Today is

I am a 25 year old woman from MN looking for answers!

In high school I started to become concerned that I had not gotten a period yet so during my senior year I went to the dr who told me not to worry about it and prescribed birth control pils. It worked, my first period lasted 4 weeks. I had some pelvic/lower back pain so I had a pelvic ultrasound done and it indicated I had PCOS. And that was the end of that conversation. My dr told me not to worry about it until I wanted to become pregnant.

In 2006 after I had graduated from college and moved home I noticed I had gained about 20 pounds. My weight fluctuates up and down 10-20 pounds so I din't think much of it. Late 06 early 07 I had sudden and severe anxiety and depression. I couldn't drive my car without having a panic attack about whether the light would turn red and would I have enough time to stop. I avoided going out in public because I thought everyone was staring at me. I would cry about everything and anything. I was put on effexor and got immediate relief although I eventually detoxed from it a year later (not pretty, this is a very addicting drug!). Within the next 6-9 months I gained 50-60 pounds. It felt like overnight and I couldn't explain it. I've never been skinny but I was always curvy, not fat! I went on walks everyday on my lunchbreak, used an elliptical for an hour every evening and hadn't changed my eating habits. My hair became coarse, would break mid shaft, and in some areas simply fell out. This was probably the most devastating, as I have always had shiny, healthy, beautiful red hair that strangers would compliment me on. I had embarassing pink stretch marks on my belly,hips, boobs and upper arms (the areas I gained all the weight). Round puffy face, whiskers on my chin, oh yeah and did I mention a complete loss of sex drive...nada.

I finally went in to the doc this April 2008 to address all these issues but left with a new one... I had a large tumor involving the whole left lobe of my thyroid. It was benign and my thyroid was functioning despite it but due to its size it was removed. Also during this time I found out I had elevated liver enzymes, white blood cells, and C Reactive Proteins. No idea. Meanwhile I was just living with my symptoms thinking I had PCOS and there was nothing I could do about it.

In September of this year I read an article in Reader's Digest about a woman who was misdiagnosed as PCOS but later found out she had Cushings. The only time I had ever heard about this before was in a college Anatomy class. I was shocked to find so many similarities in our symptoms but got stuck at the Buffalo Hump. I brought the article home and had my fiance read it. He said yup that's you! I jokingly asked if I had a hump on my back and he said yeah I thought you knew that! OMG I just about hit the floor. I ran to the mirror and sure enough I got a decent size hump back there. Unbelievable.

So now its November and I've finally made an appointment to go back to re-address the symptoms and push for diagnostic tests. I have accumulated more symptoms: skin tags, weak arms and legs, bug bites that take months to heal, eczema on legs, the list goes on and on... I am so hopeful that I can get some answers.

While I don't want Cushings, I would rather have that than PCOS because I feel like PCOS is a lifetime sentence of fat and fertility problems. At least with Cushings I feel like I can get it taken care of and return to some normalcy. Demented? Maybe but I would give anything to have my old body and beautiful healthy hair back...and my fiance would love for me to bring some sexy back :).

Keep ya posted!

Labels: bios, Megan, not yet diagnosed, PCOS