Who Am I and What Am I Doing Here?

Hello! Well first, let me start by introducing myself. My name is Na'Jasmine. I am 31 years old and I grew up in Jacksonville, Florida. I was diagnosed with polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) around 14-15 years old. When I was first diagnosed with PCOS, my doctors just told me that the reason was because I was overweight. I didn't get an explanation on what I was dealing with or the side affects that came along with it. It also didn't help that no one in my family had any of the symptoms or life experiences that I was having, so I had no real guidance or support on what I was dealing with or what was to come. My mother and siblings did their best to understand me, but they really couldn't offer help to what we were all ignorant to.

I started my menstrual cycle at 14 years old and that was my first indication that my body was not "normal". From the very FIRST cycle that I had - I experienced heavy bleeding, horrible cramps, heavy clotting, random pelvic and vaginal pain and a long 10 day cycle. This was also the start of years of irregular cycles. Some months I wouldn't get a cycle at all, but then it would come on and stay on for weeks at a time. This was also around the time I started growing facial hair.

Because I was told that PCOS came from being overweight, I started developing low self esteem and self image issues. I was upset at myself and my body for not being able to be "thin and healthy" and I convince myself that I was the problem - because my body wouldn't do anything that I didn't allow it to do, right? WRONG!!!

I was also placed on birth control - several different kinds (the pill, the patch, the NuvaRing, and Deo-Provera injections), sometimes I was taking more than one form of birth control at the same time to "regulate my hormones and cycles". I've also taken Metformin (up to 1000mg a day) and I always felt like the treatments were either not working or making my symptoms worse.

In my late 20's I decided to take better care of myself after a failed marriage, battling anxiety, infertility, stress and depression, and trying to figure out what I wanted to do with my life. I changed my diet and lost a significant amount of weight, I started drinking more water and taking all natural herbs and supplements that started minimizing the severity of a lot of my symptoms.

A few years ago, I met an amazing herbalist/chemist (yes, SHE is both) and she helped me change my life even more. She is actually one of the people (aside from my siblings and best friends) that pushed me to share my story and start this business.

I started this business (Na'Jasmine) to not only provide quality, all natural, handmade PCOS products for women going through the same struggles as myself, but also to be a voice for those that need one.

In future blog posts, I will be going into detail about some of the struggles I've dealt with in my PCOS journey, as well as some tips and things that I'm still learning about. I would love to hear what you have to say and what you've been through as well... I want this to be a safe space - to read, comment, share, and just exist with other women that are going through the same things. This Cyster will always be here. Welcome to the Cyster Cirle!