What is PCOS?
Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome (PCOS) is a hormonal disorder affecting over 5 million women every year in the US. It is the leading cause of hormon dysregulation among women of child bearing years and the leading cause of female infertility. Additionally, up to 75% of women go undiagnosed, so it’s likely that the 5 million is a gross underestimate.
Common symptoms
- Cysts on the ovaries
- Missed or irregular periods
- Painful periods, and, or heavy bleeding
- Unwanted hair growth usually on the face
- Lack of hair growth where it is wanted such as hair thinning or balding
- Weight gain or difficulty losing weight.
It’s important to note that a person may have only 1 or 2 of these symptoms and still have PCOS. While cyst on the ovaries and infertility are the defining factors of PCOS that most doctors look for, you could have neither of those and still suffer from PCOS.
What Causes PCOS?
Mainstream doctors are quick to say that the exact cause is unknown, but women suffering from PCOS often have excess of the male hormone androgen, excess insulin, and low to moderate systemic inflammation.
When I learned of those common afflictions shared by PCOS suffers alarm bells started going off. We are exposed to dozens of different hormone disrupting chemicals daily. Even the most naturally minded person cannot avoid them all. Learn more about the effects that fragrances and plastics have on our hormones. Those things can also greatly impact gut health and can cause systemic and chronic inflammation. Additionally, 75% of the US population is insulin resistant because of our poor diets. Add in the fact that birth control is pushed on women and young girls as bandaid for all our issues, the question isn’t what’s causing PCOS, but rather, is it any wonder so many suffer from it!
my two cents
I’m not a doctor but I’ve learned enough through my personal experience to say fairly confidently that all of those things at the very least increase a person’s predisposition to having PCOS. I also can’t promise that if you do A, B, C, & D that all your problems will go away. But! I can say with full confidence that healing your gut and reducing your body’s inflammation will help with insulin resistance; all of this combined with removing hormone disrupting chemicals will go a long way to helping support and balance your hormones. And your overall health will greatly benefit.
my pcos story
If you’ve read my bio you know I’m a mom of 5. Infertility, thankfully, has never been a concern for us. I also have only ever had 1 cyst on my ovaries. But I used to greatly suffer when it comes to my monthly cycle. My periods at point were so heavy and debilitating that my husband had to take 2-3 days off every month because I couldn’t take care of our children.
No doctor, not even my midwife understood why. There was “nothing” wrong and what I was experiencing was just a normal part of being a woman. And you know what the solution was? Birth control! I said no way and continued to suffer.
About a year later we began to transition to a more natural lifestyle and over the course of a couple years things improved greatly. Things were far from perfect but I was able to function during my period and felt great for the most part the rest of the month.
After my youngest was born things got bad again. It was about this time I started learning more about what PCOS is and things began to click. I did have PCOS but because infertility wasn’t a problem no one ever looked further.
Earthley Wellness had just released a new tincture, Lunarmore, that was designed to support a woman’s body who suffered from PCOS. I knew I had to try it. While I cannot say it “healed” me. I can say things have gotten so much better.
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Within 1 month my energy levels were up and my monthly bleeding reduced a little bit.
On the 3rd month I had a dull but consistent pain on my ovaries. Similar to ovulation pain but it was all the time, and was worse during ovulation. By the 5th month the pain was completely gone. I suspect, but have no way to know, that there were cysts on my ovaries that went away.
By the 8th month my periods became completely normal and my cycle began to regulate and was no longer irregular.
final thoughts
The issues we face as women are common but they are far from normal. And while we live in a broken and sinful world, we are not meant to live such a debilitating life every month, or for some, daily. Removing toxins from your home, eating a clean, whole food diet, and supporting your body with herbs can reduce the severity of these womanly issues. Herbs like Schisandra berry, alfalfa leaf, cinnamon, licorice root, goat’s rue, and raspberry leaf can help reduce inflammation and insulin resistance and can help balance hormones. All of these can be found in Lunarmore. Herbs like cramp bark, nettle leaf, and motherwort can reduce or eliminate those monthly cramps and reduce heavy bleeding. I started taking Ease the Ache and I don’t evena feel like I’m on my period any more. Natural Balance is another herbal tincture that can help support and balance hormones. It didn’t really work well for me but it does wonders for my daughter. It has Licorice root, dandelion root, shatavari root, catnip, and ashwagandha.
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Whether you suffer from PCOS or not supporting your body can help improve your over all health and keep those monthly issues at arms length. Don’t continue to suffer thinking it’s normal!