My PCOS story

Hey everyone, me again.

This is a little different than the love topic I’m normally babbling on about and its really bloody personal so I’ve umm’ed and arr’ed about posting this but I suppose just like every other post of mine I’ll get straight into it.

Recently I’ve been diagnosed with this thing called PCOS or if you want to be super fancy polycystic ovary syndrome.

This is a syndrome that effects around 1 in every 5 women within the UK, and before I got it I never really knew what it was. So I thought I’d tell you my story, from what I’ve come to understand from the vomit of information you receive and all the useful tips I’ve picked up in this short but really bloody scary time of mine.

A little back story – for the longest time I’ve had the most painful periods. I remember during school having to take time off and through adulthood I would not have survived without my heat patches which I would stick on my stomach in my days of pain. Everyone has period pain right? I honestly thought I was a bit of a mard that couldn’t handle it as well as everyone else, turns out my body honestly is just fucked.

I’ve also always been super thin; in primary school I was actually nicknamed thin Lizi (that rock band from Dublin).

I left primary school aged 11 wearing an age 5-6 leavers top.

By age 20 I was still wearing age 13-14 clothes.

My eating was also shit, so I guess I was just lucky. I used to eat 10 Yorkshire puddings at family carvery’s instead of the actual Sunday roast and ate noodles and chicken dippers like they were going out of fashion.

Well that all changed, around 2 years ago I started putting on weight I’d recently left the airport and presumed it was my change in routine. I started eating way healthier than I ever have before but nothing even changed.

This past year I have gone up to a size 10/12 and honestly I’ve HATED every fucking second of it. I know people will say size 10/12 isn’t big, but when you’ve been thin your whole life it does seem a lot.

I’ve got a personal trainer; I don’t eat 10 Yorkshire puddings anymore something just ISNT right. I confided in my friends, which is where my friend Madison convinced me to go to the doctors.

I had my initial appointment on 7th August thankfully the doctor agreed something wasn’t right and by the 28th I was booked in for an ultra sound (by the way, if you thought an ultra sound was just a little camera across your stomach think again, I was so unprepared and died a little inside when the lady explained what she was going to do), and a blood test on the 3rd September.

When I went back to the doctors on 23rd September she told me I had PCOS, a condition that is the most common cause of female infertility.

Yep, that’s a shitter isn’t it. The bonus is, Victoria Beckham has it and she has 4 of the beauties.

PCOS is a condition with three main features; cysts on the ovaries, higher levels of male hormones and irregular or skipped periods. It also runs within families, and makes you insulin resistance – meaning cells can’t use insulin properly.

The main common symptoms of PCOS are;

Irregular periods

Heavy bleeding

Acne

Weight gain

Male-pattern baldness

Darkening of the skin

Headaches

Luckily I haven’t got every feature, or every symptom but coming to terms with it has honestly been a massive head fuck.

I am on tablets every day for insulin resistance (to hopefully stop me from getting diabetes as I grow older), I am tired 24/7 (and actually have to sleep on my lunch hour), I can’t concentrate at work and the migraines are unbearable.

I’ve also had to change my diet completely. Less than 40g of carbs per day, no gluten, no dairy and no excess sugars. It’s honestly a life changer and as time goes on I’m sure I’ll get more used to having to organise my life around my eating and carrying around 100 tupperware’s per day.

I wish there was an end and one day I’ll be able to eat 10 Yorkshire puddings and super noodles and be fine, but unfortunately life has thrown me this curve ball and I suppose like everything, it could be worse.

Thankfully my mums an angel, and spent most of her breathing hours researching every single detail of PCOS so I currently feel really fucking prepared for what the future may have in store for me!

Love you and leave you,

Lizi xx