POI and Mental Health

This month is Mental Health Awareness Month and it’s an important time to talk about the importance of Mental Health. So reach out of you need someone to talk to, get help if you can, and remember YOU ARE NOT ALONE.

POI is short for primary ovarian insufficiency. POI is a loss of normal function of the ovaries before the age of 40. There are fewer then 200,000 US cases per year and that all depends on the underlining cause of your POI. My specific cause of POI is due to a chromosomal abnormality that I was born with. Basically a piece of my 13th chromosome is missing. I was full diagnosed with POI when I was 20 and told it was due to a chromosomal abnormality by the time I was 21. Also at the time I was told the symptoms and complications due to this disorder. So imagine at 20/21 hearing you have less then a 1% chance of having a baby and that you have to be on HRT till about 50 years old. I was young and it took some time to full digest the diagnoses because at that age I was not even thinking of kids yet. Being on HRT has help my symptoms over the years and have helped my feel like a ” young female” again like with normal urges and female development. But something that I noticed over the last few years has been the effect on my mental health.

I remember my first anxiety attack, which I didn’t know it was an anxiety attack at the time. I was 22 and it was hard and caused me to not going through with a move to Texas and stay back home. I didn’t realize at this time about panic attacks and mental health and just made changed and kept living my life after this. A few years later I started to get lower and lower moods and did not want to get out of bed, and I would break down at the littlest things. It got to the point I had suicidal thoughts and that’s when I knew I needed to get help. I talk to my doctor and was diagnosed with major depressive disorder and was put on an antidepressant. After that it got worse and I had to have my antidepressant increased. I reached my 27 year of life and had some family and life stress that increased at this time. I started to notice an increase in my anxiety attacks and just my anxiety in general. It got worse and I was put on an antianxiety medication. Also i finally reached out to start therapy. Then ya’ll know the pandemic hit and that effected us all and I to say it caussd me to develop increased social anixety. Now I still don’t like going into stores or busy places. I still use curbside services hardcore two years since the start if the pandemic because of my social anxiety . I have triggers I have to lool out for because it’ll set off an anxiety attack in me. Now I am 28 almost 29 and I’ve developed an OCD disorder called dermatillomania. This is by repeated picking at one’s own skin which results in skin lesions and causes significant disruption in one’s life. My right arm is full of scars from this and it’s been a learning curve to understand why and work on this disorder.

This all accumulated the years after my diagnosis of POI and I know a lot of the reasoning behind my depression and anxiety is from my POI and the fluctuating hormones. Then add in life stressers and it accumulated all into my mental health . Today I am working on getting into a new therapist and working on my medication regimen. This is important because at 28 I am not coping and living life like a 27 year should. This is the biggest thing I can recommend to others is to reach out for help and fight for yourself and your care. Some days are hard and it’s a day to day battle but I can tell you WE ARE NOT ALONE. Reaching out for help doesn’t make you weak or less then, you are strong. ❤️

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