Hashimotos fluffiness .. booo hiss !

  Let me just be honest and say,  I have had the hardest time getting on track. It's like I decided to let loose and now I am sitting her going what did I do to myself.     I keep getting on track and then falling off of it.   I know it has to do with me just wanting to be like everyone else.  I want to be able to eat whatever I want and be able to work it off.    I have been keeping up with my workouts,   despite having to take some time off due to hip flexor and IT band injury. but even at that I still managed to turn into one big marshmallow fluff.        

I had noticed my fluffiness creeping back on slow and steady, expanding just like Marshmallow's do they spread and puff.   My stomach looks like a big Marshamallow puff, and while you might think I am exaggerting or that I am being hard on myself, well pictures speak 1,000 words and this is where I see it the most.   How I let myself get this this point I don't know,  I know better, but hey sometimes we want to live life to the fullest right !     As upset as I am, I have  decided to use this feeling as my starting point.  I have been monitoring what I have been eating ,and have gone back to cutting out gluten 100% .     Believe it or not,  within just a couple days of being gluten free my fluffiness has started to subside.    Don't get me wrong, I am not completely fluff free but  it's a start.   

I must keep on track, and  I know I will be going out of town very soon, and will more than likely engage in naughty eating habits, but I am only going to allow myself to enjoy myself while there and then come back and get right back into the swing of things.        

You may wonder why I am being so though on myself and is it really necessary to cut out certain foods, well the answer is I truly don't know.  I do know however , that I see  results when I don't eat gluten.  My energy level is better and I have less fluffiness.    

 I am not saying to run out and go purchase all kinds of gluten free items and eat processed foods.  I am saying what we should be focusing on is eating as much unprocessed foods as we can, and those foods more than likely would be gluten free (for example: vegetables and fruit).    I think just from my personal experience, I have determined that in order for me to eliminate some of the side effects of having Hashimotos,   I must feed my body the best nutrients I can.  I think in order for my body to get these nutrients, I need to make it easy for my body to not have to shuffle through the junk.     

I am obviously no expert in the area but it makes sense to me. Those of us with autoimmune disorders such as Hashimotos are already having to fight our own bodies, so why make our body fight against things that are considered "foreign"  when we can perhaps help our body.

I know this isn't a cure, but it won't hurt to try.   Unfortunately, I haven't come across much medical evidence in regards to the gluten and Hashimotos connection from the "Traditional" medicine standpoint, but I have seen information from the Holistic standpoint.   I personally believe there is not one single answer, and we have to do what we feel is best for us.        

So on that note,  I hope that next time I blog about fluffiness it's that I have reduced it and not increased it again!     With that, I hope everyone is doing well, and keep your head up. We are all fighters and together we can do this!

      

Food allergies and Thyroid is there a connection?

Hello everyone,

I know it's been a while since I have posted.    As usual, I got very busy with work and school!  I have a break form school right now so I decided it would be a good time to write something. I wanted to share my question, see if anyone has an answer, so here it goes!
  As we all know problems with the thyroid often means problems with something else.   Well, I have now discovered a new problem.    Sometimes I feel like I should be my own experiment,  just when you think you have things under control you are given a present.  A present that throws you off, and reminds you that you aren't under control, and that you aren't "normal"!      Don't you just love those kinds of presents, they are kind of like little reality checks, like ha ha I got you now!!!  But,  I refuse to let this presents take a hold of me, instead I am on a mission to figure them out!
Before I present my hypothesis that I need to research let me give you a little background.

