Thanks Jean & Maria. Here's a condensed version of my story so you'll have more information to go on. I stopped getting my period 4 years ago, but ignored it because I felt great and was healthy and had no problems. I did lose some weight since then and got extremely thin, but I attributed that to adopting a vegan diet and getting really into cycling (spent several hours a day on my bike.) Everything was fine until about 1 year ago when I just started feeling vaguely like something was "not right." I had no appetite, had less energy than normal. I felt uncomfortably full from a few bites of food so I started eating less and less. Strangely, I maintained the same weight for months even while my food intake dropped further and further. I started getting chills and feeling inappropriately cold a lot, which I thought may have been from eating so little. Then my appearance started changing -- my face got round & swollen looking, my body got kind of thick and block-like, hard to explain. My skin changed color too, sort of this weird dark purple and yellow blotchy look. I got a lot of comments from other people. When I saw people I hadn't seen for several months they were kind of shocked at the metamorphosis, with the round face being most noticeable. At this point I was starting to feel really crappy...very nauseous, dizzy, weak, had drenching night sweats, had muscle aches. I was eating about 200-300 calories/day but suddenly started having these weird jumps in weight, where I'd gain 10lbs in 2 or 3 days. (it's now been a total of 30lbs gained within a few months, none of my clothes fit, although I am still thin.) I also had 2 horrifying, awful, severe migraines during this period, absolutely terrifying, like nothing I have ever experienced. Also my abdomen got very distended at one point, and I had a CT scan that showed I had poor bowel motility, which presumably accounted for the distention (which has improved since then) and also for feeling full all the time. Oh yeah, I also have been having major problems with blurred vision in one eye. Never thought that was related to all this until I started suspecting a pituitary tumor. I am having a pit MRI next week. Tests I've had besides IGF-1: TSH (normal) free T4 (normal) ACTH (slightly high, prob. from not eating) cortisol (serum: high-normal, 24hr urine: normal) FSH & LH (both low), prolactin (normal.) You know, it's funny because over the past few years, it seems like every time I visit my parents they say, "Did you get taller? You seem taller." And of course I'd joke about it and say, "Yeah, it just seems like that because you must be shrinking." Also I have had these recurring problems getting my bike to fit me properly, and I keep having to raise the seat and change the stem length (the stem is the thing that attaches the handelbars to the frame.) I thought it was just because as I rode more, I preferred a more stretched out position or something. Hmmm..... Anyway thanks for your help and sorry for rambling. My endo is at a total loss. Maybe the MRI will shed some light on this. |
