Packing little tins of powders and timing adventures around medicine to deal with PCOS has altered the way I move through the world.
I was standing just out to the left of the full body scanner at the Nashville drome , and I was set out the most public full body pat down since my freshman twelvemonth in college .
Just before that , on the other side of the glass divider , a rattled bet TSA officer pulled out my Ovasitol and shake the white powder . They separate me they demand to swab it , just to verify it was secure . Unfortunately , the simple machine used to test the swab flashed red . To my suprise / revulsion / entertainment , they were n’t letting me go . “ What is it , protein pulverization ? ” one officer involve .
“ Uh no , it ’s , um , Ovasitol ? ” I murmured back .
Design by Maitane Romagosa for Thrillist
“ What ? ”
My cheeks burned . “ No , uh , it ’s for my hormone , ” I responded , looking at my human foot .
At this point , we were waiting “ for the bomb guy from the cellar . ” When the explosive expert arrived , he deplumate out a traveling bag filled with test tubes and vials and proceeded to test the gunpowder . After it was dictated that my supplement was not , in fact , some weapon of mass destruction , the full soundbox rubdown began . The TSA agent was tolerant and respectful , but it did n’t change the fact that she was lifting up my boobs and chafe gloved workforce over my second joint and butt . The other travelers who walk past shoot me sympathetic and singular tone .
The writer in Howth, Ireland|Courtesy of Opheli Garcia Lawler
I have never been a particularly “ quiver ” traveler . I like to have a architectural plan . Where are we go ? What will we be doing ? What eating place should we be trying ? The research of a terminus , planning how to get from point A to point type B — that ’s almost as exciting to me as the tripper itself . But for the bulk of my 20s , the planning was a choice , a personality trait some of my friends surely find vexatious .
Just a calendar month before my twenty-eighth birthday , though , it very quickly became an annoying requirement of travel .
… I had new things to worry about when I journey . I did n’t need to just research the hidden gems of my destination .
The writer at Yosemite National Park.|Courtesy of Opheli Garcia Lawler
A incessant series of seemingly disconnected health problem lead to a doc suggesting all of these ill might have one source , and suddenly , the agency I travel ( and lived ) irrevocably shift . The doctor said that it could be PCOS , or polycystic ovary syndrome , a “ set of symptom cause by a problem with a woman ’s hormones , ” harmonise toJohns Hopkins . ( If that sounds irritatingly vague , it is . ) PCOS symptom can include weight gain , acne , irregular catamenial cycles , weariness , hair thinning , enlarged or vesicle - compensate ovary , and a slew of other not - so - fun complaint .
After a few trial run and a run down of my symptom , it turns out I had all of the common mark , and I was prescribed new medications and supplementation to aid me battle the myriad symptom . There is , as of 2024 , no way of life to treat or cure PCOS . You kind of just have it . TheWorld Health Organizationreports that between 8 % and 13 % of people with womb who are reproductive years have PCOS — and that it ’s one of the most underdiagnosed hormonal disorder around .
Drew Lederman was diagnosed with PCOS back when she was 18 . In the long time since , she ’s changed her entire lifetime . She is the carbon monoxide gas - founder of Resist Nutrition , protein bars designed specifically for the dietary needs of those with PCOS . And because she ’s been traveling with the experimental condition for nearly a decade , she ’s become a pro at equilibrise the demands of PCOS and her itchy feet . “ In some ways , travel help me to conserve my social system even good , ” Lederman enjoin me . For example : a top tip to help stabilize blood sugar after eating is to take at least a 10 - hour walk after dinner . “ It ’s really easy on vacation to do that , ” she says .
Lederman acknowledge that certain parts of travel are more ambitious than others — sure , it ’s easy to get a walking in , but it ’s tough to avoid inflammatory foods , not accent out , and get in force slumber when you ’re out of your comfort geographical zone . Which is why it ’s taken years for Lederman to figure out how to preclude these aspects of traveling from leave her in forcible and genial distraint . “ Stress play such a big function in your hormones , ” she explains . “ You ’re putting your body in a new , potentially trying environs . So having these tools is at least one affair in my control . ”
Eager to wrest back some of my own control , I tend into all of my doctor ’s recommendations . I was n’t thrilled about the slate of new medications and supplements they recommended I take , but more than anything , I want my body back . Being 30 pounds heavier , break out , bald , tired , cranky , and constantly cramp really sucked .
I bug out taking a hormonal birth dominance pill to regulate my full point and a medicament called Metformin to deal with my insulin resistance . Every dayspring I select a Vitamin D postscript , and every nighttime I took fiber pills and a multivitamin . The most cumbersome and expensive suggestion from my doctor was to take a supplement call Ovasitol , which is supposed to help the dead body balance hormone levels . It was a Yankee Candle - sized tub of blanched powder , and I needed to put one exclusive in my weewee twice a day .
More than anything , I want my body back
In addition to some modus vivendi variety — change the types of workouts I did , walking a ton , reducing accent , and seeking out holistic methods of regulating hormones through food and rest — these medicament and appurtenance put me on a rigid agenda . Every morning , I get hold of my Vitamin calciferol pill , and fuddle a glass of water with a grievous bodily harm of powder . Every evening , I lease Metformin , fibre , multivitamin pill , birth command , and another scoop of gunpowder . This happened without fail — whether I was sick , or tired , or out to eat , or travel .
The first trip I took , I simply shoved all my various contraceptive pill bottles into my carry - on and called it a day . The bottles filled nearly half the bag . To make up for the miss space , I paid the money for a checked suitcase . For the next tripper , I did n’t have the money to pay $ 70 for superfluous luggage space . I numerate out the pills I ’d involve , and dump them all in a recyclable plastic bag . The vat of Ovasitol still come in with , taking up an unreasonable amount of backpack real estate of the realm .
It went like this for a few trips — fumbling through my little pill baggie , hop I did n’t get stop by TSA for my portable pharmacy and tub of whitened powder .
finally , I father atravel pill organizer from Amazon . It avail me keep track of my morning and night pill routines as I was zipping around Ireland , Nashville , and Florida . But there was still the thing of the giant tub of powder I had on hand . What should I do with it ? My imperfect root was to take a petite airtight Tupperware container and measure out the scoops I ’d ask for my slip . Instead of a Yankee Candle , I was now carry around a Anguilla sucklandii can - sized container .
This was all well and good until I was traveling home from Nashville . After about 10 passes through TSA checkpoint , I was finally bomb - check and grope . finally , the layover was painless . Yes , I had my stuff put under a microscope . Yes , I pass to 2d base with a TSA agent . But I was n’t later for my flight of stairs , and they did n’t make me throw out my tub of pricey powder .
It did , though , drive home the point that I had fresh things to worry about when I traveled . I did n’t need to just explore the hidden gems of my name and address . I also call for to plan out how I was go to haul around the medication that now keep my body functioning without having to experience the roaming workforce of the TSA . I learn to have my travel contraceptive pill containers and mytravel powder containers , which I intelligibly pronounce . Each gunpowder container is under 100 milliliters , which is below the limitation that requires being scan by theTSA .
This is obviously far from the bad outcome of my wellness issues — I’ve get to interest about infertility , keep diabetes at bay tree , and prevent any major hormonal - related health problems . But as someone who travels so many time a year , and one of the five to six million women in the U.S. who have PCOS , it feel important to acknowledge the changes that come with it — boastful , modest , and travel - sized .
