Living with Polycystic Ovary Syndrome

I was diagnosed with PCOS when I was 14, I hadn't had a period in over a year and I began to get concerned. So, I made an appointment with my doctor, she sent me off for an ultrasound scan and blood tests. When I came back for my follow up appointment I was told that I had PCOS. She explained what it was but I didn't really understand much and went about my life as normal. Thinking it was great that I didn't have periods.

It wasn't until I was at university that I discovered the true extent of what living with PCOS meant. Okay, I didn't have periods but I did have the side effects of them, all minus the bleeding. I have bad back ache, severe cramps that would have me crying, I felt ill and had awful mood swings. PCOS also meant my chance of ever becoming pregnant was rather low, I have a 10% chance of conceiving children naturally. I have heard all the stories before of people with PCOS having children naturally, but I have other complications which means the likelihood is a lot lower. Now I was told when I was 14 these statistics and I have had 8 nearly 9 years to process this information. And although sometimes it gets be down, I know there are plenty of children out there that need adopting so when the time is right I think that is the route I will take.

Away, what is PCOS? Other than standing for Polycystic Ovary Syndrome, it is not actually cysts on the ovaries. Confusing I know! I used the NHS website to help me explain what PCOS, there definition is :

'Polycystic ovaries contain a large number of harmless follicles that are up to 8mm in size. The follicles are under-developed sacs in which eggs develop. In PCOS, these sacs are often unable to release an egg, which means that ovulation doesn't take place.'

Meaning that the sacs in which the egg normally lives (as it were) is undeveloped and does not contain an egg, meaning an egg is not released and a period does not occur. Although the cause of PCOS is un known it is believed to run in families. It is related to a hormone in-balance within the body.

It is estimated that 1 in 5 women in the UK has PCOS, but it varies in severity.

Signs and symptoms

• irregular periods or none at all
• difficulty getting pregnant
• excess hair 
• thinning hair 
• weight gain or trouble losing weight

Basically its a massive shit storm and is horrible. Although there is no treatment for it there are some ways of controlling it. I myself were prescribed several different hormone tablets and treatments. But the extra hormones that was used to combat the extra testosterone but the hormone treatments made be depressed caused me to gain weight and fucked me up more. I stopped the treatments and felt a lot better. 

Its been over 9 years since I was diagnosed and I still havent had periods but I am hearing more and more stories about women diagnosed with PCOS and still concieving children naturally so I have faith that if I chose to have children I will be able to naturally. But that is a long way in the future. 

This has been a bit of long post with loads of information. I will do a follow up post soon about my experience with diagnosis. But just know ladies you are not alone. If you have any questions drop me a line. 

Bonus picture of my baby... My ferret Trevvor. 

Love Yah 

IsThataRedHerring 

Slimming world: week 5

I started the week very shaky. I was off from work and well bordem set in. On Tuesday and Wednesday I did not track my days at all. I ate not necessailry badly but not great either. Come Thursday I was like right what are you doing? Get a grip and sort this out.

I went for a long walk with my friend, prepared my lunch and just ate better. Simple things that clearly made a difference. I made sure I had more speed on my plate. On Friday I knew I was going out for a meal, so I ate wisely that day and well I didn't hold back in the evening. We had a starter of sausages, main course of a buttermilk burger and fries (loads of mayo) and for pudding a chocolate bomb with toffee sauce. It was so good though and worth it all. I didn't drink as one I didn't want the added calories and two I had work the next day. HA!

The weekend consisted of work. Which means I tend to eat better anyway, I am always busy averaging around 15,000 steps a day at work. I also have breakfast lunch and dinner which doesn't always happen. I found myself not very hungry at work this week, so had mugshots for lunch with ham, fruit and a yogurt. On both Saturday and Sunday. On Sunday I went straight to Oxford so didn't eat dinner. Naughty me but I wasn't really hungry.

On Monday, I wasn't feeling very well, and stuck to not so healthy foods. I grabbed a sandwich from M&S (Carnation chicken) which is my favourite and two milk chocolate bars. I then had a healthier dinner of rice, chicken and speed veg in the evening which I felt balanced it out nicely.

So, today is weigh day, and I honestly didn't know what to expect. It's been a weird old week....

First week I lost 2.5lbs
Second week I lost 3.5lb
Third week I lost: 0.5lb
Fourth week I lost: 1.5lb
Fifth week I lost: 3lb
Total: 11b

That's right this week I lost 3lb, my weight is now 19st 11.5lb.. I did not think I'd get to this weight as quickly as I have. I'm so happy with myself.

Love yah
IsThataRedHerring

BLOGMAS Day 6: Internet dating... revisited.

