PCOS Myths That Need To Be Busted

Before we dive into PCOS myths (because I know that’s why you’re here), let's talk about Unicorns. Just a myth right? A story? A part of history? Well it turns out 29,000 years ago, unicorns did exist (however I feel like scientist should have named it something else because it isn’t the unicorn we know and love) “Real unicorns” aka Siberian Unicorns have been morphed by ancient stories to resemble the Barbie of rhinos when in reality it looks as if a rhino and buffalo had a baby! You’ll have to do more research on that if you want to know more because we are switching back to the reason you’re really here: PCOS Importance.

Before we jump in, it’s important to remember that for the longest time, even in todays world, PCOS hasn’t been well understood — even by some doctors — misinformation can impact diagnosis and treatment, and ultimately prevent a woman from effectively living well with PCOS so lets change that.

If you’ve been following the S’moo Blogs you know I’ve mentioned how common it is for women not to know what PCOS is, let alone be diagnosed with it. A lot of the PCOS symptoms; symptoms like acne, mood problems, and irregular periods, can be blamed on other causes like stress.

It’s important to go to work with both an ob-gyn and endocrinologist to get to the root cause. To learn more about what to ask your doctor/symptoms and the possible procedure of being diagnosed you can read my PCOS Blog Here.

Stress among other things is a huge reason why your menstrual cycles might be irregular which we dove farther into in our blog “How Stress Effects You”.

However if it isn’t stress, extreme dieting, overexercising, thyroid disorder, breastfeeding, etc. It might also be PCOS. The bottom line is if your cycle is less than 22 days or greater than 34 days long, talk to your ob-gyn. Through an exam and by running additional tests as needed, your doctor can identify the likely cause.

PCOS is a common cause of infertility. However, that doesn’t mean you should assume you won’t get pregnant. In high school a friend of mine was diagnosed with PCOS and was told she would have a hard time getting pregnant and so when she slept with her high school boyfriend without contraceptives.

Let’s just say that ended with a… baby. PCOS affects your hormones in a way that changes the ovary’s ability to release an egg to be potentially fertilized for pregnancy. But you can still get pregnant, both naturally or after fertility treatments. If you have PCOS and want to start a family, do no get discouraged if someone tells you it’s not possible. It is!

This is one of the largest misconceptions tied to PCOS. PCOS affects people in many different ways. It is more common to be overweight or obese with PCOS but PCOS women come in all shapes and sizes. The issue with this myth is that thin women might commonly be overlooked, and an obese woman with irregular periods might be inaccurately diagnosed with PCOS.

I actually watched this first hand with my sister and it was very difficult for her. It didn’t seem to matter what she did, she couldn’t lose the weight. Women with PCOS have a very difficult time losing weight often because of hormonal imbalances, inflammation and more.

Many women who have PCOS don’t have cysts on their ovaries, and having cysts doesn’t mean you have PCOS. To be fully diagnosed with PCOS, a woman needs to have two of the three conditions: androgen excess (signs include hirsutism, acne, hair loss), irregular menstruation, or multiple follicles/cystic ovaries)

Hormonal birth control is a common way doctors treat the menstrual irregularities of PCOS. But here at S’moo we believe that the treatment for PCOS is hormonal health. We’ve seen lifestyle measures, like reducing stress and eating right and taking a daily scoop of S’moo regulate women’s bodies and get their hormones back in balance.

This content is strictly the opinion of S'moo and is for informational and educational purposes only. It is not intended to provide medical advice or to take the place of medical advice or treatment from a personal physician. All readers/viewers of this content are advised to consult their doctors or qualified health professionals regarding specific health questions. Neither S'moo nor the publisher of this content takes responsibility for possible health consequences of any person or persons reading or following the information in this educational content. All viewers of this content, especially those taking prescription or over-the-counter medications, should consult their physicians before beginning any nutrition, supplement or lifestyle program.