Two years of symptoms. A year on the waitlist. And the same answer on repeat: exercise and lose weight — advice her PCOS makes brutally hard to follow. Dr. Bayo shares what’s on HER differential list (endometriosis, thyroid, premature ovarian insufficiency), the phrase that moves the conversation past lifestyle advice, and how to help Jas find a doctor who listens at CliniciansWhoCare.com.
Stitch with @jazharris 👇🏾
#PCOS #WomensHealth #MedicalGaslighting #PCOSAwareness #Endometriosis #ThyroidHealth #WeightStigma #PatientAdvocacy #CliniciansWhoCare #DrBayo
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I understand , I have been 10 years waiting but mines not about weight it's about the right test for me it's a ripped piece of muscle that will not heal for me I am pretty sure.
The sad thing because of how insurance works often we often have limited access to options for the doctor we can choose from to make it harder to get a decent doctor
They.dont give a crap about women . They want is quiet , compliment, exhausted, suffering like Jesus and useful to the corporate machine .
THNK YOU DR BAYO WE ALL APPRECIATE YOU AND I PRAY SHE GETS THE HELP SHE NEEDS AMEN
I was diagnosed with pcos in 2000. I read up everything i cud find on condition. The fertility treatments are so expensive. I decided to go on a low carb/sugar diet. Exercised everyday (5 miles) a day. It worked.
what kills me is PCOS is literally an insulin resistance that makes it hard to lose weight!!! like this advice is so frustrating, I totally get her upset. I went to get help for my PCOS, laid out the different symptoms I deal with and the doctor looked at me and asked “so which symptom do you want to fix?” Well. all of it preferably??!
It’s just plain laziness on the providers part.
It sounds like she is from the uk, so I can tell her that from my decades of experience with pcos and doctors it does in face not get better. It will probably get worse.
🌹 ❤ 🌹
I also am pretty sure I have PCOS Or/And endometriosis and no one has ever listened and this was also the response. Lose weight. So much rage… :<
This has been my life. I have heard this from soooooo many doctors.
Easier said than done, especially when you feel exceptionally unwell, but
1- Write it down. Notes, symptoms, questions, and take it with you to your appt.
2-Take someone with you(if you can) that's in charge of notating and making sure you can ask your questions. Otherwise, record the appt. so you can go back over everything afterwards.
Good luck, everyone! Be as well as you can. 💚
I got very lucky, I got into a doctor and it only took two weeks. She checked everything and diagnosed my with PCOS, I was like 21. It was also a free clinic here in my state in the usa. Sometimes I feel like volunteer doctor do a better job then paid doctors.
Dr.Bayo not all drs have empathy, compasión or the will to to do any more than the time assigned to them with each patient unfortunately because of heavy insurance laws drs have to spend more time reporting more on the patient to cover himself from lawsuits than time listening and diagnosing
More than likely, socialized medicine was the cause of this poor woman waiting an entire year for an appointment with a doctor only to end up with a schmuck. Ugh!! May God help her!
She is likely in the UK and may not even have a follow-up appt for 3-6 mos bc of how there healthcare system is.
My cycles were very irregular coming off of depo. Years later I went in to see about that concern about my future fertility. I would spot in between cycles and go longer than 45 days without one. In my early thirty it got worse I would skip like three month. And since I wanted kids in future I ask about my AMH. That’s how’s i fit in category of PMOS. It was high for my age. What I did notice fasting at least 14 hours a day and limited my dairy with balance meals help. Since I did have this condition I was able to seek treatment to get pregnant. Letrozole to be exact
Aww girl so sorry they took ages with me and my pcos and said no cure 😢
It doesn’t get better. Mine hurts all the time from the cysts and I’m even on birth control after a hysterectomy to control them. As soon as I turn 50 those ovaries are coming out.
