Anshula Kapoor on PCOS struggle: My mom helped me accept that facial hair wasn’t the end of the world

At 14, an age when most young girls begin to explore beauty and fashion trends, Anshula Kapoor was caught up battling Polycystic Ovary Syndrome (PCOS). The insecurities that stemmed from the physical symptoms of this hormonal condition, made her teenage years worse, pushing her into a cocoon. As a public figure who is open about her PCOS struggle, Anshula has often addressed the challenges she faced and how she overcame them. In a latest interview with Health Shots to mark PCOS Awareness Month, the daughter of filmmaker Boney Kapoor has spoken about the role her mother and gynaecologist played in helping her deal with the side effects of the medical condition. This also highlights the need for more women to support women going through health issues, rather than stigmatizing them.

“I was diagnosed with PCOS when I was about 14 or 15 years old—within the first couple of years of getting my period. The physical symptoms were the hardest to come to terms with, let alone begin to overcome,” Anshula says in an email interview.

Anshula Kapoor: I had a thick moustache and hair around my double chin

For the uninitiated, PCOS is a hormonal condition that primarily affects women of reproductive age. In this condition, the ovaries tend to produce an excess amount of androgens or male sex hormones, leading to a variety of symptoms. A woman may experience heavy or scanty periods, delayed or frequent periods, excessive facial hair growth, acne or oily skin, excess hair growth on the face and body, hair thinning or baldness, and abdominal weight gain, among others.

In Anshula Kapoor’s case, the symptoms were no different.

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“First, there was the relentless weight gain, and second, the excessive facial hair. I suddenly had a very thick moustache and a lot of hair growing around my double chin. Being Punjabi, I naturally have a lot of body hair. But before PCOS, most of it was concentrated on my sidelocks. After the onset of PCOS, I started sprouting much more facial hair and didn’t know how to handle it. Waxing and threading was painful,” says Anshula.

She also had heavy, irregular periods, likely occurring once every two to two-and-a-half months. “When they did come, they would last for about 15 to 17 days, with such heavy bleeding that I often couldn’t get out of bed or go to school. I had no energy and would bleed through every pad I wore. These were some of the struggles I distinctly remember,” recounts the 33-year-old.

Anshula Kapoor on the importance of PCOS support for women

What helped her immensely was the physical and emotional support of her mother, late Mona Kapoor who died following a cancer battle in 2012.

“I was incredibly grateful to have my mom with me during that time because she helped me accept that facial hair wasn’t the end of the world. She used to tell me it was okay if I didn’t want to endure the constant waxing and the boils that came with it. She reassured me that having more facial hair than my best friend didn’t make me any less of a girl,” shares Anshula in an empowering message for women who face a similar battle.

Earlier in 2024, India saw UP Board Class X exam topper Prachi Nigam face the trolls due to excessive facial hair and weight gain, linked to PCOS. It brought to light the insensitivity women with hormonal issues often have to face. As per the World Health Organization, PCOS affects an estimated 8-13 percent of the reproductive-aged women. However, the symptoms can be managed through lifestyle tweaks, medications and fertility treatments. Around 70 percent of the affected women remain undiagnosed worldwide, highlighting the lack of awareness around this health issue.

For Anshula Kapoor, the weight gain was more challenging as it came coupled with intense cramping, lower back pain, thigh pain, and excessive bleeding. “I don’t think I could have gotten through those days without my mom’s physical presence and emotional support,” she asserts.

Awareness helped me manage PCOS better, says Anshula

What also helped her was finding a gynaecologist who took her concerns seriously, was gentle, and understood what she was going through. “My mom’s gynaecologist became mine as well, and she was one of the most kind-hearted doctors I’ve ever met. Sharing all my PCOS struggles with her made dealing with it much easier. She knew that I needed to understand the science behind what was happening, so she explained every blood test and symptom in detail,” she says.

“Even when she prescribed medication for my insulin resistance, I understood exactly why I needed it and what was causing the issue. Thanks to my mom and my gynaecologist, understanding my symptoms and why some physical side effects were more prominent than others, made it a little easier to manage, even if I couldn’t completely overcome it,” adds Anshula.

How PCOS affected Anshula Kapoor’s mental health

When it comes to PCOS, people often negate the mental health impact that dealing with the symptoms can have on a woman. Some years ago, it was not even discussed as much.

Of her own experience, Anshula Kapoor shares: “During the first few years after being diagnosed with PCOS, I don’t think mental health was a complication for me, at least not at that time. I don’t believe we fully understood that PCOS could have mental health implications. When I was diagnosed, there were many other factors affecting my mental well-being, but it was less related to PCOS and more about my mom trying to ensure that our life wasn’t scarring me too deeply. My introduction to a therapist wasn’t due to mental health implications of PCOS but rather to help me cope with everything else happening in my life at the time.”

In hindsight, Anshula says that it wasn’t until much later, in her mid-20s, after being diagnosed with major depression and generalized anxiety, that she realized there had always been an intrinsic link between PCOS and her mental health.

“This connection wasn’t really discussed back when I was diagnosed. As science has progressed and research has been done, we’ve now linked the two. Being overweight, or ‘fat’, looking a certain way—those factors had a significant mental health impact because they affected my body image and self-confidence. I didn’t want to go out, didn’t feel comfortable dressing in most silhouettes, and only wanted to hide my body. This led to me withdrawing from social life entirely,” she shares unfiltered with Health Shots.

On Instagram, Anshula shared earlier how she would often sit by herself, eat by herself, cry to herself and go through sleepless nights over the need to always suck her tummy in or wear baggy clothes to hide whatever she could. Anshula admits that increased hair fall also had a mental health impact, affecting her body image further.

“At that time, having open conversations with my mom, who truly understood me and didn’t brush my feelings aside, and her helping me find resources, really helped. Many of the compounded issues caused by PCOS, I began to address in my late 20s, thanks to my therapist,” she says.

Now in her 30s, a lot has changed about Anshula Kapoor. She is happier in her skin than ever before, and is enjoying her journey of self exploration, self love and self confidence. What makes her more inspirational is the fact that she continues to share lessons from her transformational journey with her lakhs of followers on social media, trying to impact positive change as a body positivity and mental health advocate.