More Energy!

Hello all.  I started taking ThyroGold last Thursday, so it has been almost a full week.  This medication has made SUCH a difference in the short amount of time I've been taking it.  It technically is a supplement, since it is purchased over-the-counter, but it works just as the prescription natural dessicated thyroid hormones. Therefore, do not take this supplement unless you know your lab numbers and are sure that you have hypothyroidism.  Yesterday was the first day that I felt GREAT! I do feel my body start to crash when it's time for my second dose though (I split my ThyroGold dose in two - one first thing in the morning, and the other around 3 pm).  Today was the first day I attempted to exercise since taking this new medication.  I decided to do low impact exercises for now, so I started Denise Austin's Shrink Your Fat Zones: Pilates. I'm going to follow their 21 day suggested routine, which is 2 of the 3 workouts from the dvd per day for a total of 30 minutes of exercise for the first 2 weeks, then all three workouts for the last week (45 minutes total).  Today I did the abs and upper body workouts. I didn't quite finish the upper body, but I decided that it's super important for me to listen to my body so that I don't do more harm than good.

I strongly suspect that I have adrenal fatigue.  I ordered the STTM 24 hr Saliva Cortisol test, which will hopefully come in soon.  This will tell me for sure, then I can bring the results to my doctor for appropriate treatment.  Until then, I will just ease into the Pilates.

The good news though, is that I didn't gain any weight this past week, even though I didn't exercise! I'm still at 223.2.  I also got my wedding dress in, and as of right now it doesn't need any alterations.  Since the dress is a corset back, I should be able to lose another 15-20 pounds and hopefully not have to alter it (unless I lose the weight in my boobs, then it will need alterations lol).  I will be doing my measurements on Friday, so hopefully I will see some inches lost.  I did put a pair of work pants on the other day, and they are a bit looser!

Much Better!

So I've been doing much better as far as exercising goes.  I actually was able to workout a total of 5 days last week! I'm down to 223.2 lbs!! It's mainly water weight though.  I realized exactly how puffy I was from water retention, so I started taking my blood pressure med again. It definitely gave me a big whoosh.  I've still been feeling horrible in regards to symptoms of crazy thyroid hormones. This new medication is NOT working, so I ordered ThyroGold to use until I can find a doctor to prescribe the natural thyroid hormone.  I'm really hoping it will come in soon, as I NEED to start feeling better before I go back to work (which is in 2 weeks).  My eating has been mostly on plan, until yesterday.  I completely went off yesterday.

I have noticed that retail therapy helps much more than eating when I'm emotional.  Great for my waistline, not so great for my bank account lol.  My most recent purchase is from Erin Condren. She has a great line of products to help with organization.  I already own the Teacher Planner and the Life Planner.  One of the ways I use my Life Planner is as a weight loss tool.  I have a page for keeping weight records and I use the side of the monthly spread for monthly measurements. I also have pages for meal planning and an exercise schedule. Today I bought 2 notebooks.  One will be for work, and the other will be to track my symptoms and any new info I have to share with my doctor.  I can't wait to get them in!

Check out the link below. If you sign up through this link you get $10 off your first purchase!If you'd like more information, there are plenty of YouTube videos about the planners. It is definitely worth the money! Remember: You only get the $10 off if you sign up through the following link!

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Better Now!

Wow, I really need to get better at updating.  I've been doing much better with staying on schedule lately.  So far this week, I've actually exercised every day.  Monday I did 30 minutes on the treadmill, yesterday I did upper body weight training with my fiance, and today another 30 minutes on the treadmill.  When I'm on the treadmill I use the per-programmed workouts, so it's intervals of various speeds.  I think the problem before was that Zumba was just a little too much for me right now. I would be absolutely wiped out and take days to recover.  I don't have that problem with the treadmill.  I'm still tired after, but it only takes a couple hours to recover.  I've been doing okay food wise as well.  Not perfect, but much better than before.  We went from eating fast food for dinner about 4-5 nights per week, to only getting it maybe 1-2 every two weeks.  I'm really hoping I can keep this up once I start back at work in August.  My weight this morning was 228.6, so I'm still having trouble keeping the weight off.  I'm hoping that consistent exercise will help with that.  My fiance, on the other hand, has lost about 10 pounds in 2.5 weeks while doing hardly any cardio! He does work with weights for about 15-20 minutes 5-6 days a week though.

