[Alwaysbeenbig]

Hi all,

Just thought I would throw out a quick question. I have developed a series of (medical) symptoms over the past 12 months that I thought some of you might be familiar with and might be able to give me some things to research. Over the past 12 months I:
Have not had a period in over 12 months and have a real increase in facial hair (all blonde and nearly transparent, but still heaps more than normal), And in the last 6 months I have been losing my hair (head hair) and (having just gone through a mild Australian summer) I have found that I have absolutely no tolerance for heat, I can barely stand any temperatures above 23 Degrees Celsius (74ish F). And, as anyone who is overweight knows, I am pretty much exhausted all of the time, as in I could sleep for 16 hours straight, be awake for 10 hours and be exhausted again (this is the extreme that has started happening lately, but obviously can only happen on my one day off)

I have spoken to my doctor (GP), but have only really admitted the problems in the past month (I was basically blaming all of my problems on my weight and thought it would be selfish to waste the doctors time, when I thought the response would be lose weight), to my surprise I have been sent for a huge number of blood tests which have shown so far:
*I have no of the hormonal markers for PCOS
*I have not got diabetes or insulin resistance

I am waiting for results on Thyroid hormone levels, but I'm not sure what else I or the doctor should be looking for?

Any suggestions would be appreciated

thanks.

[ronni62]

It sounds like your doctor is doing many of the right tests. Only questions you might think about are: 1) do you take birth-control pills? 2)have you been in contact with any male who may be taking/using a testosterone replacement drug? 3) have you lost a LOT of weight really fast?

All of these can cause some of the symptoms you've mentioned.

One other thing that comes to mind is that food allergies can cause hormone changes, particularly allergy to wheat.

I hope you find out what's causing all this. I'll keep you in my prayers. Take care.

[Lolo70]

Make sure you check all thyroid markers, including autoantibodies, not just TSH. Also check your adrenal glands. Hair loss may come from higher than normal testosterone levels. The two hormonal systems can influence each other. It may also be a good idea to look at estrogen and progesterone levels. Maybe see an endocrinologist.

[samhoward65]

I know how you feel. All my tests for PCOS showed up negative, too - until I gained nearly 100 pounds in a year. No drastic food/eating changes, just a full-body rebellion. My testosterone was off the (women's) charts. I had kamikaze periods. Tired because my blood sugar was high (insulin resistance). The only things I DON'T have is ovarian cysts and sleep apnea, and thinning hair. I am sorry this stuff is happening to you

You should see an endocrinologist who specializes in women - mine actually handles old ladies and their hormone replacement therapy (I'm 26). Even though PCOS is one of the most common disorders among women, most "regular doctors" don't know or understand this disorder. You'll need all kinds of pokey, pee-ey tests for hormone levels, but nothing beats knowing what you've got!

A couple of helpful forums for you are Soul Cysters and Cysterworld. Great ladies!

PCOS only gets worse if left untreated, and losing weight is nearly impossible without treatment. Some people have insulin resistance (pre-cursor to diabetes). I just tell people I'm carbohydrate-intolerant.

I can get more technical about what's happening, so if I can help you, let me know!

[nichola123]

Hi, I have gone through similar but my GP blamed my weight and accused me of being depressed. I don't know if you have any things in common with my story but heres what happened to me:

When I was 16 I went on birth control( i'm 25 now) ,progesterone and oestrogen, within 3 months of starting I put on about 50 pounds. The nurse changed me to a progesterone only pill and then gradually over time I put on another 60 pounds. I tried diets over the years and I never ate a ridiculous amount, the GP would always give me the same advice- lose weight. I felt tired all the time and hungry, craved sugar, diagnosed with IBS as had lots of problems with bloating and stomach pain and urgency, I ended up becoming lactose intolerant. About 14 months ago I gave up the pill as I thought it could help me lose weight and I wanted to regulate my hormones again.

Those 14 months were horrible.. I didn't have a period, I felt tired, my hair started falling out, I felt like my blood sugar was all over the place, i was getting hairy on my face. I had this brain fog and kept forgetting things- mid sentence! The GP did blood tests and my progesterone was low but everything else normal, he told me not to worry and that my periods would come back eventually but my weight was probably preventing them. Last saturday I got my period back, this week I have felt the wellest I have felt in about 10 years! I have looked online and I sound like I was suffering from a degree of oestrogen dominance. I hope things are the same next month but currently my hair is back to normal, im losing some weight and I don't crave sugar/feel bloated and horrible anymore. Oestrogen can inhibit thyroid function, blood tests can be normal but it can slow down your metabolism.

Maybe get your DR to look in to your hormon levels a bit more? As i said before my progesteron was "low" but not low enough to make my gp concerned.. all the rest were "normal" but If oestrogen is higher than progesteron I guess that would make it the dominant hormone making its effects more noticeable? Now things seem to have righted themselves I do feel better.