SoulCysters.com was created in 2000 by Kat Carney, in response to a critical lack of information online for women with Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome.

What started out as a five page web site is now the largest online community for women with PCOS. To date, we have won numerous awards, and have been featured in national press including USA Today, Redbook, Woman’s World, Nurse Week, Family Doctor, Black Enterprise, and more.

We’d love to hear from you! Please use the contact form below to send us a message, and someone will respond promptly.

SoulCysters.com founder, Kathryn ‘Kat’ Carney, is best known as the former Consumer Health anchor for CNN Headline News. 

For close to four years, Carney provided reports on up-to-date health information that can be used in consumers’ daily lives. After the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center in New York and the Pentagon in Washington, D.C., she reported extensively on the anthrax threats against the United States.

Specializing in lifestyle issues, Carney has interviewed numerous newsmakers for the network including author and alternative medicine pioneer, Dr. Deepak Chopra; Senate Majority Leader, Bill Frist; NBA superstar, Alonzo Mourning; multi-platinum recording artists, TLC; and Sarah Ferguson, the Duchess of York

Prior to CNN Headline News, Carney hosted the medical documentary series The Body Invaders for the Discovery Health Channel, and served as lifestyle correspondent for The Health Network’s, Fit: Resort and Spa, currently airing on FitTV.

Carney’s personal story, as well as, professional expertise as a trusted voice of today’s consumer is regularly featured in publications including USA Today, Glamour, Redbook, Black Enterprise, Woman’s World, and Marie Claire magazines, as well as, numerous other national periodicals and radio/television talk shows, including The Oprah Winfrey Show.

I called my doctor, and he explained to me that I was gaining weight because I was eating too many fatty foods, I was depressed because I was fat, and I was sweating all of the time because it was summertime - and I was fat. Uhhh, ok...

I went to 8 more doctors who told me THE EXACT SAME THING!!!!! None of them would even consider my suggestion that I was having an adverse reaction to the medications - what did I know... I never went to med school!

By now, my weight had gone up to 240 lbs, and I couldn't understand it - after all, I was eating bread with no butter, pasta with no sauce, and lots of fresh fruit EVERYDAY (little did I know)!

The sweating was so bad, that I would come close to passing out from dehydration, and now that it was winter, you could actually see steam rising from me when I would go outside from all the moisture and the cold air!!!

My depression had started to manifest into SEVERE mood swings - I would cry at the drop of a hat, and tear your head off in the next moment - not like me at all! I was also developing a mild paranoia.

Between the weight and the emotional problems, I was no longer able to work - no one would hire me for anything!!! I was starting to get desperate, so I took my health into my own hands - or rather my fingers... and got on the internet!!!

The first thing I did, was research the medications I was taking. I was right!!! I was one of the few women that developed depression, hot flashes, and weight gain while on "the pill". Med school, "schmed" school - there is something to be said about women's intuition.

I also found research that indicated that my diet of pasta, bread, and sugary fruit, was not necessarily the best one for women with PCOS.

Next I stumbled on to my "life lines" - the online PCOS Support Groups and Message Boards, where I was able to ask questions of other women who had PCOS.

Then, after talking to my doctor, I went off my medications, and requested a prescription for Eulexin aka flutamide (a drug that I found in my research, shown to be beneficial to women with PCOS).

He said, "No!" So, I went to 3 more doctors until I found one that would prescribe it, providing I came in for regular liver testing. OK!!!

Then I bought every eating well that I could find. I also bought several books on beginning an exercise program, and I started to devise a plan...

For 14 months, I stuck to my diet with NO cheating whatsoever, and I was in the gym 6 days a week - no excuses!!! Eventually, my daily routine consisted of 45 minutes of cardio, 45 minutes of weight training, and 15-20 minutes of stretching.

For the first time in my life, I actually started to enjoy eating right and exercising, and my body said, "Thank you" by shedding 90 pounds, and by not requiring medication anymore.

One last thing... the whole time I was exercising and eating right, I told myself EVERY DAY that I would get well. EVERY DAY!!! And EVERY DAY, I would check in with my online "Cyber Cysters" as a reminder that I wasn't alone!!!

Well, that's MY story...What’s YOURS?