Over the summer, I got hit with a huge allergy attack. Not fun, especially since I was taking antihistamines every single night. (Thank you, perimenopause!)

The big problem after the allergies quit having their way with me was the cough that they inspired. It just never went away. I even learned something new about subluxating a rib while coughing in the middle of the night. Zero stars, do not recommend.

When I wasn’t coughing, I couldn’t breathe. Just walking around the house was tough, much less doing anything else. Regular household tasks were becoming more and more difficult.

And that COUGH. It was not responding to anything.

So I did something I hadn’t done in almost a decade. I went to a doctor.

If we’ve never met, you don’t know my history with doctors. I can sum it up with, “it ain’t great.”

That other doctor, the one from a decade ago? I went to him at the urging of my husband because, “you need a doctor, just in case something happens.” So I established care at his office and a few months later, I was walking at a track nearby and it felt like my shin exploded. I’d had a tearing feeling in that area before, but it had subsided.

Once I was walking the track regularly, I suddenly had a big problem. So I went to “my doctor” to see what was going on with this exercise injury. He examined me, took X-rays, and told me to ice it and rest it.

Afterward he had his nurse email me to ask if I knew I was fat and that I should be eating right and exercising. Never once did he ask what I was eating, and I was there because I had injured myself. While exercising.

I sent back a scathing email and have never gone back.

Well, now my husband was right again. I was in a situation where I needed a doctor.

I found one and showed up, not sure what to expect. The office staff were all great and listened to my medical history and my current symptoms.

The doctor came in, listened to my symptoms, and didn’t once tell me to go lose weight and that would solve the problem. She wanted me to see a lung specialist, try an inhaler, and take a different allergy med. Then she drew some blood, talked to me about some other things she’d like me to do if I get comfortable with the idea, and was basically the kindest and most helpful doctor I’ve ever encountered in my life.

I was shocked.

The next day, she shocked me again. Because my bloodwork showed some things I expected because of my PCOS, like high cholesterol and an A1C that is now firmly in the pre-diabetic range.

But it also showed that I’m in the early stages of chronic kidney disease, CKD.

And that’s why I’ve had a cough off and on for the last few years, and why the one in August just would not go away. And why I have had shortness of breath for so long.

And it’s probably why everything I’ve tried to reduce PCOS symptoms just doesn’t work, and why I’m still exhausted.

Because my kidneys have been low-key struggling for a very, very long time. And the kidneys are tremendously important in managing insulin resistance and hormone regulation.

Which means the insulin resistance from PCOS made my kidneys work harder, which in turn made insulin resistance more difficult to manage, which worsened issues with PCOS…and then perimenopause on top of everything hasn’t helped.

My new doctor (I’m claiming this one) even sent a scrip to the pharmacy as soon as she saw my bloodwork, an SGLT2 inhibitor.

Next time I’ll share more about what I’m doing that is helping, what I’m thinking about adding, and what else I’m doing to deal with this new situation. There are a lot of ways that being my own zookeeper has gotten easier with all of this, and some ways that life is more complicated.

None of it is moving as fast as I want, and that’s a whole other issue.

But something I really want to stress is that throughout my entire time living with PCOS, I was always worried about two things: diabetes and heart disease. I’ve known that those were some big concerns and that I was staring down the barrel of both of them.

I never once worried about my kidneys, and I wish I had.

Until next time, thanks for reading!