Hello. My name is Libbie. Here is my story:
I was a very early bloomer. At age 11, I started my period and by age 13 I was wearing a D cup bra. I stopped growing taller, just started spreading out. I was always a tad overweight, nothing to be super concerned with.
At age 15, right about the time I had my first real boyfriend, things started getting out of control. Now, I never had sex until I was almost 18, but I often wonder if the fact that my hormones were RAGING at 15 triggered this whole thing, but anyways. I stopped having my periods altogether. They were always regular but light, but suddenly nothing. For six months I waited and finally told my mom. She took me to our family pediatrician, who was in no way equipped with the knowledge to deal with this. They tested me for all the typical things and they said nothing was wrong with me. I knew there was! I wasn't having a period, I had gained about 30 pounds, I was falling asleep during school, I felt sick all the time, I was not a normal 16 year old!
Finally my mom and I decided to go to a different doctor and he drew blood, tested me for everything and even did a thorough pelvic exam. He came back with the diagnosis that I had cysts on my ovaries and prescribed birth control pills. After changing pill prescriptions and brands for several years, suffering through countless side effects and not feeling like I was getting anywhere, I finally decided that enough was enough, I was still feeling like crap and nothing was working. I stopped taking the pill and started finding natural supplements. Unfortunately, around the same time I got injured at work and couldn't work for 6 weeks. That is when I started having major issues.
At age 22, I started gaining weight at an alarming level.I went from a size 11 to a size 16 in a few months. That was when all the symptoms appeared: facial hair, acne, skin tags, sore joints, nausea, weight fluctuations, thinning hair, irritability and lack of AF. For the past 8 years I have tried to do everything I could naturally. I have always eaten fairly healthy and I have a been a vegetarian off and on for years before finally going completely Veggie this past March. I have dieted, exercised, taken every supplement and nothing has helped. I am sick of shaving everyday, and trying to hide the fact that I do so from people! I am scared of staying overnight anywhere in fear that I might not be able to shave before people see me for the day! I am tired of being fat and unattractive! I am so sad that my once beautiful thick hair is now so thin that I am starting to have a bald spot near the crown of my head. I am very depressed about my looks and really just sick of feeling so horrible!
My DH is really pushing the issue of me going to the doctor. I am very scared because I have an unexplainable reaction to bloodwork and it is frightening beyond belief to get bloodwork done. I am dragging my feet and started to give up hope that I could get better.He tries to be understanding, but he doesn't realize that I already know what they are going to tell me and my faith in doctors has wained greatly because I was a human guinea pig for so long. Then I found this site!
I have started seeing that their is hope and that I can beat this! I am so happy to see that there is a strong support group for women like us. I have started on the same supplements as a lot of you have, and I am hoping to feel better soon.
I know this is a long post! I wanted to give my story and thank you all for giving me hope!
Hello. New to the boards. 
