International Women's Day
Hi again...it's international women's day today (according to the www.thefword.org.uk blog!) and I didn't know until I checked fword, oh well. I suppose because Feminism is an unfashionable concept perhaps? :-( Who knows..or maybe because I didn't read the papers today (yes, it could be my own fault) although I didn't see any mention of it in the news or anything :-(
I should be doing more work instead of this but I'm so tired and can't exactly be bothered as sometimes the problem with University essays is that they have to be extremely well referenced and it can be awkward sometimes - the rules being that almost every statement and comment you make must be referenced. You can still use your own opinion if it backs up an argument but you still have to talk about the reference or piece that may (or may not have) given you the opinion (even though your opinion is your own...). At least I'll hopefully get a good degree!
I don't think I've mentioned this before, but I have PCOS (Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome). It's become quite publicised since recent years - although I think there's a lot of confusion about what it actually is as it represents a whole bunch of symptoms - many women get misdiagnosed with something else as the range of symptoms is so wide. The main symptoms include hirsutism (the 'clinical' term for so called 'excess' hair), higher androgen content (ie. higher volume of male hormones), irregular or absent periods, ovarian cysts, Insulin resistance (diabetes 'in reverse' - basically too much insulin), extreme tiredness/lethargy, acne (spots!!), and a whole host of other symptoms - and not everyone gets all the symptoms, it varies from woman to woman.
The main treatment for PCOS is metformin which helps to lower your insulin or regulate it so that you can lose weight by exercise or whatever (although some women are a 'normal' weight) and if you have high androgens then you take dianette and/or an extra dose of cyproterone (which is in dianette already). There is no possible 'cure' although the symptoms can calm down if you lose weight (if overweight) and exercise etc. It is actually ten times harder to lose weight with insulin resistance, even if eating healthily and exercising. Ovarian cysts often cause infertility in some women, although the doctors treating you can help you conceive through a number of treatments I believe.
I was diagnosed with PCOS because I had some 'excess' or noticeably darker hair on my face and elsewhere. I usually bleached the hair so it didn't always seem very noticeable, but my audiologist doctor pointed it out to me and said she would refer me to someone to see if it was what she thought it was. My 'excess' hair didn't bother me much but when I was diagnosed with PCOS I felt as though I was being examined under a telescope as my hair became the object of dispute! It was very hard for me to have the things that defined my being a woman said to be not in working order or "wrong".
I don't think doctors are very sensitive about these kinds of things even if they are experts in the field. I became much more conscious about my hair, and this actually made people notice it more even though before they hardly noticed! So my daily routine is to remove the hair through trimming and so on, which is a pain to be honest with you, to feel so much pressure about my own appearance. I have to say that the dianette has since worked well with making my hair fairer and less noticeable, but what confidence I had before in hair matters is kind of skewed as I am still trimming my facial hair even though it is fair!
Its hard for me to explain these symptoms to people - they assume I have diabetes or some fertility problem or that my hormones are all screwed up. I do feel excessively tired sometimes and people often think I am being lazy :-( It's difficult to explain to someone that all these particular symptoms you have are all one thing and theres no real cure for it. I get annoyed or have tantrums and feel out of control, probably because of the male hormones or just my hormones bouncing around. I actually felt better before the dianette suppressed the male hormones as I felt happier and more well balanced. I'm not sure why this is - I think maybe dianette can cause slight melancholy (it is a form of contraceptive pill to also try and regulate my periods).
Despite all this, I don't feel any less of a woman. I think feeling like a woman has something to do with how secure you feel with yourself..although I'm not exactly sure. Maybe because I've read so much about women in society and feminism that I feel okay about myself as a woman, that I know I don't have to be this perfect stick thin advertisement for femininity, an inhuman portrayal of beauty ideals or whatever. I know I'm not ugly or that I'm not a good person, I like myself despite sometimes feeling let down by what's happening to my body. It is my own body though and I care about it!lol :-) It's very hard to define what I mean when I say I don't feel any less of a woman!!
