Topic : Staying Sick or Exaggerating for the Payoff?

Someone with PCOS is five times more likely to have Diabetes. 

A person with PCOS often has other signs which are insulin resistance, Type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure, high cholesterol levels, especially high LDL and triglycerides, and heart disease. Insulin resistance may be at the center of PCOS. High levels of insulin in the blood stream stimulate the ovaries to increase androgen production.  

Many of the symptoms of PCOS respond to weight loss probably because it improves insulin sensitivity which reduces insulin's interference with normal sex hormone production and action. 

  

I hope this helps. 

They just did my sugar level with my blood test ( everything I have read ) it was a high problem .. infertility we found this was the cause .... They put me on a hormone .. ( spelling ) spiralctone and that has help control the hair growth . I just hope when I go back in April a hysterectomy is in my future solve one problem and maybe work on the others ( not a fun problem to have )

i'm 21, and 2 weeks before my 18th birthday i was diagnosed with cancer (acute lymphoblastic leukemia)... before i was diagnosed i went through about 8 months of unexplainable pains.. in various places at different times.. one week it would be my hips, one week my back, next my kness, etc. etc. those 8 months were probably some of the worst times in my life.. my parents thought i was lying about all these pains.. thought i was looking for attention... (it didn't help that the doctors at the emergency room kept telling me there was nothing wrong).. i would be crying in agony and it wasn't until an unexplained staph infection in my shoulder that anyone realised anything was wrong... once they found the cancer i figured everyone would get off my back and understand that i was always honest about it.. but that proved to be wrong... i was constantly told that i was exaggerating.. maybe it was because i never lost my hair from chemo and still looked relatively healthy throughout the 2 1/2 years of treatment?...  i was no where near healthy... i was sick all the time from the meds and felt horrible.. the pains were gone... but i was still weak, and exhausted from all the treatments.... about a year and a half before stopping chemo.. i started having weird pains again.. only this time sticking to my right shoulder... they soon found out i have a bone disease called avascular necrosis (this is where bloodflow isn't reaching the bones causing bone death) causing me immense pain and lack of motion in the effected shoulder..  while my dad was there for me at first after seeing the xrays and MRI scans..  soon the support dwindled.. the disease (caused from steriods that were part of the cancer protocol) has now moved to my left shoulder as well.. making it extremely hard to do everyday things, getting dressed for example or washing my hair are painful events, simple house work as well..  this is a serious disease and my family has not been taking it seriously... i'm prescribed heavy narcotics to ease the pain which really only leave me with my head in the toilet... i don't work and have been on long term disability for the past couple years.... i have a good boyfriend who tries his best to understand my condition and doesn't freak if god forbid i can't do the dishes one day... i have to wait for replacement bone surgery for as long as they can possibly put it off due to my young age... i go for IV treatments in the mean time every 3 months for 3 days in a row... still to this day i'm told by my father and my step mom that it's exaggerated.. i should be working, blah blah blah... trust me.. i don't like staying home all day... i go for walks just to get out of the house for a few minutes... but i don't think working right now is an option... after surgery and recovery i'm sure i'll be fine.. but for right now i'm in too much pain and too doped up from meds to be of much use to the work force... i've never had any 'payoff' for being sick... except the bit of charity my dad's work offered while i was in the hospital during the first month (they raised money for our family to make up for my dad's lost wages, and they bought me a stereo) and the cards i got from various people... other than that the only pay off was a different outlook on life... which i can't say i can complain about.. 17 year olds usually need a reality check.. mine was just a little different than most.

