I’ve received an overwhelming response from many of you women suffering with PCOS and ovarian cysts excited about my upcoming program and my free masterclass on the topic. But then I made a decision: I’m going to be focusing my masterclass and program on not just PCOS but also on ovarian cysts & hormones since there is a need for both. But they’re the same right? Wrong.
What PCOS really is…
I was diagnosed with PCOS years ago when a doctor described my ovaries looking like grapes due to the amount of cysts that he could barely count. However unlike the 50%+ of women who suffer from PCOS, I was not overweight. However I did struggle with all the other symptoms:
- Acne & oily skin
- Mood swings: depression & anxiety
- Lack of sex drive
- Cravings & binges
- Anovulation
- Chin hair
But there are other symptoms with PCOS so here is a snapshot:
- Excess hair on the face or breasts, insides of the legs or around the nipples
- Few or no periods
- Thinning or loss of scalp hair (male-pattern baldness)
- Skin discolouration
- Weight gain, especially around the middle of the body
- Difficulty losing weight
- Difficulty becoming pregnant or recurrent miscarriages
There is no one cause for PCOS, however what we do know is that women with PCOS will have higher levels of insulin due mainly from stress and an increased level of cortisol (leading to more sugar and fat in the bloodstream). And remember, stress isn’t just mental stress, it’s also the dietary and lifestyle stress you inflict onto your body. But it’s a catch 22: I’m stressed because my boss is a passive aggressive, condescending dirt bag which is making me run to the cafeteria for a chocolate bar, chips or a granola bar because that’s “healthy”, right? or anything I can yam into my pie hole. Then I’ll go out for a cigarette to get some air, work all day and night, resist the urge to go to bed, because hey, Orange is the New Black is on Netflix and I’ve got to see episode six after I just finished watching five already in a row to finally collapse in bed by…2am. Stress takes on multiple forms and increases levels of insulin creating resistance against it and then obesity. And the biggest way you know you have PCOS? The surge of male hormones due to this complex hormonal reaction producing anovulation and facial hair.
And then there are ovarian cysts:
Unlike PCOS, there is not a surge of male hormones. In fact, there are two different kinds of ovarian cysts: follicular and corpus luteum. Without getting into too much confusing scientific garble, I’ll let you know that follicular cysts happen when a follicle never ruptures like it normally would and begins to fill with fluid. A corpus luteum cyst is when the egg from the follicle is released, but the hole on the follicle seals up filling up with a party of fluid like blood (aka chocolate cysts). And despite my past history with PCOS, the cyst that ruptured and tore off a piece of my right ovary was, in fact, a corpus luteum cyst. In some women it can grow to be the size of a baseball, rupture and cause severe internal bleeding. Now granted the pathologies behind PCOS and cysts are different, however from a dietary perspective, they’re much the same according to Chinese Medicine. How will the treatment of these two imbalances differ then? I will be giving the goods in an upcoming masterclass, but for now take a look at my free guide below.
If you’re suffering and feel like there’s no hope, breathe, because girl, you are not crazy, you can lose that weight, feel sexy from the inside out and kiss those cysts goodbye.