My name is Kitty (not Polly!) and I have polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS). PCOS is a fairly common hormonal disorder which affects fertility, hair growth and various hormone levels. Although I am only 22, it's been meddling in my life for a good few years now, but I only got my diagnosis last year. I live in Bristol in the UK, where I'm often found determinedly trying to adapt junk food into hormone-friendly fodder, or pretending a pint of cider counts as one of my five-a-day whilst dancing around watching bands.
Most of the time, if I do mention my PCOS, I shy away from explaining the ways it affects me. It's one of the most common causes of infertility and most of us hide it because a lot of its features can feel embarrassing. As a result of this, I often feel alone and one thing that has frustrated me is finding not simply online resources (in itself not too tricky) but solace.
Forums can be great for sharing experiences and advice, but I've also often found them to be exclusive in times when I just needed not to feel so alone. I myself found it difficult to tell people about my PCOS until recently (I'll be blogging about the kick up the bum that gave me the confidence to talk about fertility and body hair to just about anyone who would listen!) but now I've opened that box I don't want to shut up about it!
Polly is my vehicle. Named for pol(l)ycystic ovary syndrome and created for other people like me, in the hope that maybe we can all feel a little less lonely in our lives lived under the umbrella term of this syndrome.
I'll be sharing my own personal experiences: how the symptoms affect me, finding a good doctor, medication and diet but I'm hoping to hear from other people and how it's shaped them. And really, I just needed an outlet for my low GI recipe adaptations and a more acceptable forum to shout about body hair and periods!
