The story on why I'm shrinking:

It's my own damn fault.

One of the reasons is because I hate milk, so I apparently have weaker bones. The rest of the story is more interesting. I don't really sleep enough, what with working my way through college. It turns out that this has actual, tangible effects on my long-term health, one of which is the shrinking. When you're asleep, or at least lying down, your spine decompresses. When your spine doesn't decompress, it starts to grind a little bit. Or so I was told.

There's also one more maybe-reason that was mentioned. My weight went down a lot last fall. I've managed to put most of what feels like normal weight to me back on. (A difference of 40 lbs). Although I have a large skeletal build, I am still "overweight"...okay...the weight that I gained back this spring is apparently pulling too hard on my weak bones, also causing shortness.

So, between all of this, I apparently need to lose 40 lbs again, by exercise, since malnutrition is ten kinds of not-fun, and also find time to spend eight hours a day in bed. Damn it. Maybe I can deal with shrinking instead?