Why won't Doctors listen?

I had been for most of my life a thin person. With my second pregancy I very quickly balloned from 123 pounds to 140 within two months of the onset of my pregnancy. When I asked my doctor what was wrong with me his answer, "You're no spring chicken anymore, when you decide to have a child in your mid-thirties, this is what happens." I am no fool, I've known women older than myself at that time who were having children without gaining an absurd amount of weight in such a short period of time. I also 'know' my body and I knew that something was terribly wrong. For one thing I hurt everywhere...couldn't stand to be touched. This is not normal either. I went through my pregancy and ate very little because of the severe nausea and still added pounds until I reached 170 pounds by delivery date. So in 9 months I went from 123 pounds to 170 pounds without eating very much at all. I'm no doctor, but even I know that is was not 'normal' and something was out of whack. I also don't believe it was because I hit my mid-thirties as my doctor had implied. Five years after that I finally found a specialist who informed me that I had a thing called 'fibromyalgia'. Unfortunately there is no cure for this awful thing and with it comes many problems such as weight gain, hypo-thyroidism, pain, mitral-valve prolapse, vision problems, sleep problems, extreme fatigue, etc. You name it and it probably is connected in some ways. My doctor gave me a list of things (symptoms) that someone with this disorder can have and out of this list of possibly 50 or 60 symptoms I had all but one (my hair is not falling out). Although I'm convinced that my doctor is correct, outside of putting me on synthroid, I have yet to lose my weight. This is a double-edged sword, because when I was younger I did work out regularly and I felt great; but when this disorder desended upon me I developed so much pain that just going for a walk can cause such extreme pain that it brings tears to my eyes. I have to admit that I initially lost 20 pounds when I first started on the synthroid, and even felt a little bit more like myself, but that is all for nought now because now I'm at my heaviest. I cannot take many drugs because of my heart condition (the mitral- valve prolapse). I have recently put myself on a 500 calorie a day diet and have lost exactly nothing over a course of the last three weeks. I don't feel any worse, but I don't feel any better either. I want a doctor who is really willing to work with me to discover the answer. I personally don't feel the phen-fen thing that you talk about is either reasonable or safe. I thought they pulled some of that mixture off of the market as result of the safety issues. I don't have the answers, but I like many other people know how it feels to look and feel my worst and feel helpless to fix the problem. And yes, it is true that people view you differently when you're fat. And yes they do tell you, "Just lose the weight and you'll be fine". This is NOT a simple or logical answer. I believe clinical research is definitely the answer. I do believe that there is a way to beat this, but like in cancer research, until they hit the right answer, it will continue to be a struggle and a humiliation for many people. I want to be young and healthy again, I know that is not possible, but maybe I can at least get the healthy part back with the aid of a good doctor.

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