Thanku for staying emphatic to vulnerable patients and we know you go through your own illness I really appreciate all you do I wish other medical professionals were like you kind and understanding and genuinely caring and compassionate of vulnerable people
I empathize with this woman. As someone with thoracic endometriosis, I can relate to her frustration with the medical system. Wishing her the best in finding the right doctor and treatment.
STOP SEEING MALE DOCTORS. STARVE THEM OUT. THEY NEED US, WE DON'T NEED THEM.
I worked with a lovely woman wasn’t overweight or obese but very, very large and I watched her suffer because all doctor’s saw her as was fat. She hobbled into work one day and I asked her what’s going on. She said she went to the er and they said she just sprained her ankle and if she lost weight her ankle would feel better. She was in tears, asking me how she could over 100 pounds in a few days to help her ankle. My heart broke for her. The. A few days later she was taken by ambulance to a different hospital and she had in fact broken her ankle and she now had a blood clot. She could have died, all because a doctor saw her as a fat thing and not a person, a mom, a wife…
We have got to start advocating for ourselves. I was lucky enough to have an excellent GYN through my severe endometriosis diagnosis along with Interstitial Cystitis & later Thyroid Dx of both Hashimoto’s & Grave’s disease. I did not let 2 endocrinologists talk me into removing or killing off my thyroid. I work in the medical imaging field and knew that this organ is too important for my overall hormonal health. I read and used the book “Thyroid Healing” by Anthony William known as Medical Medium to bring my thyroid back to normal levels of T3 & T4 & TSH. Almost non existent Hashimoto’s nor Grave’s antibodies too. I highly recommend the am cleanse of celery juice and a heavy metal detox smoothie for anyone suffering from any illnesses.
I recently had surgery and was diagnosed with stage 3 endometriosis. For years I complained about my painful periods, but no one listened, just told me to take pain killers and suck it up. I am grateful I found the obgyn that performed my surgery. She's already on the clinicians who care list.
I keep slowly gaining weight. If I do intense exercise and diet for 3-6 months I’ll lose weight very slowly but as soon as I stop I gain it all back within 3 weeks. So it’s really discouraging. Anything can disrupt it. Mine was a vacation to Europe and I felt like I was actually eating healthier. 😢 I can’t take glp-1 because of ongoing g stomach issues. I feel so hopeless and stuck. I’ve always been skinny me entire life until a year after I had my daughter I started developing acne (which I never had before in my life, anger, uncontrollable cravings, weight gain etc) no doctor has helped me yet
I switched OBGYNs just to get to another one that was too worried about the amount of methadone I am on. Yes I'm a recovering addict that usually methadone to stay off heroin. I was on 120mg now on 160mg and when I seen her she says I shouldn't have PCOS or periods because I am on the implanon birth control. This lady sat there and said " You are on way to high of a methadone dose you shouldn't even be in pain. I give my patients 5mg". UM EXCUSE ME? I WAS NOT looking for pain meds I didn't even think of thats what she insinuated after I sat here thinking wtf happened at that appt. I said to her I was trying to find out why I had this pain and what were the bumps they found when they were looking at my kidneys because I have mild kidney disease and they found the cysts. Just holy sh!t I shouldn't have to feel like that because I'm on a prescribed medication. I even said your patients are on methadone for pain I got on it for my addiction. Which yes it helps with my back pain. Thats how I became an addict getting prescribed 180 oxys when I was 22. Just so frustrating this lady acted that way. I never should have felt that way. I have all these issues and I'm scared to even try to go back to her. Scared to get told I'm on too much methadone when I came there to talk about the PCOS I've never had before was scared shitless I had cancer. Just wow. DO BETTER😢
