PCOS Awareness Month
Fighting for Women’s Healthcare: A Success Story
By: Yeva Nayflish
Director’s Note: At FACTS, we are grateful to work alongside a community of incredibly talented physicians, clinicians, and educators. This week, we share a compelling interview with a patient of Dr. Amy Fisher, a speaker at our FACTS conference in Minneapolis last year. After years of unexplained reproductive health issues, Dr. Fisher helped diagnose and treat her patient’s polycystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS), bringing profound healing and hope. During PCOS Awareness Month, we highlight the common causative role of this metabolic condition in both irregular cycles and infertility — two topics we will address at our FACTS virtual conference on October 18th and 19th. The early bird deadline is September 21st so register today and save!
Ruby* is a 34-year-old woman who struggled with reproductive health issues for most of her life. When I spoke with her one Saturday morning, she told me about her life and dreams, her past and present. One dream is to become a mother. Ruby and her husband have tried to conceive for two years — ever since they got married. However, Ruby has struggled with her reproductive health since she went through puberty and first got her period. It was always unpredictable, and her mood would shift dramatically. Early on, her mother warned that she had also had many similar issues. Ruby went to numerous doctors over the years, trying to regulate her cycles and mood, but they often dismissed her concerns as “normal” variations or simply prescribed her hormonal birth control pills. The pill made Ruby feel terrible and seemed to only make her symptoms worse. Finally, after years of feeling like she had no control over her body, a friend introduced her to FEMM, a sympto-hormonal method of charting. She began tracking her cycles and immediately noticed obvious irregularities suggesting underlying pathology.
“Ruby went to numerous doctors over the years, trying to regulate her cycles and mood, but they often dismissed her concerns as “normal” variations or simply prescribed her hormonal birth control pills.”
As Ruby delved deeper into the world of fertility awareness-based methods (FABMs), she found more options than any physician had ever mentioned. In 2017, she connected with Dr. Amy Fisher, a woman’s health specialist trained in FABMs. Dr Fisher listened and took Ruby’s struggles seriously, finally ordering a long overdue workup. After a course of labs and tests, Ruby was diagnosed with PCOS, luteinized unruptured follicle (LUF) Syndrome, vitamin D deficiency, insulin resistance, high prolactin, and several other medical abnormalities that can contribute to issues with the reproductive system. Ruby recalls meeting Dr. Fisher as she began her path toward healing. Since then, Ruby has tried more medications and supplements than she can name, from cabergoline, low-dose naltrexone, letrozole, and metformin to coenzyme Q10, B complex, and inositol. Some seemed to help while others didn’t, but Ruby finally felt as though she had options.
About a year ago, while working with a NaProTechnology trained surgeon, Ruby underwent surgery for stage 2 endometriosis, as well as an ovarian wedge resection. As a result, her menstrual cycles normalized significantly and today she excitedly boasts, “My peak day is actually on day 14!”— a comment I wouldn’t have appreciated until taking this course.
Improving her reproductive health has been a long and convoluted journey. Although the battle is far from over, I think Ruby has already won. Her story opened my eyes to just how difficult and exhausting fighting for your own healthcare can be. The FACTS elective has taught me more about women’s health than I ever imagined. Without it, I would have never learned about the many alternative safe and effective options available to women for natural family planning, not to mention their utility to manage overall health. If it’s this hard for me, a medical professional, to learn about this sector of healthcare, imagine the barriers facing the general public. With this knowledge, I am grateful to become one of the few physicians that doesn’t jump straight to prescribing hormonal medications for women as they reach reproductive age and desire better control over their cycles. The opportunity to provide them with more knowledge about their bodies and the natural options available to them feels like such a gift, and I know I will be a better physician for it.
“Her story opened my eyes to just how difficult and exhausting fighting for your own healthcare can be. The FACTS elective has taught me more about women’s health than I ever imagined.”
As a medical professional, I am so grateful for gaining this vital knowledge; yet, I also recognize the double-edged sword: For patients like Ruby, too much of this knowledge can actually become an undue burden. By working closely with restorative reproductive health specialists, she has gained a greater understanding about her reproductive and endocrine systems giving her a sense of hope and control; however, it’s clear to see how it can also be all-consuming. How do we as humans reconcile our hopes for our future selves while still enjoying life in the present moment? Ruby’s story shed light on what it means to be a resilient and strong woman in today’s world. Ruby has not only taken her health into her own hands, but she has also become a fierce advocate for others. She recently gained further certification as a hormone coach and continues to work with several groups to promote FABMs. Each day, she challenges preconceptions about women’s health, and she fights with a sense of optimism. The way I see it, Ruby is a success story already.
“Ruby’s story shed light on what it means to be a resilient and strong woman in today’s world. Ruby has not only taken her health into her own hands, but she has also become a fierce advocate for others.”
*Names have been changed to respect the privacy of the interviewee. All information is shared with permission.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Yeva Nayflish
Yeva Nayflish is a fourth-year medical student at the Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine in rural South Georgia. For her undergraduate education she went to Ripon College in Wisconsin, and she plans to continue her education as a Psychiatry resident physician in Savannah, GA. She enrolled in the FACTS elective to learn more about a topic that is sorely overlooked in traditional medical school educational curricula and she has been blown away by the breadth of information about natural family-planning methods taught in this course.
In her own words: “I never even knew these options existed! I am completely astonished by the lack of general knowledge about a subject area that literally affects more than half the world’s population. If everyone knew about these methods, the whole world would be a better place.”