Anyway..better do some more work!!
I should be doing more work instead of this but I'm so tired and can't exactly be bothered as sometimes the problem with University essays is that they have to be extremely well referenced and it can be awkward sometimes - the rules being that almost every statement and comment you make must be referenced. You can still use your own opinion if it backs up an argument but you still have to talk about the reference or piece that may (or may not have) given you the opinion (even though your opinion is your own...). At least I'll hopefully get a good degree!
I don't think I've mentioned this before, but I have PCOS (Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome). It's become quite publicised since recent years - although I think there's a lot of confusion about what it actually is as it represents a whole bunch of symptoms - many women get misdiagnosed with something else as the range of symptoms is so wide. The main symptoms include hirsutism (the 'clinical' term for so called 'excess' hair), higher androgen content (ie. higher volume of male hormones), irregular or absent periods, ovarian cysts, Insulin resistance (diabetes 'in reverse' - basically too much insulin), extreme tiredness/lethargy, acne (spots!!), and a whole host of other symptoms - and not everyone gets all the symptoms, it varies from woman to woman.
The main treatment for PCOS is metformin which helps to lower your insulin or regulate it so that you can lose weight by exercise or whatever (although some women are a 'normal' weight) and if you have high androgens then you take dianette and/or an extra dose of cyproterone (which is in dianette already). There is no possible 'cure' although the symptoms can calm down if you lose weight (if overweight) and exercise etc. It is actually ten times harder to lose weight with insulin resistance, even if eating healthily and exercising. Ovarian cysts often cause infertility in some women, although the doctors treating you can help you conceive through a number of treatments I believe.
I was diagnosed with PCOS because I had some 'excess' or noticeably darker hair on my face and elsewhere. I usually bleached the hair so it didn't always seem very noticeable, but my audiologist doctor pointed it out to me and said she would refer me to someone to see if it was what she thought it was. My 'excess' hair didn't bother me much but when I was diagnosed with PCOS I felt as though I was being examined under a telescope as my hair became the object of dispute! It was very hard for me to have the things that defined my being a woman said to be not in working order or "wrong".
I don't think doctors are very sensitive about these kinds of things even if they are experts in the field. I became much more conscious about my hair, and this actually made people notice it more even though before they hardly noticed! So my daily routine is to remove the hair through trimming and so on, which is a pain to be honest with you, to feel so much pressure about my own appearance. I have to say that the dianette has since worked well with making my hair fairer and less noticeable, but what confidence I had before in hair matters is kind of skewed as I am still trimming my facial hair even though it is fair!
Its hard for me to explain these symptoms to people - they assume I have diabetes or some fertility problem or that my hormones are all screwed up. I do feel excessively tired sometimes and people often think I am being lazy :-( It's difficult to explain to someone that all these particular symptoms you have are all one thing and theres no real cure for it. I get annoyed or have tantrums and feel out of control, probably because of the male hormones or just my hormones bouncing around. I actually felt better before the dianette suppressed the male hormones as I felt happier and more well balanced. I'm not sure why this is - I think maybe dianette can cause slight melancholy (it is a form of contraceptive pill to also try and regulate my periods).
Despite all this, I don't feel any less of a woman. I think feeling like a woman has something to do with how secure you feel with yourself..although I'm not exactly sure. Maybe because I've read so much about women in society and feminism that I feel okay about myself as a woman, that I know I don't have to be this perfect stick thin advertisement for femininity, an inhuman portrayal of beauty ideals or whatever. I know I'm not ugly or that I'm not a good person, I like myself despite sometimes feeling let down by what's happening to my body. It is my own body though and I care about it!lol :-) It's very hard to define what I mean when I say I don't feel any less of a woman!!
Anyway..better do some more work!!
posted by Liz at
11:19 pm
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