Thanks so much for the kind words, they really mean a lot. It helps knowing that others can see that I do have a good reason to be curious about my hormone levels, even though I have apparently benign, common symptoms. I know that doctors aren't gods; their words are not absolute truths. Lord knows they make mistakes - a few years ago my mother, told she probably had the flu, went into the hospital and past away a few days later from a rare malignant cancer that they really couldn't say much about. Most likely, little could have been done at that time, even if they were asked to do more testing, but maybe they would have caught something earlier, known something was serious. I guess it just would've been nice to know before instead of after the fact.
When I got my shot, it seemed liked the doctor knew what he was talking about - he spewed out a bunch of facts and whatnot, but thinking back, he sounded much like a textbook with check boxes. Which, of course, is normal, especially with a younger doctor - unless a specialist, I assume most doctors learn only the basic, common symptoms, considering the number of diseases and medical afflictions they must understand.
My periods are fairly consistent - every 20 to 40 days, lasting 7-9 days. Because of the regularity (pretty much like that since I was 11) my doctor says that's pretty normal.
As for height, my mother was 5'1, my father is 5'10/5'11 - so my height (almost 5'3) is very likely due to genetics, and yes, I believe I'm done growing - haven't grown since early middleschool, where only a little height was gained. I have a sister 2 years older than myself, and she is 5', but I do believe she stunted her growth due to eating disorders while growing up, so that might skew that data. The only reason I thought height could be listed as a possible symptom is that my mother always said she was the tallest girl in elementary school, but then she stopped growing and everyone shot up around her, much like I experienced. Although again, genetics for height could just be the issue here.
I'm mostly Irish/German and Czech, and my hair was always blamed on the Czech bloodlines, so it's mostly just the dark thick hairs I have a concern with - I didn't always have them, and there always seems to be more.
Thanks for the test information - I'm going to schedule an appoinment with my regular doctor and set up a blood test - I'll go to the office tomorrow, hopefully with my father to set this all up, considering I don't handle phone calls super well.
I don't take medications unless it's absolutely necessary - I don't know truly what's in the pills and syrups, and figure my body can handle stomachaches and headaches and runny noses - that's what it's made for. But maybe this is something my body can't deal with on its own. If anything, finding a reason for my acne and being able to have it start clearing up before college would make this well worth the while.
I appreciate the support - reading all the different posts gives me a lot of hope, knowing that others deal with similar concerns/issues, and that there are plenty of people out there who are caring and understanding. I'll post my results when I find out, and I guess we'll see what happens from there.
