All Is Grace

TSH: 2.6

yep. well within the normal range. even if i got completely grouchy and decided that i wanted to make sure it was on the low end of normal. it totally is.

so. now what?

yeah. that’s a really good question. because now, things should be functioning properly. theoretically. as long as there’s nothing wrong with my immune system. or my liver. or my adrenals. or my gut. or my cortisol levels. or my T3 levels as a result of my TSH levels. or any other MYRIAD of things that could cause me to not be able to lose weight. because, of course, metabolism is set by so many other things than just the TSH hormone, and if they don’t all work beautifully together, the body just continues to screw up and not act as it should.

or it might be acting right and i’m just not doing the right things to lose weight.

or it may be that the nurse i spoke with regarding my results is right, and the science of it all is going to fail me because my body is stubborn. “you know,” she said, “i have a sister who has had the same 30 pounds for several years not that she just. can’t. lose. no matter what she does and she’s been through the whole gamut of tests, and proper diet and exercise. there comes a point in our lives as women where we just have to accept that our bodies aren’t going to do what they’re supposed to, honey. just don’t gain any more weight.”

thank you.

no, really, that’s awesome.

and no.

how many people are being told by their doctors, “you’re absolutely fine. an extra ten or fifteen pounds is nothing. you don’t need to worry about this.” even more, how many of them carry 40 or 50 extra pounds and their doctors aren’t saying anything because they’re still “just fine?” does it take a diabetes diagnosis, or a heart attack or a stroke for something like this to be taken seriously?

i’m not ok with this. and while i accept the fact that even after my levels are normal, it could take six months to a year before my body starts functioning properly, i’m not ok with another year of not being comfortable in my skin.

so, my action plan: take my 75 micrograms of levothyroxine at night on an empty stomach rather than at 3am. continue to eliminate gluten. remain extremely low-carb. eat clean, mostly paleo. exercise daily, including stretch, yoga, weight training, and HIIT. drink plenty of water. watch my weight carefully between now and my physical in March. and if i stay here, at this shape that i hate, when that physical happens, i will ask to see an endocrinologist.