 As for my thyroid disease: So far I think that Tirosint is working better for me than Synthroid, but I still want to try the natural dessicated thyroid medication and low dose naltrexone.  I keep reading that that combination rids people of almost all symptoms and their hormone levels become optimal.  I still have to take naps every now and then to get through the day (normally around 1 or 2 in the afternoon I crash).  Most days I try to fight it, but I'm not always able to.  I've also been feeling really anxious, but I know exactly what's causing that.  I had something unexpected come up Monday afternoon, and visited this person yesterday.  Think good thoughts for me that this works out the way I'd like please!!  It is something that would definitely relieve a lot of stress from my life!

Trying Not to Drown

So as I mentioned in the previous post, I still have not exercised since returning from the camping trip. I also still trying to get my eating under control.  I am definitely an emotional eater.  Not only am I currently dealing with moderate cramping, I went to my endocrinologist yesterday to discuss my most recent test results and explain to her all of my symptoms.  Luckily, she did listen to the fact that I feel like crap even though my test results are considered by most doctors to be "normal" (except for the antibodies, which are really high).  I asked to be taken off of Synthroid and put on Armour (Natural Dessicated Thyroid that comes from pigs and contains all of the thyroid hormones instead of only T4). Unfortunately, this doctor doesn't like to work with Armour. She wants me to try another synthetic T4 only medication called Tirosint since many of her patients have done better on this than Synthroid.  The only plus to this one is that it has no additives or fillers.  It is also liquid capsule, so my body should absorb it better.  I'm giving this one a try for 2 months, and if I'm not happy with the results my doctor said she will send me to someone who does work with Armour.  I'm really hoping I will see a difference on Tirosint, but the major downfall is that it costs $55 per 28 day supply.  I guess at this point I will pay almost anything to feel better.

I started taking the Tirosint today, so all I can do is wait and see if I have an increase in energy.  I want to be healthy and lost weight, but every time I try to exercise I am completely exhausted and end up in a lot of pain.  I then end up doing absolutely nothing for the next few days as I try to recover.  I think I'm going to schedule an appointment with a holistic doctor to try to come up with a better solution and compare the two doctors' opinions.  I probably won't be able to get an appointment with one anyway until after my next round of tests anyway.    I feel like I'm barely keeping my head above water at this point.

Post Camping Weekend

So far, not so good.  I still haven't mustered up the energy to exercise while at home, which of course makes me feel super guilty.  I went camping with my family for the 4th of July, which meant eating not-so-good-for-you food.  I did get some hiking in though.  We did one trail Friday afternoon that was about 3 miles.  I was in soooo much pain after that hike, and because of the pain didn't sleep well at all (worse than usual).  Midday Saturday we visited the nature center museum and walked the nature center trail. I can't remember how long that one was supposed to be, but it definitely wasn't more than a mile.  I started off feeling okay, just a little stiff, and thought that it might be good to do the trail and stretch my muscles.  Oh wow was I wrong.  I was in more pain by the end of that hike than I was the day before.  My fiance, my brother, and I decided to relax and watch a movie when we got back to the camper.  Some of the pain went away for a little while, but returned when I got up.  We spent the rest of the daylight hours just sitting outside and talking. The men cooked steak and potatoes and my mom made homemade ice cream.  Once it was completely dark outside, we went on a night hike (boardwalks only since we were in the swamp and didn't feel like running into snakes that we wouldn't be able to see).  It wasn't nearly as hot outside as the previous hikes, and I think that helped a bit to not tire me out as much.  We also walked these a lot slower since we were looking for wildlife.  I was hurting, but was at least able to walk like a normal human being.  All we ended up seeing was an armadillo and A LOT of wolf spiders.  The spiders were all over the railings, just waiting for some yummy insects to get close enough for dinner.  I think the total length of the two trails was about 1.5 miles.  When we returned home Sunday, I ended up only being up a pound.  This isn't too bad considering I ate pretty badly, was sore, and that TOM was about to arrive (was feeling super bloated).

Days 2 & 3

Yesterday didn't go exactly as planned. I ate more than I should have and didn't exercise due to me getting my thyroid test results back.  I ended up spending most of the day researching what I should be asking and requesting from my endocrinologist.  I was successful with staying away from soft drinks though! I had gotten in the habit of choosing diet soft drinks over water.  I ended up still being 2 pounds down though! So now at 228 pounds.

Still didn't exercise yet today.  I'm so exhausted. I ended up sleeping about 10 hours last night, and it was still extremely hard to get up.  I'm going to try to get in some weight training this afternoon after I do some cleaning and before I cook dinner.  Doing well with food so far today, and am doing grilled chicken with glazed carrots for dinner.

I should be burning a lot of calories this weekend. I'm going camping and this state park has lot of trails that I love. I can't wait for the mini-getaway!