My Story of Dealing with PCOD

PCOD is polycystic ovarian disease and is caused due to hormonal imbalance in females. I was diagnosed with PCOD when i was 22 years old. I had excessive hairfall to the point where i was afraid to even comb my hair and wash them. I used to cry watching the extent of hairfall as my hair were thinning and my hairline was receding. As if this was not enough hair started growing on my face and i gained a lot of weight. This was a very upsetting phase of my life. I consulted a good gynaecologist who was very kind and helpful. She gave me hormones medication and iron, vitamins etc. I took medications for a year but that can vary from person to person and their condition. So take medicines as per your doctor’s advice. The most important thing was to lose weight and make changes in lifestyle. The things that helped me control this problem and regulate my menses are :

Exercise : You would have already guessed it. Exercising is effective way to lose weight and balance your hormones. But i was advised to opt for morning walks and yoga instead of going to gym. Now you must be thinking why is that? It’s because you have to maintain your habits lifetime to keep PCOD in check. It would be hard to go to gym without fail but if you can manage it then go ahead.  Even if you are going to gym do not try to lose too much weight too soon. Just make a routine you can always follow. I did some breathing exercises and meditation for 15-20 minutes in morning. I didn’t have much time for exercising so i opted walking home from metro station (approx. 2 kms.) while coming back from work. I also did few yoga asanas watching you tube tutorials ( plenty of tutorials are available). Some of the poses are : Butterfly pose, Reclining Butterfly Pose, Bharadvaja’s Twist, Cobra Pose, Child’s Pose (Balasana), Cat and Cow Pose and Lotus Pose ( I could never do the tough one’s like Prasarita Padottanasana, Bow Pose etc. ). Yoga is definitely an answer to many health problems including PCOD.

Healthy Diet :  Take a well balanced diet. Include lots of fresh fruits and vegetables in your diet. You should also drink plenty of water atleast 10 glasses a day. The food items i avoided having were :

• Anything made from all-purpose flour (maida). It was a complete no-no. I still take something made from all purpose flour only once or twice a month.
• Carbonated Drinks, packed juices, sodas etc. are to be avoided.
• Prefer fruits instead of juice.
• Too much artificial sweeteners or sugar. A little bit of sweet is fine.

I used to take coconut water and triphala daily and ate fruits a lot. You should eat something every two hours for better results.

Do not take stress: The most difficult thing to do at this time was to stop taking stress. But it was the foremost step. Stress plays a crucial role in imbalancing our hormones and thus hinders any progress we can make by doing above mentioned things. Meditating helped me a lot in relieving stress. I am a huge fan of reading novels and watching movies so i made time to do these things to make me happy. You can take up any hobby you love.

Enough Sleep : Sleep for atleast 8 hours daily. Sleeping soundly reduces stress and improves mood. It improves our immunity, helps in managing weight and improves our overall health.

I just followed above steps and my menses regularized. It was difficult to keep taking healthy diet regularly with temptations like pizza, Maggie etc. but i awarded myself with these treats once or twice in month for all the hard work i did to free myself from PCOD. It’s not cured but now my menses are normal, facial hair stopped growing and weight is under control. Sometimes hairfall strikes back but that happens due to plenty of reasons. So all in all i can say have successfully kept my PCOD symptoms in check only by following above steps. This is my personal experience with dealing with PCOD. For any queries feel free to comment and I will do my best to help you.

Apoorva Yadav Kamboj.