   It was probably around February that I started getting itchy skin.   I wasn't concerned at first, because in the winter (well what is considered winter for Texas), my skin gets itchy and dry so I thought it was just my yearly itchy skin.    Fast forward to March,  and I was still itchy!   Figured it was probably just stress.   Around the same time a friend of mine who also doesn't have a thyroid was also experiencing itchy skin.  She went to the allergist and low and behold some food allergies were discovered.    I continued about my way, scratching and scratching noticing little bumps on my skin but being the stubborn mule that I am I just chose to ignore.    Until, one day after eating a snack pack of mixed nuts I noticed hive like bumps.    Uh-oh, maybe I am allergic to nuts, no not me I always eat nuts never had a problem.   I LOVE nuts, it can't be that.     After being convinced be a family member that maybe I should get checked just in case, off I went to the allergist.       I discovered I now have several food allergies: rice, egg white, pistachios, cashews, yeast, and salmon.   Yeast and Salmon have come up before but I don't eat Salmon and yeast is in everything so I typically avoided yeast rolls and stuff just seems like it would be filled with more yeast then normal,  but now my list got longer!             I was given a epi-pen just in case, and told to keep a food journal and write down my reaction to foods.   I was told to pick one category and if I continued to itch then move to another category.   So, I started with eliminating nuts ( not just the ones that came up positive , but all nuts) .   In case your wondering why I eliminated all nuts, well one because I got freaked out with the thought that a nut could send me into shock, and two because of cross contamination.      Hip Hip Hooray, eliminating nuts has helped tremendously, but I have noticed some itchy skin reactions with eggs , and also beer.     I am now starting to convince myself to eliminate eggs, and more yeast from my diet.         It's not easy, but if it means feeling better then one step at a time right?       Of course, I am also trying to figure out if it's in my head, or if it really is making me itch!

So,with these food allergies comes questions.  My friends and family have said that's so weird that you would get all these food allergies, and then they typically follow up with a question.  Is that normal, for adults to get allergies?    My answer, thanks to google and a little bit of  "research" : why yes people can develop allergies at any age, they can also be allergic at one point in their lives to something and then no longer allergic.            

Being the curious person that I am, I have now developed a hypothesis or maybe it's more of a research question.   
Remember back to when I said my friend also developed some food allergies around the same time, surprisingly one of her allergies is also rice.      So,  I started thinking hmm is their a connection between being thyroidless and developing allergies?       Maybe, but she doesn't have Hashimotos, but maybe there is something some kind of connection.    Of course I got on google right away and started hunting for an answer.  Unfortunately,    I didn't come across much information.  This could be because it was a quick hunt, and I haven't had much time to really "research" this.       Then from there I started thinking, really thinking.   If Hashimotos is an autoimmune disease that attacks your thyroid then maybe ,just maybe since I don't have a thyroid anymore my body has decided to attack food??       Some people say, well yeah but no thyroid means you don't have Hashimotos anymore: WRONG!!!  Most things I have read say taking out your thyroid doesn't mean Hashimotos goes away.   Oh!!!!!!! is the reaction I get when I say that.       So what about my friend the one who doesn't have a thyroid and doesn't have Hashimotos, well that goes back to my original question. Is there a connection to food allergies and no thyroid or thyroid problems for that matter?      I do plan to do some google research on this, I am sure there are others out there, or maybe no one has really looked into this.     Either way, I think it worth looking into!    

Any of you thyroidless friends or thyroid issue friends noticed any new food allergies? If so, have you found any info on this?  Please share, I am very curious!

Shedding hair,to bad it's not pounds

One of the things that often accompanies thyroid problem is hair loss.    This is something that really bothers me.    I used to have nice thick curly hair, which sometimes  I do have to admit the thickness was annoying.     Although, having my hair thinner is kind of nice, I really hate it that so much of it falls out.      I find hair everywhere, some days more then other's and the longer it gets the more it falls out.     Unfortunately,  thyroid medications don't help because that can be one of the side effects:  hair loss.   TSH level to low, hair loss, TSH level to high, hair loss.   EEEEEEEEEEK!         So,  what's a girl to do, I am tired of feeling like a shedding sheep or dog or cat ha ha.   I really wish weight was that easy to lose.       I have tried some things, but never been consistent enough to know if it actually works, but  for those of you wondering what things may work here is a little bit of information.      

