Ok, so in high school I was in the low 200s and was 5'9.75, so almost 5'10. At my high weight I was measured by a doctor's office at 5'9.25. I figured that the extra 100 lbs was weighing me down so to speak :P compressing my spine or not allowing me to stand as straight etc. When I got back to just over 200 in October the Doc measured me right around 5'9.75 again so I figured I was right.

But I went to the doctor a few days ago and this doc measured me at 5'8.5 All I can figure (rationally) is that they read it wrong and it was supposed to be 5'9.5, since I have been in the 5'9+ range since I was 12 or 13. I shrugged it off at the time since it was a visit to the planned parenthood while on vacation just to get my depo shot so it wasnt my normal doc and I really just wanted to get out without any fuss.

But of course NOW I'm stressing about it. 'What if I really AM and inch and a half shorter then what I calculate my goal weight for?' (I rounded up for my goal calculation) 'If I am, should I change my goal?' etc...

Please give me a nice reality check before I start searching for measuring tape and start obsessively checking my height! lol

Iīm sure the doc read it wrong, the only other option is that every single time you were measured before every person doing it messed up... very very very unlikely..
I know with age people do get smaller a few cms but not a whole inch, and not so fast... donīt worry about it (although I know you canīt help it, I would be stressed out) and next time you go to your normal doctor tell him what happened and he will be specially careful when he measures you!

You could measure yourself... Stand against the wall, have someone lightly mark your height, and then measure with a tape measure.
But indeed, it was probably a mistake. Don't stress about it too much.

Someone of your height can shrink up to three quarters of an inch during the course of the day, you might be as much as 5'10 when you first get up. Apparently, marathon runners can shrink even more over the course of a race, a reason not to run 24 miles, if ever I've heard one.

Thanks guys! I'm still considering measuring myself but telling myself not to be that obsessive.

wow! definitely kills my desire to ever become a marathoner!

OP, I was wondering the same thing.

Maybe you have a conehead?

EYE have a Conehead....When my nose points forward, I'm an inch or more shorter than when I lift my chin....extra storage....

What IS my height, anyway?

....feeling a bit like Alice after the Pill meself...almost everyone I know over age 40 has lost inches and I feel like a GIANTess....

They say as you age, you get shorter because your spine compresses. I was always 5'5 but then I went to 5'4 and now I am somewhere between 5'3 and 5'4. Back in the 70's I appeared taller because I wore platform shoes. Now that I'm old, I wear mostly flat shoes and appear shorter. When I get weighed and measured at the doctor's I try to pull my body up taller.

I agree with the age comments. I'm 55. When I was a teenager, I was 5' 7.5", and that was a measurement taken by many people at many different times. I'm now 5' 5", and that too has been taken by a few people a few times. So, neither is a mistake. It's just that, over the years, I've shrunk. I wish I would have shrunk width-wise too!

However, age can't be the issue for you, OP...you speak about planned parenthood, so you're presumably a lot younger than I am! I suspect in your case, it's just a mistake.

I can start the day at 5'10" and be just over 5'9" when it's over. And I'm 28! I wouldn't stress too much about it!

I was measured at 5-7 in high school and I really think that was a mistake...ive been around 5-4 or 5-5 for quite a long time now...I calculate my BMI or whatever that is based on 5-4 now...

while I don't think ive grown taller, I've had weird things happen with shirts that I used to wear....one shirt in particular I used to just love and as I lost weight it seemed to grow SHORTER(!) on me....like it barely covers my tummy area now and I remember it being much longer before...what happened? but other shirts have grown seemingly longer as I lost weight, which I think it because I just don't take up as much room in the shirts anymore(?) ...puzzling...