Hi Everyone,
I am new here my name is Allena.
I am a 16 yr old female from Nashville. Until a couple of days ago I probably could have translated 100 Egyptian Hieroglyphs before I could have told anyone what PCOS meant.
My Doctor put me on Medication back in November 2005 for my weight problem and the Low carb Diet. He put me on a Diet pill and a medicine that brings my insulin down due to Darkening brown skin on my neck and inner arms. He told me this was due to my Insulin being abnormal and that my Medicine plus the diet plan would help. So I have been following this plan for roughly 3 months (give or take a few days) and so far I have lost 25-30 pounds. The last month I have not been following it so strictly because I have been eating out and on the go. I eat bread sometimes at home, etc. But I went to my Dr. Feb. 9th and I still had lost 6 more pounds.
I am trying to be more faithful to my diet because my health is very bad. I don't want to get like I was before even though I am not good not I am 40% better than I was in the past. My Doctor told me to exercise so I have been exercising much more than I ever did in the past, however still not enough. Maybe 1-2 a week Aerobics.
Okay so now to the PCOS, My Mom and I were talking about my hairloss the other night. I have had significant hair loss for the past 9 months but I think even longer than that. I have talked with my doctor about this and asked him what the problem was if it was my Thyroid or something else. My tests for thyroid came back negative. My Mom brang up the fact to him that I have wore my hair up every day for the last 1-2 years in a pony tail. I hardly ever wore my hair down and many times I would tie it extremely tight to where it would not fall out. He said it could be that my hair follicles have been smothered. I think it's something else so I began posting on message boards and reading and I haven't really found anything out. My Mom G-d bless her, the other night got online and done a search for disorders or what causes teenage females to have Irregular periods and Hair loss (I think) and she found a PCOS Web site packed with information and symptoms of PCOS.
I read a little and she read some things off to me from the web site, low and behold I have every one of the symptoms of PCOS that I have read about.
Since this is a Medical problem I will be open; I have had my Period since I was 10 years old in 2000. I have never had my periods on schedule. There have been years where I have only had 2 periods the whole entire year.
When my period would finally come it would be horrific and I would want to cry it was so miserable. I am a big girl and I have a high tolerance for pain but my Periods were miserable. I would get sick to my stomach, my cramps were just horrible, my blood flow was continuous and thick, etc.
So that marks #1: I had Irregular Periods for 5 years. Then when I started my Insulin medicine and my diet and stopped eating sugar and flour (most of the time) My periods have been regular since November. I have had a Period every month, Never have I had my period more than twice in even a 6 month period.
Furthermore,
I have always complained about my facial hair growth. I have not spoken to my Doctor about it because....It embarrasses me
. I started shaving my neck, under my chin, my chin, sideburn areas, etc. about 2 years ago with an electric razor or the little trimmers like the Finishing Touch.
This always made me uncomfortable and made me feel manly.
I still have to shave my face even now.
I have always had excessive hair growth on my back, chest and stomach and I have to shave my body every day
.
this has always made me feel uneasy and uncomfortable even more so than I always have been in my skin..
That is #2 of the symptoms.
Acne-
I have had Acne since I was about 11. It started just with a little break out every now and then on my face now it has become horrible on my body
.
I have Acne on my shoulders, back, lower back, chest and arms from my elbows up to my shoulders. Plus on my face.
I have asked my Doctor about medicine like Accutane and he said No because Accutane has caused Ovary problems and has caused many of young girls to be Steryl.
So I have to go to a Dermatologist. But now that I read PCOS can cause ACNE I don't know if we should still go to a Derma or be tested for PCOS first.
So that is #3.
My hair loss is really bad. I was always the girl with the thickest hair out of most people anywhere. So Thick that a hair tie sometimes would not even hold it up it took 2. I couldn't even brush my hair sometimes with certain brushes due to the thickness. Now my hair while in a pony tail I can grab the tail of it and it is about as round as a silver dollar in size.
I can feel my scalp on the top/back on my head without really digging through any hair
....
My hair was always what people would say "Oh it's so beautiful, Your hair is just gorgeous" not anymore...
Thats #4.
Skin Tags
I have skin tags on my neck on both sides
#5
The brown skin I have all around my neck, on my inner thighs, at the tops of my thighs, on my elbows, on my chest, underneath my breats, and even a little on my lower back.
#6
Although I have been heavy all my life I gained a lot of weigh in 2002-2003.
#7 and I carry most of my weight around my waist and abdomen
I have oily skin on my face
#8
I don't have high blood pressure really but I have slightly high cholestoral
#9
The only symptom that I don't really have is Infertility (that I know of)
I am not sexually active. I am a Virgin actually. but as far as I know and I am not Infertile.
I look at myself and I think of myself as a Monster because I in my opinion am so ugly. My skin is so disgusting. If it's not the Acne and Hair it's the stretchmarks from getting so fat. I have such big dreams of success in a field such as acting. And I think when it comes to that type of Career you have to be beautiful, flawless, etc. and I am not and personally I don't think I ever will be beautiful. I will always be scarred and have the lowest self esteem because of the ugliness I have faced with my appearance all of my life even if one day I did develop into something beautiful.