1)  Check your dosage of medication:   I know for me when my dosage was really off, my hair really started falling out more.       I also noticed that I have had less hair loss on Levoxyl vs Synthroid (which due to the recent Levoxyl recall,  I am a little worried about going back on Synthroid)
2)  Evening Primrose Oil :   I have never tried this only because I have had a hard time finding it and there can be side effects as with most things.    
3) Vitamins C and E
4) Biotin ( I did try this for a little while, but I really bad about taking pills so I don't think I saw the full effects)
5)  Ojon  and Aveda have thickening shampoos, again I haven't tried either I have samples of both which I plan to try soon, although I don't know how much benefit I would see from a small sample.
6)   Keeping your hair at a manageable length,  again I have noticed that as my hair gets longer it seems to fall out easier.        Of course my hair is also naturally curly which tends to get a drier a little easier.
7) Fish oil
8) The amino acids: L-lysine and L-arginine can stimulate hair growth.  You can take a supplement, or  by eating foods such as poultry, fish, and legumes
9) coconut oil  , now this I love !!!  You do have to be careful because if you put to much you hair might feel to oil, but just the right amount is great!    It smells good, and maybe it is just me but I do think it does help.  I prefer buying the extra virgin organic it comes in a jar, kind of pricey but hey coconut oil has many uses.       From cooking to skin.. here is a quick list I came across  http://healthimpactnews.com/2011/80-uses-for-coconut-oil/
10)     Rose Water:  I have tried this consistently either because I haven't had a chance to buy some but again it makes your hair smell nice and it has many other benefits.  My hairdresser told me about this one. 


That's about all I can think of right now, if anyone else has any other ideas please share!        I hope this is helpful to all :) 

Prediabetes Scare...

You know how people say sometimes something has to scare you into bettering yourself, well that is exactly what happened to me.     Last Friday, I went to my endocrinologist for my routine thyroid blood work.   As always this makes me nervous for some reason, I guess because  it just takes me back to that place long long ago when I was first diagnosed, and then the surgery, and then recently the parathyroid stuff.   Luckily,  the doctor's office I go to emails you the results from the previous visit, so I always go in there knowing if something is up.  

Well this time they threw me for a major loop!!! Typically, the doctor sees you, goes over what blood test he is running , then they take you to the lab and your done.   Previously, my endocrinologist had informed me that he would be monitoring my A1C levels since thyroid medications can increase your chances of diabetes, not to mention I do have a family member with Diabetes so that increases my chances even more.     In case you are unfamiliar with A1C it is a blood test that is run that measures your blood sugar over a 6-12 week period and gives an average.    The fact that he runs this test, scares me but it also makes me "glad" to know that if something is up they would catch it!

Anyway, this  time they wanted to take me back to the lab to run my blood work before I got to see the doctor.     I went into panic mode, because I know they usually only do this with people who have diabetes that way the doctor will have the results when he sees you.    I immediately freaked and said, why are you bringing me back here, I don't have diabetes, he always sees me first.   The nurse said well,  are you sure ,  I said "Yes, I reviewed my previous blood work and A1C was fine, another nurse walks over and says "So you aren't diabetic?"    Again, in a panic I said no, then she said well go back and sit down and then I heard a whispering ..."It says prediabetic on the chart."   I said no I am not prediabetic either he has never told me that.     Eventually, I went back again so they could go over my medications and stuff, went back to waiting room and then the nurse came out,  they want you to do your blood work before, the chart says prediabetes..   Again, I hit the panic button,   "NO"  I told her my blood work doesn't say that.  The nurse said, "The doctor just wants to run the test, he wants to monitor you"  So off I went.     The remainder of my wait I sat on edge, on the verge of tears thinking why didn't I exercise more, eat healthier,  I don't need any more problems.     Luckily I was put to ease once I actually spoke to my doctor and he said everything was fine.   He reminded me that one time it came out on the high side of normal and out of concern he wanted to monitor me.  I felt like jumping up and screaming,  YIPEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE .  
It was this whole experience that brought me to the realization,  it is time to be very serious.  I escaped this time but what about next time or in the years to come, so with that I called a friend and we decided enough is enough!    I went out and bought a book by Dr. Furman,  I have posted about him before he has another book called "Eat to Live" and he recently came out with a book called "The end of Diabetes",  no I don't have diabetes but I am going to read this book front to back as a preventative measure,  while I will admit his "Eat to Live" plan is a good one, it can be hard to follow as it's focus is mainly on fruits and vegetables, but I think there are some good things that can be take from it. 
So with all this being said,  I am off to go exercise! 

Tears of tiredness, frustration.. ?

