Sasha Pieterse says she gained 30 pounds in around a year as a teenager while dealing with PCOS (polycystic ovary syndrome).
‘When I turned, it was probably around 15-16, I started noticing a difference in just my metabolism in general,’ the 27-year-old star said Wednesday on the podcast The Squeeze hosted by Taylor Lautner and his wife Taylor Dome.
The Johannesburg, South Africa-born actress said that the weight gain commenced when she was 17.
‘At 17, I gained 70 pounds in the year, for no reason,’ said Pieterse, best known for playing Alison DiLaurentis on Pretty Little Liars and Pretty Little Liars: The Perfectionists.
She said that at the time, ‘There was no explanation for it.’
The latest: Sasha Pieterse, 27, says she gained 30 pounds in around a year as a teenager while dealing with PCOS (polycystic ovary syndrome)
The actress delved into medical detail about how she sought out answers from ‘over 15 gynecologists’ about her physical condition.
‘I never had a regular period ever,’ she said, ‘and I was just always told by gynecologists that I was just young – like, “Don’t worry, it’ll regulate.”‘
Pieterse said on the podcast that she was misled by some of her physicians into believing that the weight gain was the direct result of her actions.
‘It was very, very confusing,’ Pieterse said. ‘It was the most frustrating experience and disheartening.’
The Honor List actress said that ‘things were actually getting worse rather than better’ despite her trying everything in her power to combat the issue.
‘No matter what I did, no matter how well I behave, no matter how great I treated my body,’ she said.
Help finally came in the form of an endocrinologist who was able to properly diagnose the cause of her illness as PCOS, a condition she was not aware of at first.
‘I was like, “What’s that?”‘ Pieterse said. ‘I’d never heard of PCOS before. And it’s a disease, it’s not curable, it can be dormant.’
Pieterse is best known for playing Alison DiLaurentis on Pretty Little Liars and Pretty Little Liars: The Perfectionists
Pieterse said on the podcast that she was misled by some of her physicians into believing that the weight gain was the direct result of her actions, adding, ‘It was very, very confusing’
Help finally came in the form of an endocrinologist who was able to properly diagnose the cause of her illness as PCOS, a condition Pieterse was not aware of at first
The actress, who is mother to son Hendrix, four, with spouse Hudson Sheaffer, 33, said she ‘had a lot of those outward symptoms that everyone could see’
Pieterse said that ‘the most frustrating part about’ her situation was that it was ‘fairly easy to diagnose.’
She added, ‘It’s a hormone imbalance. It’s a hormone disease, and it’s so easy to see because your testosterone or your estrogen will be really high, you’ll have really low vitamin D levels, you’ll be deficient in a lot of things.’
She said that symptoms can drastically vary from person to person, including weight gain, growth of hair, ovarian cysts or gastrointestinal problems.
The actress, who is mother to son Hendrix, two, with spouse Hudson Sheaffer, 33, said she ‘had a lot of those outward symptoms that everyone could see.’
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