EDIT as I compile these for the new blog: A Live Journal post of mine that shows a glimmer of the health and healing to come.
April 22, 2006 I'm Happy!
The last two days have been amazing. NO fatigue crashes at all and my mood has been unbelievable. I'm happy. I had forgotten what it felt like to feel happy and content. I've been calm and in control with the kids. No irritability, no frustration. I've been patient and nuturing. I've been (gasp!) optimistic! I can't describe how incredible it feels to be happy and calm instead of tense, anxious, tired. I've had energy! I haven't been painfully waiting for it to be tea time to get my next lift. I'm so afraid this won't last and somehow I'll lose it! It feels so good to be a happy person again. :-) I'm trying not to overdo, I know I gotta take it easy for at least a year, but it is hard when I feel this damn good!
Wednesday, April 9, 2008
4/20/06 update on health
EDIT as I compile these for the new blog: Another Live Journal update on my journey to health.
April 20, 2006 update on health
Well, I went for my second appt the other day and discovered that I've actually lost over 5 lbs so far!!!! That may not be much, but for me I take it as a sign that Schwarzbein is working. I wrote out an account of all the changes that I'm making (following the Schwarzbein plan) for my doc to read and he was very impressed with it. He agreed with everything that I'm doing and was happy with my progress so far. We are doing some additional bloodwork to rule some things out but he thinks I'm on the path to healing. He commented on what a pleasure it was going to be working with such a self-motivated patient. I'm just happy to have found a doc that actually listens (most of the appt. takes place in his office versus an exam room) and he schedules appt times in 30 min, not 15 min, blocks (new patients he even schedules 1 hr blocks for). He isn't perfect (I don't think that exists) but overall we agree on enough things and he is pretty open minded, so I think he'll work out okay.
I think I am on the road to healing, but damn it is hard somedays. Often I get hit with these waves of fatigue (totally different from the overall tiredness and apathy for life that I experienced before). I can feel it coming on and before I know it, I'm crashing hard. Withdrawal is hard, LOL. But still I feel more balanced overall- emotionally and energy wise, I can tell this is working. But Schwarzbein wasn't kidding about experiencing fatigue while you heal, LOL. My body is doing some serious hard work here. I just can't wait for it to be finished.
April 20, 2006 update on health
Well, I went for my second appt the other day and discovered that I've actually lost over 5 lbs so far!!!! That may not be much, but for me I take it as a sign that Schwarzbein is working. I wrote out an account of all the changes that I'm making (following the Schwarzbein plan) for my doc to read and he was very impressed with it. He agreed with everything that I'm doing and was happy with my progress so far. We are doing some additional bloodwork to rule some things out but he thinks I'm on the path to healing. He commented on what a pleasure it was going to be working with such a self-motivated patient. I'm just happy to have found a doc that actually listens (most of the appt. takes place in his office versus an exam room) and he schedules appt times in 30 min, not 15 min, blocks (new patients he even schedules 1 hr blocks for). He isn't perfect (I don't think that exists) but overall we agree on enough things and he is pretty open minded, so I think he'll work out okay.
I think I am on the road to healing, but damn it is hard somedays. Often I get hit with these waves of fatigue (totally different from the overall tiredness and apathy for life that I experienced before). I can feel it coming on and before I know it, I'm crashing hard. Withdrawal is hard, LOL. But still I feel more balanced overall- emotionally and energy wise, I can tell this is working. But Schwarzbein wasn't kidding about experiencing fatigue while you heal, LOL. My body is doing some serious hard work here. I just can't wait for it to be finished.
4/11/06 No Title
EDIT as I compile these for the new blog: A moment of doubt and despair that I posted in my Live Journal not long after starting the Schwarzbein plan.
April 11, 2006 No Title
I feel like I'm losing it again today. Last night was bad and crazy. Today was too. I was just so tired. Then I got energy and cleaned. Then I got crabby and irritable. Will I ever be me again? What if this diet thing isn't going to work? What if nothing can fix me and I'm just going to go downhill like my mom and my grandma?
April 11, 2006 No Title
I feel like I'm losing it again today. Last night was bad and crazy. Today was too. I was just so tired. Then I got energy and cleaned. Then I got crabby and irritable. Will I ever be me again? What if this diet thing isn't going to work? What if nothing can fix me and I'm just going to go downhill like my mom and my grandma?
