What happened to Sasha Pieterse? 'Pretty Little Liars' star reveals 15 doctors couldn't diagnose what caused her sudden weight gain
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA: After its 2010 debut, 'Pretty Little Liars' quickly rose to the top of the most talked-about television programs. The 15-year-old "queen bee," Alison DiLaurentis, was first portrayed by Sasha Pieterse when she was just 13 years old.
A few years later, the actress began to experience changes in her health, particularly in her metabolism.
Why did Pieterse gain weight?
Pieterse revealed on the podcast 'The Squeeze' with actor Taylor Lautner and his wife, also named Taylor, "The changes that were happening to me were documented on camera… At 17, I gained 70 pounds in the year… for no reason… There was no explanation for it."
The actress admitted, "I went to over 15 gynecologists… One gynecologist told me to my face that I was lying, that I must be eating terribly, and I must be doing everything wrong because ‘look at you,’ was essentially what he said."
She explained, "I just wanted somebody to test my blood… It was the most frustrating experience… and disheartening because no matter what I did, no matter how well I behaved, no matter how great I treated my body, things were actually getting worse rather than better. It was very, very confusing."
Eventually, Pieterse said, she was referred to an endocrinologist, who practically immediately identified PCOS as her condition.
What is PCOS?
The Mayo Clinic describes PCOS as a "problem with hormones that happens during the reproductive years. If you have PCOS, you may not have periods very often. Or you may have periods that last many days. You may also have too much of a hormone called androgen in your body." Weight gain is a typical side effect as well.
Pieterse acknowledged that it was challenging to grow up watching television while going through such significant physical changes.
She said, "I had such a good experience, but at the same time it was very intense for those 7 years… It's really intense to learn and grow and understand yourself when everyone else is hyper-analyzing it," as reported by Foxnews.
Who helped Pieterse to regulted her hormones?
The 27-year-old Pieterse claims that having her son Hendrix actually helped regulate her hormones to the point where her PCOS is no longer active. She clarified that, though it happens infrequently, childbirth can assist women with their issues.