When you’re first diagnosed with PCOS, it seems overwhelming. Depending upon how you were diagnosed (with or without sensitivity, by someone knowledgeable or someone clueless, in the midst of an infertility crisis, etc.), you might not have been able to absorb any helpful information that was given to you. You might have been overwhelmed, and felt hard pressed to simply do what the doctor was telling you to do in that moment. Or maybe you got into fighting mode, and immediately ordered a bunch of books, read all the medical pamphlets, and found every website dedicated to educating you about PCOS.
Either way, you may have gotten caught up in being too macro or too micro in how you manage your PCOS. By macro, I mean, seeing the big picture, like knowing you need to lose weight, prevent heart disease, and try to stave off diabetes, but not really getting the details of how exactly you’re supposed to achieve those goals. By micro, I mean, you found information of evidence of some details of PCOS treatment – tidbits of information like: eat low glycemic, take fish oil, maybe inositol helps, soy can be a thyro-toxin, etc. You dutifully apply these bits and pieces as you find them, and you may or may not feel better, but still, you don’t really have a clear concept of why you’re doing all these things. You’re just doing them because someone, somewhere, suggested they might be helpful. So step back a bit to see the big picture if you’re caught up in details, and drill down a bit for more detail if you can’t seem to get a grasp on what you need to do, or are caught up in a panic of possibilities.
Self-care is like the financial world. You’ve had a meeting with a financial advisor, or you’ve read enough articles to get the concepts: slow but steady wins the race; your financial future shouldn’t be based on just one investment but should be multi-pronged; a little bit is better than nothing, it pays to watch for hidden fees; and so on. Translating this into self-care terms, I’d say almost the same things: slow but steady wins the race; one supplement or one exercise isn’t the cure-all; doing as much as you can, even if it’s just a little bit, is better than doing nothing; and it’s important to watch out for people who aren’t motivated by your best interests, and who just want to make a buck from your suffering.
PCOS self-care is a life-long project. If you don’t have a solid base, the structure will topple (kind of like the financial structure in this country and many other parts of the world). You need a good plan, and good advisors for creating a personalized nutrition plan, taking care of your mental health, getting enough of the right kinds of exercise, and getting plenty of sleep. If these basics aren’t in place, it won’t matter how many stress management techniques you practice, or which supplements you take, or which specialists you see. Meditation can’t fix five hours a night of sleep. Supplements can’t fix a steady diet of junk. A naturopath can’t re-regulate your body if you’re smoking or doing drugs. It’s pretty simple – build the foundation first, then the rest of the structure will follow naturally. Embellish later, when you’re feeling pretty good with the whole situation. You don’t decorate a house before it’s built. And so it is with PCOS self-care.
Gretchen Kubacky, Psy.D. is a Health Psychologist in private practice in West Los Angeles, California. She has completed the inCYST training. She specializes in counseling women and couples who are coping with infertility, PCOS, and related endocrine disorders and chronic illnesses.
If you would like to learn more about Dr. HOUSE or her practice, or obtain referrals in the Los Angeles area, please visit her website at www.drhousemd.com, or e-mail her at AskDrHouseMD@gmail.com. You can also follow her on Twitter @askdrhousemd.