Fertility tests and PCOS rollercoaster

Hello from the other side

Are you there? I worried my email might not reach your inbox, seeing how long it’s been since I last wrote to you. I hope you’re doing fine and that life is nice to you. I actually don’t have an agenda for this email, but I felt like writing to you to say hello from the other side 🌝.

On my end - a lot’s been happening. I just returned from my one-month exodus to America, where I spent the past weeks doing work. Work that exhausted me, I couldn’t wait to be back. Visiting America for the first time and living there was exciting, but it lost its appeal after a few days. I missed my home - my small UK house and my routine.

And speaking of routine, boy! Have I fallen off the wagon? I intentionally chose not to worry about my weight or the repercussions of my actions and inactions, and in retrospect, that was a stupid decision. Ignoring consequences doesn’t make them go away, and now I’m trying to fix the situation I’ve put myself in. But can you blame me? Living with PCOS has been such a life changer for me - my symptoms have worsened so much that I gave up. I quit doing all the things I did to make it bearable. But what I failed to realise is that the condition does not go away - the S stands for Syndrome, which is something that has no cure and needs to be managed. The things I need to do to manage my symptoms are not meant to be optional. I mean, what choices do I have? Intentionally manage it or choose to ignore it and get even worse? LOL, look at my life now - I chose the latter, and now I’m back at square zero.

To believe there was a time not so long ago - 4 years ago precisely when I did not know what PCOS was as I was in perfect health - regular cycles, awesome digestive system, amazing skin, the perfect weight, zero bloating, high energy. And now dealing with irritable bowel syndrome, excessive weight gain, fatigue, brain fog, irregular cycles, etc. Phew, it’s A LOTTTTTT😰.

Also, because my time in America was filled with work, I barely had time to create any content on TikTok/Instagram—by the way, you should connect with me on TikTok. I plan to get back to content creation soon. I just realized how much I miss writing to you. It actually feels good typing this email 🫶🏽.

The newest symptom I’m dealing with is extreme fatigue; I’ve been feeling weak and napping during the day, which is very strange for me. I’m not one to have a siesta. But I’ve been falling asleep out of sheer exhaustion. I’m hoping for some silver lining in the grey clouds soon as I’m slowly getting back into my routine, which looks like this:

1. Taking ALL my medications at the right times. I hate taking pills, but I have to if I want to control my symptoms - it just sucks that it’s a lot of tablets (see the image below for reference).

   

2. Being in bed at 10 PM and keeping my phone away

3. Drinking lots of water and going on walks

4. High protein meals and eating my proteins first

5. Exercising three days a week

6. Practicing mindful breathing to manage my stress

7. Reducing dairy in my diet and practising portion control

8. Avoiding soda, sugary drinks, or sugary snacks

I’m not going to lie to you. Even as I list these things, I’m tired already. It’s just a lot of items to tick off and stay consistent with. I’m sad—I didn’t choose this😔. I don’t like it.

I also had a hormonal and fertility test in June to check what was happening with my body. The tests revealed:

1. Low Sex Hormone-Binding Globulin (SHBG), which is consistent with PCOS

2. High Anti Müllerian Hormone (AMH) level, which is because of the multiple underdeveloped follicles that I have in my ovaries.

   Every other hormone tested was in range, which was relieving. I may shoot a YouTube video on this topic at some point.

It's interesting how this email ended up being a life update but a health edition. I hope to get back to writing frequently, but I honestly cannot promise anything.

So, till next time, my friend. Drink water and stay hydrated.

Chidera

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