#Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome

[stateofcharles]

on behalf of (intelligent and educated) italian people, i’d like to apologise to all intersex people and to Imane Khelif in particular. our country is embarrassing and cannot help but undermine an athlete only to justify the cowardice and lack of sportsmanship displayed by our athletes. i hope for Imane to have great success through her career, we are proud of her!🫶🏻

i also wish people started to get educated on why there are women with higher testosterone levels, people who are women. not just intersex people, but for instance also women who suffer from polycystic ovary syndrome, a condition that affects between 8 and 13% of women.

again, my biggest apologies to Imane Khelif. i am so ashamed of being italian today

[demiboydemon]

So sad about the United Health CEO :( has he tried yoga?

[harlantisms]

Updated poll at the request of many! I’ve added PCOS specific options and removed the results button.

Please don’t vote if none of the options apply to you.

As before, if you are intersex and/or have PCOS and are a medical professional, please vote with the intersex or PCOS options.

If you aren’t sure your opinion please refrain from voting.

[mindblowingscience]

For a condition that affects at least one in ten women of reproductive age and is a leading cause of female infertility worldwide, we understand surprisingly little about polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS). At present, treatment for the condition focuses largely on managing specific symptoms. Now a pilot clinical study led by Fudan University in China has found a pharmaceutical used to treat malaria shows promise as a PCOS treatment, shrinking oversized follicles and returning regularity to some participants' periods.

Continue Reading.

[yrfemmehusband]

Female reproductive health terms you should know!

(terfs not welcome)

Dysmenorrhea: Period pain that isn't normal, i.e. any pain more than Mild cramping.

Dyspareunia: painful intercourse

Oligomenorrhea: lighter, shorter menstrual flow.

Menorrhagia: heavier, longer menstrual flow.

Ovarian cysts: a mass on or in one's ovary, can be resolved on its own, or can remain and cause complications such as a rupture.

Polycystic ovary syndrome: a chronic condition causing cysts to reoccur on the ovaries and enlarging them. Symptoms include:

Irregular periods

hormonal imbalance

facial hair

weight gain

painful periods/ ovulation

infertility

People with PCOS are at higher risk for endometrial cancer, type II diabetes heart problems and high blood pressure.

Endometriosis: A chronic condition in which a tissue similar to, but different than, the endometrial lining grows outside of the uterus instead of inside. During menstruation this tissue sheds and has nowhere to go, thus irritating surrounding organs.

Symptoms include:

Irregular periods

Dysmenorrhea

Widespread pain

Painful ovulation

Vomiting, fainting, chills, sweating, fever and brain fog during menstruation

Infertility

Severe bloating

This also puts people at a higher risk for endometrial and ovarian cancer. There are four stages to Endo as it is a progressive disease, with 3/4 being more severe. The average time it takes to be diagnosed is 7 years.

Adenomyosis: A chronic disease similar and comorbid to endometriosis in which a tissue similar to the endometrial lining grows inside of the uterine wall. Symptoms are nearly identical to endometriosis but more difficult to detect.

Many people are diagnosed post menopause, by fault of the medical system, but it can and does develop much before then.

Ovarian cancer: cancer of the ovary(ies).

Endometrial cancer: cancer of the endometrium, the inner lining of the uterus.

Endometrial cyst, or chocolate cyst: cystic lesions from endometriosis.

Tilted uterus: the uterus is positioned pointing towards the back or severely to the front of the pelvis instead of a slight tilt towards at the cervix. Can cause painful sex and periods.

Pelvic floor dysfunction: inability to control your pelvic muscles. Comorbid with many things and is highly comorbid with endometriosis. Can cause pain and incontinence.

Vulvodynia: chronic and unexplained pain at the opening of the vagina.

Interstitial cystitis: a chronic condition where cysts form on the inside of the bladder and urinary tract and cause symptoms similar to that of a UTI.

Pre-eclampsia: a condition occurring in pregnancy where the blood supply between the fetus and the pregnant person is affected and can cause irregular blood pressure, swelling, and in more severe cases headache, nausea and vomiting, a burning sensation behind the sternum, shortness of breath and potentially death if untreated.

Endometritis: an infection or irritation of the uterine lining. Is not the same as endometriosis and is treatable but can cause pain, bleeding, swelling, general discomfort and fever, and more.

Pelvic inflammatory disease: an infection of the reproductive organs

Ectopic pregnancy: a pregnancy that is attached to the outside of the uterus. Can be fatal if left untreated.

There are many more I could probably add but if you see something missing, please add it!

[lumidotexe]

noticed my top abs slightly forming but then remembered I took a genetic lottery L.

proud of my progress but it makes working out twice as hard

[hiiragi7]

@blaugrana-blues People say this about any intersex variation. Just how "different" do we need to be in order to be "intersex enough"? Do we need to all be true hermaphrodites to "count"? Do we all need to be infertile? Where is the line to you?

