-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Roz Kadir, and her daughter Zara, are from the United Kingdom. Roz also mentioned that PCOS resources in the United Kingdom are relatively limited. The author of this story is a nutritionist in Surrey, UK. Her Web site, Nutrition By Design, provides an overview of her services and testimonials.
Roz and Zara's Story
Like most parents, I was happy and reassured when my daughter started her periods aged 13. All was well for several years but as she got older she started suffering with debilitating dysmennhorea; for which she had to take very strong pain killers and stay home on the sofa nursing a hot water bottle for a day or so.
When she reached 18 (or thereabouts, I don’t remember the exact time) her periods started to become irregular and she had gained quite a bit of weight which was very depressing for her. Although her cycles were longer than the normal 28 days she had been experiencing, I didn’t at the time pay too much attention to the lengthening gaps between cycles.
She had never been a spotty teenager but all of a sudden she was getting quite a lot of acne on her face.
Fortunately, I was at the time working in a busy nutritional medicine clinic in Harley Street working with an endocrinologist who had made a study of PCOS and we were seeing several women every week in our clinics suffering with varying degrees of the syndrome.
It occurred to me that perhaps my daughter was displaying some symptoms so we went to our GP who clearly knew less than we did about this condition and was reluctant to agree to any tests but suggested my daughter go on Dianette, the usual contraceptive pill prescribed for acne. Reluctantly I agreed to go along with this because the spots were making her depressed and she wanted a “quick fix”.
As many readers probably know, her skin did improve, but her weight increased and I realized that the pill was responsible for this.
I discussed my daughter with my medical colleagues who were not surprised at the GP’s response. This is quite common in the UK and I soon realized that the level of ignorance of the medical profession here was horrifying.
Sadly, due to pressures of work, most GP’s only spend 5-10 minutes with each patient and there is a feeling that the prescription is being written before your bottom hits the chair, as the Doctor is keen to get you in and out quickly.
I’m happy to say that due to my knowledge from working in the private sector with this condition, I arranged for my daughter to have an ultrasound scan of her ovaries by a specialist ultra stenographer who was able to make the diagnosis that indeed she did have PCOS.
My daughter is taking a degree in Musical Theatre so needs to be fit and well as it is very physically demanding. The restrictions that PCOS puts on young women should never be underestimated. It is so hard to restrict your carbohydrate intake when all around you seem to be able to eat what they like and stay so lean. In order to remain slim, she has to be so controlled over what she eats, keeping away from anything refined and watching her alcohol intake very carefully. PCOS seems to affect each women differently and she needs to be particularly mindful of her diet for weight reasons, but also because she can get quite bad hypos (feeling faint and no energy) if she isn’t careful to eat little and often.
Most recently, she came home for a break and told me she hadn’t had a period for 3 months. Although she was otherwise well, and had no pelvic pain, I took her for a pelvic scan which revealed a large cyst on her left ovary. We decided to watch and wait and sure enough a period soon followed, but I notice now that her moods are quite dreadful in the 7-10 days prior to her period. She is aware of it too and hates that fact that she feels taken over by a demon every month. Meanwhile, I have to put up with being snapped at every time a period is due!!
We are endeavouring to manage her weight and blood sugar but I feel really bad that she has inherited this syndrome which will be with her all her life and might make conceiving difficult in the future. (Posted April 8, 2007)