Hello. I'm Ashleigh. I'm 22 and I have PCOS, but getting that diagnosis was not easy.
I was 110 lbs my whole life. I'm 5'3" so that was a really good weight for me, even possibly a little thin. But I was healthy and happy.
At 19, I met my husband and began struggling with my weight at the same time. Within a year he and I had married - and I had also gained 50lbs, despite diet and exercise. I had started growing facial hair, stopped ovulating, was "groggy" and having sugar highs and lows all day every day. I had also become the pee-pee Queen - I couldn't go more than 45 minutes without feeling as if I was going to pop a valve.
I felt like a complete failure. I saw that my mom is overweight (5' 6" and 207 lbs) and just saw myself headed straight down the same path. I didn't know what to do or how to stop it. Then someone on a TTC board asked me if I might have PCOS. After extensive research, I was convinced I did.
The doctors were another story. I would show them my stretch marks, complain about the weight gain, and they would say "it's from having kids." When I said I don't have any, they would blame it on getting married and tell me I just needed to suck it up and lose weight.
Finally I found a GP who ran some tests and said I had PCOS. But she retired a month later, and her replacement said that diagnosis was "sketchy at best." I was devastated. Then I went to a women's clinic, showed them the photos of my weight progression, told them about my symptoms and how blood sugar issues run in my family, and they said "Oh yes, you DEFINITELY have PCOS!!"
I was put on Metformin (glucophage) 500 mg 3x daily and that has enabled me to work on losing weight and have success. My husband deployed in January and I went from 160 to 138.5 in 3 months. But then - I bounced back up to 142 and have plateaued. I have had no support through my journey other than a few women on my TTC board, and I am beginning to feel lost, especially with my family and friends sabotaging me at every dinner and invitation out.
I am here, seeking support, help, and friends. Together, I know we can all do this.
Some pictures of my weight gain progression:
August 2003. 18th birthday, 110lbs:
Sept. 2004(with my cousin) - still 110 - the weight starts piling on shortly after:
October 2004: 125 - starting to think something is wrong
October 2005: 160, my top weight, and I was miserable
and here I am now, in my first bikini since my honeymoon (I weighed 135 then, 142 in this picture) Looking better, but still considered unhealthy.
New - my PCOS story
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