Are people with CAIS and persistent mullerian ducts who can still have children no longer intersex? Are people with C-CAH who do not present with ambiguous genitals at birth no longer intersex?

Why are you so hellbent on turning intersex people into some mysterious foreign group that you can't conceive any ""normal"" person being a part of?

Aside from many intersex people not showing obvious physical signs, aside from PCOS and NCAH and various other adrenal disorders having so much symptom overlap you cannot visibly tell the difference without testing, aside from PCOS itself being widely misused currently by the medical field and constantly inappropriately diagnosed upon the first meeting with a hyperandrogenic patient without even doing any testing at all when it's meant to be a diagnosis of exclusion, aside from PCOS not always meaning "just extra hair" - Why does it hurt you for people to identify as intersex?

Why is it so much of an insult to you to be lumped in with us that you felt the need to comment this on my post?

You also do not have to identify as intersex if you do not want to, but there is absolutely no need to drag down others who do just because you felt personally attacked by a post aimed at intersex people with PCOS.

I am also going to link you three studies/reviews about PCOS and just how much overlap it has with other intersex variations so you can see how pointless it is trying to make a distinct difference between the lived experiences of those with PCOS and "The Actual Intersex People" because I am tired and I hope you will read these if your question was actually in any sort of good faith.

Relative Prevalence of Different Androgen Excess Disorders in 950 Women Referred because of Clinical Hyperandrogenism

Polycystic Ovary Syndrome and NC-CAH: Distinct Characteristics and Common Findings. A Systematic Review

Differentiating Polycystic Ovary Syndrome from Adrenal Disorders

Regardless of the cause, if you are visibly not within the "socially acceptable" sex binary, you're going to get treated like shit. There is absolutely no reason to want such drastic seperation between PCOS and the rest of the intersex community, we need to work together against oppression and discrimination, not apart.

[lordmushroomkat]

《The strong association of PCOS with cis womanhood, the defining of it as a disorder or syndrome, and its framing as a “women’s health issue” obscures the fact that PCOS is a natural hormonal variation, an endocrine difference that is illustrated through secondary sex characteristics. 

During my initial search for resources and community, I also learned that PCOS, given its characterization as a hormonal variance, falls under the intersex umbrella. This intersex umbrella covers a wide range of “individuals born with a hormonal, chromosomal, gonadal or genital variation which is considered outside of the male and female norms,” and PCOS meets that definition. 

This is not an attempt to sway every person who has PCOS to identify themselves as intersex—though it is an acknowledgment that we have the option and the right to do so if it rings true to us. Rather, this is to say that shifting my perspective on PCOS and viewing it through an intersex lens allowed me to better understand it as a natural human variation rather than an affliction causing my body to do the “wrong” thing. 

“I believe that someone with PCOS has every right to use the term intersex for themselves if they want, but I also understand it if they don’t,” said writer and intersex advocate Amanda Saenz.

“As an advocate and an intersex person, I opt to use a definition of intersex that is open ended and expansive,” Saenz explains. “The experiences that a term like ‘intersex’ hopes to define include differences in hormonal production and hormone reception, and the phenotypic effects these differences have on the body. To me, this is inclusive of things like PCOS.”

Discussing PCOS in this way is often met with indignation and resistance. Our society has a hard time separating gender from sex. This has resulted in a widespread misunderstanding of intersex identity as equivalent to transgender identity. Many who vehemently resist the idea of PCOS being under the intersex umbrella do so because they categorically link “female” with “woman,” and therefore misinterpret any acceptance of intersex identity as a denial of womanhood. Moreover, the stigma around and marginalization of intersex communities prevents many people from feeling comfortable with embracing it. 

“You can be intersex and cisgender, transgender, or nonbinary. The ‘opposite’ of intersex is endosex, not cisgender,” explained Eshe Kiama Zuri, founder of U.K. Mutual Aid. As a nonbinary intersex person, Zuri approaches these ideas with a clear understanding of how the bodies of intersex individuals as well as many people with PCOS interrupt binary thinking about both sex and gender. 

“The resistance to PCOS falling under the intersex umbrella is due to a white supremacist society’s desperation to cling to binary genders, which we know [have been] used as a colonial tool of control,” they offer. 

The same medical and surgical interventions that legislators seek to ban trans and nonbinary people from accessing—which would be gender-affirming, life-saving care for them—are often forced on intersex infants and children who are unable to consent. This is done in efforts to align intersex bodies with social expectations of female and male, man and woman; the same logic undergirds the societal and medical pressure to “feminize” the female-assigned bodies of PCOS patients. 

PCOS is “shockingly common [and] the most frequently occurring hormone-related disorder.” However, according to Medical News Today, “up to 75% of [people] with PCOS do not receive a diagnosis for their condition.” If we were to understand and accept something like PCOS as intersex, considering how “shockingly common” it is, the dominant idea of binary sex, with intersex being thought of as nothing more than a fringe occurrence, would be shattered. 