4/4/06 What is going on in my life
EDIT as I compile these for the new blog: A Live Journal post that I made after getting the first glimmers that nutrition may play a very large part in my healing. Here I started to really turn the corner and was well on my healing journey.
April 4, 2006 What is going on in my life....
Well, it has been a while since I've posted anything of substance. I've been reading and researching tons on my current health issues and I think I'm finally on a path towards healing. I've discovered several imbalances with my hormones and metabolism. (I'm insulin resistant and my adrenal glands are extremely worn out). It is possible that all my hypothyroid symptoms are caused by these imbalances. My bloodwork appears normal because there isn't anything wrong with my actual thyroid gland or the hormones that it is producing. The problem lies in my body's inability to use and convert this at the cellular level. This results in very real low thyroid symptoms because my cells are not properly getting the thyroid hormone my body is producing. The key here, lies in what is causing those symptoms. If it isn't my thyroid gland causing this, it means that I *may* not need medication for the rest of my life. I just need to work to bring my hormones and my metabolism back into balance. It is going to be a long road back to healing though and will probably take the next year or so....
So my current plan lies with a program detailed by an endocrinologist named Diana Schwarzbein in California who wrote a book called the Schwarzbein Principle. She treats diabetes, thyroid problems, etc etc. If any of my friends out there in LJ land (and I probably mean all of you, since I think the majority of americans have screwed up metabolism/hormones) have any issues with weight, or infertility, or depression, or sugar addiction, or caffeine addiction, or nicotine addiction, or chronic fatigue syndrome, or fibromyalgia, or diabetes, or insulin resistance, or any other metabolism issues: I highly suggest you read her books. This is a smart doc with the education and clinical experience to back up her ideas.
So anyway, here is my plan......
Eating balanced meals (protein, carbs, healthy fats, and non-starchy vegetables) and eating 5 times a day (3 meals and 2 snacks). (my habits here were very bad. I'm a hard core breakfast skipper, a meager lunch eater, and a dinner pig. Although what I was eating was healthy, I wasn't eating enough of the right stuff at all, was under-eating all day, and over-eating at dinner. All things that wreak havoc with metabolism)
Continue to drink some caffeine in the form of green tea or black tea to help ease withdrawal symptoms from my body's bad hormone habits (Schwarzbein calls this self-medicating to get through the healing phase).
I've actually managed to completely quit refined sugars already. I've been tapering off over the past year or so and I just finally quit. The most sugar I have these days is a little honey. I don't even have sugar cravings anymore. It isn't willpower, just total non-interest in sugary stuff. Thom and Tammy had icecream last night and I wasn't even interested. I had one bite out of morbid curiosity and that was enough. Usually I would have pigged out on the stuff after getting one taste, LOL.
Get enough sleep at night. (this one is gonna be hard)
Learn to manage stress better (this too is gonna be very hard)
Start doing yoga and then add in some resistance training like pilates and free weights.
So that is it. That is my plan. The hard part is that during healing, I'm going to feel tired, possibly gain a little more weight, be irritable, maybe depressed, etc etc. This is because my body is addicted to its maladaptive habits and I'll basically go through withdrawal. My body has to heal and it won't happen overnight. But once things balance out, I should feel better than I have in a long damn time and should lose all of my weight and get back down to the real me again. :-)
The next year is going to be hard....but I do feel a little better already. I'm tired but it is a different type of tired. I feel like my body is doing hard work. It is healing. I am able to do things again, like cook meals all day. I have motivation despite the fatigue which is a new thing for me.
April 4, 2006 What is going on in my life....
Well, it has been a while since I've posted anything of substance. I've been reading and researching tons on my current health issues and I think I'm finally on a path towards healing. I've discovered several imbalances with my hormones and metabolism. (I'm insulin resistant and my adrenal glands are extremely worn out). It is possible that all my hypothyroid symptoms are caused by these imbalances. My bloodwork appears normal because there isn't anything wrong with my actual thyroid gland or the hormones that it is producing. The problem lies in my body's inability to use and convert this at the cellular level. This results in very real low thyroid symptoms because my cells are not properly getting the thyroid hormone my body is producing. The key here, lies in what is causing those symptoms. If it isn't my thyroid gland causing this, it means that I *may* not need medication for the rest of my life. I just need to work to bring my hormones and my metabolism back into balance. It is going to be a long road back to healing though and will probably take the next year or so....