 I too have been sick for a couple of years now. The doctors couldn't figure it out and that was very frustrating. I even had a doctor tell me it was all in my head. Now that the disease has progressed the doctor diagnosed it as dermatomyositis, a muscle and skin disease. Payoff? There is no payoff. I am very independant and take care of myself just fine. I have had to make adjustments as time passed and I wasn't able to do more and more stuff, but I am happy with what I can do and live each day with the struggles, and I laugh too. I think families can grow weary with someone who is sick, especially when it is something they themselves cannot control too. I wish you all the best, God bless you.  Alice

I am a 22 year old mother of 2 little girls- I have shingles- which is a very painful often recurring nerve disease compiled with a form of herpes that will stretch up one side of your body and cause pain, itching, and burning- it is not herpes in a sexually transmitted form- but that's what they are. Also, I have been undergoing tests to find out what is wrong with my gastrointestinal system- My stomach hurts all the time and I often pass blood in my bowels- I have migraines, beta thalocemia, and a heart murmer-- but I also have two little girls- My doctor prescribes me pain pills for days when the shingles are unbearable- but I don't take them. I would rather be in pain and taking care of my children than have too much pain killer in my system and fall asleep-or worse- with nobody here to take care of my children if I can't.  

On the other side of the card is my sister- they hypochondriac who's husband has just recently gone into remission for lymphoma- never stopping to take a breath while getting his chemo treatments then reporting to work the next day. My sister keeps getting crazy ideas things are wrong with her.. in the past 3 months we have gone from her having ovarian cancer to glaucoma to most recently demanding to be put on a heart monitor all to no avail. She begs her doctors for pain pills saying she hurts so bad and they cant figure out what's wrong with her so he prescribes them to her, then she goes home, piles up in the bed and sleeps the day away while her 16, 15, and 13 year old daughters care for her 4 year old son. I love her very much, but I don't know how to tell her I think her next doctor's visit should be to a phsychiatrist without hurting her feelings. As much as I love her, the situation is unfair to her children and I know I have to say something to her- but I don't want a family uproar at the same time. Any suggestions? 

I know the situation with your sister must seem unbearable at times or even often.  However, do you think your sister is afraid?  Most certainly with the thought of maybe losing her husband?  Also, she sees your illness and may be afraid of losing you.  Because of these feelings, she may be in real pain, but we know the pain is fear.  Fear, stress, grief...all of it can manifest as pain.  She may not know how to express it verbally, so she expresses it by manifesting it in sickness. 

  

I suggest you try and reach out to her by saying you believe she is hurting both physically and emotionally.  Maybe if she can tell her doctor what I have shared, he can prescribe an anti-depressant to deal with her fear of losing you and her husband. 

  

Just my 2 cents worth -- I am not a counselor.   

your sister sounds like me for the past few years.  I don't know her but I can see right through her, the word is ADDICTION.  Your sister is addicted to those pain pills, and she has to keep coming up with pain in order to get the doctors to write her an rx.  I know because this has been my game for the past few years, (although I am currently in therapy, and happy to be sober since 4/26/06).  I am a 31 yr old female with a husband and 2 teenagers, I had a great job making over $60,000. a year and I lost it all within 5yrs.  It started with a car accident, and when I realized that they made all my worries and problems go away (or so I thought) and gave me the energy to work around the clock and still have the energy to drive the kids around and do my housework, I started taking more and more and before I knew it I was hooked.  Since I was taking more and more, I always ran out, I was so so sick on the days I didn't have any it was awful, I couldn't even get out of bed, never mind work or do anything for my family.  Next thing you know I was arrested for rx fraud, and lost my job in the same week.   

I am not sure how close you are to your sis, but I am telling you NOW is the time to intervene, it WILL NOT go away, it will only get worse.  I suggest going to either an ala-non meeting or a narcotics anonymous meeting, (ala-non will probably be easier to find depending on where you live, although ala-non is a part of alcoholics anonymous it will be very helpful and the basic format as NA, I go to more AA meetings than AA it is all about the support) or maybe even a woman's supportive group could be helpful, what you should do (and soon) is get your family members, as well as her husband together and plan an INTERVENTION.  And remember this, the first and hardest step is getting her to realize and admit that she has a problem. 

If you want to talk more we could email, mine is davisdesigns@verizon.net   

May god be with and bless you and your family. 

