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Weight Gain, Sleepless, Irritable Before Menses And Have Acidity. Looking For Relief

Posted on Sat, 30 Mar 2013

Question: Hello doctor,

I am XXXXXXX 27 year old single female.
Height 5"6' and weight is around 73kgs.
I have shifted to bangalore 2 yrs back and saw a noticeable increase in my weight.
So decided to join a professional gym with proper trainer in order to loose some and also my daily activities lacked much of physical labor.
But even after finishing 2 months of proper physical training and occasional weekly dieting i couldn't loose a single kilo, instead now i am having problems.
I had slight fever for the whole past week so i consulted a local doctor who diagnosed it as common flu infection and gave some medicines that has cured my fever. But even now i don't feel like going back to gym. Also my body is generating a lot of heat so my hands and feet are hotter than rest of my body, i can feel the heat in my stomach and i am thirsty all day even after drinking more than 3.5 ltrs of water. There is feeling of restlessness. I am not sure if my condition is related to my rigorous physical exercises. Just to give u an idea i used to do around 30mins of cardiac exercises followed by stretching and another 20 mins of weight training.
Now my another problem is i am unable to sleep. Its has been 4 nights in a row, i am simply awake until 4 or 4:30 am and can sleep for few hours only after that. My body is tiered and i keep yawning but when i go to bed i just keep tossing and turning. This has happened to me before but now the frequency is increasing. And its not that i feel lazy in day time i am completely fit and active and do all my work and still cant sleep at night.
About my menses, they are regular but with each month i am experiencing some change within the body. I get irritated too quickly in the week just before it is supposed to come, even with regular healthy diet i can feel acidity which keeps on burning my stomach also i feel little rise in body temperature. I tend to shout a lot and have very less patience limit.
I have no clue if all this is related but right now my life has become a mess because of all this, please advice me.

Answered by Dr. Prasad Akole (24 hours later)

Dear friend,

Thanks for entrusting your query here at HCM!
I am Dr. Prasad Akole (Critical Care Expert- http://bit.ly/Dr-Prasad-Akole) and am glad to address to your query here.

A well placed query indeed !

I gather that you currently are gaining weight, feel heat within, sleepless, irritable before menses and have acidity.

All this can just be anxiety / tension and need change of attitude and keeping stress free.
You have not mentioned if you have any anxieties / worries / bad experiences / performance problems as well as the nature of your job. Are parents staying with you?

How rapid is the gain in weight? Can you post a recent photo here using the site’s uploader below the text box, to see if there is any pathological feature to the weight gain. I suppose you are not obese for your height. Is the tummy growing more than limbs?
Have you undergone any tests? I read that you had no major illness in the past.

Next possibility is hormonal imbalance. It can occur related to menstrual period related hormonal changes or others like thyroid hormones etc.

I would advise you to see a good gynecologist at a big hospital, get examined to rule out any ovarian disease, a physical and gynaec exam and blood tests like haemogram, thyroid profile, sugars to rule out any diabetic tendency, urine routine and if anything suggests ovarian aetiology, a sonography of the pelvis.

Most importantly, keep cool, as symptoms are not serious. Everything is manageable. Have patience, get evaluated, rule out any pathology.

Can try a short supervised course of an anxiolytic, sleep inducing agent like zolpidem. Have ranitidine or omeprazole for some time like 2 weeks to tackle acidity. Ask your doctor for a prescription.

Involve parents and friends to let your emotions go to positivity..throw away worries. Keep busy with something constructive.
Hope you get better soon.

I hope you are fully satisfied with the guidance I gave.
I would be glad to answer any more queries that you may have.
Please keep me informed about your progress.

Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Prasad

Follow up: Dr. Prasad Akole (1 hour later)

Hello doctor,

Thanks for writing back.
Yes more or less you have got the problem correctly, only thing being i am not gaining weight continuously... it happened over some time and now its stuck on 73kg but yes there is a difference of almost 10kgs in 2 years (that's a lot i know... but i started eating home cooked meals; was on hostel food for 7 years before that and i have heard Bangalore weather does this to outsiders). I don't feel i am obese for my height, yes the tummy has grown a bit but it is not very disproportionate.

I live here with my room partner, parents are not currently living with me.
I am working as a software engineer from past 2 years and my work life is very calm and cool no stress there but yes my personal life is little stressed.
I worry a lot about a lot of stuff (that i do and don't have control over).
I consider myself as a person who tries to keep a hang on things and have to keep control of stuff happening around.

I lost my mother around 3 and half years back and being the eldest child feel responsible for all members of my family that adds on to the situation.
So yeah stress can be a factor but when i go to sleep i try not to think about anything and relax but even after trying to keep my mind blank i guess some XXXXXXX thought process goes on unknowingly.
But i don't know how to deal with that. Also with age and professionalism one looses out on the friendship side so.... its not that i am a negative person, i have a super positive attitude towards life and i am cheerful and welcome life each day.

About tests yeah i have taken a thyroid test but it was negative.
If you feel i need to run tests and consult a gynecologist will do that for sure :)

Thanks a lot for taking time out and reading my lengthy queries and answering them :)

Answered by Dr. Prasad Akole (30 hours later)

Dear XXXXXXX good to read more about you.

I guess your weight has more to do with stress than pathology.
Are you being too much responsible?

Keep up the positive attitude, plan diet well, go out in the nature , forget worries, get relatives to talk to , make friends, have a new hobby and things like that.

Just to be doubly sure, I would suggest to see a gynaec once and get basic tests done as mentioned in my first answer above and also lipid (fat) profile fasting 12 hours.

For sleeplessness, can try as advised above after a doctor sees you there and thinks it ok.
Read something nice before you retire at night.
If all fails to work, try a session with a clinical psychologist/ counselor to help you out.

I can address any more query if you have. A photo would add more value to my judgement.
If you are satisfied with the advice, please rate your experience here before you accept and close the query ( whenever you have no more queries )

Thanks and get leaner soon !!

Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Prasad

Follow up: Dr. Prasad Akole (3 hours later)

sorry for troubling you again... i have attached a recent pic of mine.. it was taken a few months back before i started my gym sessions...

Answered by Dr. Prasad Akole (18 hours later)

I could not see any attached picture.
If you have any difficulty loading, please send it as an attachment (with attn: Dr. XXXXXXX Akole) to
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Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Prasad

Follow up: Dr. Prasad Akole (1 hour later)

i guess it must be visible to u now

Answered by Dr. Prasad Akole (4 minutes later)

Hello !!

You do not look obese at all.
I think there is nothing pathological. Just relax.

So no worries. follow my advice earlier.
Hope you get merrier.

Good luck.

Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Mohammed Kappan

Follow up: Dr. Prasad Akole (7 minutes later)

Thank you so much doctor for addressing my queries... i will still try to shed a few kilos :) thanks a ton for all your advice.

Answered by Dr. Prasad Akole (9 minutes later)

You are welcome.

Hope you will keep me informed on the progress and any test reports that you do.

Regards
Dr. Prasad Akole (Critical Care Expert- http://bit.ly/Dr-Prasad-Akole)

Note: For further follow up on related General & Family Physician Click here.

Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Mohammed Kappan