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(I think doctors are the most overrated thing ever invented)
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Sometimes, I so totally agree. I have not been to any who could match me in what I know about the systems I wanna know about (and they were specialists in their field - who were just perpetuating the same ole same ole without any new research). Clueless! Especially endocrinologists (where's me a pblsttststststs smiley?). It can be so totally frustrating to go round and round with them, not quite knowing what's wrong with you but knowing full well that the answers they gave you aren't right.
Off soapbox -- maybe
Cadillac: I'm so sorry for this hard time you're going thru. It can be so exhausting looking for these medical answers to our medical puzzles.
First, I know nothing about candida, so cdnbarbie may be right.
Second, here's what I was thinking:
-The BCP, they can make you feel like total crap. Even if you have been on them for a long time. The effects are cummulative with them. They way lowered my sex drive over time, and gave me these feverish feelings sometimes, plus a lot of other metabolic junk. They deplete magnesium and B complex vitamins along with a few other essential nutrients.
-NEVER trust a doc who says, "Well, you're just gettin old." That is a no-good answer and it's not a correct one IMO. I here that so much that it makes me wanna puke. Sure, it's the accepted norm, but as far as I'm concerned -- taint true!
-About menopause. I'm not sure about whether or not the BCPs would affect testing. The hormones in em aren't bioidentical and I believe the ones they test for are bioidentical, so they may not affect the testing. I could be way off base on that one, but it's worth looking into. You can go into pre-menopause for some time though. And, women are going into pre-menopause (annovulatory cycles, PCOS, etc.) earlier and earlier because of diet and artificial hormones. It won't work since you are on BCPs, but if you decide to stop taking them at some point, you can get a big handle on the premenopause thing by charting your ovulation (by taking waking temps and charting cervical fluids --lots of info online and I can tell ya a lot about it if you want). It can definitely tell you a lot, but it doesn't work on BCPs.
-Thyroid -- I have no idea, but could be. Any changes in appetite? Huge weight fluctuations that you wouldn't expect using LC lifestyle? Also, according to Dr. Schwarzbein, you need to be careful with thyroid hormones, because they are given way too often when dietary changes would remedy the problem, which sets up other hormonal imbalances.
My first red flag was the BCPs. They set up a hormonal imbalance just by the way they work. If you have one hormonal imbalance, you knock them all out of balance. The weight gain around the middle can also indicative of developing insulin resistance which BCPs can really aggravate. And, IR can prematurely start you on the road to menopause. The test you would need for that would be a fasting blood insulin level (Not a glucose or Hemoglobin A1C either. Endos will use those instead of the insulin sometimes, and it just doesn't cut it in the case of IR). Dr. Schwarzbein talks about it a lot in The Schwarzbein Principle II.
The cortisol test may be a good thing. The 24 urine would be the most accurate, however it IS a pain, I understand. You can opt to do the cortisol testing by saliva doing a 4x a day (you don't need a doc order for this either) which will give you a pretty good idea about your adrenal function. I'm not sure how it relates to thyroid (haven't gotten that far in my reading).
I am not going thru the same thing you are, but so understand how frustrating all this can get. Drs who all contradict each other and are taking stabs in the dark. It can be really frustrating to try to put all this medical knowledge together ourselves, but being an overeducated patient really helps weed out the docs you know for sure are full of it. Hang in there, you'll get it. {{{HUGE HUGS}}}
Oh, and a word on HRT. If you determine you need it, make sure you get compounded bioidentical hormones and stay away from premarin and the likes.