. I'm not really clear on whether having the "energy" blocked in my organs means that the organs themselves are blocked, but I've begun doing liver flushes in the hope that I can help my body even more. Because I am a runner and eat very well, my bowels are already great (twice/day).

That is my story. I wish you all the luck in the world in finding your answer. I believe the answer is here for us to find. If you haven't already done so, look within yourself first. Do you have issues you need to resolve that may be producing energy blocks? (I thought my issue was too "small" to be the problem - that other people's lives were so much more challenging and their ovaries worked just fine.) Air the issues. Talk with your father/brother/partner or whomever you need to talk with. Build harmony within yourself and your life.

And obviously... get fit. Eat healthy, whole foods. Develop a love for feeling strong.

And then... listen. Follow your intuition to find your answer.

Godspeed.

(I live in Toronto. If you live around here too and would like to know the names of my doctors, you're welcome to write.)

Sincerely,
Sharmaine

August · 11-27-2006, 02:48 AM

Hi Sharmaine, I just did a search for "blocked" and "energy" and I came upon your post. Very Interesting. I have to admit that I am very dubious about the possibility of PCOS being "cured" although that is really the thing that I want more than anything for myself, for all of us! Also I am aware that we are all different and unique. In any case it is very good to hear of someone having success in dealing with PCOS!

Would you mind giving us an update on how you have been doing since this was posted and what you have been doing as far as continuing treatment?

Back to the thing about "blocked energy" - it seems to be a theme that I have noticed a lot - although I am sort of western medicine type of girl - it is something that I have been thinking about more and more recently. Blocked energy, blocked chi, being blocked somehow emotionally, being blocked creatively, having some problem that 'blocks' ovulation or proper ovarian function or hormonal balance I guess that at a cellular level there could be some sort of “blockage” that prevents insulin from being able to transport glucose/energy into the cells optimally. And just not having enough energy in general! (Also some other themes I have been noticing lately: something about the liver, something about the kidneys, the need to detoxify the liver, the digestive tract or the whole body, something about the lymph system -some of that fits into what you said.) It seems like I have heard several time Women with PCOS saying that the acupuncture doctor told that that there is something about their spleen and maybe also something about being generally too damp or having too much phlegm.

If I understand correctly acupuncture has something to do with unblocking energy or making your energy flow the right way - is that sort of right? And did you actually ever do acupuncture? (I know that you compared what Dr Molly did for you with acupuncture.) I understand that a lot of women with PCOS are very enthusiastic about the effects of acupuncture. Do the TCH (Tradition Chinese Herbs) have a similar purpose?

I also want to ask you about the affirmations – that is something else that I have been interested in recently and I was wondering if you felt that the affirmations were helpful. . . and if so, if you might provide more examples of some that you think are helpful. It is sort of outside of what I really believe would be the sort of thing that would be truly helpful but I have been playing around with affirmations some – and one of the ones that I sort of like is “my energy is free-flowing, it is not blocked.”.

PollySis · 11-27-2006, 06:17 PM

Have you posted this somewhere else, before? It's awfully familiar...

I'd be very wary of anyone or anything that claims 'cure', too. You can become asymptomatic (I am at the moment) but it will never be cured, or go away entirely and to make such a claim is highly suspect.

lilybellamom · 12-29-2006, 12:59 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by PollySis

I'd be very wary of anyone or anything that claims 'cure', too. You can become asymptomatic (I am at the moment) but it will never be cured, or go away entirely and to make such a claim is highly suspect.

I have read numerous post from women on this site that claims they are cured. Dont give up hope because of someone else is negative believe and you can achieve!

Jashobeam · 12-29-2006, 02:01 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by lilybellamom

I have read numerous post from women on this site that claims they are cured. Dont give up hope because of someone else is negative believe and you can achieve!

PCOS is a syndrome, a collection of symptoms. It's thought ot be genetic and inhertied from mother or father or both. Some ladies have indeed went into a sort of remission, but the genes are still there. I hope someday there is a treatment found that will put all of us into remission. Until then I am working on being healthy and watching my DD like a hawk so if she does have PCOS we can attack the symptoms early on.

lilybellamom · 12-29-2006, 02:47 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jashobeam

PCOS is a syndrome, a collection of symptoms. It's thought ot be genetic and inhertied from mother or father or both. Some ladies have indeed went into a sort of remission, but the genes are still there.

Yes the genes are there, but the genes are also there for breast cancer and many other dieases. (PCOS is a disease). Just b/c we have the genes does not mean that you can not be cured. Oh ye of little faith! There are woman who have been cured and once again If you believe you can achieve.

Jashobeam · 12-29-2006, 03:01 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by lilybellamom

Yes the genes are there, but the genes are also there for breast cancer and many other dieases. (PCOS is a disease). Just b/c we have the genes does not mean that you can not be cured. Oh ye of little faith! There are woman who have been cured and once again If you believe you can achieve.

