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Having a Sex Life When Your Sex Organs Hate You
September is PCOS Awareness month and yet most people don’t even know what it is that we’re supposed to be aware of. In short, PCOS (PolyCystic Ovarian Syndrome) is an endocrine disorder that affects up to 1 in 10 women with varying levels of severity and symptoms. Despite the name, having ovarian cysts is not required to be diagnosed with PCOS. Diagnosis is based on the presence of symptoms. I have several friends who have been diagnosed, as well as myself, and we all display slightly different variations.
A laundry list of PCOS symptoms looks a bit like a list of reasons that either make you not want to have sex or make it more difficult to find someone who wants to have sex with you. I cannot speak to struggles with weight as that is not one of the symptoms that I display. However, there’s nothing to make you feel attractive quite like thick black hair sprouting around your nipples or clusters of cystic acne. Acne is itself is quite nasty but cystic acne takes it to a whole other level by forming large, swollen lumps along your jawline, chin and shoulders. If a parasitic alien decided to make its home under my skin in order to reproduce, I’m pretty sure it would look and feel like cystic acne. And I don’t even want to think about the amount of time, money and energy I have spent on various hair removal techniques. At least the hair on my head doesn’t fall out…