So my current plan lies with a program detailed by an endocrinologist named Diana Schwarzbein in California who wrote a book called the Schwarzbein Principle. She treats diabetes, thyroid problems, etc etc. If any of my friends out there in LJ land (and I probably mean all of you, since I think the majority of americans have screwed up metabolism/hormones) have any issues with weight, or infertility, or depression, or sugar addiction, or caffeine addiction, or nicotine addiction, or chronic fatigue syndrome, or fibromyalgia, or diabetes, or insulin resistance, or any other metabolism issues: I highly suggest you read her books. This is a smart doc with the education and clinical experience to back up her ideas.
So anyway, here is my plan......
Eating balanced meals (protein, carbs, healthy fats, and non-starchy vegetables) and eating 5 times a day (3 meals and 2 snacks). (my habits here were very bad. I'm a hard core breakfast skipper, a meager lunch eater, and a dinner pig. Although what I was eating was healthy, I wasn't eating enough of the right stuff at all, was under-eating all day, and over-eating at dinner. All things that wreak havoc with metabolism)
Continue to drink some caffeine in the form of green tea or black tea to help ease withdrawal symptoms from my body's bad hormone habits (Schwarzbein calls this self-medicating to get through the healing phase).
I've actually managed to completely quit refined sugars already. I've been tapering off over the past year or so and I just finally quit. The most sugar I have these days is a little honey. I don't even have sugar cravings anymore. It isn't willpower, just total non-interest in sugary stuff. Thom and Tammy had icecream last night and I wasn't even interested. I had one bite out of morbid curiosity and that was enough. Usually I would have pigged out on the stuff after getting one taste, LOL.
Get enough sleep at night. (this one is gonna be hard)
Learn to manage stress better (this too is gonna be very hard)
Start doing yoga and then add in some resistance training like pilates and free weights.
So that is it. That is my plan. The hard part is that during healing, I'm going to feel tired, possibly gain a little more weight, be irritable, maybe depressed, etc etc. This is because my body is addicted to its maladaptive habits and I'll basically go through withdrawal. My body has to heal and it won't happen overnight. But once things balance out, I should feel better than I have in a long damn time and should lose all of my weight and get back down to the real me again. :-)
The next year is going to be hard....but I do feel a little better already. I'm tired but it is a different type of tired. I feel like my body is doing hard work. It is healing. I am able to do things again, like cook meals all day. I have motivation despite the fatigue which is a new thing for me.
April 2006 photo journal
April 2006
Losing
Weight: around 178.
Jean size: 16-18.
Schwarzbein for 1 month.
Gluten free for about one month.
High and low swings from the Schwarzbein healing process were tough. My body was doing some seriously hard work. Joint pains continued to be somewhat subdued. (At the time of this picture, I had just started eating gluten again and you can see the puffiness returning to my face).
Official diagnosis of Hashimoto's thyroiditis was made after urging my doctor to test me for thyroid antibodies, which came back in the thousands (normal ranges are less than 20-35). No medication was prescribed, but a referral to an endocrinologist was made.
Originally posted July 10, 2006
Losing
Weight: around 178.
Jean size: 16-18.
Schwarzbein for 1 month.
Gluten free for about one month.
High and low swings from the Schwarzbein healing process were tough. My body was doing some seriously hard work. Joint pains continued to be somewhat subdued. (At the time of this picture, I had just started eating gluten again and you can see the puffiness returning to my face).
Official diagnosis of Hashimoto's thyroiditis was made after urging my doctor to test me for thyroid antibodies, which came back in the thousands (normal ranges are less than 20-35). No medication was prescribed, but a referral to an endocrinologist was made.
Originally posted July 10, 2006
3/15/06 Health updates
EDIT as I compile these for the new blog: Post from my Live Journal as I tried to make sense of the hypothyroidism discovery and why my numbers initially appeared normal. (This was before my antibodies were tested).
March 15, 2006 Health updates
So I've been reading tons on hypothyroidism. I keep coming across these stories from other women that I could have written myself. The rapid weight gain (50 lbs in about a year), the tiredness, the achy joints, the weak muscles, the depression, etc etc etc. It feels very validating to read these stories, and yet very frustrating as well. I know of many reasons now why my bloodwork might appear "normal" and yet my symptoms are very real. I'm nearing that dead end with my current Dr. about to embark on paying out of pocket for a more open minded, alternative medicine doc. Insurance sucks. The only docs on those lists are the ones that the big pharm companies want.
