The Condition

For those of you who have been following my progress with trying to stay healthy, you may have noticed that I have to work awful hard to shed a few pounds and they regularly reappear as soon as I stop to catch my breath. At my last post-baby doctor's checkup we discovered that there is a medical issue that has been working against me all these years.

Polycystic Fibrosis hosts a series of symptoms which feed off one another as the condition worsens. As it progresses it not only affects the ability to maintain weight due to insulin resistance, but also causes infertility issues due to cysts forming in the reproductive system. The more cysts form, the more insulin resistant the body becomes. The more insulin resistant the body becomes, the more cysts form. It is a self-perpetuating cycle that makes a whole lot of things complicated for a whole lot of women (as many as 1 in 10 have it).

Although the diagnosis may be a downer to many, I was actually relieved to finally get it. It answers a lot of questions and helps me to take some of the pressure off of myself for my difficulties in trimming down my weight. I often feel like I must just not be doing enough - not enough exercise, not eating healthy enough; even though I have a very active life and most of our meals are home-cooked and healthy. To some, I guess it might seem like I finally have a scapegoat. But I honestly feel like now that I know what the culprit is, I can do something about it and find a way to live with the condition that works for me.

I'm a week into a new medication that should help with the insulin resistance, and in turn should also help to maintain and possibly reverse some of the other symptoms I deal with. I've had a few days of not feeling so great with the start of the meds, but I think I'm finally starting to adjust to them. I'm hopeful that this will be a turning point for me - even if the way I look never changes, at least I can feel better about what's going on inside.