“PCOS is only one of many conditions that could fall under the intersex umbrella, and care for people with PCOS would be considerably better if it wasn’t for the forced gendering and resistance to providing actual support for people with PCOS, even if it challenges society’s ideas of gender,” says Zuri. 

Combating myths built around the gender and sex binaries would create more space to understand PCOS traits as part of normal human variation, rather than inherent problems to be fixed, symptoms to be eradicated. As Zuri so beautifully put it, “When we start to accept that this is not a body behaving ‘wrong’ and it is just a body, we stop blaming and punishing people for how their bodies work and start challenging societal expectations.”》

I was fucking right!

[pcos-and-endo-awareness]

[head-shoulders-toeknee]

i love my pcos when it makes me hella androgynous and totally Gender™

but then period happens. i am dying. hellp. how many tampons an hour is normal again

can i remove these useless organs ples

[guqqie]

hi! this is a little silly but i just wanted to thank you, you talking about pcos made me realize i have all the symptoms and today i was able to get the diagnosis from my doctor. i'd genuinely never even heard of it before (yippee for reproductive health information) but i was starting to think it was a little weird and you confirmed that for me

so less of an ask, and more of just a little note of appreciation <3

YO!! i’m so glad you were able to get your diagnosis!! it is so damn common yet so under diagnosed so i am glad me talking openly about it had taught others too! happy i could help :)

for anyone who doesn’t know PCOS stands for Polycystic Ovaries Syndrome! it is an extremely common condition that affects how your ovaries work and most common symptoms of this is heavy/painful periods, irregular periods, facial hair and much more. an indication you have it is if you have more testosterone in your body than you should (it was the biggest sign for me and i still wasn’t diagnosed until two years later because my doctor didn’t know what PCOS was!!)

id recommend looking into it!! afab health is very overlooked! you knowing what PCOS is even if you don’t think it effects you, someone you know could be effected by it and not know about it! i only found out what it was from my mother’s hairdresser a few years ago!

[cillianmurphysdimples]

PCOS sucks.

Twisting cysts is fucking sore, dude.

[neopronouns]

flag id: two flags with 7 stripes. the left flag's stripes are medium dark teal, teal, light teal, dark purple, light red-pink, faded pink-red, and medium dark red. the right flag's stripes are medium dark teal, teal, light teal, white, light red-pink, faded pink-red, and medium dark red. the right flag has a dark purple circular ring shape in the center. end id.

banner id: a 1500x150 teal banner with the words ‘please read my dni before interacting’ in large white text in the center. end id.

an alternate pcos flag for anon!

they asked for a flag similar to other pcos flags (example one, example two) plus shades of red (inspired by this flag).

i decided to go with several stripes of teal (the color of the pcos awareness ribbon), a stripe of purple to represent intersex identity, and several stripes of red to represent menstruation, pain, and hyperandrogenism (since @isobug used red in this hyperandrogenism flag and a general hyperhormonal flag, i figured it could fit). the second flag replaces the purple stripe with a white stripe for flow and uses the purple in a circular ring, like the intersex flag!

tags: @radiomogai | dni link

[lizzy019]

what is pcos?? you make it your whole personality lol (not in a rude way, just curious)

Haha yes I kind of do lmaoo I'm glad you're curious anon :)

PCOS is a hormonal imbalance in a woman's ovaries. The ovaries produce certain hormones (estrogen) that makes a woman... a woman.

Women with PCOS typically tend to have issues with menstrual cycles, and deal with (the serious issue being) infertility. Again, this is purely because the hormones are out of whack and don't correlate to the regular hormones being produced by the pituitary gland.

Now, some women including me deal with a lot more issues. A very common issue is excessive weight, more so called visceral fat. It's typically to do with insulin resistance, and it doesn't matter how much working out you do to get rid of it.

There is also a very common symptom which is excessive hair growth. Redirecting back to the hormonal issue, hair is typically founded in testosterone. Especially excessive amounts which means excessive testosterone, which is what the hormonal imbalance is.

I struggle with three of these issues 😭 my periods are so sporadic and crazy. I also am kinda fat and hairy 0.0 body dysmorphia who??

But all in all, it's not a very well studied syndrome. There isn't a cure, and it isn't preventable, but you could take inositol (over-the-counter or prescribed) to help with insulin resistance.

HOPE THIS HELPS, ANON <333

[the-happy-pianist]

guys I don't think i can compression sock and hot water bottle my way outta this one

[metalheadsforblacklivesmatter]

This is what I'm talking about when I say intersex issues are inherently linked with transphobia.

(You don't have to consider yourself intersex if you have PCOS but if your PCOS causes you to have masc characteristics that leads you to face discrimination, you are absolutely valid in the intersex community.)

-fae