Right now I'm supposed to come back in 30 days and do more bloodwork just to see if anything comes back different. I am going to push for a few more tests that would rule out or confirm autoimmune thyroiditis. I also learned from my sis that caffeine can mess up test results (it lowers your TSH level which is one thing they look at) so I'm trying to quit caffeine before my next bloodwork.
I have gone from drinking over 200 mg of caffeine (2 cups of coffee) to about 60 mg (2 cups of yerba mate/green tea). I hope to be able to cut out completely but I'm not sure I can do that. I would just sleep all day without something to get me going.
From what I've read, getting treated for my hypo, won't be an easy fix for the weight gain, unfortunately (although it will level the playing field for me). It is going to be a long road back to training my body how to properly store and release fats, handle blood sugar etc etc again. I've got some really good books and am doing the research, but it is going to be some major work. If y'all thought I was a nutrition nazi before, I'm going uber-nutritional now. And (gasp) I might even try a supplement or two...
It is time for health and healing.
Oh and yeah for the coming Spring! Cold weather puts extra strain on the thyroid because the body has to work harder to maintain proper body temp, so with warmer weather my symptoms should ease up a bit because my body can make do with less thyroid hormones.
March 15, 2006 Health updates
So I've been reading tons on hypothyroidism. I keep coming across these stories from other women that I could have written myself. The rapid weight gain (50 lbs in about a year), the tiredness, the achy joints, the weak muscles, the depression, etc etc etc. It feels very validating to read these stories, and yet very frustrating as well. I know of many reasons now why my bloodwork might appear "normal" and yet my symptoms are very real. I'm nearing that dead end with my current Dr. about to embark on paying out of pocket for a more open minded, alternative medicine doc. Insurance sucks. The only docs on those lists are the ones that the big pharm companies want.
Right now I'm supposed to come back in 30 days and do more bloodwork just to see if anything comes back different. I am going to push for a few more tests that would rule out or confirm autoimmune thyroiditis. I also learned from my sis that caffeine can mess up test results (it lowers your TSH level which is one thing they look at) so I'm trying to quit caffeine before my next bloodwork.
I have gone from drinking over 200 mg of caffeine (2 cups of coffee) to about 60 mg (2 cups of yerba mate/green tea). I hope to be able to cut out completely but I'm not sure I can do that. I would just sleep all day without something to get me going.
From what I've read, getting treated for my hypo, won't be an easy fix for the weight gain, unfortunately (although it will level the playing field for me). It is going to be a long road back to training my body how to properly store and release fats, handle blood sugar etc etc again. I've got some really good books and am doing the research, but it is going to be some major work. If y'all thought I was a nutrition nazi before, I'm going uber-nutritional now. And (gasp) I might even try a supplement or two...
It is time for health and healing.
Oh and yeah for the coming Spring! Cold weather puts extra strain on the thyroid because the body has to work harder to maintain proper body temp, so with warmer weather my symptoms should ease up a bit because my body can make do with less thyroid hormones.
3/6/06 Saved for posterity
EDIT as I compile these for the new blog: Some more Live Journal musings on the crazy state of my mental health and the ordeal I had gone through over the past year as my health declined.
March 6, 2006 Saved for posterity.....
I'M CRAZY
I'm dealing with Avoidant Personality Disorder. (I have never been diagnosed and am not on any meds for this, but some of my relatives are similarly afflicted, some to a greater degree than others, and I recognize the symptoms in myself). Most of the time I'm a go- getter, confident, fearless, able to push myself and force myself beyond this. But occasionally I can be taken over by my natural inclinations and I feel reclusive, fearful, and incompetent to the point where I'll avoid making simple phone calls and can't even write a check at the grocery store without feeling flustered and inept. This quote describes me and my plight ,"These individuals are distracted by their own extraordinary sensitivity to subtleties of tone and feeling; they are hyperalert to the meaning of emotive communication. Their thought processes are interfered with by flooding of irrelevant environmental details." Most days overall though, I'm a fairly normal person. I just try to keep this in check when I recognize it happening. Some days it is harder than others. This can at times affect my ability to interact with others, even friends and family. Close personal friendships and intimacy are a constant challenge for me, as my auto-pilot is set for distraction, avoidance, and withdrawal. I continually suppress and ignore these automatic directives and am usually successful at doing so, but occasionally they still manage to manifest themselves before I'm aware. Within the past year, I have come to terms with the full acknowledgement of all these crazy traits in myself, having admitted them outloud to my husband (who of course already knew). I knew for quite some time as well, but never allowed myself to voice the truth or to look at it in the light of day. The past year has been one of self discovery and personal growth.
