njrene67

Hello Ladies - my name is René ,40 years old and was Dx with PCOS 10 years ago. I have gained about 70 pounds since being Dx. Every doctor I have gone to blamed me for my weight gain ( I can imagine the stories we can all swap! ) and have left their offices in TEARS! I have finally, FINALLY found a PCOS doctor in Phily ( Dr Katherine Sherif ) and I go to see her in October. Seeing an Endocrinologist isn't good enough, they don't know much about this. ( well, at least the doctors I saw)
Here is my question, or concern - if PCOS strikes 1 in 4 women, why isn't this more known. Breast, cervix, ovarian cancer, fibroids, endometriosis are health issues facing us girls, so why isn't PCOS on the same level! Even though I had acne due to this , which is gone, my main concern is the obesity. Women are spending thousands of dollars on diets and exercise equiptment, and it's not going to work due to PCOS. I know people have written to Oprah , Tyra, etc, to no avail.
What is going on? How do we make more noise about this!

Rene'

melee18

I think the fact that doctors seem to have difficulty diagnosing it definitely plays a part. It also seems that a lot of doctors are misinformed about the severity of PCOS. A lot of them seem to want to just push the pill on women and get them out of their offices. Few seem to want to sit down, ask questions and really get to the bottom of your problems. As a country we really seem to have gotten away from preventive care and aim more for a quick drug fix.

Also I've noticed it is not easy to casually talk about PCOS with people. Even if they don't know what it is and you try to explain it, the conversation tends to get into some private areas that people don't always want to hear about. For example if your boss casually asked you why you went to the doctor the other day what would you be more comfortable telling them - "I think I have PCOS because I keep missing periods, have facial hair, acne and can't get rid of this belly" or "My doctor thinks I might have ovarian cancer - they want to run more tests".

Neither is a very comfortable convo, but the PCOS topic is easily blown off as "it's all in your head". The cancer is taken seriously however because people can identify with it to some degree.

I think overally though PCOS has gained more attention in recent years. I know the nurse practitioner at my endo's office said that they see many more women with PCOS than when she first started her career (she's in her 50s). She also said there are lots of different ways of treating it now than 30 years ago. Still it would not hurt the cause to get more celebrity involvement.

KatCarney

Where is your "1 in 4" stat from?

Not only do they work, they are the foundation of any good pcos treatment program.

__________________