that was a warning. this will be a grouchy post about hypothyroidism.
today i’m pouting, so i’m going to pout publicly. attractive, right?
frankly, i don’t care. it’s where i live lately, when it comes to all this crap. so, let’s be bold and honest about this condition today, shall we? if you get squeamish with potential tmi, let me just warn you: don’t read.
let’s start at the beginning: symptoms. and then we’ll go from there. this will be fun. i promise.
1. weight gain. this is a super fun one. yesterday, i got on the scale after a week of kicking my butt, monitoring my food intake, cutting virtually all gluten and soy from my diet, reducing my intake of fruit by about 66% (1 piece daily rather than 3 or 4), increasing my vegetable intake by easily 50%, never eating a carb without protein, or a vegetable without protein, and never combining the carb with the vegetable. i did 6 days of yoga (60-90 minutes daily), 2 days of weight training (started that on friday) with yoga on those days as well, started taking chia seed (about 4 tablespoons a day), drank only water, kombucha, kefir, green tea, and decaf coffee (down to two cups a day). i drink a glass of lemon water before i eat anything every morning, and even make sure i’m chewing my food 25-30 times before i swallow. i didn’t miss one day with my calcium/multi/vitamin d/vitamin c/milkthistle supplementation. my daily calorie count was never above 1600. oh, and that 50 mcg of levothyroxine i’m taking every morning at 4am to combat all these symptoms…didn’t miss one dose.
i gained 0.7 pounds.
that’s right, folks. i gained.
2. sleeplessness.
i’m pretty sure i can say with all honesty that i haven’t slept through the night in 6 months. not once. and even if i didn’t have to set my alarm for 4 am every day that i can eat by around 7 after i work out, i would still be waking up somewhere around 2, or 12:30, or 3, again at 5, and likely 5:45. i can go to bed at 9:30, lay there until 11, finally fall asleep, and be awake 4 times before i get out of bed at 6. unless i can’t drag myself out of bed at 6. and then it’s more like 7. or 7:15. or 7:30. i have learned that if i pick up my phone and read the emails i got overnight, i start waking up. maybe i’ll try that at 5:30, when i really want to get out of bed at 5:30. theoretically, that’s most days. lately, i laugh at the thought of that ungodly hour.
ok, remember what i said about tmi and squeamish? final warning.
3. constipation
do i really even have to expand on this one? no. i don’t. but i will. it sucks. it is frustrating to eat as many veggies as i do and 4 tbsp. of chia seeds a day and still have this issue. oh, and the 50 mcg of levothyroxine…supposed to “alleviate symptoms within one to two weeks.” this is week 13, folks.
4. heavy, irregular periods.
i actually didn’t have much hope for alleviation of the heavy part of this. that has been true my entire life, not just when i noticed symptoms. although, when you read about hypothyroidism, you find that symptoms show up very, very gradually–so much so that you often don’t notice them until you’re so bogged down by them you’re beside yourself. so i guess it could have been an early warning sign. at the same time, i’ve known many women who have gone through their entire lives with heavy periods who never had a thyroid issue. as for irregular…nope. i’ve never had that problem. i’ve always been like clockwork. the six-month time frame about 6 years ago when i skipped around a little, the doctor put me on progesterone, which made me even worse (and holy-crap-miserable)…so i stopped taking it, and my body regulated itself. back to clockwork. almost always every 28-30 days. end of story.
until this month.
this month, something started to happen 6 days early. i was flabbergasted…then thought, “huh. irregular period. awesome.” then as quickly as it started, it stopped. it’s 3 days later and…nothing. i’ll give it a couple more days before i call my doctor in tears and ask why my symptoms are getting worse rather than better…but in the meantime…i guess i should just…be grateful? i don’t even know.
(to follow up, since i started this post 5 days ago, my period actually did start full-force (holy crap) 3 days early, ended 4 days later, then 24 full hours after that, started up again. that brings us to today. joy.)
4. not being able to stand the cold.
i joked with my family over the winter that i thought i had Raynaud’s “phenomenon.” according to google, this is “a condition in which cold temperatures or strong emotions cause blood vessel spasms that block blood flow to the fingers, toes, ears, and nose.” Bryson lovingly calls it my “foot disease.” love that kid (punk). at random times, i can’t feel my baby toes. or my ring finger on my left hand. or all of the fingers on my right hand. or the tips of my ears. sometimes it’s because i get really cold, sometimes it’s when i’m angry or stressed out or frustrated. i’m the one who’s always bundled under an afghan in what everyone else needs an air conditioner to survive. last night, Joe had the air conditioner in our room on high…and i was under 3 layers of blankets, and i think i can’t get out of bed in the morning because the thought of the cold air hitting my skin makes me cringe. and snuggle down farther. maybe it’s not the sleep issues that don’t let me get up before 7 or 7:15 or 7:30. maybe it’s that i can’t stand the cold.
5. feeling tired, weak, depressed.
tired? all the time. i’m getting 8-9 hours of sleep a night. i still have to drag myself out of bed. i can totally fall asleep at 9:30 at night. i’m a NIGHT OWL, people, who has never required more than 5 or 6 hours of sleep. if you know me, you know this about me. it’s ridiculous. i can fall asleep in the middle of the afternoon. quite happily. weak? no. depressed? only about being overweight and fighting like an idiot to lose weight and still NOTHING. that is depressing, yes. but in general? not really.
6. elevated cholesterol levels.
215, folks.
did i mention how well i eat???
there are other symptoms. i don’t really experience them (hoarse voice, full face, thinning hair–although, seriously, mine is barely growing right now, which, again, is totally unlike me). they all suck. and i’m so sick of not feeling or looking or getting better, i could scream. i’m beside myself with it. i’m completely obsessed by it. i’m trying everything, which is probably part of the problem. there are links to immune deficiencies, liver problems, leaky gut. i’m trying portions of the GAPS diet, the hypothyroid diet…and there is part of me that feels like saying, “screw it. this is ridiculous…” and then five minutes later, i realize that this is me now. i need to get it under control.
so i’ll continue to eat my various forms of probiotics and cultured foods. i’ll eliminate unnatural or toxic elements from my diet and skin care regimen. i’ll drink filtered water to limit my exposure to chlorine. i’ll take magnesium supplements, calcium and vitamin d supplements, milk thistle, and vitamin c. i’ll drink twice as much water as i can stand…
…and i’ll be patient.
yeah, right.
blood test on friday. then the doctor and i are having words. this sucks. think hypothyroidism could be the answer to your weight problems?
think again.
All Is Grace 