With the onset of puberty, I steadily gained weight.  No matter how many diets my mother put me on, still I gained weight.  Hours of exercise every day and I was still fat!  Finally, after over a decade of being told by GPs, Nutritionists and Nurses alike to "eat less & exercise more" I was finally diagnosed with PCOS. 

In 1986, I sat in my doctor's office getting a physical so that I could be cleared to participate in sports at my high school.  I'd wanted to join the volleyball team for a number of reasons.  To get out of the house, make new friends, have fun, and get fit.

Ever since the onset of puberty, I'd steadily gained weight.  No matter how many diets my mother put me on, still I gained weight.  At the age of 11, I'd already weighed 8st 13/125 lbs and within 3 years my weight shot up to 14st 13/209 lbs.  After an active year of cycling, walking, squash, 10-pin bowling and swimming, I'd dropped down to 12st 10/178 lbs.  I was very proud of myself but knew I still wasn't anyone's ideal.

Then over the summer, a friend of mine said she was going out for the volleyball team.  We thought it would be loads of fun to join together.  So there I sat in the doctor's office.  And all he had to say to me was "You need to eat less and exercise more, so I'll sign this because at least you'll be doing something."

I was in shock!  The nerve of him to insuate that I was not just fat, but lazy!  Had my mother not been sitting in the room, I might have uttered a few choice words.  There wasn't a day that went by when I wasn't exercising in some form or another, so I don't know how I could possibly exercise more.  And as for eating less, I'm guessing he knew nothing about typical teenage girls.  Breakfast:  Diet Coke.  Lunch:  Diet Coke.  Snack for Sports Practice:  Granola Bar.  Dinner:  Whatever Mom forces me to eat.  Little did I know back then, it was this "diet" that was actually keeping me fat.

Fast-forward to 1997, and for more than 10 years I'd been listening to doctors tell me repeatedly to "eat less and exercise more" despite my assurances that I was doing just that.  You could see in their eyes that they thought I was lying.  Grrr!  When finally, my sister-in-law (a die hard fan of Cosmo) handed me her magazine and said "This sounds EXACTLY like you.  I think you should see your doctor and check it out."  What she wanted me to have checked out turned out to be exactly what was wrong with me.

When I walked into my clinic, I was informed that my doctor had moved and a new doctor was taking all her patients.  Fine, whatever.  No matter who it was, I had decided I would not be fobbed off with "eat less and exercise more" ever again.  Little did I realise how different this doctor would be.

Dr Jan Inao (Kaiser Permanente Hawaii) walked in and introduced herself, explaining that as this was our first meeting she'd like to go through my medical files and history so she could get to know me a little better.  As we did, she asked me questions and made notes.  When we got to my notes regarding my physical in 1994, she asked me "So when did they send you in for the follow-up blood tests?  I don't see anything here."  Huh?  I told her they sent me to a nutritionist, who told me there was nothing more she could do for me because based upon my eating habits and knowledge, I was doing what I should aside from the occasionally indulgence.  Dr Inao said she found those notes, but there was nothing following-up on my visit to the endocrinologist.  I told her there wasn't any follow-up.  The endocrinologist just told me to eat less and exercise more.

It was at this point that Dr Inao closed my file and told me that she was going to send me to the lab for some blood tests because she believed that I had PCOS - Poly-cystic Ovarian Syndrome.  I could have hugged her...that was exactly what the Cosmo article was about, and I had all the classic symptoms.

For those of you not entirely familiar with PCOS, it can be a very complex thing to both have, and diagnose.  The reason for this is that the symptoms can include any combination of the following:

Multiple Ovarian Cysts
Irregular or Absent Menses
Infertility, or Reduced Fertility
Acne, particularly on the chest and back
Obesity or Inability/Difficult to Lose Weight
Excessive Body and/or Facial Hair (hirsutism)
Insulin Resistance, and/or Diabetes Type 2
Alopecia (thinning of scalp hair)
Acanthosis Nigricans, a hyperpigmentation of skin folds
High Blood Pressure
Enlarged Ovaries
Hormone Imbalance, commonly including:

Androgens/Testosterone
Cortisol
Estrogens
Follicle Stimulating Hormone (FSH)
Insulin
Luteinizing Hormone (LH)
Progesterone
Prolactin
Thyroid Hormones 

Next time, I'll try to relate how my specialist, here in the UK, explained what it is exactly that perpetuates the vicious cycle that causes PCOS and all it's horrible symptoms.