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I graduated from College 5 pounds lighter than I had been at my high school graduation. I was proud of this, because I had worked hard to get to this point. My weight loss was a result of my exercise regimen, which included jogging 5 miles a day while still maintaining a vegetarian diet. 6 months post graduation I had lost 10 additional pounds, because I had increased my jogging routine on average ten miles a week.
I ended up in Arizona in 1996, & lost all access to a gym. Eliminating exercise from my daily routine naturally resulted in weight gain, but I was not concerned. I would soon start the fall semester at graduate school & then have free access to the school gym. I was sure that once I began jogging on a regular basis again, my weight would fall back in check.
When I began exercising on a regular basis, though, I did not see my weight fluctuate at all. Rather, my pants continued getting tighter. Imagine my surprise when I weighed myself & found that I had gained 20 pounds. There was no explanation for this weight gain.
I increased my jogging distance in the spring of 1997. By fall of 1997, I increased my jogging distance even more, & ended up running between 7 & 10 miles every other day. I was sure that this would get my body back into shape, especially since I was still eating a vegetarian diet. I continued to gain weight despite my increasingly physical exercise regimen.
Around this time, I noticed a loss of energy. My mother noticed the subtleties that I often overlooked, because she had gone through the exact same thing I was going through when she was in her twenties. When I would visit her, my mother would constantly nag me to go get my thyroid tested. During every conversation, my mom reminded me that she had an undiagnosed thyroid problem for 12 years before finally receiving help and treatment.
When I finally noticed my hair was thinning, I decided to give my mother's theory a chance. I scheduled an appointment with a doctor in late 1997. When the results of the thyroid test came back "negative" I was disappointed, but not surprised. I did not think the answer to my energy loss & weight gain would be as simple as a hormonal imbalance. I was getting older, after all, and my metabolism was probably just slowing down over time.
By Christmas of 1997, my weight increased 10 more pounds, making the total weight gain 30 pounds. Despite exercise & diet, my weight did not go down. I grew increasingly despondent, & eventually stopped trying to increase my work out regimen.
Throughout this time, my mom continued to nag me about getting my thyroid tested. I told her that I was tested already, & my results were negative. My mom persisted, though. I soon decided to get my thyroid tested again. I began to regularly get tested for thyroid problems, but my results were always negative.
I had been battling my weight through diet and exercise for the past 3 years to no avail, so how in the world was I going to get in shape for my wedding?
Around this time I learned about Metabolife, & so I purchased my first bottle of diet pills. I decided to do whatever it took to slim down for my wedding, and so I did. I continued to jog 3 - 5 miles a day, but at this time I began severely restricting my diet. I ate only a nutrition bar for breakfast, a can of vegetables for lunch, & a can of vegetables for dinner. I eliminated all sweets & fats from my diet, which already excluded meat products. I restricted my carbohydrate intake, & prayed that I would be able to lose weight.
By practically starving myself for the 5 months leading up to my wedding, I was able to drop 20 of the 30 additional pounds I'd put on since college graduation. I fit into my wedding dress, & I looked healthy. I was constantly hungry, though, and I certainly didn't feel healthy. I was thankful, though, that I was thin on my wedding date. After all, weight loss was the goal. I figured that since I was able to lose the weight, despite the means, then I probably did not have a thyroid problem.
I was able to maintain the weight loss until my wedding date, but not a day longer. Within a month after my wedding date I had gained 30 pounds. During the week of my honeymoon, I had already put on 10 of those additional 30 pounds. Since I had only lost 20 of those 30 pounds for the wedding, this subsequent weight gain put me at my all time highest.
On June 10, 2001, I tried once again to get medical help for my energy loss & weight gain. I scheduled an appointment to get my blood taken, & got the results a few days later. I was sure that this time the results would have to indicate a problem - I mean, who gains 30 pounds in a month by eating a healthy diet? I was extremely despondent when the blood work came back, again, normal.
