24 year old female with RAPID weight gain.acne. irregular periods. constant knee pain

[kayleemichele]

Hi! I'm 24 years old, and gave birth to a healthy baby boy almost 11 months ago.   This was my first child and only pregnancy.   I've had irregular periods since I can remember and was on birth control to regulate them.  During the 1 month I was switching over insurances and went without my birth control, I happened to get pregnant.  Before I got pregnant, I averaged a healthy weight around 145-150lbs and I'm 5'8" tall. Like most women, I've always had to watch my weight in order to maintain it and make sure its stays in check.  At the end of my pregnancy I got up to 185lbs, and gave birth to a 7lb 11 ounce baby.
  
   After giving birth, I was back down to 160 lbs in a matter of 2-3 months.  I've took off the 1st year to be a stay at home mom, and my life and routine has been basically the same all this year with the exception of in the past 3-4 months my body has experienced a turn around.  

  I now currently weigh 208 lbs, and my forehead especially along with other small parts of my face began to break out with small little bumps,  not to mention I feel extremely tired with little to no energy even when I've had plenty of rest.   The excrutiating knee pain I've contributed to the rapid weight gain and my knees not being able to adjust to the extra weight, so squatting down and playing on the floor with my child is unbearable at times.  

    At first when I noticed an increase in my weight several people suggested diet pills when I went to the walk in clinic in my town and told the PA my symptoms she prescribed me depression pills,  because of my crying when they took my weight and I realized I had gained another 12lbs in less than 3 weeks. I told her I was not depressed, the only thing depressing was the weight that keeps piling on for no apparent reason.  She also ordered several blood tests and the nurses needed around 6 vials of blood, but after over an hour of poking and my veins kept busting and rolling we had only managed to get a little over 1 vial, so they told me to come back another day we would try again.  

I hate needles, and I understand blood work is a necessity, but I'm at a loss as what to do.   There has to be some way to figure out whats wrong with me without having to order so many blood tests and me being a human pin cushion.  Nothing against PA's but I'd much rather have an idea as to what kind of doctor I need to see.
  I'd understand gaining 50+lbs if I sat around eating chocolate cake, icecream, sodas and being a couch potato day after day.   But this is not me, and that is most definitely NOT my diet.  Prior to these symptoms, I've had a clean bill of health, and no allergies.
  Any insight would be helpful.  I want to be able to run around and enjoy my child, instead of being too tired, overweight and my knees aching so much that it hurts to squat or move at times.    

Thanks for any help and advice in advance!



This discussion is related to permanent Abdominal distension/bloat/fullness HELP .

[Dr. Kokil Mathur]

Hi
Welcome to the MedHelp forum!
Since most of this happened after pregnancy—diabetes, hypothyroidism, PCOD (as you have irregular periods), and adrenal gland problems need to be ruled out. It could also be related to anemia or low protein in blood.
All these conditions get aggravated by pregnancy. Except for PCOD, other conditions are best treated by an internal medicine specialist or by an endocrine specialist.
Sorry, but without tests, its difficult to know what you have! Do discuss this with your doctor and get yourself examined. Take care!

[bamagurl545]

You need to have your thyroid checked. the red flag for me is wt gain and being tired. Please start there, and let me know, Good luck, bamagurl545