I have cll and and am losing my hearing because of osteoradioncrosis,also I am unable to get insurance ,if I am unable to fix the ear & jaw problem it will affect my head in other ways. while i have the ear problem /infection /dead bone I am unable to start tx of my cll. I keep on trying to move ahead but keep hitting dead ends. social security and state medicaid keep turning me down but I keep filing appeals. I smile and thank God I have friends ,family and a wife that loves me . I live in the state of washington which has basic health plan but the waiting list is long and when you do get help from them it is a 9 month wait for cancer/prexisting conditions .

I'm 19 and for the past 4 years everyone thought I was a hypocondriact. i told everyone that I missed periods for 6 months at a time and I wake up every other morning feeling sick to my stomach. I have hair all over my face and over wieght. I have been to five different doctors and two hospitals and until a week ago nobody knew what is was and they said it was all in my head. I'm glad I didn't give up because I have PCOS. I went into a new doctor for a "physical" and she noticed everything right away. I didn't tell her about all my symptoms until after she told me what she thought. They are about to put me on medication and all I have to say to the wicked witch that is my mother in law is "I told you so". I have been telling her for 4 years there was something wrong with me and she kept saying it was in my head. She doesn't like me anyway and now that the doctor has diagnosed me she is trying to talk my husband into leaving me and moving back in with her. She says it will save him alot of money and heartache. We have been having sex unprotected for 2 years and failed at the whole getting pregnant thing. I think she wants him to leave before we do get pregnant so that she doesn't have to have anything to do with me or the baby. What a loser.

I know how you feel, I'm suffering a mystery illness too.  The doctors think I'm just a drug seeker because they can not find out what's causing my pain.  I've been suffering severe abdominal pain without a know cause. I know it's real! But everyone else is frustrated because the doctors say I'm fine! I've been a nurse for 9 years and it breaks my heart that due to this I can no longer work. I can not even take care of myself.  I feel that I'm dying! It scares me everyday, I'm only 32 and I still have so much I want to do before I die. I have a wonderful husband, but for how long? He's getting frustrated with this whole thing, because we no longer have any kind of life.  We both miss how our lives used to be.  That's all I want it to be normal again!  I was sick for 8 months during 2003/2004 with gallbladder symptoms, throwing up daily, severe abdominal pain it was awful.  Now two years later after I fell down my stairs I'm experiencing the same symptoms only now there worse.  I have all these mystery knots all over my ribs, and a few on my neck. They are very painful and prevent me from doing anything. When I try to shower or fix myself up I get this extremely sharp stabbing pain that goes through my ribs through to my back. I'm crying by the time I'm finished. I've always kept myself looking good, I feel it's important to keep your self up. It kills me that I always look so bad and I'm fearful that  my husband will find someone else because I feel he will eventually find me repulsive! He's very attractive and girls throw themselves at him. He says he love me and don't want anyone else but it's always in the back of my mind. I'm always sick, in severe pain and we used to have a wonderful life! Very active, on the go doing something.  Plus, i have a step son in Michigan, who we haven't seen since Aug. because without my income we can barely afford to live.  We miss him so much.  Plus, with the holidays more stress, my mother-in-law passed away on Christmas Day last year and my brother over dosed on New Years Eve 2003. The more stress I have the sicker I get!  The doctors have me believing I'm just crazy!  I know what pain is and I'm the one suffering. But how do you explain the painful knots? I don't want to be the poor victim! I want my life back or I just want to die! I have lost everything I own due to this, because I lost my job.  I make the majority of the money and I take care of my mother.  Now we all are suffering, all out bills are over due, both my cars are broke down. I guess when it rains it poors! This just makes me feel worse, because I feel like it's all my fault because I'm not able to work. I wish I could find a good doctor who would listen to me and help me figure out what's wrong before it's too late.  All I want to Christmas is to have my old life back!  If anyone out there has had the same problem and has gotten a diagnosis could you please, please help me????? Sincerely, Gina