I have really been through it with pcos and 💩 doctors so my heart goes out to her!!! Doctors wouldn't help me. It was pre GLP-1's in rural northeastern NC. I actually had a fertility specialist (that I also waited a ridiculous amount of time for an appointment with) look me in my eye and tell me that he WOULD NEVER HELP SOMEONE LIKE ME to get pregnant. This is within 2 minutes of meeting me. He said that I was too fat and that I would be unhealthy, my pregnancy would be unhealthy and my baby would be unhealthy if it even lived, if I was even able to get pregnant. He then said lose weight and then if you're not able to get pregnant come back to see me. I was devastated and in shock to say the least. Losing weight is something pretty much most pcos sufferers are constantly trying to do (except for the extremely thin phenotypes that can't gain weight but are constantly told to do just that so they can ovulate)! These doctors KNOW that losing weight with pcos is almost impossible! Jaz doesn't even look that heavy! They could have given her clomid, femara, injectable fertility drugs, tried iui, etc! I went to extreme measures over the years trying to lose weight and usually gained instead. even with major weight loss one time I could never get pregnant nor could I keep it off. I just made myself sick & now have a cardiac arrhythmia that I have to live with. My original obgyn did try a few rounds of clomid but i didn't get pregnant. Over 16 years i did get pregnant randomly but would miscarry before my confirmation/first prenatal appointment. I was told by that obgyn that it was bc of the insulin resistance caused by pcos. I later changed obgyn's (after 11 losses) and found out that I needed to use progesterone suppositories v*ginally as soon as I get a positive home test until I have my first prenatal appointment.
My weight ballooned up to over 400 lbs (I'm 5'0"), I had developed high blood pressure, cholesterol, type 2 diabetes, severe sleep apnea, etc, not to mention the chronic excruciating pain I was in (back, hips, knees, ankles, feet, etc), the swelling, the shortness of breath, difficulty taking care of myself and working, etc. I finally gave in and had gastric bypass bc if i didn't, I was going to wind up disabled, bed bound and eventually dead. I could literally feel the strain on my heart, lungs and the rest of my body. I felt like a failure and like I was giving up but nothing was working. Within 2 months of my surgery I was already having regular cycles and had more energy, felt better in general. A year to the day of my surgery, at age 31, I surprisingly conceived my 9 year old daughter naturally (& wasn't trying…they recommend waiting 2 years after surgery). I figured she was my one & done miracle baby. When she was 3.5 years old I had my middle daughter at age 35. In 2022, I miscarried twin boys. At 40 (almost 41), and in perimenopause, I found out i was pregnant with my son who is currently in the NICU (born at 25 weeks). I had to actually use a telehealth app to get a prescription for my progesterone suppositories with my son because my wonderful obgyn that I saw for my daughters no longer delivers babies and his new office staff are trolls…so i had to find a whole new obgyn which was awful, nobody would see me sooner even with my history & i was already bleeding. The obgyn that I saw during my last pregnancy was a moron and he's a huge part of why my son was born premature.
Weight loss surgery is not possible for everyone…even though it has been shown repeatedly to reset hormones, get rid of co-morbidities and help pcos/pmos in overweight phenotypes.
My suggestion for Jaz would be women's telehealth!!! You can pay out of pocket if you don't have insurance (some of them have membership plans as well), they can write scripts, some even ship you the meds. Lots of women use it for weight loss as well as menopause treatments, they list pcos as well! That's how i got my progesterone.
Praying for you Jaz! You didn't deserve to be treated that way!!
Sounds like she’s in the UK. Waiting a year for an appointment with no treatment? GOVERNMENT HEALTHCARE doesn’t work people and this is just one of millions of examples. If she truly does have PCOS, they need to prescribe her a GLP1 !! HRT may also be appropriate.
So sorry for this young women. Thank you Dr. Bayo for your extreme kindness. 💕
I have chronic pain from an accidents, hard physical labour as an engineering technician, etc with supporting diagnostics. This all happened when I was at a perfect weight as a runner. For 20 years of being slim, I have managed very well and now that the pain is getting worse due to age and post traumatic joint changes, it’s become harder to exercise and I am gaining weight. Now all the pain is because of my weight. It’s such a cop out. Just like saying it’s peri, post or anything to do with menopause. This is even from female doctors. As a STEM professional myself, it’s so difficult to watch doctors get frustrated when I can counter their points. Overall, if I wasn’t educated in biomechanics and pharmacology, my pain wouldn’t be this well managed. And that’s just one facet of health. My friends with PMOS have it just like this post.