Ugh.. these past couple weeks have just been so tiring for me.   Work has been extremly hectic, and I just feel like I haven't had a chance to breathe.     I even had a day last week, where I was just so tired, that I wanted to cry.  Actually, I did get emotional and just go to bed.  I hadn't had a day like that in a while.      I have been working 2 jobs(neither one full-time) , one of which was supposed to be not full-time but because of the shortage of therapist I have been working it full time.  The other job I was actually enjoying,  but it was just to much between the two jobs, oh and taking a class at a local University.  Geez, just talking about it makes me  tired.     Well to make a very long story very short, I decided to quit one of the jobs.  Unfortunatly, it was my part time job, that I was enjoying.   However, the other job although not full-time still provided me with insurance so I decided to keep that one.    I am a bit relieved knowing that soon one thing will be off my plate, but I am stressed about how I am going to make ends meet financially.                

I also had to go to the endorcrinologist last week, and I have to say I felt like I had really dissapointed myself, and him this time.   I had been so busy with work, that I have completely lost my dedication to eating better, and exercising.   I felt embarassed telling him this.    I was also nervous, because he decided to run a test for diabetes, since not having a thyroid and thyroid medication increases your chances of developing it.    Luckily, that came back fine.   My TSH was in the normal range, but I really feel  like I need to call him because while it is normal for most people, it is not where I feel my best at.  I think it was 2.5 and I feel best between 1-1.5.       My calcium was fine, not sure about my vitamin D, but that darn PTH level was escalated.  Actually, the past two times I have gone it has been escalted,  it was going down and I felt happy,  now it is going up and I am not happy.    I just don't know what to do.   I wish there was a way to control it, but I haven't been able to figure that out yet.     I think when it was at it's lowest is when my TSH was almost at 0 and when I wasn't under a lot of stress.    So because I can't exactly put my finger on it, and neither can the doctors, I am going to take some steps to see what happens.     In the past when I would get like this I would buckle down, focus on my eating and get to running, so that will be my solution, my outlet.          I am tired  of being tired, and I am tired of getting teary when I get tired.  It's such a awful feeling, so limiting so time to get mind over matter right??        Well, that's my plan  to push myself and get back to the basics again.      I keep hoping I can get back to the basics, or my basics but like I said work keeps getting in the way.  So enough work, and time to take care of myself.            

I have already taken some steps to get myself on track, and I will not have a choice but to get myself on track  I registered for several races!!!       One is a diabetes run/walk,   one is a Turkey Trot, and the other two I am extremly excited about  :  Color me Rad (I did something similar last year, this should be fun), and  Dirty Girl (another mud run like  I did last year but this one is for women only)     

My next step is to come up with a running, workout schedule and really start focusing on nutrition.   It's a little frustrating that I have leet myself get to this point of truly having to start over, but I need to pick up the pieces and get going or else I am going to be worse off.       

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.

Such is life.. thyroid blues, sore throat, and medication decision???

Hello everyone!!!  I hope everyone in blog world is doing good!!!!  Well I tried my best to not overeat this week since it was birthday... I could have done better, but I could have done worse ha ha!!!!      I ended up getting a sore throat/cold or whatever it is so my workout routine this week went down the drain :(      I did take my dogs for a walk though on Thursday and this morning so  I guess a little exercise is better then no exercise.     I am hoping that this cold go away soon, because I really want to get back on track this week!!!!  I have no excuses!!!    It is also nice that the wheather here in San Antonio seems to be cooling down a couple of degrees!!!!    I  don't know why lately I have been thinking about not having a thyroid so much.   I guess it's because my one year anniversary of having it removed is coming up next week.   It just strange how sometimes things repeat themselves.   Last year around this time I got sick, and it was right before my surgery so I was all stressed out about if my surgery was going to have to be postponed or not.  This year,  I guess all those memories resurfaced because..  I got a cold and it just made me thing of everything.    I guess it's part of being human, but I hate when I start feeling sorry for myself.    I also am trying to decide if I should switch the medication on I am on..  I told my doctor that sometimes the Synthroid makes my stomach upset.. So he told me I could try Levoxyl  because it doesn't have lactose..  Well,  I am hesitant because other then having some stomach troubles I have been feeling pretty good on the Synthroid.. I guess I  just don't want to try the Levoxyl and then go back to that place where I feel like I am struggling with feeling "normal"   ..  but I have been told it's the same medication just diffrent  fillers.. So I have maybe about  7 more pills of synthroid before I need to make a decision!!!!  Ugh.. I hate making decisions and not know what the outcome will be, especially when it has to do with how you feel..   

