I've decided that this will be the last post on this blog where I talk about my thyroid. (Other than quick updates or whatever...) mainly because I don't want this blog to turn into a thyroid blog. When I first started losing weight after I had Sam, I started a Weight Loss blog. I quit updating it when I realized I kept having to report I wasn't losing. That was the beginning of this thyroid journey, about, well, almost two years ago. I'm going to revamp that blog to post about losing weight with thyroid issues, The Thyroid Diet and any other related topics I can think of.
For now though, I have to tell you how cool God is.
Tuesday when I gained that pound, it was like the last straw for me. It was clear following Weight Watchers really wasn't working and I was fed up. I now thank God for that pound. It frustrated me so much, I called a new doctor. Not an endocrinologist. A specialist in alternative medicine.
I'd thought about calling her months ago and just didn't--I'm not sure why.
So I called and they got me in two days later. Thursday, May 6th. The day God answered my prayer.
On the way down to the clinic, I prayed "God, I just want some answers." As I walked into the clinic, I prayed "God, I just want some answers."
At this point, I felt CRAZY. I mean, truly, whacked out of my mind crazy. My poor husband was ready to rip his hair out for lack of knowing what to do with me and I don't blame him. But I knew something was NOT RIGHT in my body. Something was very NOT RIGHT. I should add that in February, my endocrinologist diagnosed me with thyroiditis. She then said my thyroid was testing normal and I needed to go home, come back in six months for re-testing. We would wait for it to test abnormal again and then she would give me meds. Meds I would be on for the REST OF MY LIFE.
Is that it? Is that all they can do for me? I am convinced that many of us just accept what we are told because after all, these are medical professionals. When we question or go a different way,we are often made to feel like we've just gotten in trouble in the principal's office. We feel bullied and put down.
Please. Do not let this stop you for searching for answers. You are NOT stupid. If you are being an advocate for a sick child, do not simply accept "he's not allergic to anything" and go on wiping the nose, putting tubes in the ears, giving antibiotics. You are the MOM. You KNOW your child.
Sorry. This has been my experience twice now. I now have a new soapbox.
And. A healthy child:
...who is really, truly too old for that dang pacifier (it's only a bedtime thing now. I've started confiscating it during the day!)
I told my new doctor my story. I left nothing out. She had my labs from all the testing I've had done over the last year, and in about two seconds of looking at them, she said, "Well, you don't have a thyroid problem. Your issue is autoimmune."
She then went on to explain that my immune system is attacking my thyroid. (ala Hashimoto's thyroiditis.)
I listened, but inside I wanted to cry. Right before my eyes God was answering my prayer. This doctor explained my labs to me in a way I could understand. She explained how my other glands (pituitary, adrenal) came into play and then asked me what other tests I'd had done.
None.
Nothing.
She was surprised. No ultrasound. No saliva test. Nothing. So she ordered them. The ultrasound checks for things ON the thyroid (goiters, cancer, tumors, etc.) The saliva test will check all my other levels (estrogen, progesterone, testosterone, cortisol, etc.) The other thing she explained was that autoimmune issues like this can be greatly helped with a different diet, so they are testing to see what it is in my diet that is causing my system to go all wonky.
Step one...get rid of all gluten. My friend Jeannecalled me a few weeks ago and informed me of the gluten/thyroid connection. With the exception of Adam's birthday pizza and a few bites here and there I haven't had gluten in several weeks. Still, when she told me this would be a permanent solution, it was a hard pill to swallow. (I almost cried in the grocery store thinking about how hard this could be...)
This weekend, I had invited my parents up for brunch and I had a whole list of goodies to bake. After the doctor, I quickly switched gears and was so thankful for this blog, which has some amazing gluten free recipes (not to mention, beautiful pictures!)
So, Saturday, I drove all over town looking for alternate, gluten free flours. (And yes, my son is gluten-free, you'd have thought I'd have done this a long time ago...but truly, he has never known anything else. He doesn't mind if his bread weighs ten pounds.)
After a couple of hours and three stores, lots of traffic, getting yelled at by an old man for not wearing a coat and honked at by another guy for texting in my car (at a stop light, for pete's sake) I arrived home with these:
That's a lot of flour, no? I am still on the hunt for almond flour, but I got most everything else I needed. I then crashed because I was exhausted and later found the energy to bake.
I made these:
Thanks to Aran, Sam and I had goodies. Soaked Lemon Poppyseed & Oil cakes. They were delicious! (Sam's had probably four of them in two days! Ok, maybe five. Even Sophia, my picky eater, liked them! I am shooting to get her off gluten...she is a moody little thing...)
My next step: Get off dairy. :( I am most sad about this because of the coffee factor. I've decided I will wait until next week, after my book deadline, to tackle this one. But the only dairy I will have is what's in my coffee cup!
This afternoon is my ultrasound, this weekend is my saliva test and next week I start on the path to wholeness. In correlation with everything I've been learning about food, this is all a lot to digest. But for almost two years, I have known something is not right in my body. And I have prayed for answers. I have BEGGED for answers. I am proof that God does answer...and in the meantime, this whole issue drew me closer to Him.
The other important thing I took away from this is that sometimes you have to get pushy. You know your body better than you think you do. You know when something is wrong. You know when there's an intruder. I am surprised how many aches and shooting pains, how much lethargy, depression, mood swings, exhaustion, etc. I have blown off as "just the way I am..." Now, after studying more about my thyroid I am starting to realize that's just not so. Much of this is related to my hormones, my immune system.
And, if any young people (or people struggling with anorexia) are out there, let me explain to you one of the ways autoimmune issues come on... through crash dieting. Starvation. Please do not do this to your body. It cannot handle it and at some point, it will begin to destroy itself. You do NOT want to ruin the ONE body you have. You need it. Take care of it. Nourish it: body, mind and soul. You are worth it.
Be kind to yourself.
*God Bless you if you've read even half of this long-winded post. I wanted to share this whole story here because I do know there are people who, like me, need answers. Don't give up. You can find them. You are worth it.