Even more depressing was the fact that the doctors I had visited did not take my feedback into the equation. Their perspective was that my blood work said I was normal, so then I was normal. None of them listened to my complaints and actually heard me - all they did was try and explain why I shouldn't be feeling that way!
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Before treatment, my face was so puffy! Here you can see some of that puffiness in this shot of me and my husband, taken in the Summer of 1999
I did not care what my blood tests showed any doctor, I was telling them that something was wrong - but no one listened or offered any realistic suggestions to help me feel better. I didn't care if the problem were my thyroid, either, I just knew there was a problem going on and desperately wanted help. I decided that adequately articulating my concerns would improve my chances of finally getting that help. I set up yet another appointment to review my "normal" results with a doctor - but this time I was equipped with a sheet of paper documenting all of my complaints.
I ultimately visited with Doctor Benedict Arnold [NAME CHANGED!] on June 12, 2001. When I met with Dr. Arnold, I gave her a copy of my sheet of health problems. All in all, the three most important of my complaints to Dr. Arnold on that sheet of paper were: 1) my hair loss; 2) my recent unexplained weight gain; and 3) my lethargy and sensitivity to cold.
I hoped that Dr. Arnold would provide me with some answers to my health problems. After spending only 5 minutes listening to me describe my health problems, Dr. Arnold explained to me that there are women with thyroid problems that go undetected in typical thyroid tests. Dr. Arnold stated that since I had thyroid history in my family, this may be the case for me, too. This made me very hopeful - I think I was holding my breath until this point, and began to slowly release it. Dr. Arnold did a complete 180 after this statement, though, and said that my TSH came back negative, & that I definitively did not have any thyroid problems!
Dr. Arnold proceeded to summarily dismiss every single one of my complaints individually as if going down a checklist. Dr. Arnold explained my hair loss was the result of me wearing my hair in a ponytail or a bun, that my weight gain was from being on the pill, and my sluggishness and sensitivity to cold was due to clinical depression. Her answer to all of this was for me to go home and take some Prozac.
Dr. Arnold, who I would like to emphasize is a female physician, diagnosed me as depressed and prescribed me to physically addicting medication based upon no more than five minutes of dialogue with me. I left the doctor's office in a daze.
When I got home, I discussed what had happened with my husband. Although my husband was not sure what the cause of my health problems were, he knew that something funky was going on. After all, how else could a twenty-something have unexplained weight gain, extreme sensitivity to cold, & hair loss? There had to exist some medical explanation for these symptoms; the problem was, how were we going to find a physician to actually listen to my symptoms, and provide a constructive way to battle these symptoms?
I became irate when I considered the predicament Dr. Arnold placed me in; I was diagnosed with clinical depression, which I did not believe that I had. Not only would this stay on my medical records forever, but it would detract from the real cause of my problem. I knew that I had to do something, and do it quickly. But what?
I decided to prepare a letter complaining of my five-minute-depression-diagnosis to the American Medical Association. I knew that for my letter to carry any weight at all, I would have to describe the symptoms I shared with Dr. Arnold, and further describe why they were not sufficient to support a diagnosis of depression by Dr. Arnold. Including documentation in support of alternate possible problems, such as hypothyroidism, would further add to the negligence of Dr. Arnold's diagnosis. Later that night I began my research.
I found what I needed to include in my letter that night. What I found, though, surprised both my husband and me. That is, I found documentation suggesting that I was, in fact, a hypothyroid sufferer. More surprising, though, was how quickly I was able to find it.
The results of my research are documented in this site, which include the fact that many doctors rely on too little information to summarily dismiss thyroid problems as an issue. The doctor that finally helped me is also listed in this site as my Dr. Right, as is his address.
I began replacement T3/T4 medication in June of 2001 after visiting my Dr. Right, and was finally able to lose weight. 20 pounds! I may never be the tiny girl I was in college, but starting medications back in 2001 finally gave me some control over my body through diet & exercise.
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With medication, the puffiness in my face is gone! You can see that for yourself in this shot of me with my friend Shannon in the Summer of 2003. |
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