March 6, 2006 Saved for posterity.....
I'M CRAZY
I'm dealing with Avoidant Personality Disorder. (I have never been diagnosed and am not on any meds for this, but some of my relatives are similarly afflicted, some to a greater degree than others, and I recognize the symptoms in myself). Most of the time I'm a go- getter, confident, fearless, able to push myself and force myself beyond this. But occasionally I can be taken over by my natural inclinations and I feel reclusive, fearful, and incompetent to the point where I'll avoid making simple phone calls and can't even write a check at the grocery store without feeling flustered and inept. This quote describes me and my plight ,"These individuals are distracted by their own extraordinary sensitivity to subtleties of tone and feeling; they are hyperalert to the meaning of emotive communication. Their thought processes are interfered with by flooding of irrelevant environmental details." Most days overall though, I'm a fairly normal person. I just try to keep this in check when I recognize it happening. Some days it is harder than others. This can at times affect my ability to interact with others, even friends and family. Close personal friendships and intimacy are a constant challenge for me, as my auto-pilot is set for distraction, avoidance, and withdrawal. I continually suppress and ignore these automatic directives and am usually successful at doing so, but occasionally they still manage to manifest themselves before I'm aware. Within the past year, I have come to terms with the full acknowledgement of all these crazy traits in myself, having admitted them outloud to my husband (who of course already knew). I knew for quite some time as well, but never allowed myself to voice the truth or to look at it in the light of day. The past year has been one of self discovery and personal growth.
3/3/06 Hypothyroidism
EDIT as I compile these for the new blog: This is a post from my Live Journal when I was discovering that my symptoms were consistent with hypothyroidism and was in the process of getting formally diagnosed. It is interesting how I initially felt that this was something that I couldn't treat with nutrition and that I would be on meds for life. How ironic that in the end my cure was in fact nutrition and I've never taken any meds.
Of course the comments about fighting the status quo and the mainstream are interesting too, LOL. SCD as a treatment for our issues is definitely a fight against conventional medical thought! I didn't know just how big the fight I would sign up for would turn out to be in the end. :-)
March 3, 2006 Hypothyroidism: A post I wrote a week or so ago, but didn't have access to post until now (we have internet connection ago, woohoo!!!)
So I finally have the answer to why I feel so old lately. Why my hair has become so dry and tangly, why my skin is so dry it hurts, why my feet and hands are so cold all of the time, why I’m so damn tired and sluggish and live on coffee, why I gained 50 lbs and went from a cute and curvy size 10 to a floppy and jiggly size 18 in a 10 month period, why my hips and knees ache and burn, why my muscles feel so weak, why my complexion sucks, why I don’t feel hungry until many hours after I wake up, why my temperature is freakishly low, why I’ve struggled with depression and anxiety, even why I made so much excess milk when breastfeeding my babies……. It is all my thyroid. I have hypothyroidism. Apparently it runs in my family….mom, grandma and countless others back through the generations.
So now I’m reading everything I can on the subject. This battle isn’t going to be fun. Managing dosage levels is an ever-constant battle, you have to take over for the feedback system that your body would do itself if things were working right, constantly adjusting dosage up and down to optimize relief of symptoms. And it is going to take a doc who is up to date and well experienced in treating hypothyroidism or willing to become so. I’m hoping my current doc works out because I actually like him.
Me, the guru of nutrition, who believed that nutrition could prevent and/or cure almost any ailment, is now going to be on meds for the rest of her life. But at least I will get my life back. At least I know why I feel like an old lady all of a sudden. Turning 30 for me was like suddenly turning 50. I’m hopeful that with proper treatment, I can feel 30 again. But what lies ahead in trying to find the right meds and dosage to make me really feel better? How many docs will I go through? Can we afford what I need to get normal? How long will it take to reach some level of relief?
It is hard not to feel daunted and depressed by all of this. Why does everything I do have to be such a battle? Why can’t I do anything normal? It seems that at every turn of my life I’m finding some forgotten truths about things that the mainstream just ignores or is only beginning to re-embrace. Childbirth, breastfeeding, baby-wearing, co-sleeping, nutrition, the list goes on and on. At every turn I’m encountering some alternative knowledge that makes sense to me and I have to battle and fight to do things my way. This is no different. I can’t sit back and let my hypothyroidism go undiagnosed; I have to find a doc who understands; I have to fight for treatment options and full optimization of my life. Once again I’m fighting a battle, challenging the status quo, fighting the mainstream, only this time I’m so tired and worn out that I fear the fight isn’t in me anymore.
