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Diet: (noun)

A way of living, or thinking, a day's journey.

Friday, April 23, 2010

So Guess What?

I have been diagnosed with Hypothyroidism.

For the past 2 months, I have been noticing some changes with myself. I can't seem to wake up at my normal morning wake up time (4:30-5am). Hell, I can't even wake up at 6am or 7am... I have a hard time getting up at 8am but I force myself to do so! Crazy right!
Other than my excessive sleep patterns (in which I have been diagnosing myself with laziness!) ;) I have also been noticing weight gain. Now mind you, I am extremely active, I eat a clean vegan diet and I am gaining weight! For the past year, I have not been able to get my weight under 150 Pounds to save my life... It's been a battle, it's been frustrating and it's wearing on me.
So while training for my first Figure Show and not losing a single pound or dropping any body fat with all the extreme dieting, my personal trainer at the time quit on me... and I quit on him.
It was mind boggling.
Since then I have been eating clean. I eat 100% Vegan and include a lot of Raw goodness in my diet. I consider my diet to be very healthy and SUPERHERO-Like ;)
I've been told by many close friends that I should go get my thyroid checked. I put the idea to the side and still tried to do things "my way." I put myself on 100% Raw Food cycles of 3-7 days at a time, continued to exercise... was continually dropping energy and still gaining weight. I sought out advice from a close friend and mentor to me and she advised me to get my damn thyroid CHECKED!!! Lol...
Ughh ok!!! I'll get it checked!!
A month went by and I finally went to a Dr. that another friend strongly recommended.
I was sent to get my blood work done... which let me tell you, I HATE BLOOD WORK!!!!!! I use to pass out EVERY time I gave blood, now I just cry, breath deep, turn pale and pasty looking but stay awake to feel EVERYTHING and experience it all!! What the hell happened?!?!? Why can't I just PASS OUT anymore and get out of the situation!!! LOL!! But I know, this is a step forward, I'm getting better... I guess... ;)
I had SIX vials of blood taken from me. I was a mess!
So anyway, the tests came back the following day and during my Dr. visit I was diagnosed with Hypothyroidism and low DHEA (sub optimal DHEA levels). Everything else; cholesterol, cortisol, cardiac risk ratio, triglycerides, and my blood sugar levels were all really good.
So my treatments: DHEA hormone cream x 45 days then re-test levels and 1gm Nature-Throid tablet a day for 8 weeks then re-test.
My TSH (Thyroid Stimulating Hormone/High) is at 4.69. Normal levels should be between 0.35-2.1 So you see how far I am off the chart. In my tablets, I am getting one part fT4 to two parts fT3.
It's all a little crazy, but this a step forward in the right direction. I don't like the idea of taking the prescription because I don't take medicine for anything! If I have a headache (which I've had a lot lately) I just let it do its thing, I never reach for Tylenol. I believe food and our diet will fix our bodies... this thyroid has just got me so stumbled that I don't know what to do but try the prescription and go from there.
I was reading that taking the Hypothyroid medication is LIFE LONG... But I couldn't possibly take this for the rest of my life... there has to be another answer.

On top of me finding out I have this thyroid issue, the Dr. also gave me a B12 shot and I am on B12 sublingual drops. I'm on added Calcium and have cut all gluten out of my diet. My Dr. assumes I may have a gluten sensitivity, so we'll see.

So that's about it, that sums up my week for you! Ha ha ... It has been a busy week and extremely tiring. Today is day 2 on my Nature-Throid... so we'll see how this goes. Today I weighed in at 159 :( Yikes!! But it's ok!! It's OK!!!