And It's About Time There Was Some Support For Cushing's!
Hello my name is Beth and I have not yet had a cushing's diagnosis, but I will tell you a bit about my saga.
My problems started with the onset of puberty. I began my cycle at the age of 13 and by the age of 14 I was doing good to have a period every 4or 5 months... Age 15 no periods ... Mom was convinced that I was sexualy active and was pregnat as I began to gain weight as well. She took me to her gyno and he did a pelvic first thing even though I assured him I was not having sex... Any way it was very tramatic and invasive the waty that it was handled.... He told my Mom that I was still a virgin and that there must be a hormonal imbalance and he suggested birth control pills... Well that was just out of the question as we were catholic and it was basically forbiden..... So any way nothing was ever done about it and I just grew accustom to the fact that I never had periods... I was still young and it did not bother me...
What did bother me was the fact that all my friends were getting boobs and liking boys and I was growing a mustache and hairy arms.... Mom just basically told me that I could bleach it or pluck it but I shaved it it would be 100 times worse.....
So I go through my teen age years with no boy friend a few close friends no social life and a body that was totaly alien... This where as I look back and even now I wonder if I have cushings... I gained about 60 ppounds through high school and had acne ect.... even on my chest and back... I was constantly on a diet and ate as little as I could in order to even stay out of the grotesque stage.... Mom was not vert supportive as she was sure that I must be sneaking food... People always made comments about me being pregnant... and one of the guys in the neighborhood made the comment that I would not be so bad if my boobs were bigger then my belly...I exercised and rode bikes and lifted weights as I have these huge arms.... So then most guys were like I was a dyche or something and still I was fat and hairy....
I went to college where I met a good friend.... He was a kick boxer and got me into high aerobic exercise program and monitored my caloric intake... I did manage to loose about 30 lbs but developed a beard. Due to some family issues I did not return after that year... I entered a state of depression(my mom had tried to kill herself and my brother) and gained the weight back..... Life was basically unchanged for several years......Worked ... dieted all the time....began shaving my face as it was a lot quicker.....no period for a couple of years..... bruised easy but figured it was just cause I was always walking around in the woods.....Gained a lot of weight up to about 220..... feet and knees hurting.... Tried illegal drugs and lost a lot of weight basically cause I never ate or slept.. Had a fracture doctor said my blood work was a mess and what am I doing to my self......
24 years old and bone density was that of a 60 year old woman and lungs of a 50 year old woman... anemic ect......any way quit what I was doing, down to 145 looked good felt awful......Jump ahead to 26 managed to keep weight around 150 got married still had beard and mustache and hairy arms and butt and woohoo hairs from here to Egypt....Shave Shave and shave some more... usualy 2 times a day...went to dr about periods as husband and mother in law says that is just not right... put me on birth control pills had periods but hated the side effects of gaining weight so quit them got pregnant.
Had a son wich is a long story in its self gained 80 lbs . never produced a drop of milk... depression back.....well don't think that it ever left... started having extreme feet and ankle pain and edema.... along with muscle weakness and a huge hump..... so big I refused to wear my hair up but I just figured it was because I had gained so much weight. Jump ahead for a few years as nothing much changed with me...... Just figured that I was destined to be fat and hideous...
My son had severe medical problems and I honestly put myself on the back burner for a long time... I developed high blood pressure..... had thyroid work done it was normal... I was told I must be lying to my self about how much food I was consuming..... and I believed all of this for years which caused me severe emotional distressand numerous emotional break downs.
I began to have severe cramps and female problems... now in my late 30's Dr's said it was all related to my weight and I just need to stay away from anything that is red, white or it will leave me blue.... anti-depressants and blood pressure medicine were the answers as I could not obviously control my eating. I finally saw a gyno and she listen to me a bit more than my dr ever did and she suggested that I had PCOS...never did a cyst show up on my overies but I did have adenomyosis and endemetrosis and scar tissue from tubal..... had a total hysterectomy last year....
I have sever muscle and joint pain... beard,,, mustache,,, hair in unwanted places.... high blood pressure.. had my gall bladder removed... IBS....hump back.... depression... my hair on my head is falling out....my teeth are seperating..I have this red splotchyness on my face...purple stretch marks that come and go....I mean the marks are always there just sometimes they are purple and sometimes they are not... But I also have huge fat arms which is not typical with cushing''s...I have these electrical shock things...which my dr fianly sent me to a nuerologist who ran a multiude of test that all came back normal.... my husband went with me today to see him, as I just felt like he(thr dr.) was not listening to me and his exact words to us were he was releasing me from his practice and I really need some help... He never believed me from day one abot my pain... I never liked him anyway....
I have an appointment in October with and endo dr and I hope that he will have some answers for me... I am sorry that this is so long ... it has been a long road.... and I am just so ready to feel good.... I was told about cushing's from a friend who saw it on tv and said it sounded like me....well anyway thanks for the sight.