When did I sign up to walk the path of a wisdom keeper anyway?
Update 3/3/06: well, no surprise here, this is going to be even a bigger battle than I originally thought. My TSH is technically within the range of normal for people with healthy thyroids. Only problem is, according to my reading, you can still exhibit hypothyroid symptoms in that normal range. Dr. F did say he might start me on thyroid treatment even if the TSH comes back normal (because my symptoms are so consistent with low thyroid), but I don’t know how far he is willing to go in experimenting with different drugs and dosages, and I know he flat out won’t prescribe me Armour, which many people claim is the one that worked the best for them. (armour isn’t synthetic and comes from pigs and is viewed by most docs, including F, as just a waste product from the slaughterhouses). All, I know is that my symptoms are clearly hypo and I won’t stop searching for someone who believes me and who will experiment with all the treatment options with me. There is a list of doctors that know that TSH doesn’t tell the whole story and believe that Armour can make a difference in some people when other meds have failed, but none of them are on my insurance network. If I hit a dead end with Dr. F, this is going to get costly. Next step will be to see if I can get him to check antibodies for autoimmune thyroiditis.
Of course the comments about fighting the status quo and the mainstream are interesting too, LOL. SCD as a treatment for our issues is definitely a fight against conventional medical thought! I didn't know just how big the fight I would sign up for would turn out to be in the end. :-)
March 3, 2006 Hypothyroidism: A post I wrote a week or so ago, but didn't have access to post until now (we have internet connection ago, woohoo!!!)
So I finally have the answer to why I feel so old lately. Why my hair has become so dry and tangly, why my skin is so dry it hurts, why my feet and hands are so cold all of the time, why I’m so damn tired and sluggish and live on coffee, why I gained 50 lbs and went from a cute and curvy size 10 to a floppy and jiggly size 18 in a 10 month period, why my hips and knees ache and burn, why my muscles feel so weak, why my complexion sucks, why I don’t feel hungry until many hours after I wake up, why my temperature is freakishly low, why I’ve struggled with depression and anxiety, even why I made so much excess milk when breastfeeding my babies……. It is all my thyroid. I have hypothyroidism. Apparently it runs in my family….mom, grandma and countless others back through the generations.
So now I’m reading everything I can on the subject. This battle isn’t going to be fun. Managing dosage levels is an ever-constant battle, you have to take over for the feedback system that your body would do itself if things were working right, constantly adjusting dosage up and down to optimize relief of symptoms. And it is going to take a doc who is up to date and well experienced in treating hypothyroidism or willing to become so. I’m hoping my current doc works out because I actually like him.
Me, the guru of nutrition, who believed that nutrition could prevent and/or cure almost any ailment, is now going to be on meds for the rest of her life. But at least I will get my life back. At least I know why I feel like an old lady all of a sudden. Turning 30 for me was like suddenly turning 50. I’m hopeful that with proper treatment, I can feel 30 again. But what lies ahead in trying to find the right meds and dosage to make me really feel better? How many docs will I go through? Can we afford what I need to get normal? How long will it take to reach some level of relief?
It is hard not to feel daunted and depressed by all of this. Why does everything I do have to be such a battle? Why can’t I do anything normal? It seems that at every turn of my life I’m finding some forgotten truths about things that the mainstream just ignores or is only beginning to re-embrace. Childbirth, breastfeeding, baby-wearing, co-sleeping, nutrition, the list goes on and on. At every turn I’m encountering some alternative knowledge that makes sense to me and I have to battle and fight to do things my way. This is no different. I can’t sit back and let my hypothyroidism go undiagnosed; I have to find a doc who understands; I have to fight for treatment options and full optimization of my life. Once again I’m fighting a battle, challenging the status quo, fighting the mainstream, only this time I’m so tired and worn out that I fear the fight isn’t in me anymore.
When did I sign up to walk the path of a wisdom keeper anyway?