Not sure why lack of faith would have anything to do with genetics. No, I don't believe we can be "cured" of PCOS. I believe we can attain remission which can be reversed. PCOS to me is more like the genetics for blue or green eyes. You can put color contacts in, you can even surgically have your eyes removed, but the real eye color is still there in your genes. As of now you cannot do any medical proceedure to change the genes for blue or green eyes.

Once you get breast cancer, the actual growth, you can possibly have it removed, go through treatment, etc. Once it's gone you no longer have the tumor. That's not the way with PCOS. Even if I had a full hyster, I would still have PCOS and many of it's nasty problems.

I think if a woman has attained remission that is great. I would love someday to be a size 10 and not have hairy feet. I don't think that's attainable as of now. Having more faith that that can happen, won't change my genes.

lilybellamom · 12-29-2006, 03:33 PM

I think you and I will have to agree to disagree. I believe I will be cured and I believe there are many out there that have been cured. Faith has everything to do with whether or not you can be cured. No hard feelings I enjoy discussion!! Have a great day!

Jashobeam · 12-29-2006, 03:40 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by lilybellamom

I think you and I will have to agree to disagree. I believe I will be cured and I believe there are many out there that have been cured. Faith has everything to do with whether or not you can be cured. No hard feelings I enjoy discussion!! Have a great day!

I think if docs all had a defintion of what PCOS is it would help in finding more treatments. Right now we treat the symptoms of a syndrome that has a faulty name. Not all cysters have problems with cysts. Half have no weight problems. Some have no fertility problems. Some have no hair or insulin problems. Since the very defintion of PCOS is different according to who you ask, it's hard to pinpoint what exactly they are trying to find treatments for. Some ladies are missdiagnosed with PCOS when they really have another problem that is treatable (Cushings, thyroid problems, etc.). Others never get the dx. My lab tests were not way off the charts at all, but I was dxed with PCOS without any scan, just by my symtpoms including mild IR, hair growth, weight problems, etc. Even with all my symptoms, many docs would refuse to DX me as having PCOS because of my lack of cysts and bad lab results.

lachicarubia · 12-29-2006, 05:03 PM

Many people THINK that PCOS is genetic. But they have never proven that PCOS is genetic, that is just their THEORY. I personally don't believe that PCOS is genetic.

So far, no one has a "proven" cure for PCOS. That doesn't mean that a cure will never be found. That doesn't even mean that a cure doesn't exist RIGHT NOW. It only means that NO ONE has yet to PROVE the cure for PCOS. Or that no one has yet received authority from the FDA to claim that they have a cure for PCOS.

It takes a lot of money to do a study about any kind of treatment for any disease, and then even more money to get approval from the FDA. Usually, the huge drug companies fund that type of research because in the long run they rake in HUGE profits from any drug that is developed and sold.

I really don't think anyone in the medical or pharmaceutical industry is in a hurry to find a "cure" for PCOS. If people were cured, they wouldn't need their drugs, or fertility treatments anymore. The PCOS industry is a HUGE money making industry!!!! Think of all the money that PCOS women spend on fertility Tx's, weight loss, laser hair removal, etc.

I personally believe that I have found the "CURE" for PCOS. I believe that I have found the cause of PCOS, and the cure is ANYTHING eliminates the cause. Once you eliminate the cause, you are not just in remission, you are CURED. That is my personal belief, I don't have concrete proof...yet.

I can't do any kind of study to prove my "theory" because I don't have the funding.
But on the other hand, do I really need to prove to anyone else that I have a valid theory? Do I NEED FDA approval to claim that I believe that I have been cured? Do other women with PCOS need FDA approval to try the same things that helped me? NO! We don't need them. We can take control of our own health management. We can find out for ourselves. And we just might be able to have great success in the Tx of this syndrome.

There are some that don't believe it, and don't want to try anything that their doc doesn't Rx. That is perfectly fine, they are free to chose the treatment options that they are comfortable with. Most of the "approved" treatments can produce results at a fairly good rate, but they are often very expensive, have miserable side effects, and are not designed to "cure" PCOS. They even admit themselves that their treatments won't cure PCOS, "There is no cure for PCOS".

But there are those of us who are willing to try alternatives, and share our experiences with others, especially if those alternatives have produced positive results. Those who hear our experiences can decide for themselves if they want to try the same thing. They can even add it to the treatment plan that their doc has given them, and have even better change of successful results.

I don't think that anyone should be discouraged from trying alternatives just because the person sharing the experience "claims" that they have been cured. If you have a hard time believing that anyone could be cured, start asking questions. Ask the hard questions: How does this Tx help with PCOS? What is the science behind it? Are you the ONLY one who has experienced these same results? What has been the experience of others? Are these results duplicatable?

