Yay For Answers!

[Little Faerie]

So I've been fighting with inherited hormonal problems for a long time. I spent years looking for a doctor who would listen, they all put me on birth control pills and told me it's all in my head. The pills made me sick, bleed constantly, and fight even harder with my weight to keep it down. I stopped taking them several years ago because they never helped and I hated a 24/7 period for months on end. "It's just PMS" or "You're just depressed and eat too much" was all they'd tell me. If you look to my post in "No more surger" you'll see how I eat. Well a few weeks ago I got a new doctor that my insurance won't cover. Why am I paying out of pocket you ask? For real answers. And what's better, I got them. The first thing she did was spend 1 1/2 hours asking me questions about everything under the sun. Then, she ordered hormone and thyroid tests, on top of a bunch of other blood tests. It turns out I have hypothyroidism, and bad enough to need medicine. It might even be the root cause of my previously diagnosed Fibromyalgia. I also have several hormone deficiencies, especially progesterone. Why couldn't any other doctor figure these simple things out or refuse to even test for them when I asked? People don't gain weight rapidly by eating right. Women don't get facial hair and horrible periods from "just PMS". I can't be depressed if I'm happier than ever. That's just stupid! So anyway, on top of some other meds for my ladyparts (ugh, UTI again. No diapers for a week sucks!) and probiotics, she put me on this prescription stuff called Armour, a natural thyroid hormone medication. I react bad to most synthetic hormones so those aren't much of an option. My question is this: Do any of you guys have experience with thyroid medications and if so have you had problems?

[sarah_ab]

I don't have experience with thyroid medications... but i just wanna say, i'm where you were!

I've spent hte past two years with the weight gain, the facial hair the fatigue and body aches etc..... and all my blood work will come back slightly abnormal at first, so they do more indepth tests and those come back completely normal so say "oh it must have been a fluke.. theres nothing wrong with you"

i'm going to see an endocrinologist who specializes in pituitary disorders in april and hopefuilly i will get some answers as well.....

I do hope the new medicine helps for you though!

[Little Faerie]

I don't have experience with thyroid medications... but i just wanna say, i'm where you were!

I've spent hte past two years with the weight gain, the facial hair the fatigue and body aches etc..... and all my blood work will come back slightly abnormal at first, so they do more indepth tests and those come back completely normal so say "oh it must have been a fluke.. theres nothing wrong with you"

i'm going to see an endocrinologist who specializes in pituitary disorders in april and hopefuilly i will get some answers as well.....

I do hope the new medicine helps for you though!

I finally ended up going to a Naturopathic (NOT homeopathic... totally different!) doctor after one too many "regular" docs blew me off as a crazy female. They sometimes get a bad rap because there are quacks out there who do more harm than good, but she's a great doctor. She is educated in both conventional and alternative medicine and went to medical school like all doctors have to, which is awesome because I'm all for trying natural things too. She was the only one willing to run the necessary tests and believe that I'm not a crazy lazy face stuffer and that I *like* to exercise, I just have nothing left to do it anymore. My body is just flat paid out. Even after my adrenals tried to shut down last summer and I got carted off in an ambulance for passing out cold in front of my front gate, they *still* wouldn't believe me that my symptoms weren't all in my head and wouldn't check anything. If you're near Upland or Costa Mesa, CA, she has offices in both if you're interested. She doesn't take insurance but she's very good with women's health issues, it's one of her specialties. Dr. Cynthia Preston ND. I can't believe I have had to live with this for years all because nobody listened to the "crazy PMS lady". Such a simple fix... 5 tubes of blood drawn to find out and one little pill a day (long term) to get better. Why was that so hard for these other doctors to do? Maybe it was they didn't want to admit I might have a better idea of what my body tells me than they did. Who knows. Good luck with figuring your stuff out Sarah!

[Repaid1]

While I can't chime in for female problems. I have suffered for about 20 years with depression. And at about 30 years old my body started to to do some funny things. Balding, pains and whatnot. I was diagnosed with Fibromyalgia then. But I struggled with every anti-depressant known. It wasn't till lately when I went back again to a new doctor that they ran a blood test that aparently nobody else bothered to do in the last 20 years or so and found I had a thyroid problem. When she listed what it caused..effecting my depression medicines and hairloss, well the list went on. I started taking the pills for it, and while new into the treatment ..I feel the difference. It just amazies me the difference in doctors treatments when you have insurance and when you pay for it yourself. I had the same blood test run 3 times in 2 days as they lost my test results. They didn't however lose the bill! So hopefully they can get ya online with your meds and things will be betters.