KATIE'S STORY
When I was diagnosed with PCOS in January 2019, I was at my lowest point. I was a complete emotional and physical wreck. I didn’t know what the heck was going on, I was experiencing all these crazy symptoms that no doctor could justify (my MD accused me of making it all up in my head). It was 6 months without any period at this point and a face full of red, painful pimples. I remember walking to class and getting a phone call from my doctors office back home with the words “we’re calling to let you know your lab work is consistent with polycystic ovarian syndrome, I hope you have a great weekend”. That was it. I immediately ran to the medical clinic before it closed and urgently requested to see the doctor. I went into his office, explaining everything and he said PCOS is very common don’t worry, just take this birth control pill, exercise more and eat less sugar/carbs. He told me I wouldn’t be able to get a period or live symptom free without taking birth control. Then he told me to come see him again later in life when I want children as I am likely infertile and would need some more medication to get pregnant. I left his office in the same emotional mess I entered but now even more confused. How was I supposed to take birth control for the rest of my life??? Surely enough, I trusted him (cause who else was I suppose to trust?) and back on the pill I went. I also started heavily dieting and exercising as per his instructions.
~Back track several months, I was living in Sydney, Australia on exchange for school. I moved there July 2018 and stopped taking birth control as I didn’t have Australian health insurance. I didn’t really think anything of it. First month passed and I didn’t get a period after consistently getting what I thought was a real period for years. I immediately assumed I was pregnant so I did multiple tests which were all negative. I remember saying to myself this seems weird but yay no period, great! Next month came along, still no period but this time I was starting to notice some red, painful acne developing on my cheeks and a whole lot of foul smelling gas. I figured this was something I ate and that it would pass soon enough. Boy was I wrong. By the third month, I had acne like I have never had before. My cheeks were one giant lump of pimples that were so painful to touch. I remember trying to pick them all out in my sleep and waking up with streaks of blood on my pillow and a destroyed face. Not to mention, I would wake up in the middle of the night to severe abdominal pain from all the intestinal gas. Shortly after, I noticed my hair falling out in huge clumps and becoming extremely dry and brittle. I went from having thick, wavy hair to multiple bald spots and a pony tail about the size of my pinky. Then my sex drive completely vanished and sex became such a dry, painful experience. Next thing you know I couldn’t hold in my urine anymore. I literally pee’d my pants in public multiple times at the age of 21. Then I started developing dermatitis flares around my lips and rosacea flares on my cheeks. All these things progressively got worse along with my self esteem, mood swings, irritability, insomnia, panic attacks, binge eating and depression. Every night I would cry myself to sleep and try to convince myself that it was going to get better. This of course just lead me to a whirlwind of stress and wasting all my money on band-aid fixes. I eventually found a doctor in Australia who ordered me a full blood panel to see what was wrong with me. She mentioned these were common symptoms of PCOS but I never thought it could be me. I was a very lean, active person at the time with no signs of hirsutism. Due to my high DHEA-S on blood work, the doctor insisted I do a vaginal ultrasound when I got back home to Canada. The day I got home I went to the lab to get my ultrasound and they found over 20 cysts on each of my ovaries. I got a PCOS diagnosis call a couple weeks later once I was back at school.~
I went back on the pill for about a month feeling stressed, anxious and depressed as ever knowing that I had PCOS yet could do nothing about it. Although I was getting a monthly bleed again (not a true period) and my skin started clearing up, I knew I couldn’t live my life like this. I was just avoiding everything my body was trying to tell me and covering it all up with some pill. I started doing some more research and discovered functional/holistic nutrition. As I learned more and started reading other people’s PCOS stories I was shocked to see that I did have options aside from the pill. In fact, the pill was actually at the root of all my problems, causing a stronger hormone and gut imbalance the longer I was on it. I soon realized that the pill kills your good gut bacteria and stops the communication between your brain and ovaries thus stopping your body’s natural ability to produce hormones. This is when my love for holistic medicine began. I was super happy to find this alternative route but so overwhelmed by all the information, time and money I needed to dedicate. It seemed like more of a dream than a reality. As I continued researching, my anxiety started getting out of control. I had no idea where to even begin which resulted in daily panic attacks, suicidal thoughts and completely cutting out close friends/family. This was coming from someone who was rarely stressed and had never experienced any symptom of anxiety or depression prior to the pill. I eventually made a commitment to myself to do anything and everything I possibly could to get to the bottom of this. I threw out all of my MD prescribed medications (including the pill), got rid of all my toxic personal care products and processed junk food, booked an appointment with a holistic practitioner and ordered my first herbal supplement. Right then and there is when my emotional rollercoaster to wellness began and I am so extremely grateful for it.
As of January 22, 2020 I officially got my period back naturally. I couldn’t believe I did it. I have never felt so happy and accomplished in my entire life. I spent the next 2 hours crying tears of joy mainly because I knew I needed a period to get clear skin and be healthy again. That whole two years was the hardest time of my entire life but that moment made everything worth it. I wasn’t 100% symptom free at this point, I still had acne, but I knew I was getting closer to my dream. Looking back, I not only educated myself on how to support my body and health in every way it needs, I also learned the true meaning of dedication and what it’s like to not give up. I experienced every set back you could ever imagine and made so many mistakes. I suffered from a traumatic brain injury with internal brain bleeding and multiple spinal and skull fractures. I developed a pretty bad eating disorder from restricting all carbs and doing hours of cardio everyday because that is what I was told to do for PCOS. This of course just triggered my cystic/fungal acne, rosacea, dermatitis, gas/bloating, constipation/diarrhea, hair loss, mood swings, irritability, panic attacks and insomnia even more. Throughout my journey, I was diagnosed with Hypothyroidism and IBS-M which were both caused by the pill. I later figured out through functional testing that my IBS diagnosis was really SIBO. When my period was absent, I was also diagnosed with Hypothalamic Amenorrhea caused by the restrictive eating habits I developed and my obsession with burning off every calorie I put in my mouth.
I thought I was doing everything right. It wasn’t until I started digging deep into Dr. Ray Peat and Morley Robbins research, stopped my all or nothing mentality and started looking at the big root cause picture. I eventually did functional testing like the GI MAP, Dutch and HTMA tests which were all a game changer for me. I found pathogenic bacteria, parasites, low immunity, mineral imbalances and so much more. This helped me understand my health a lot more and allowed me to really see why I had acne. These were the answers no doctor could ever give me and it made the healing journey a lot more efficient. I can finally say my skin is clear, all my systems are balanced and healthier than ever. I am so grateful to now be able to educate other women on how to nourish their bodies naturally and reverse conditions like PCOS so they never have to experience acne again. I have already helped over 500 of you and we're still going! I owe a huge thanks to my family who got phone calls of me in full blown tears every single day. No one deserves to go through this but definitely no one deserves to go through this alone.
My journey is primarily what drove me to go back to school and become a holistic & functional nutritionist. If you are experiencing acne or any skin condition, please reach out, I know how embarrassing and overwhelming it can be. My team and I would love to guide you to clear skin from the true root cause!
Love,
Katie xx
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