I’m not sure this is in the right section or not but it is related to weight.
I’ve been overweight/obese for the past 3-4 years. At age 23/24 I began putting on weight like there was no tomorrow, going from a size 12/14 up to a size 20/22. I was about 11 stone when I started putting weight on and I’m now just hitting 20 stone, so it is a huge leap. I’ve always had acne and bad skin in general but now, at my heaviest, I have quite a lot of unsightly traits and I don’t know if it’s caused by my weight or if there is an underlying condition. I’ll list the things I have here:
- Acne, mainly around my jaw and neck.
- Excess hair growth, around my neck and sideburn area. Basically it looks like a beard, as you can see by the picture I have attached.
-Very oily skin which is also dry and flaky.
-Itchy, flaky scalp which doesn’t seem to be getting any better, even while using T-Gel shampoo.
-Thinning hair which looks lank and I’m noticing a lot of breakage around my hairline and the underneath near the nape of my neck. It is also quite oily
I have had hormone tests for PCOS and a scan to check for cysts but my GP said my hormone levels were only a tiny bit elevated and so it didn’t seem like PCOS. The doc who did my scan couldn’t find my ovaries and suggested a transvaginal scan but my GP didn’t think there was any point so I didn’t get referred for it. (I figured it was because of my weight that the doctor couldn‘t find my ovaries but she assured me it wasn’t, I still don’t really believe that though).
I used to take Dianette which was fantastic but I was taken off it when I gained too much weight and my GP now says they don’t prescribe it anymore
My main question is, do these things seem like they would be a result of my weight and bad eating? I have just put myself on a weight loss mission with better eating and exercise and at the forefront of my mind is “Once I have lost weight, all of these symptoms will reduce themselves” but I don’t even know if that will happen. I know I should speak to my GP about this but they won’t help me any further with these issues because they don’t see them as a problem (I have been to them several times about all symptoms but they tell me they can’t help).
I was just wondering if anyone has any ideas or advice on this?
I also apologise for the length of this post.
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Churchbells
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I'm sorry you're having all these symptoms and will remind you that none of us is medically qualified, but have you had your thyroid function tested? Current NHS testing of TSH levels isn't a good marker for thyroid function, so I would suggest you also join the Thyroid UK forum and consider getting private blood tests done, which the very knowledgeable people on the forum will be able to read and advise you on healthunlocked.com/thyroiduk
We are better equipped to help you with weight loss, so invite you to follow this link to our chat thread and a list of all the activities we run. We've found active participation to be key to success, especially with our weigh-ins and Daily Diary
Hi there churchbells - you poor thing, it's horrible when you don't know what's causing stuff. Sorry I can't help you with that side of things but if you are wanting to live a healthier lifestyle then you are in the right place. Join one of our an online weigh ins for a bit of inspiration. We are friendly and will support you. Good luck
As a beauty therapist, I would say that spots and dry skin can definitely come from bad diet and not enough water. Chin and jaw line is reproductive reflex so could be hormones. Acne can be worsened by poor diet but wouldn’t cause it. Abnormal Hair growth is normally hormone related.
Obviously hard to well with out actually seeing your skin, but I would suggest that if you have a low fat healthy diet, drink plenty of water and have a decent skincare routine then your spots should improve.
Do you think you could be going through the menopause?? Hope you find the answers that get it all sorted for you! Xx
This all sounds very difficult for you. Being very heavy does affect your hormone balance and can result in excess hair growth and acne. Insulin resistance is also likely to be happening. These and other changes in your metabolism may well be making these problems worse.
You could try watching the Skinny on Obesity videos which explain what is going on in a none critical helpful way.
Please stay on this forum , some members have lost amazing amounts of weight and kept the weight off.
People have success here by making small sustainable changes to their diet and quickly feel better as they start to lose.
The 12 week NHS diet plan is a good place to start but read as many of the links that the Administrators send you as you can, some several times!
Hopefully you will soon be back in control of your eating.
Remember to eat enough, you should aim not to feel hungry before the next meal (unless you choose to fast which a few people do). If you find yourself hungry then try not to snack but to eat enough the next day to prevent hunger again.
If you can get back to a normal weight then I suspect your symptoms will have largely faded away , sustaining a lower weight will be hard work but you have already made the brave decision to stop further weight gains and tackle this.
I now prefer my new low carb higher fat diet to my old bread ,pasta, potatoes , sugar and rice based one.