I was given the diagnosis of PCOS when I was 16. Doctors completely ignored it. They only offered birth control and a dietitian. I lost a load of weight. Didn't feel any better. I actually felt worse. It wasn't until I was 35 that I got a new PCP, and he investigated my blood work and ran new tests. Turns out it had been non-classical adrenal hyperplasia the whole time. It took 19 years. It's shameful.
Currently in a wheelchair from a birth defect that I was told to walk off bc my primary said "you're a teenage girl with no period and lots of weight gain so we're diagnosing you with PCOS and you need to eat better and exercise and you won't hurt." 10yrs later.. I'm in a wheelchair because of my spine before 30 because they prescribed me weight watchers at 15 for weight gain and depression. You mean a growth spurt doc? 🤦♀️ I need Ortho and surgery not Jenny Craig 🙎♀️
Get a new Dr
Waiting a year?!? Socialist medicine?
My endocrinologist wanted to prescribe me Zepbound, as she said it was the best GLP-1 for people with PCOS. But insurance won't cover it for PCOS, so I had to jump through all the insurance hoops. Still, they denied it three times. After the fourth denial, I called my insurance company and told them I would be typing up a su*c*de letter and sending it to every news outlet. I'm sure the media would live to hear how a mother of two was driven to that extreme because I felt so trapped in a body where no matter what I did, I couldn't lose a pound. We went back and forth and back and forth for almost six months when my threat finally got them to approve the medication. But my mental health really is that dark now because I hate this world so much.
Insas in a car accident at the age of 12. My period stopped. Then a few months later came back and then it literally never went away. Daily periods. Daily pms. Daily clots the size of soft balls…………. They told me i was overweight and that of i just lost weight i would be fine. I was 175 lbs……. Age 33 went to the fertility specialist. Explained the car accident. Explained the concussion that was so bad they wouldnt let me fall asleep………. The fertility dr says… ive been doing research on this. Ita not your period , youve had a traumatic brain injury. All the signals to get your period are going down, but when the signal goes up to say stop its not received………… my period didnt stop until inhad a hysterectomy. If they had told me at eighteen i wouldnt be able to have kids i would have had one then….. instead wheni was 18 and voiced concerns about the future of having kids i was told to stop being concerned about that. I wish drs would listen to us and these were female drs. who told me i was fine. One told me to go on the carbo addicts diet…………..
Not a woman in terms of identity, but very much a member of the PCOS/PMOS Posse myself. Hope she finds the help she needs. I got a non-GLP1 prescription to help my body not absorb as much fat from my food, but the side effects mean I should really only ever take it if I plan to stay home any given day…
We all need a doctor like dr bayo ,lots of doctors don't like people asking questions,it's like you questioning their authority.
Please don't lie to your providers. If you have not already made those lifestyle changes, do not say that you have. Honesty is really important ❤
I pray that this woman finds a doctor who genuinely cares and can provide a real solution for her so that she gets relief from her suffering.🙏🏽❤️
She sounds like she’s from the UK. It is not uncommon for someone in the UK to wait a year to see a specialist. I live in the US and it sounds like doctors here and in the UK just don’t listen to women, especially if they are overweight. I’ve experienced this a lot. They want to make everything about your weight but his male patient don’t get treated like this.
The way some doctors treat women is cruel and sad.
As a PCOS girlie. You just have to lock in. My symptoms get worse the heavier I am. Weight plays a HUGE role. Tough truth, but we have to be more disciplined and intentional about our health. We gotta stop shooting the messenger! Lock in! You got this!