*** This blog is not to be prescriptive nor give you advice, merely to show you my way of navigating true health in a jungle of advice and pharmaceutical pressure. Please do your own research, ask your own specialists or contact those I have used if you wish to find out more about your personal condition and symptoms. To your very best health. ***
I’ve been meaning to write an update for about a week or so and kept getting distracted. It’s amused me then to see that the last time I updated was 23 April and here we are 23 June.
Life has been really bloody good since I last blogged.
I’ve made so many positive changes and relaxed in other areas I really can’t be sure what’s caused what, but I am the happiest I’ve been for as long as I can remember, so, for once, I am not going to overthink this and let it flow.
In summary here’s what’s new whether positively or less so…
Coffee back in, but reduced.
Added nightshades back in (peppers, tomatoes)
Kept gluten and dairy free throughout. I decided I’d spent too long getting this stuff out of my body to bugger it up by having the odd ‘treat’ when I know they don’t work for me at all.
Had a burst of wine most weekends, that’s dropped back as my liver wasn’t happy according to my kinesiology review.
Noticed a link with eating nuts and stomach discomfort.
Got a bit obsessed with peanut butter…(doesn’t cause me problems!)
Sleep has been slightly better, in that I can get back to sleep until about 5am if I wake before, but it is still broken. Only slept right through once this year.
Peri-menopause symptoms managed really well with Annette’s (kinesiologist) help.
All Hashimoto’s symptoms the same as they were.
In the best shape and fitness for a very long time.
Started a personal development course that’s been working on my head. There’s some powerful stuff going on there. I like it.
Have new found energy, enthusiasm and oomph. I now see what a drag last year was. It’s not until you’re through it you realise quite how bad things were.
Walked and walked and walked most mornings.
Walked some more.
Realised that I have a need to be outside each morning before anything else. My most favourite place for ideas, sorting out stuff and being primed for the day.
Walked 100km Jurassic Coast Challenge pain free (thanks Kelly!) Screwed up my food and fuelling, but pleased with the accomplishment. In fact I rather enjoyed it.
Despite having one period since the coil removed not had one since. Maybe this peri-menopause is more advanced than I realised?
Kinesiology assessment showed complete lack of hormones, especially testosterone ( I was crying a hell of a lot) and FSH, not surprising then that periods gone AWOL.
Confirmed from Kinesiology-Annette that I am unable to tolerate most nuts, all grains and to limit sugar following a weird reaction at Jurassic Challenge to a Rice Crispie Square!
Had a 12 month review of my thyroid medication and was asked to go for a blood test…
And this is where the excitement kicks in!
I had my blood test to review how my medication is working for me. I asked the Doctor I spoke with if I could also get an antibodies test to see what was happening following my test in October. There was some discussion about why, but I managed to get it organised (it’s another item to request on the request form).
Well whoop-de-bloody-whoop! When I got my results back my antibodies had dropped from 284 last October to 148! ONE HUNDRED AND FORTY EIGHT!!
Now they are still high, the range I am aiming for is under 35. BUT, this is a massive drop given the relaxed stance to some of my foods and my resistance to ease back on doing ‘stuff’. I am bloody, flippin’, air-punchingly happy with this! It’s a huge drop in 8 months.
My goal now is to get a full thyroid panel check in 3-4 months to get all measures checked to see what’s what. But really, this is so cool I am chuffed to bits.
My current approach is cleaner and leaner again. There’s no added sugar apart from maybe 1 teaspoon honey a day. Protein and vegetables with fats each meal. Lots of avocados. Lots of walking and strength training at Rev5 which both continue to make me very happy. Supplement wise I am on minimal amounts. My thyroid meds (which I have a GP call about the new results in 2 weeks), a gut health probiotic, liver support and digestive support. Way less than this time last year and easily feeling ten times better.
Since I last wrote about not drinking coffee anymore because it had crept back in and it being my Achilles heel I’ve had a good talk to myself.
