Hello Everyone!
I'm new to these boards, and thought I'd better start a thread with an introduction and a bit of personal background.
Some signs I've had since puberty, and just grudgingly accepted them as merely inconvenient - acne, dark/coarse hair on my arms and stomach, and a bit of a belly that I could never get rid of, no matter how athletic or slim the rest of my body was. My father stores visceral fat, so I just figured it was genetics.
My periods were regular throughout my teens (I'm now 25), and were sometimes so heavy and painful that I thought I had endometriosis. About 3 years ago, my job became incredibly stressful, and I descended into depression. I was so busy, I stopped exercising and ate out all the time. Not surprisingly, the pounds slowly piled on, until I became obese. I woke up one morning and decided enough was enough - I wanted my old, athletic self back. I joined a medically assisted weight loss program and was determined to get healthy.
That was a year ago - I now weigh 60 lbs less, and am within the normal weight range for someone of my height. However, I had lost the bulk of my weight about six months ago... and right about the time I began to plateau, my body started to change. My periods stopped.
Originally, I thought it was because I was much more physically active, and was operating at a calorie deficit. So I slowly cycled my calories up to about 2000 daily (instead of the 1300 - 1400 I had been on to lose the fat). But nothing changed. I was worried that my amenorrhea was being caused by overtraining, so I cut back. Still no results.
That's when I made an appointment with my doctor. She checked to make sure I wasn't pregnant (I wasn't), and did blood tests to see if my thyroid was functioning properly (it was). She offered to put me on birth control to get my cycle back to normal, but I have a family history of blood clots and reacted badly the last time I was on it, so I refrained. She told me to wait a month or so to see if my period came back - most likely, my body was still adjusting to the fact that I had lost 60 lbs in 6 months.
Well, I waited, and nothing changed. I went back and she ran another battery of blood tests. When she called me back a week later, I got a shock that I wasn't expecting. My DHEA levels were 1200, a level that is far above normal, and indicative of an adrenal tumor.
Fighting the urge to throw up, my mind raced and I realized that one of the many natural supplements I had been taking to aid my new athletic lifestyle was 7-KETO DHEA (a DHEA metabolite). I told her this, and asked if it could have affected my blood serum levels. She said she didn't know, and referred me to an endocrinologist.
The week I had to wait to see the specialist was long and stressful. I did research on the net, and the DHEA supplement I was taking isn't supposed to raise your DHEA levels. But then again, it isn't regulated by the FDA. If I didn't have a tumor, what the heck was causing such severely elevated results?
My appointment was last week. At that point, I had been refraining from taking any supplements for more than a week so that my tests would be completely clean.
They took my blood, and I finally got a call back this morning.
My DHEA levels are now normal (so it must have been the supplement that was artificially inflating them), but my testosterone levels were high... as well as my insulin. The endocrinologist said that my lack of periods, coupled with these results mean that I most likely am insulin resistant and have mild PCOS.
Which raises the question - why the heck were some symptoms around for years (bad skin, hirsitusm, visceral fat), while others (amenorrhea) appeared only after my weight loss?
It's interesting to note that while I'm no longer overweight, I still am carrying more body fat than I would like... it turns out that because of my insulin resistance, I still weigh 15-20 lbs more than any other women on my strict fitness and diet regimen would. I wonder if the Metformin the endocrinologist prescribed me will make any difference in this regard...
Anyway... nice to meet you all!
Diagnosis DRAMA! 