Hi again all, thank you so much for the advice and comments, it was much appreciated! I have thought for a while now that it would be related to my weight but it’s the old “It won’t happen to me” or “I’m too young to be getting health problems” (I’m 27). But of course you can be ANY age for health problems, especially when it’s caused by being overweight.
I will look in to the suggestions here. I would like my doctor to do more tests but I feel that the best option may be to get down to a health weight and see where I stand then. I have been eating better and exercising for the past 2 days, I’m on day 3 now. I chose to eat under 1500 calories and exercise for an hour or 30 minutes (whichever I have time to do). So far I feel better. I don’t feel as sluggish and my digestive system in general feels more sturdier (before it used to feel like it was churning or felt loose. Sorry for the overshare there haha). I haven’t noticed any changes in my appearence yet but I know it’s way too early for any of that.
I’m a pretty fussy eater (like really badly) so I would never be able to completely overhaul my diet and stick to it long term so all I do is reduce my portion sizes, cut out all the bad snacks and meals and replace them with better options and try to add at least 1 fruit or veg in a day. I know you’re supposed to have 5 but there’s no way I could afford to do that all the time as I’m on an incredibly low income and spent £2 on a small bag of nectarines the other day! What?! Also some had pips in grrr.
So I know I’m kind of cheating with not overhauling my diet and I am keeping bread in and a few other things like pasta and mashed potato because I just don’t know how I would replace them and be sated considering I dislike a lot of foods and textures, but compared to how I was previously eating, it’s a big change. My diet before was one of 3 options:
- Eat nothing all day until around 6pm and then order a takeaway.
- Eat nothing until around 1pm and then only eat snacks. Terrible stuff like whole tubes of pringles or big size bags of crisps and then chocolate. Or half a cheesecake. 😑 Jesus.
- Just eat everything all day. 😂
Boredom is my biggest problem. Or having triggers. Like, I love documentaries and I’d always eat snacks while watching them. When I put a documentary on last night my brain was thinking “I need snacks. I need snacks”.
Anyway, after my long ramble here I am glad to say that I do feel better after my 2 day change so far. I just hope I can keep it up. I mean, I have to really, or I wont make it past 30!
Thanks again everyone. I will most likely post a comment at some point saying “help me I’m about to give up. My willpower has gone” 😂
Once again I’m appreciative of all the help offered here!
One more bit of advice: 1500 calories will not be enough for you if you weigh 20 stones. You'll lose weight at first, of course, but your body will soon start to answer back as it thinks there's a famine on the way, and hang on to every bit of fat it can.
Aim to eat as much as you can, compatible with weight loss, not as little as you can. Eat in a way that is healthy and enjoyable and that you can live with for life, not in a way to get you to a target weight with a view to going back to eating "normally". Find a new normal
Take your time and come here as often as you can. I'm giving you the link for the first in the series, The Skinny on Obesity, which Alisongold mentioned above. They're very watchable youtu.be/h0zD1gj0pXk
Never say never, churchbells If you set out by thinking that such-and-such is impossible, you've already tied one hand behind your back.
Unfortunately, just eating less of a fundamentally-unhealthy diet just leaves you with an inadequate unhealthy diet - which is going to make things worse, not better. You'll feel hungry, you'll get cravings, and you'll binge. Then you'll blame yourself for bingeing. That's a hard path to take.
It's going to be a big challenge. You're going to have to step outside of your comfort zone. And I completely understand that taking bread or pasta off your plate leaves you thinking "so ... what do I put there instead?". Most of us have been there! But how badly do you want this? If you don't want it badly enough to Google some new recipes, your chances of success are slim.
Take it slowly if you need to. You've done well to cut out the snacks and whatnot. But you need to imagine yourself, at some point in the near future, sitting down to a proper meal of meat'n'veg instead of pasta'n'sauce, and you need to make a concrete plan to get there.
If budget is a big constraint, you might need to get really creative. To eat healthily, I'd suggest you need a bare minimum of £6 a day (£7 would make life easier). If you don't have that, figure out how you can get it: what can you discard from your life that's costing you money (and therefore harming your health)? There's usually something that can free up a pound or two a day.
If you have a balcony or a yard, set up some boxes of soil and learn how to grow salad veg. Things like leafy vegetables are dead easy to grow and have a quick turnaround time (40 days or so).
Learn how to make your own yoghurt, bacon, ham, sausages, and pickles. These are great standbys for breakfast and light meals, they have a good built-in cost saving, and again, they're incredibly easy.
If you genuinely can't imagine life without bread, make your own. Again: easy, cheap, and much better for you than the rubbish you get in the shops.
So yeah. Big learning curve, but huge potential rewards.
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