Excerpt from my book: You are what you DON'T Eat

If I had known then what I know now, I may not have lost four babies to miscarriage

-Stefanie

MY STORY

The Diagnosis

I remember when I was 11, I “blossomed” long before any of my friends…and I was excited when it happened (what was I thinking?!).

In hindsight, this was the year that set my destiny. In the springtime, I had contracted mononucleosis - and not from the typical method. I shared food and drinks with friends regularly, so I am sure that is how I inadvertently contracted “the kissing disease”.

In one year, I went from a lean, vibrant girl with thick dark hair and clear skin to a chubby, lethargic girl with thinning follicles and cystic acne. I also developed these tiny bumps (KP or keratosis pilaris) all over my upper arms and thighs. My periods were horrible. I had chronic sinus infections. I started to have headaches, bloating and my vision changed. One of my more bizarre symptoms was the tendency to get a splotchy red rash all over my chest and neck any time I had an infection. Quite predictably, I would get a sore throat, then a stuffy nose, then my itchy, burning rash which spread from chest to behind the ears, then a sinus infection, for which I would be given antibiotics. I had itchy ears, a painful scalp and a puffy white tongue. My lips would get red, burn and peel.

In the midst of all this, I decided I no longer wanted to eat meat at the age of 15. While all my future life-altering decisions would be based on serious research and contemplation, my teenage vegetarianism was based solely on a movie called “City Slickers” in which there was an adorable calf named Norman whom I decided I could never eat.

I did not balance my meals well and my mom begged me to rethink my restricted diet at such a critical age, but I was stubborn and refused. I filled my plate with brown rice, beans and tofu. This would turn out to be a huge mistake.

My ophthalmologist suggested I see an endocrinologist. I will never forget walking into Dr. L’s office to go over my labs, with my parents seated on either side of me.

“Well,” Dr. L started without making eye contact with any of us.  “Stefanie, you have the labs of an 80 year old”. 

Once my parents and I got over the shock of his statement, my mother begged, “What do you mean?”

“Her hormones are all out of whack. Her thyroid antibodies are sky high, her TSH is very high, her vitamin levels are off, and the MRI revealed a micro adenoma on her pituitary gland. She has nodules on her thyroid that we need to check as well. I need to schedule an ultrasound and more labs”.

We left Dr. L’s office confused, sad, and angry.

Despite taking thyroid medication over the next few years, none of my symptoms improved (only worsened) until a new doctor suggested putting me on birth control pills (even though I was not sexually active). She said it would help with acne, PMS, and the length and severity of my periods. So, at 16, I started what would be a decade of birth control pills. She was right about improving acne and the regularity of my periods, but I had no idea until much later the toll those pills would take in other ways. I went away for college and continued to battle all the other symptoms that had begun years earlier.