Update 3/3/06: well, no surprise here, this is going to be even a bigger battle than I originally thought. My TSH is technically within the range of normal for people with healthy thyroids. Only problem is, according to my reading, you can still exhibit hypothyroid symptoms in that normal range. Dr. F did say he might start me on thyroid treatment even if the TSH comes back normal (because my symptoms are so consistent with low thyroid), but I don’t know how far he is willing to go in experimenting with different drugs and dosages, and I know he flat out won’t prescribe me Armour, which many people claim is the one that worked the best for them. (armour isn’t synthetic and comes from pigs and is viewed by most docs, including F, as just a waste product from the slaughterhouses). All, I know is that my symptoms are clearly hypo and I won’t stop searching for someone who believes me and who will experiment with all the treatment options with me. There is a list of doctors that know that TSH doesn’t tell the whole story and believe that Armour can make a difference in some people when other meds have failed, but none of them are on my insurance network. If I hit a dead end with Dr. F, this is going to get costly. Next step will be to see if I can get him to check antibodies for autoimmune thyroiditis.
March 2006 photo journal
March 2006
Losing
Weight: 182.
Jean size: 18.
My first step towards better health was discovering the Schwarzbein Principle. A plan for healing metabolism written by Dr. Diana Schwarzbein. Basic concept is to help balance the endocrine system through nutrition; you eat healthy, unprocessed, and balanced meals. This helped me to learn exactly what my protein and carb needs were and what a balanced meal was. I started following her advice very strictly towards the end of March and I switched from coffee to no more than two cups of green tea a day. I was already eating whole, unprocessed foods, but balancing fats, carbs, and protein and eating 5-6 times a day was something I was not doing prior to this.
I had no appetite prior to this. I would go half of the day with no desire or energy to make myself food, then I would get so low on energy and suddenly need food, then I would eat a big meal. When I started Schwarzbein's plan, I had to literally force myself to eat breakfast and to snack regularly throughout the day.
Her books also helped me to learn that my adrenal glands were severely burned out from all my sugar, caffeine, etc useage while I tried to cope with the thyroid symptoms. Schwarzbein's balanced nutrition lifestyle made a big difference in my energy levels and mood but I still felt like I was missing a piece of the puzzle. Her books luckily also gave me the first glimmer that gluten may be problematic for some people. I began to experiment with removing gluten from the diet to see if I was sensitive to it or not.
Spring was defrosting me from my hibernation. My aches and pains were also returning to a dull ache.
Originally posted July 10, 2006
Losing
Weight: 182.
Jean size: 18.
My first step towards better health was discovering the Schwarzbein Principle. A plan for healing metabolism written by Dr. Diana Schwarzbein. Basic concept is to help balance the endocrine system through nutrition; you eat healthy, unprocessed, and balanced meals. This helped me to learn exactly what my protein and carb needs were and what a balanced meal was. I started following her advice very strictly towards the end of March and I switched from coffee to no more than two cups of green tea a day. I was already eating whole, unprocessed foods, but balancing fats, carbs, and protein and eating 5-6 times a day was something I was not doing prior to this.
I had no appetite prior to this. I would go half of the day with no desire or energy to make myself food, then I would get so low on energy and suddenly need food, then I would eat a big meal. When I started Schwarzbein's plan, I had to literally force myself to eat breakfast and to snack regularly throughout the day.
Her books also helped me to learn that my adrenal glands were severely burned out from all my sugar, caffeine, etc useage while I tried to cope with the thyroid symptoms. Schwarzbein's balanced nutrition lifestyle made a big difference in my energy levels and mood but I still felt like I was missing a piece of the puzzle. Her books luckily also gave me the first glimmer that gluten may be problematic for some people. I began to experiment with removing gluten from the diet to see if I was sensitive to it or not.
Spring was defrosting me from my hibernation. My aches and pains were also returning to a dull ache.
Originally posted July 10, 2006
Feb 2006 photo journal
February 2006 (no picture, this one is actually from January)
Losing
Weight: 186
Jean size: 18.
First doctor appt. was in February, initial thyroid tests normal.
During this time we had moved away from the store where I usually bought our sprouted grain breads. This unknowingly reduced my consumption of gluten, although I occasionally still bought some from time to time. Also due to finances, we had stopped buying and drinking raw milk.
Originally posted July 10, 2006
Losing
Weight: 186
Jean size: 18.
First doctor appt. was in February, initial thyroid tests normal.
During this time we had moved away from the store where I usually bought our sprouted grain breads. This unknowingly reduced my consumption of gluten, although I occasionally still bought some from time to time. Also due to finances, we had stopped buying and drinking raw milk.
Originally posted July 10, 2006
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
