Expert: Nafeesah - 5/13/2009

Question
For as long as I can remember I have obsessed over my body,
weight, and appearance. Around the age of 12 I began to
play basketball very seriously. My obsession with needing
to be a great basketball player led me to working out hours
each day and eating very cautiously and possibly not enough
food/or having a balanced diet. At this time I was very
thin. After quitting basketball (junior year of high
school) I began eating normally. However, I began to get
nervous about my weight and started throwing up everything
I ate. Some days I would eat just because I knew I would
throw it up. Also at this time I was drinking alcohol
heavily every night. I was living a very unhealthy
lifestyle. After about 6 months of throwing up every bit of
food I ate, drinking all night, barely sleeping, working,
and going to school I stopped making myself throw up. At
first it was very hard to keep things I down. It was a
mixture of not being used to digesting a normal meal and
knowing that by eating this I was going to gain weight.
(The pressure of my boyfriend forced me to stop throwing
up).

I have always had stomach problems (frequent discomfort),
but over the years since my issues with bulimia it has
gotten severely worse. I found out I am lactose intolerant,
but my problem is beyond that. I eat a very bland diet
(mostly grilled chicken, egg whites, veggies, fruits, brown
rice, plain oatmeal, etc). Yet I still manage to spend a
great deal of time with stomach pain, severe bloating that
makes me appear pregnant, uncontrollable gas, and trouble
going to the bathroom. Over the past few years I have
gained about 10 pounds and I have been trying very hard to
loose the weight a healthy way. For instance, for the past
six weeks I have followed the weight watchers points system
and have been exercising (weights and cardio 5 days/week).
On top of this I have a job that requires me to do a lot of
walking and keeps me active. I am very frustrated at my
inability to loose any weight from diet and exercise and my
severe problems with my stomach (listed above). I went to
my family doctor once and he didn't really know what was
wrong. Could my current health problems and inability to
loose weight have to do with the bulimia 4 years ago (since
then I have gotten progressively worse as far as my stomach
problems). I am wondering if maybe I have a thyroid problem
from the bulimia? Can you recommend what type of doctor I
should see or if you think it may be a thyroid problem or
if any of my issues are related to the bulimia?

Answer
Your body is getting used to digesting a meal again, but you may need to seek a consultation with an endocrinologist so that you can figure out what's causing all the gas and other things to happen in your body. The only way a thyroid problem can be diagnosed is to have a blood test done for the doctor to see if there's any irregularities in your thyroid before treating the problem.