Wednesday, October 23, 2013

Health and Blog Woes



Crayon art by yours truly 
I've had this blog for two or more years now and my consistency with postings is just plain embarrassing. 

The last time I was posting, I felt like I was in a good place. I was focusing on my writing, spreading the creative love so to speak, but I just ran out of juice. 

Things got really weird for me mentally and health wise. I thought I was going into some weird depression. With graduating, stroke recovery, and beginning the daunting job hunting task, I just shut down. And I've been in that shut down mode until recently. 

At the beginning of 2013, I had vowed to finally lose that extra weight I kept packing on, but couldn't seem to have any luck at it. In fact, since January, I've put on 30 pounds. In June, I thought, well this is ridiculous, I have no clothes, and my energy had disappeared. I thought everyone was looking at my new plumpness and assuming I was lazy, that I wasn't trying to do something about it. 

But I was. I tried juicing, cutting out carbs, working out every single day, cutting out sweets and fast-food.

Guess how much weight I lost???

….
….
….

Not a single damn pound. 

As a matter of fact, if I fudged my shoddy exercise routine or broke down and ate some M&Ms, I'd see it on the scale the next day. 

Something wasn't right. Not only was I not losing weight, but I couldn't sustain a basic exercise routine without feeling completely drained. I've always been a pretty active person. Maybe I haven't been in my peak physical condition for a couple years, but I can play sports, run, and seem endlessly energetic. Now, a fifteen minute walk on the treadmill kills me. 

So I went to the doctors. I had a theory based on good ole WebMd and every other google health search I did that my thyroid was possibly to blame. Either that or PCOS, because everyone around me was convinced my ovaries were the culprits. 

After blood work and a visit to the lady doctor who said she couldn't find my cervix (I didn't know cervixes could disappear, but I'm not a doctor), and a month and a half wait, I finally got my answer. 

I have hypothyroidism. My thyroid is a little slow, throwing everything out of whack. 

Now I have to take a hormone supplement. This is only day one, so I don't know how effective it is yet, but I have high hopes. And, I have to go back to a different lady doctor in order to hopefully find my cervix (my regular doctor assured me that it cannot, in fact, disappear). 

As I am now getting my health in order, I think it's time to get everything else back in order as well. Starting with this blog. I will be sharing a lot of my writing and some of my personal life, too, as I start this journey back to feeling like a normal functioning human being. 


Anybody else out there with thyroid problems? Any tips or tricks? What should I be looking forward to if these hormones work? 

2 comments:

  1. In my early 20's I had what I think they call Thyroiditus or "Thyroid Storm" which set me as hypothyroid for years. And it helped DRAMATICALLY. I had originally gone to the doc for help with depression...and being on the hormone really helped. It also helped my metabolism quite a bit. It was great!

    I had to stop taking the meds because I didn't have a doctor due to insurance issues/not having a current RX and when I returned to the doctor my levels tested at normal. I was really surprised because I was actually super sensitive to the meds when I was on them...like I could tell if I needed an adjustment (look forward to lots of blood draws... :/) The doctor that tested me as normal says that sometimes things can balance out. I guess it's rare though. I have been loosing weight and feeling great lately.

    The meds really did help me. You may have to be on them forever...but my opinion was "If it helped, it's worth it." Just know you'll have labs about every 6-12mos while you're on the meds...hope your insurance situation was more stable than mine was! :) Best of luck!

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    1. Thyroid Storm doesn't sound pleasant! I wrote this post about a week and a half ago and so far, I can tell a difference in my energy level. It's messed my sleep up a bit and made it harder to get up in the morning, but I don't take naps anymore, which is great. I also lost about 3 pounds my first week on it, but then my diet kind of went to crap, so that's about it so far.

      I'm glad yours has evened out and that you're losing weight. I hope to get back to my regular diet and exercise in the coming weeks. And I do have to get more blood work done in a couple weeks. Fun fun!

      Thanks for stopping by!

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