Long post because I have a lot of health problems.
I moved to where I live now in 2011 and had to leave the endo who diagnosed me in 2007 (which I will call Dr. W). Since then I've gone back and forth between like 5 different endos, before finally settling on the one I'm currently seeing (Dr. K) in 2016. I wish I could find a new endo, but due to insurance issues and convenience, I'm stuck for the time being. It's not like I don't like her, either—she's very nice and a lot more responsive than the 50 million other endos I've seen (except for Dr. W, she'll always be my favorite)—but she doesn't seem to listen to my other concerns outside of diabetes.
I was diagnosed T1 in 2007 after bloodwork revealed I had insanely high cholesterol levels, which prompted a visit to a pediatric endo. My blood sugar was over 500 and I spent a few days in the hospital. There was no extreme weight loss like most people experience; in fact, I gained weight. At 8 years old I weighed somewhere around 90 lbs, but my parents always told me it was because I was so tall for my age. Right from the get-go I was put on metformin (at age 8), but stopped taking it for a really long time due to stomach upset. My sugars were pretty much out of control, rarely under 200 for the most part. My insulin-to-carb ratio became tighter and tighter until Dr. W finally said 1:5 was the lowest she'd allow me to be on. Eventually she diagnosed me as type 1.5, which all of the other endos have totally ignored. At one practice I was incorrectly listed on paperwork as type 2, and we left the practice immediately after we found that out.
Fast forward 10 years. I'm 18, almost 19, years old, and recently hit a new low of 209 lbs. Even when I eat low carb I still have to take a ton of insulin. Believe me, I'm very aware obesity causes insulin resistance, but absolutely nothing has helped me lose weight. I've gained about 50 pounds since the 8th grade, with no lifestyle change whatsoever. In fact, I've even more active than I was then.
Every single endo I've seen since Dr. W has dismissed my concerns about my significant weight gain and crazy insulin resistance. It's always been, "Oh, just eat healthier! Now, your A1C is pretty good." Yes, I know I'm at the endocrinologist for diabetes, but just because I'm diabetic doesn't mean I definitely don't have other endocrine disorders! My mom and I have been convinced I've had PCOS for years now, and I was just prescribed PCOS medication in December after Dr. K said "maybe it'll do something" (spoiler alert: it did). I still don't have an official PCOS diagnosis, even though I show literally every single symptom.
My mom has hypothyroidism, which leads me to believe I may have it as well. I'm just really hesitant to bring it up with Dr. K since it's been dismissed so many times. My bloodwork always comes out "normal" (sans cholesterol levels), which is really frustrating. I know something's wrong, but no one seems to be listening.
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