r/endocrinology

Day 6 post recovery. I've read up on others experiences but ofc your own is always the important thing. Good God y'all. Please give me hope. The packaging comes out tomorrow...will I truly feel better? When will my head not feel like this ALL the time? Anything you got. Needing it from my bed 💜

I’m a fellowship program manager for three ACGME fellowship programs (Hematology/Oncology, Endocrinology, and Hospice & Palliative Care), and I want to make sure our fellows have the best experience possible.

For current or former fellows: What did your program coordinator do that you found most helpful? Or what do you wish they had done to better support you?

I’m especially interested in ideas beyond the basic administrative responsibilities, whether it’s communication, wellness, scheduling, onboarding, educational support, or even the small things that made fellowship a little easier.

I’d really appreciate any suggestions. Thanks! ☺️

I’m looking for an endocrinologist, I have a friend who’s has a few health conditions diabetes insipidus, hypopituitarism, non 24, adrenal insufficiency, hypothyroidism, septic optic dysplasia. Would prefer a doctor located in Boston, open to other locations around Boston area. Any assistance is appreciated 😊

My dad (with no history of mental illness) has developed daily panic attacks, can’t sleep and is going crazy … I am seeking help to find some relief. His blood pressure yeilds ER levels daily and my family is desperate for a solution.

Family medical history: high blood pressure and diabetes

Background: my dad is 59yo and does all the right things (manages stress, sleep, exercise, diet, etc). He never relied on medication to fix something, and instead adjusts his lifestyle or takes vitamins and natural supplements (except blood pressure medication after 55yo). About 5 years ago he started having digestive problems which were never completely resolved and may have pointed towards gall bladder issues. He starts taking a natural root supplement that’s supposed to have gallbladder benefits. He goes to the gym one day like normal and faints as he’s walking up the steps. Still unknown if the episode was linked to the supplement or he was just stressed and dehydrated, but he stopped taking the supplement anyway.

Ever since that day, his body has been stuck in fight or flight as well as digestive issues completely disappearing. He started having the same episodes- ringing in his ears, was dizzy and blood pressure through the roof, visit to the ER, all tests come back normal. He sees general doctors, holistic doctors, psychiatrist, and psychologist with no clear diagnosis. My sister and I have both had panic attacks from general and but this is another level. His panic symptoms were temporarily managed by a strong antihistamine as needed but he developed debilitating back pain. He was prescribed a steroid for the pain which made his panic symptoms worse. The real nightmare started when he abruptly stopped taking the steroid…

His body does not allow him to be tired or sleep more than two hours a night. His nervous system and hormones are completely out of whack. Doctors do not seem to be helping that much other than prescribing endless sleeping pills that do the exact opposite of relax him. One day things point to a nervous system issue another day it points to an adrenal issue. We are lost and my dad can’t function and is exhausted. He will try anything at this point.

I am worried his body is going to give out… He has a completely different personality, I miss him. What is happening.. please help

Lately I’ve been having trouble finding words I’ve known my whole adult life. I am 39. Sometimes I can remember the word after a few minutes but others the word still doesn’t come to me and I have to look it up online by searching for the general description of the word. This seemed to start happening around the same time I was told to stop taking my antithyroid medication to control my graves (Methimazole) to help me lose weight ( I have lost 20 lbs prior to going off of it) My endo’s NP wanted me to try stopping it unless my thyroid goes unreasonably high. I don’t know what, if any, my thyroid levels may have on my memory/cognition.

I will see the NP again soon and will have blood work before but I’m wondering if I should seek out a neurologist? This happens on average maybe once per week and is distressing. Does anyone with Graves or do any docs in here have insight?

NOT SUPPORTING DOPING, ASKING FOR ADVICE!!!

First off, I’ll save you some time: yes, I’m a teenager insecure about my height. And yes, I know height isn’t everything and plenty of shorter people live completely successful lives.

But from my perspective, if there are relatively safe ways to maximize remaining growth, I’d rather try them than wonder later “what if.”

My situation:
I’m 16 years and 6 months old (≈ 198 months). My growth plates are still open. My doctor estimated I likely have around 3–4 cm of growth remaining, meaning I probably still have 1–2 years of growth left.

Growth velocity right now is about ~2 cm per year.

