It wasn’t really something I thought a whole lot about. When I was 19 and working a summer camp, I woke up in the middle of the night feeling like I was being stabbed. Twelve hours later, I was in the E.R. being told that either it was an ovarian cyst or my appendix rupturing. Luckily, it wasn’t the latter. My gynecologist then put me on Ortho Cyclen- explaining that I would be better off keeping my hormones regulated the entire month. From that point on, I have bounced form birth control to birth control, trying to find something that made sure I didn’t go months on end without a period, or the opposite- in which I would get it every other week. After enough attempts with different pills and becoming engaged, I gave up for a little bit.
At 23, I got what I refer to as dis-engaged, and lost a lot of weight. At first, it was due to stress and not eating. Later on, though, I couldn’t put on weight to save my life. I was 5’7” and down to 112 lbs. I was wired for sound and could eat mass amounts of carbs and fat, yet lose weight for no reason. I often wonder if maybe this was one of the first signs of my thyroid disease. Eventually, my weight came back. At 24, I went on Depo-Provera shots. This eliminated my period all together and life was good. My period was almost debilitating, so I was glad to see it go. My weight stayed within the same 15 lbs. range, depending on the season. My acne had cleared up.
At 27, I think, due to missing the time window to get my next shot and not having good health insurance– I went off of my Depo shots. I think I was off of them for 8 months. I went in for my yearly check up and went back on the shot. But then, my pap smear came back abnormal for the first time ever. It wound up being cancer cells that I had surgery for a week before my 28th birthday in April. The rest of April, into May- I felt fantastic. That was 2008 and the last time I felt “normal”. I did all the good things a gal would do to be healthier; I quit smoking, my bird died so I quit eating meat, I got a new job-the one I have now, I picked up a weekend job landscaping so to get some sun, and I worked out several times a weeks.
At 28, by June, 2008, the crash came. The moment I had finally become happy and calm, my body gave out. I had goose bumps in heat waves and gained 50 lbs. in 2 months. I would pass out for 12-20 hours at a time. The fight to get diagnosed with Hashimoto’s instead of binge eating and depression was a difficult one. It only took me one visit, as I told my doc my dentist refused to work on my teeth until I was tested as even she suspected something was off.
At 6 months into my thyroid journey, my endo told me to go off of Depo and onto an estrogen based birth control. I did, and my hot flashes got worse. I gained more weight, and my next TSH test came out three times as high as the test 6 weeks before. That is when I went off of birth control all together.
It took another 6 months to become euthyroid. I begged constantly for them to see if it could be something else. No one believed me. I may be completely off base, but I really feel like the first time I went off of the Depo shot that something was set into motion like a domino effect.
At 30, I finally found a doctor at the best endocrinology practice in town who listened to my symptoms and not the fact that my thyroid levels are “normal”. He realized that there is a link between one gland to another. My doctor tested everything- my thyroid, adrenals, pituitary, sex hormones, the works. He was concerned about the fact I had that cyst rupture nearly a decade ago, the continued weight gain, fatigue, and lack of a regular period. He knew my “normal” labs displayed numbers not normal in relationship to each other and diagnosed me with PCOS and Insulin Resistance.
I started on Metfomin 3 weeks ago. I haven’t seen any weight loss, but I also haven’t seen any weight gain. Granted, the first week I started slow and weaned onto them, the second I was on a business trip, and the third I have been sick with a head cold. However, my energy has actually increased back to normal. The first day I felt hyper, I almost cried. I haven’t felt hyper and motivated in 2 years. For week 4, I plan on starting up at the gym, again.
My doctor has 3 goals for me in the 3 months before my next visit. 1) That I get my energy back. 2) That I lose some weight. 3) That my period becomes more regular. He won’t let me stray from those 3 goals. I was really hoping for the acne and hair growth to go away, but that isn’t the game plan right now. For my next visit, he will review how the Metfomin worked, and then we will look at birth control, as he says I will need to be on something further to regulate those hormones.
So, I honestly don’t know what came first- the Butterfly, or the Egg. I would guess the PCOS, but no one ever made the connection I had with regard to my hormones being thrown off.
At 31, which is almost a month from now, I am hoping I might be able to say I have lost a few pounds and wear my party dress.
