Saturday, March 24, 2012

The Thyroid connected to everything bone.. or maybe I should say body.

This week I had my appointment with my endocrinologist.   These appointments always make me nervous, only because I never know what is going to pop up next.     The doctors office  I go is really awesome in the sense that before you go in for you appointment they have pretty much emailed you lab results from your previous visit.     The previous lab results indicate that my TSH was right on  target, my PTH still wacky and high, every else normal.. except ..............   My A1C level was on the high side of normal.    What is A1C well it is a blood test the measures your blood glucose level over the past 2-3 months.     The last time I went to the endocrinologist he told me that he was going to be monitoring my sugar levels.   Why,  I asked??? Well because apparently people with thyroid disorders and people without thyroid are have increased risk of developing diabetes.  Ugh, one more thing to freak out about.     Well at the appointment I had this week, I asked him what does that mean my A1c is normal but high and that I am at risk for developing diabetes.  He said, I didn't have diabetes, nor pre-diabetes but that I really need to monitor my carb intake and make sure I am exercising.    I told him exercise is typically not a problem except for now that my ankle is sprained, but watching carbs.. oh  I love carbs and that is so hard for me to do.     He informed me of a one day class they were having on weight management and  I told him I was interested in going.  The nutritionist gave us some useful information, nothing I haven't heard before but it doesn't hurt to hear it again and again and again.    Then because I have decided that I really want to prevent this from happening and that I really need to get very and I mean very serious I went back to weight watchers and had them weigh me in.  I hadn't been since early feb. and luckily I haven't gained, or lost which I think is pretty good considering I hadn't gone is such a long time.      I hadn't been able to go because my bank account got hacked into, so weight watchers had closed my account with them,unfortunately I hadn't had a chance to re-activate it.       Of course, now that I have been forced into seeing that this could be a real health concern if I don't try to do something about it.       I can't say that I have been completely perfect in terms of eating since finding out this information, but I can say that now every time I think about pizza, and pasta and break I find myself thinking about how  I need to limit myself and how these food items could end up causing me some real problems in the future.       
Of course, I am still sitting on edge waiting to find out what this next set of lab results reveal,my endocrinologist did say that he would be running to test again since he is going to be monitoring it.    I am hoping that since I have cut out fast food eating, that maybe I will have a better result.     One thing for sure I learned this week is that prevention is key and that I need to beat this before it beats me.  So on  that note, I am of to do some crunches, and some leg lifts and some arm weights.   

Oh and here are some little facts for those of us out there trying to lose weight.
>>>Cutting back 3,500 calories a weeks can lead to 1 lb of weight loss
>>Exercising at least  240 minutes a week is key to weight loss
>>>Make sure you eat  3 meals a day, no skipping
>>>>>>>For those of us with thyroid issues:  the nutritionist did tell me that she often find that many of us try to skimp on calories to promote weight loss, and this is not good because you end up not eating enough and your body just holds onto fat.   So make sure you get in anywhere from 1,200-1,500 calories a day for women. For men 1,600-2,000
>>> Eat, not -starchy veggies
>>>document everything you put in your mouth.

2 comments:

  1. i sure know what you mean about appointment anxiety! and you are right about the thyroid/diabetes connection. they are both auto-immune disorders and i have seen in my practice, so many people who have both disorders. good advice about carbs and exercise! good luck with your other blood work results!

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  2. Thanks!! Since this post I have been more cautious about what I am eating and feel so much better about eating healthy.

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