Genetics:

• Mom: ~155–160 cm (not exactly sure)
• Dad: 174 cm
• I also seem to have longer femurs than my dad and a body structure more similar to my uncle (176 cm)

So I’m trying to understand how much I can realistically still optimize things.

What I’m currently considering:

• Sleep: 9+ hours consistently (prioritizing recovery and growth hormone peaks)
• Supplements for sleep quality:
  • Ashwagandha
  • Glycine
• General supplements:
  • Vitamin D3 (8000 IU)
  • Creatine (mainly for gym, not expecting height effects)
  • Forskolin
  • Colostrum
  • Instead of K2 supplements, I plan to just drink 2–3 cups of milk daily

What I’ve also been researching (but NOT planning to self-experiment with):
I’ve looked into things like FGFR3-related pathways and aromatase inhibition, but I’m very unsure about safety, especially at this age. Suppressing hormones or messing with estrogen seems like it could have serious long-term side effects, so I’m very cautious about anything in that direction.

Main question:
Am I just overthinking this? Should I just focus on sleep, nutrition, training, and let genetics do its thing?

Or is there anything actually meaningful I’m missing in terms of maximizing natural growth during the remaining time?

Any experiences or advice appreciated.

I was diagnosed with primary amenorrhea at about age 17. I'd experienced delayed puberty and never had a period, (actually a withdrawal bleed) until taking some form of birth control at age 18.

I stopped taking birth control for a few years and now went onto estrogel and progesterone. I was taking progesterone continuously, but still getting random bleeding every two weeks or so. Now I've moved to trying 14on, 14 off to regulate a period, even though I'd rather not have one.

A day before I start to bleed I start to feel emotional and wonder why I could cry so easily. Then throughout the period I often feel super moody, irritable, and poor self confidence. It even feels like I experience a bit of brain fog with it as well.

Is it possible that it's due to hormonal changes? If so, are the hormones I take externally not regulating it. So why would I feel a mood shift getting my period even if I'm still taking the progesterone? I feel crazy and as if I'm making it up. I know it's possible I'm sensitive to small hormone shifts. Increasing my estrogen or progesterone dose gave me immediately noticeable mood side effects. Plus I've never had high natural endogenous hormone levels.

Thanks for your thoughts or ideas!

Hi All

I have a heterogenous thyroid, however TSH, T3, T4 and antibodies are all within the reference range. (although TSH Jan 26 4.2, now June 26 2.5) so my TSH always fluctuates

I have all the symptoms of Hashimotos, I have also been trying for a baby for 7years

Now I would like to see a private specialist, but am I wasting my time seeing a private endocrinologist because my bloods are ‘normal’

I’m unsure if I should see endocrinologist for thyroid or fertility doctor that specialises in reproductive endocrinology

24F. 5’7, 145lbs.

Long story short, I’ve been dealing with what appears to be a complex estrogen-related disorder for several years, although I still don’t have a definitive diagnosis. My current working hypothesis, after consulting with specialists, is impaired estrogen signalling (or some form of altered estrogen sensitivity), because I consistently require much higher-than-expected estrogen levels to achieve normal physical and cognitive functioning and suppress debilitating symptoms.

After years of trying to understand what’s going on, I ended up self-medicating with high-dose estrogen HRT because it was the only thing that reliably improved my symptoms. I fully understand that this carries risks, but I consider those risks part and parcel of a necessary treatment.

To be completely transparent, I am looking for a physician who would be willing, if they feel it is medically appropriate, to prescribe and monitor the regimen that has been the only effective treatment for me over the past three years. I’m looking for someone who is experienced with complex endocrine cases, is willing to investigate an unusual or rare presentation, is open to working collaboratively and being a bit experimental, rather than dismissing the treatment solely because the doses are unconventional.

I consider myself functionally dependent on this treatment because it has restored a level of functioning I was otherwise unable to achieve. Whenever I’ve attempted to reduce my doses, I’ve experienced significant functional decline across multiple areas of my life. Because of this, it’s extremely important to me to find a physician who understands the potential consequences of discontinuing treatment without a viable alternative.

Can anyone recommend an endocrinologist in Canada or the U.S. who might be a good fit?

Thanks!

Hey everyone, 22F here with some confusing bloodwork and a specialist appointment that feels forever away lol.

