Beauty Rec!

Beauty Recommendation!

9 out of 10

Howdy, ladies! I'm so excited to share with you, the most effective lotion I've found to battle PCOS rough/dry skin. 

This lotion is non-scented, which I found to be very important to not aggravating my dry and rough skin even more in the winter months. 

It's got a great oatmeal base, which is what my grandmother used to use on us to soothe our skin, so when I saw it on the the label, I was thrilled.

This lotion is light enough to wear in the summer time when the humidity in my area makes even the most expensive lotions a miserable experience, yet moisturizing enough to be used as a winter aid to dry skin.

I would recommend this to any and everyone. My boyfriend has started using it on his itchy winter skin, and he loves it as well, especially since it doesn't have a perfumed scent. 

This was a great find. A little pricey which is why I don't give it a 10 out of 10, because I don't like my everyday products to be on the high end of  anyone's price range, but it is worth every penny. 

-EM

My PCOS Reveal

I was 19 when I realized that perhaps, I should go to the gynecologist.

I grew up thinking that having irregular periods was a normal thing, and that my experiences were everybody's experiences.

I think this came from the fact that my two sisters also have PCOS, and so does my mother. So, I was surrounded by these women who were having the same problems that I was having, so it must be normal for everyone.

It wasn't until I lived in a dorm room with other girls who were having normal cycles and average symptoms of PMS that I realized there was something not quite right with my body.

I think a contributing factor was that when I was in high school (and most of my young life) I'd been a gymnast, so none of the extreme weight-gain had happened to me, until I went to college and I was not longer exercising 5 hours every day. Suddenly, no matter how healthily I ate, I was gaining weight at a pretty steady and horrifying pace. I realized that most women have a period every month, and that it isn't usually excruciatingly painful.

I booked an appointment.

My family practitioner was a completely insensitive jerk.

She told me that I shouldn't be trying to make up different medical excuses, just because my fatness was causing unwanted symptoms. 'Go on a diet, and get off the couch,' she told me. I was mortified. Not only was I having this kind of mental breakdown over how my body wasn't functioning properly, but my doctor was telling me it was all in my head, and that my only disease was being fat.

Not the best experience, but luckily, I wasn't totally satisfied with her answer, and I picked myself up, and made a specialist appointment.

My ob-gyn appointment couldn't have gone any different in terms of my experience.

My doctor was comforting, and new nearly immediately what I was probably experiencing. He ordered an intra-vaginal sonogram of my ovaries, several blood tests, and called me back promptly.

Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome was the diagnosis, and he explained to me, that with proper medications to regulate my body's hormones, and with the right kind of diet, I wouldn't have to worry about having children, or really it affecting my relationships at all.

This was such a relief to me, that I had an answer, that I wasn't crazy, that it wasn't just me being a hypochondriac. It was a wash of emotions, of course, but I had a foundation to build off of. I was ready to take the next step. I was young. I could conquer this thing.

-EM