txchik
I am 27 year old female from Dallas, TX. I was a cheerleader in high school and popular blah, blah, blah.Because of this I have no real issues from being persecuted or made fun of as the "fat" kid, neither did I let my weight just get out of control by being negligent of myself. My family has a history of hormone issues, thyroid, diabetes, and the sort so although I got through high school without a major weight gain over 200 pounds, as I have always had to watch my weight, I feel I always new the possibility was there based on my family make up to have a major weight gain. I was hoping I would float past it being the lucky one, but not so much luck.
When I was about 22 years old my hormones went nuts and it started with ovarian cysts and continual exhaustion while I had a difficult time sleeping for a decent amount of time, then I started losing hair.... and because I was so young, even though I knew what it most likely was, I could not find a doctor to do the proper tests I was requesting until 7 doctors down the road. It was a medical nightmare that lasted about a year and a half. I was a healthy eater and measured my proportions, but I had seen what the same problems had done to a couple family members and what it was about to do to me. The hormones I needed them to test are ones they usually do for women exhibiting the signs of menopause which is apparently why it is so difficult to find someone to take a 22 year old seriously when she is asking for the same series of testing. At first my weight went from a healthy 170 for my 5'7.5" frame to 200 over the first three to six months of showing signs of hormone imbalances. I was five doctors in at this point and getting sick easily and breaking out worse than I did in puberty, now in size 20 from size 12/14.
By the time I went to my sixth doctor i was in a panic. I had put on 80 pounds in the two to three months of searching for a better doctor and i had lost a lot more hair, could not sleep for more than two hours in a row which was making me useless for anything and was a very traumatized by the amount of weight I had gained so quickly. Even if you know if you don;t find your solution and get it fixed quickly what will happen, nothing prepares you for waking up a week later and literally not recognizing yourself in the mirror. I was near six to seven months into finding a doctor that could help me and about 105 pounds heavier now wearing a size 24. I was looking bloated like a pregnant lady with toxemia. At this point I was also walking more and eating a diet of only tuna, chicken soup, and the small red apples and gaining still. When I would tell doctors this they would look at me like i was bold face lying so I would take my boyfriend at the time that lived with me and saw my diet and still no one would believe me till doc number seven.
By doc 7, which i was referred to by the guy that owns the pharmacy I go to, I weighed 285 from the 170 I had started at just a little under a year earlier. This guy listened to me and took me seriously and sure enough my hormones were all off. I needed progesterone and my estrogen levels were out of control on top of my thyroid had become under active. I was a mess, but i was getting help. I kept seeing my doc for 4 years now and everything has been under control for quite some time, however the weight i gained has been near impossible to get off. Even though my hormones are under control i got to a weight of 315 before it was all said and done. I now hover around 300 - 315. and have developed insulin resistance, which makes it that much harder to lose the weight on my own. While I was in recovery i felt it would ony help me to be productive and positive about myself image being careful not to self hate. So while I tried to lose the weight I got involved with BBW(big beautiful women) promotions, I did a little plus size modeling and I was involved with size acceptance groups. I didn't do it so much because i feel it is optimal to be an overweight person, however I do feel a need to feel acceptance no matter what weight i am and a lot of people are very hateful to overweight people even while they themselves may be overweight. I don't feel being hateful or under negative pressure will give possitive results and I was tying for positive results.
Well four years into treatment and having an impossible time losing weight I went for a visit to the hormone doc and asked his opinion on a more serious approach. Because although I feel I have held the weight well and am beautiful still, I want to go to theme parks and not have to worry about fitting in the rides, or to a mall and not have to worry that only two of the 100 shops will have my size, I want to ride on a plane and not have to ask for a belt extender or that I may be making the person next to me uncomfortable cause I am squeezing out of my seat and into theirs, and so much more. My hormone doc said that at this point he feels it would be a great option for me and encouraged me to go ahead with it. So I had a visit with my primary care doctor to get the initial referral and the ball rolling.
I can't wait till I have a page with awesome results to show off and tell about.