Got tested on the last day of my period (early follicular?) results:

androgens

DHEA-S: 704.7 µg/dL (ref up to 420.6) - way above range

testosterone: 2.07 ng/ml (ref up to ~0.82 for women) also high

everything else came back fine?

FSH: 4.21

LH: 3.38

estradiol: 47.92

prolactin: 34.19

17-OH progesterone: 0.31

TSH, FT4, ATPO : all normal

cortisol (morning) : normal

symptoms i've been dealing with: hirsutism (chest, back, stomach, breasts, the annoying near belly button everywhere really), having to shave/plug multiple times a day, oily skin, and i can't sleep for shit. it's been affecting my daily life more than i'd like to admit.

im so tired its not even funny, ive been taking magnesium, eating chia seeds, taking b12. ***also genuinely want to know is this urgent or can it wait for a regular appointment?

If i do end up having pcos or something else there's no cure right? Am i fucked forever haha. Im doing laser treatments now and it works fine mostly bc my hair is so thick and dark but wont it just grow back if i don't fix my hormones .

Geniune ask also. Could my personality in any way be shaped by the high male hormones or whatever? Like will my interests change? Im also quite lean/fit so what if the wrong treatment fucks me or something.

Hi there, I’m an obese 23 year old man that’s been losing weight over the last year. Recently I’ve been exhausted all the time and my bloodwork shows that I have 312 testosterone total and 7.9 testosterone free. Now I’m 5’11 and 310 lbs so I know that skews things but I’ve been exercising consistently and am down 45lbs so far.

My doctor chocks my low testosterone up to my weight and my fatigue up to me taking zepbound but I just saw an endocrinologist and she prescribed me 200mg of testosterone cypionate to take weekly.

I’m pretty scared to take it because of the side effects like hair loss and reproductive issues and don’t know if I even really qualify as having low enough testosterone for my age and weight for that to be the reason for my fatigue. Does anyone have a similar experience to me or know what effects I should be worried about or experience if I start?

Thanks!

Hi, 16.8 yo male, i have an unusual puberty progression that goes roughly like this:

Up until 14 - everything went smoothly started normally had my phv (13cm/year) body hair muscle strenght all progressing rapidly but after phv it just slowed down a lot i gained maybe 3cm and then it completely stopped everything from height to weight and 2nd sexual characteristics completely 0 growth in all of these aspect until around 15.3 (early decemeber) where i had a very rapid rise in appetite and gained about 6kg in 2 months, the mini spurt lasted about 3 months beside the weight gain i also noticed increased body hair almost daily mainly noticed on my face, increased sweating odor etc but 3 months in it just stopped, now at 16.3(exactly a year later) had another spurt but way more intense this one also lasted for 3-3.5months before just stopping, in this one i gained about 21kg and 3cm (174cm 68kg 177cm 89kg) symptoms : sweating, odor, high BP spikes(max was about 172/93), very increased appetite and sleep needs, very intense leg growth pains (knee foot wrist shin) , stretch marks on the entire body, rapid strenght increase in my legs despite not training, gyno, thicker ribcage/pelvic/wrist/elbow bone some minimal body hair increase but other than that thats all it also just stopped about 3.5months in from 1kg a week to just 0 but despite it stopping the appetite, sweating, odor and sleep needs didnt, most of the growth was concentrated in the first 1.5months where the most intense growing pains were and around 13kg of the weight gained, things like gyno and most fat gain happened at the end of the spurt, i would say a 70/30 ratio in lean mass and fat increase. after the spurt ended growth stalled yet again,one thing i do want to mention is the complete lack of tanner progression, body hair progression and morning and noctural erections. This is definitely arrested puberty right? Could this be an issue with sustained HPG signal after 14?

I have been diagnosed with high cholesterol, high tryglicerid and high acid uric in my blood test (I mean just little bit high avobe average). Urine test is fine, no signs of damaged liver but Ultrasounds says I have been diagnosed with Fatty liver Grade 2. I take health check every year and for the last 4 years they stay the same (high cholesterol, high tryglicerid, high acid uric, and fatty liver). Doctor says its okay if i dont experience any pain. But I maintain quite an active lifestyle, avoid fatty food, eat minimal carb and only drink occasionally.
Can it be something about my metabollism or endocrine system?