I did a post way over a year ago about internet dating and how I was finding it. I actually had a long term relationship come out of internet dating, but that relationship ended after a year. A mixture of different reasons and a whole other blog post I’m sure to come. Anyway, since I am single and very much ready to mingle I thought I would revisit the topic of internet dating. I joined back in September time using two apps the first Tinder and the second Plenty of Fish (POF). It began okay trying to find the genuine people from the fuckboys was the hardest part. I have since ditched Tinder because it is simply just full of fuckboys and not worth my time. So let’s focus on POF.

So, POF is a dating site, which allows you to make a profile, write about yourself, give a little bio, your basics and them do a very long and I mean very long chemistry test which I have to admit I still haven’t finished haha. Anyway, I have had a few good dates from the site and met some lovely genuine guys on there. I have had some absolute horrid dates, and some guys assume they are going to get sex on a first meeting/date. Now I am up for casual but come on dude, I barely know you let’s get to know each other. I have come up with some top tips for internet dating based on my experience.

Number 1

DO NOT GIVE A GUY YOUR SNAPCHAT

Like seriously, if you have been talking to a guy and all he ha asked you is hey, how are you and then boom straight in with have you got snapchat, you will receive a dick pic and loads of them. Words of warning that is what happens.

Number 2

DO NOT GIVE YOUR NUMBER OUT

Okay, so with this one be respectful of your mobile number. So, many guys use the excuse of this app is slow have you got whatsapp? Why yes I do, but know you cannot have it because I barely know you. If a guy really wants to get to know you they will wait. I normally do not give my number out until I’ve been messaging a person at least 3 days. I want to know them a little first.

Number 3

Don’t be afraid to play the field

I’ve had a few people ‘judge’ me because I am talking to several guys. Most of these people judging me are in relationships, and have been for a while. Now just because I am talking to several guys it does not mean I am sleeping with them. I am simply getting to know people. Figuring out if we have stuff in common and quite frankly it’s nice to know I have people wanting to talk to me. So please do not judge.

Just a quick revisit and a few little tips.

Love yah

IsThataRedHerring 

Learning to say no!

I have always been that person who wants to help. Even if it means I end up worse off. But recently I have decided that I need to start saying no to things. Some people may think that I am being selfish, but I have decided that I need to start doing things for me. Not anyone else. If I don't want to do something (obviously a valid reason, not just to please someone else) then I am going to say NO! 

July has been a very big month for me, the month of NO! But also positive thinking and making much needed changes in my life. SO what happened?

I handed in my notice at work 

I got a new job

I turned 22

I became single

I passed my theory test 

I had my hair cut and I am back to a natural hair colour

I made this month about me! 

Okay so they might not be massive changes but for me they were the step in the right direction. I have become more independent and focused on myself. Making much needed changes. This time last year I pledged to lose weight. And well I mean I'm not any heavier than  was last year, I am about 3lb lighter than last year. Small bonuses, but safe to say I am not happy with that. So that really needs to change. And I know I can do it, because I did lose a stone of weight in a couple of months, but I started to get comfortable in a relationship and I let everything slip. So, no more buses, I've got my bike out (and helmet). I've taken before photos, of my current weight and what my body looks like now, printed them off and stored them in a secret location. In a couple of months I might write a blog post showing my progress. 

The most important thing is that I am doing this for me and no-one else. No man to impress but simply to prove to myself that I can be healthy and happy with being me. I am not going to starve myself, I am going to do this properly and if you want to do this with me then I'd love it if you'd join me. Make it a weekly or monthly thing. I don't need to know how much you weight or your measurements but we can be there to encourage each other. If you'd like that let me know, because I certainly would. 

Thanks for listening 

Always do things for you. Be a little selfish every now and again

BE HAPPY!

Love yah 

IsThataRedHerring 

Knowing your limits

We are always told that staying in our comforts zones is not really a good idea, that we should broaden our horizons and get out of our comfort zones. Which I mostly agree with, but we all have our limits and pushing them too far too quickly like I found out is not a good thing.

The past 4 months have seen big changes for me, I finished university, got a full time job, committed to losing weight and started writing a book. These have all impacted me greatly in the past few months. Finishing university was a massive deal, I went from living with my best friends to hardly seeing them, being a 5 minute walk from some of the greatest people I know to being hours away from them.

But recently the biggest change is going from barely working at all to working 80+ hours a week, doing stupidly long night shifts and working 2 weeks in a row without a day off. Safe to say it killed me, resulted in me becoming very ill and ended up getting sent home from work. I did too much too quickly. I was stupid to accept all the shifts I did. The money was good and meant I could put a lot into savings but it was at the cost of my health. I had cut down a lot of food and with working a lot and cycling a lot my body just overloaded, it was a lot of changes in a very short space of time.

But I have learnt from my mistake. I've got 5 days off of work, able to relax a bit, socialise which is nice and just chill a bit. I know now I was doing to much for my body to handle. So now I am signing out, going to enjoy my days off, write a bit more.

Love Yah
IsThataRedHerring