Testing my synthetic energy

I used the pictures of the green light bulb because it a green light bulb, or it uses alternate energy.  Well too use alternate energy, since I don't have a thyroid I use a hormone called Synthroid. Synthroid is a tiny pill I take everyday and this pill is my energy source amongst many other things.  
This week I have started back at work, so since I had the summer of fit was hard for me to say exactly how I was feeling in terms of my synthroid dosage.    So far I think I have been doing pretty good  in terms of my energy.  I mean, I know I have only been working two days, but for me every day counts!!    Unfortunately, yesterday I had a day that started off really well, and then ended very bad, due to some people being mean.    However, I decided that I would take my anger out on boot camp so off I went, this was another challenge for me because I wasn't sure exactly how my energy would be after being at work a full day and then going to go exercise, but I made it through!!!!    So today I am going to try again, I plan to go to boot camp again tonight and then because I think I have a late meeting tomorrow I will give myself a break from working out tomorrow.     I also want to try and squeeze Zumba in sometime this week so maybe on Thursday or Friday.  I think I am off to a good start in terms of my energy, but I still have another hurdle to jump the kids have not started yet so I am curious to see how my energy will be once I start pulling students for therapy.    I have a doctors appointment  coming up as well, so I guess the blood work well reveal where my levels are.

To infinity and beyond!!

I am back from Colorado, I had a wonderful time, but unfortunatly it's back to reality for me.    I start back at work on Monday,  I need to go back to bootcamp which I know will be absolute torture since I was gone for long, and I need to get really strick with my calorie counting again.    While I was in Colorado we went to a place called Seven Falls.   Well, it was there that I found my ultimate challenge/adventure.    I am a chicken when it comes to heights, but there staring at me right in the face was a set of 224 or 226 stairs to climb if you go all the way to the top.   Well, at first I wasn't going to climb up very high, then I thought to myself I can make it to at least the first level.   So with a little encouragement from my parents, off I went.   About halfway up, I wanted very badly to turn around, I even stopped and told some people that I was getting chicken and didn't want to go up further.  The girl turned around and said, oh I get chicken like that one the way down.   Then they passed me up and off they went,  I used that as a little motivation and thought if they can do this, I most certainly can too.  Sometimes, I question my abilities as to what I can and can't do, I have been doing it more so since having my thyroid removed.     It was then that I became determined to climb up that first flight of stairs, and prove to myself that even though I am lacking a very vital part of my body that I could defeat this monster of stairs. If I can manage to live without a thyroid, then I can manage some metal stairs!!    So once again off I went, and I got to that first level, I felt such a sense of accomplishment and wanted to scream from the top look at me everyone, I did it!!!    I am hoping that I can have this same sense of drive when trying to get back on track now that I am back, but I think if I can just remember the stairs and how I overcame that challenge, then I should be able to get back on track.

  

Getting motivation from a duck!!

Last night I was feeling a little off after I went to bootcamp.  It's one of those thyroidless things that I can't exactly explain.   Well, because I was feeling off, I started to feel sorry for myself, but then I thought  "I need to find something to motivate myself."  So I started looking up athletes without a thyroid, well not much came up there was some info. on Gail Devers, and Carl Lewis I had read that before but it was nice to see it again.  Olympic champions who have thyroid disorders and have won medals, now that is inspiring, but I still was in search of a person who didn't have a thyroid and was being successful and then ... I found it,  my inspiration!!!!!  I came across a youtube video that said.. No thyroid, no Problem so I clicked it and there it was, exactly what I was looking for.  It was a story about a football player who plays for the Oregon Ducks and had his thyroid removed at the age of 8.     He had thyroid cancer at the age of 8, and of course had his thyroid removed but he did not let that stop him, he continues to play football!!!   Now that in my book is amazing, someone who suffered from disease at such a young age, but continued on his path of determination.      I felt so motivated by him, that this morning I got out of bed and went to bootcamp again.   I just thought if this guy can do this, and he has lived the majority of his life without a thyroid and he is okay, then I will be okay too!!!     Anyone who knows me well knows that I love to watch college football especially the Texas Longhorns, but it looks like I will have to add another team to my game watching schedule, I just have to see this guy play!!!