Tell me the truth, doc... will I be able to have children?

The awareness of cervical cancer and many other womanly problems have been on the rise lately. With this, many people have been getting various shots, like Gardasil, and trying new birth control methods like Yaz and Mirena. I wanted to write a blog parallel to this because it affects me personally, and I wanted to raise awareness. However, let this be a warning to any males- or females- who are weak of stomach and would prefer to avoid the details of a woman's more personal life. If you are of the faint of heart, do not read any further. For those of you brave enough to muster up the courage to move on and become more aware of this certain illness, for lack of a better word; I encourage you to read on.

It all started when I was merely fourteen years of age. I had already had my period since the sixth grade. By the time I was in ninth grade, my periods started to get so long that they'd run for months without stopping. My mother, of course, took me to see the doctor about it. The doctor diagnosed me with what is called PCOS, or polycystic ovary syndrome. At the age of fourteen, I was put on a birth control patch, and was then switched to a birth control pill, and I have been taking birth control ever since. If it weren't for birth control, I'd have some serious bleeding issues; along with fatigue, mood swings, and all the other joys that Mother Nature has equipped us lucky women with during our oh-so-lovely menstural cycle.

Note to reader: All of my references have been taken from Webmd.com. If you would like to learn more about this illness, this is the site I would reccommend you to use.

What is PCOS? Well I've taken the liberty of getting some information on it from Webmd.com for you. It says:

"Polycystic ovary syndrome (say "pah-lee-SIS-tik OH-vuh-ree SIN-drohm") is a problem in which a woman’s hormones are out of balance. It can cause upsetting changes in the way you look and problems with your periods. If it is not treated, over time it can lead to serious health problems, such as diabetes and heart disease.

Polycystic ovary syndrome (or PCOS) affects up to 1 in 10 women, and often the symptoms begin in the teen years. Treatment can help control the symptoms and prevent long-term problems."

I just happened to draw the short straw of the evolutionary gene pool. I got the luck of the draw. The curse.

What are the symptoms?
Symptoms tend to be mild at first. You may have only a few symptoms or a lot of them. The most common symptoms are:

Acne. (check)
Weight gain and trouble losing weight. (check)
Extra hair on the face and body. Often women get thicker and darker facial hair and more hair on the chest, belly, and back. (thankfully, this was not bestowed upon me!)
Thinning hair on the scalp. (Thankfully, this wasn't either)
Irregular periods. Often women with PCOS have fewer than 9 periods a year. Some women have no periods. Others have very heavy bleeding. (Yeah, the latter referred to me.)
Fertility problems. Many women with PCOS have trouble getting pregnant (infertility).

This last statement is what I mainly wanted to talk about. Fertility, and pregnancy complications in women. See, I've dreamed to have my own children since I was four. That was the year my brother was born, so I witnessed my mom going through her pregnancy with my brother. Now, when i was four, I knew that I had to get married to have a baby. One of my half sisters, however... didn't. She got "knocked up" by the time she was 18. I was only 8. I knew that I didn't want that to happen to me. I knew that I wanted to wait till I was married to have children. It's almost always been my dream. Unfortunately, I'm not sure if I'll ever get to live that dream.

Because PCOS makes it so difficult for women to lose weight, women with PCOS get discouraged much more easily when trying to shed those few extra pounds. However, studies show that losing weight can significantly improve your chances of pregnancy if you have PCOS. Here is the treatment section for PCOS from webmd.com to back this statement up:

How is it treated?
Regular exercise, a healthy diet, and weight control are key treatments for PCOS. Medicines to balance hormones may also be used. Getting treatment can reduce unpleasant symptoms. But more importantly, it can help prevent possible long-term health problems.

The first step in managing PCOS is to get regular exercise and eat a heart-healthy diet. This can help lower blood pressure and cholesterol and reduce the risk of diabetes and heart disease. It can also help you lose weight if you need to.

*Try to fit in moderate activity and/or vigorous activity on a regular basis. Walking is a great exercise that most people can do.

*Eat a heart-healthy diet. In general, this diet has lots of vegetables, fruits, nuts, beans, and whole grains. It also limits foods that are high in saturated fat, such as meats, cheeses, and fried foods. If you have blood sugar problems, try to eat about the same amount of carbohydrate at each meal. A registered dietitian can help you make a meal plan.

Most women with PCOS can benefit from losing weight. Even losing 10 lbs may help get your hormones in balance and regulate your menstrual cycle. PCOS can make it hard to lose weight, so work with your doctor to make a plan that can help you succeed.

A doctor may also prescribe medicines, such as:

*Birth control pills. They can help your periods be regular and can reduce symptoms such as excess facial hair and acne. An androgen-lowering medicine, spironolactone, may be used with birth control pills to help reduce symptoms even more. These medicines are not used if you are trying to get pregnant.

*A diabetes medicine called metformin. It can help control insulin and blood sugar levels and reduce androgen levels. This lowers your risk for diabetes and heart disease and can help restore regular menstrual cycles and fertility.

I was also instructed by my doctor to start taking this medicine. My dad has diabetes; and back when I was fourteen, I had what is called "Insulin resistance" The body may have a problem using insulin, called insulin resistance. When the body doesn't use insulin well, blood sugar levels go up. Over time, this increases your chance of getting diabetes. By now, I probably have full-fledged diabetes, although I have not been tested for it. My eating habits, I must admit, are less than healthy.

What I'm wondering right now is... perhaps all those commercials for Gardasil that say "I can be one less woman diagnosed with cervical cancer" is treating the wrong thing. I'm no medical student, nor do I want to be; but my research indicated that PCOS can be a factor to the development of cervical- and even breast- cancer. Experts say that "Women with PCOS seem to have increased rates of cancer." (WebMD.com)

So what I'm wondering is... what if this new drug Gardasil seems to treat cervical cancer, or prevent it... but what if the underlying cause is PCOS. What if the PCOS does not get treated, but the woman who gets the Gardasil shot thinks that they're set for life?

What I'm trying to say is... please be careful out there. Do your research. If it seems like there's a catch, there must be one, right? So this shot, Gardasil... they say it prevents cervical cancer. One shot and you're set for life, right? (I'm not exactly sure how Gardasil works. I've never taken it, and I've never asked my doctor about it. I'm assuming it's only one shot, or perhaps a series of shots. I'm not sure though, so don't quote me on this.)

I just am worried that someone out there who has PCOS but is unaware of it, will get the Gardasil shot, thinking she's set for life; when really, there's an underlying cause she doesn't know about that's not being treated.

Once again, I'm not sure how Gardasil works, and I've never asked my doctor about it. I'm sure they probably do background checks and try to diagnose you for PCOS before giving you Gardasil though.

I'm very skeptical about the whole Gardasil thing. It's such a new drug, and I'm not sure how it would interact with my PCOS and my treatment for that. I probably should have researched Gardasil as well, but to be honest, it's late at night (actually, 2 in the morning) and I honestly don't feel like it. I've just been wanting to write a blog to rise awareness for PCOS for a while now, and this seemed like the only chance I'd have for a while, so I siezed the opportunity. I apologize if the isn't the best blog I've ever written, but considering I'm writing it at 2am, I think it's good enough.

I'm going to bed now because I can no longer think of what my point was, or what it is I wanted to say. I hope I provided enough information about PCOS to at least educate you somewhat, and maybe even spark your interest to research it yourself. Please, i urge you to do so. Spread the awareness.

Goodnight, all.

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