I have been grilling myself with these same questions, because I want more evidence that my own theory is correct. I know that I have had significant results, but I also realize that everybody is different, and that others might not get the same results. My theory is just that, a theory, and I am as curious as others to find out if my theory proves to be true, and will help others with PCOS.

lilybellamom · 12-29-2006, 08:59 PM

Amen!!!

katiekeen · 12-29-2006, 09:56 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by August

Back to the thing about "blocked energy" - it seems to be a theme that I have noticed a lot - although I am sort of western medicine type of girl - it is something that I have been thinking about more and more recently. Blocked energy, blocked chi, being blocked somehow emotionally, being blocked creatively, having some problem that 'blocks' ovulation or proper ovarian function or hormonal balance I guess that at a cellular level there could be some sort of “blockage” that prevents insulin from being able to transport glucose/energy into the cells optimally. And just not having enough energy in general! (Also some other themes I have been noticing lately: something about the liver, something about the kidneys, the need to detoxify the liver, the digestive tract or the whole body, something about the lymph system -some of that fits into what you said.) It seems like I have heard several time Women with PCOS saying that the acupuncture doctor told that that there is something about their spleen and maybe also something about being generally too damp or having too much phlegm.

If I understand correctly acupuncture has something to do with unblocking energy or making your energy flow the right way - is that sort of right? And did you actually ever do acupuncture? (I know that you compared what Dr Molly did for you with acupuncture.) I understand that a lot of women with PCOS are very enthusiastic about the effects of acupuncture. Do the TCH (Tradition Chinese Herbs) have a similar purpose?

I also want to ask you about the affirmations – that is something else that I have been interested in recently and I was wondering if you felt that the affirmations were helpful. . . and if so, if you might provide more examples of some that you think are helpful. It is sort of outside of what I really believe would be the sort of thing that would be truly helpful but I have been playing around with affirmations some – and one of the ones that I sort of like is “my energy is free-flowing, it is not blocked.”.

Hi August - first of all, I'd like to thank you for finding the original post and giving it another airing for those like myself who've never read it. I found it very interesting. I don't know much about 'blockages' or acupuncture, but have a great deal of interest in the theories, and have often wondered about blockages - emotional or otherwise - being a catalyst for the dysfunctional hormones suffered by women with PCOS. Not in all cases, of course.

For myself, there is not a skerrick of family history of PCOS in any of my numerous relatives, yet I've had it from the time I started menstruating. My latest gyno told me I'm the most classic case he's ever treated. I have 5 paternal aunts, 3 paternal uncles, 3 maternal aunts, 1 maternal uncle, numerous cousins & second cousins, none of whom have or display symptoms of PCOS. In fact, there isn't a family amongst my aunts and uncles who have less than two children, most of them have between three and five (easily). Which makes me look for other reasons. The OP's theory on emotional blockage would fit nicely with my history. But I wouldn't believe it would be the only answer. Perhaps it's a genetic link that lies dormant until triggered by stress-related events/ emotions. Again - only in some cases, not all. Who knows? It's interesting to hear different theories, though.

I do have acupuncture treatments and take Traditional Chinese Medicines, and can say that since starting them, my cycles have slightly shortened, but I've also been on met and low-carbing, excercising etc, so it's probably a combo.

I also do affirmations daily and have done for over 10 years - not specifically fertility or health related, just general life affirmations. I was given them to do by a healer similar to the OP sees, who works with energy. She's also a licensed psychologist, and as such, has a very holistic and sensible approach to emotional healing. I think the affirmation you like is a good one for you, particularly as you are drawn to it, and it certainly wouldn't do you any harm.

katiekeen · 12-29-2006, 10:52 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by katiekeen

For myself, there is not a skerrick of family history of PCOS in any of my numerous relatives, yet I've had it from the time I started menstruating. My latest gyno told me I'm the most classic case he's ever treated. I have 5 paternal aunts, 3 paternal uncles, 3 maternal aunts, 1 maternal uncle, numerous cousins & second cousins, none of whom have or display symptoms of PCOS. In fact, there isn't a family amongst my aunts and uncles who have less than two children, most of them have between three and five (easily).

-Forgot to add both my sisters and my mother who are completely PCOS free-

Jashobeam · 12-30-2006, 09:22 PM

Remember, not all cases of PCOS can be seen with the naked eye. Not all cysters have infertility problems. My grandmother was probably a carrier of the gene, but didn't have the symptoms that I'm aware of. All three of her cysters had the belly weight, 2 were diabetic and one had insulin problems. My mom probably has PCOS, but both of her sisters had 5 or 6 kids each. Both are diabetic and one has weight problems. Mom's brother prob. has male PCOS since he has weight problems and his sons have male PCOS symptoms (diabetes, balding in the teen and early 20s, etc.) I think a person can carry the gene or have a few of the symptoms, but not all.

lilybellamom · 12-30-2006, 10:15 PM

Just b/c people have a weight problem does not mean that they have PCOS. Sometimes we search for symptoms and signs to justify our own insecurities about the diease.