severely irregular and doctors haven't helped :(

[devin]

I was wondering if Dana (or anyone) might have some fresh ideas about a problem I've had a looooong time. I've always had an extremely irregular period, I could have it 2-3 times in one month, then go 4 months with nothing, and everything in between. Many years ago, a nurse practitioner I saw for my yearly pelvic suggested it was *something* which for the life of me I can not remember. She recommended getting it looked into, because it could make me infertile or cause other problems. At the time I was in college, poor, and had hardly any medical insurance. Grad school and work and moving took priority since until recently. This past winter, I started getting hot and cold flashes and they've continued off and on since.

I was concerned I was getting early menopause or something more serious, and when I saw a doctor in january and talked about it, she said it sounded like it might be menopause. She sent me to a gynecologist, who said it wasn't after talking to me (no tests, didn't even look at me, which seemed odd), and said the irregular periods might be due to a cyst or something in my uterus. I had an ultrasound done and everything came back normal.

I do take the pill, and I've tried several types including heavy hormone ones, and none have made any difference at all in the regularity. I still get the hot and cold flashes, which SUCK! I do have Hashimoto's Thyroiditis, which is a type of autoimmune disorder that caused my immune system to eat up my thyroid, and I take pills to compensate. The thyroid tests have always come back normal though, and I've had them done several times a year for a couple years now, because every doctor was convinced that was the source.

Now I'm not sure what else to ask or look into anymore, and the doctors I've seen seem to not have any ideas other than trying even more b/c pill varieties. It's not really a huge *issue* on the grand scheme of things, but it's sure annoying to have it more than once a month, and can be worrisome when it's 2+ months late! That, and the hot flashes just make me think something must be off, and I don't want to let it lie in case it's serious. Anyone ever deal with this or have any ideas?