I have always been super skinny all my life, until about age 42 (I'm currently 45) when almost overnight I gained 45 lbs mostly in stomach. My stomach looks 9 months pregnant! I did not lose ANY weight on Atkins diet, while all my friends lost tons. Also, I quit having periods about 1-1/2 yrs ago, which I assumed was menopause (having ALL the classic symptoms). Well, gyno ran test..said my FSH is normal (NOT in menopause) and thyroid is normal (although I was on thyroid pills when I was age 12, for periods lasting 3 weeks). Gyno said not to worry about no periods, and weight gain is just part of aging! I eat very well, and go to a gym 5 days a week..no results! WELL...just when I thought my life was over at age 45...I found Suzanne Somers cassette tapes in a 2nd hand shop....suzanne talks about Dr Schwarzbein alot, plus hormonal imbalance. I CRIED the whole time I listened to that tape on hormones!! It describes me to a "T" !!! Finally, I'm hoping I found the answer to this pregnant stomach! So I found another doctor who will HOPEFULLY will listen and run the correct tests (I live in a small town, gotta travel 1 hr just to see THIS dr). Financially & mentally, i can't afford to keep going to drs, so I'd like as much info/experiences...whatever you all can offer, so I'm prepared for this appointment. WHY IS IT SO HARD TO FIND DRS WHO ACTUALLY LISTEN??? I'm thinking my estrogen is low (or imbalanced) because of my age, plus I am on progesterone only bc pills & testosterone cream (gyno prescribed for diminishing sex desire, but he never even ran tests). Plus I am under extreme amounts of daily stress (husband is legally blind & I have 3 kids, etc), and the tape said "Stress Blocks Estrogen Reseptors", plus I've read about Cortisol levels. I plan to ask this dr to test those levels, as well as additional thyroid tests. I'm reading posts here about POCO's ?? What is that and how common is it? And I've read about natural HRT, opposed to synthetic ones. It's crazy for me to have to "research" for this dr, but that seems to be the way to get results! Sorry so long, but I am DESPERATE...any info, experiences, advise is welcomed!!!