Whitney Way Thore Tears Up Talking About Her PCOS: ‘Normally I Just Try Not to Think About It’

Whitney Way Thore usually pushes away the pain of her polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) — but this time, she’s letting herself cry.

The star of My Big Fat Fabulous Life said she’ll typically “just try not to think about” the hormonal disorder and its symptoms — hair loss, fertility issues, acne — but couldn’t avoid the topic after sharing an Instagram video where she admitted she’s been losing her hair for 13 years. Calling it her “biggest insecurity,” Thore said she uses hair extensions to hide her balding.

“I posted about my extensions and everything and then I was just talking to a friend of mine about having kids, and he wasn’t really familiar with PCOS and everything so I was explaining it to him, and I just started crying. And it’s like, I don’t normally,” Thore, 35, said in an Instagram Story on Monday.

The newly-engaged reality star said that her PCOS is nothing new, but thinking about the condition made her emotional.

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“I’ve known I’ve had PCOS since I was like 21, and I’m 35 [now],” she said. “And I don’t normally get emotional when I talk about it, and I think I just kind of like, try not to think about it a lot. And I was just going through all of the symptoms and everything to explain it to my friend, and it just…it sucks.”

“Normally I just try to not think about it, and push it down I guess, and just deal,” she continued. “Actually I don’t really deal that well with the symptoms, and I don’t really do a lot to manage it the way that I should.”

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Thore said that she recently listened to a podcast called The Happiness Project, and the hosts said that it was good to lean into negative emotions and “not try to ignore them.” She decided to take that advice and “take a minute in my car and like, sit here and cry about it.”

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She told her followers that they should feel like they can do the same if they need to.

“I guess if you need to cry have a cry,” she said. “Happy f—ing Monday. If you’re happy I hope you’re feeling happy, if you’re sad, I hope you can go ahead and feel a little sad.”

Thore ended the videos by blowing a kiss to the camera and telling her followers: “Love you guys.”