Whilst walking and pondering over the weekend I decided that it was quite ridiculous that a woman of 48, with tenacity and will power in all other areas of her life couldn’t control how much coffee she drank.
So I’ve told myself to grow the F-up and have two a day and be done with it.
There is one rule…
Never drink instant coffee, even if someone gives it to you, it’s a wasted allowance.
It’s been about a month since I last wrote about the end of my first 12 months into the Hashimoto’s overhaul.
It’s been an interesting time and as such I thought I’d update here for my reference as well as for anyone else who’s still following.
After we got back from Iceland I hopped straight to London to a conference (The One Woman Conference) it was an interesting weekend. I spent most of it crying quietly to myself and pondering what on earth I was doing with my life and feeling frustrated with myself. By the end of the two days I felt less like weeping and more like doing something positively different.
At the conference I heard a fascinating lady (Alexandra Pope) speak about the female menstrual cycle life cycle and how knowing what your natural cycle is, is important as you go into menopause so that you know how your body is going to function beyond menstruation.
I’d already been thinking about having my Mirena coil removed before the conference. But hearing her talk made me realise that I’ve done my bit when it comes to birth control. 24 years of hormone based contraception plus years on the pill before bearing kids was a job well done. And given my current up and downs with my health and the recent realisation that maybe all this was peri-menopausal, then I felt it was time.
So that’s gone.
And now I can see how my body works properly. It’s actually quite exciting to see!
In the two weeks since it’s been gone I’ve had a proper period, lost some bulk around my belly and feel generally flatter. I am not suggesting it was the coil that did that…yet. But thought it was interesting.
Since the conference I have also signed up to a 12 month long programme of self development which is already proving to be a transformation in how I think and act. Once again early days but a very exciting time for me right now.
What of the normal issues?
Sleep is better but not brilliant. I have some completely sleepless nights and some where I wake up several times before going back to sleep again. It’s nowhere as bad as last year, that’s such a relief!
Mood is really good at the moment. So completely different to last year when it was pants. I feel on a permanent high of excitable energy. It’s quite nice! You may find me dancing around at venues with my headphones in before a session starts or at home just cranking up the music and jumping about to get rid of it!
Exercise is still REV5, skipping or rebounding and last weekend I did an epic training walk with a friend in preparation for the Jurassic Coast Challenge. We walked 70km in about 12 hours. Given that I’d left my strength in the Rev5 studio before the walk I was pretty pleased with how it went, despite the fact I didn’t eat enough. I got very cold towards the and as I expended all my reserves. I was poorly prepared and ate too little for all that I’d done that day. I’ve told my daughter to remind me to eat when we’re walking the event. I just don’t get hungry even though I must be. I prefer fatty foods so will remember to take tinned mackerel, avocados, coconut and nut butter to chow down on when in need rather than bananas and bars.
I had my annual review with chiro-Kelly and all areas were significantly improved it was great. The reflex tests were staggeringly different. Last year I didn’t even react to the hammer on the knee/ankle tests. Last Friday I was reacting all over the place! I have also managed to balance my body to within 100g. If there was something to be significantly pleased with, that’s it! Knowing that I am almost balanced optimally is a significant and visible difference from a year ago.
Food wise I’ve kept off the biggies like dairy and grains (apart from rice). I’ve added in peppers and tomatoes, chilli and more exciting spices. Had more wine at the weekend and coffee has so very easily slipped back in, so that’s being stopped as of now. It’s my Achilles heel that’s for sure. So for those of you who think I’ve nailed will power. I haven’t, not where coffee is concerned.
So what’s next? I have a new appointment with Annette the kinesiologist next month and am looking forward to her doing an MOT to see if my good mood and chipper’ness is reflected in my results. And then in May I’ll be back to the GP for an annual thyroid review. I’ll report in then, hopefully all still tickety boo!
*** This blog is not to be prescriptive nor give you advice, merely to show you my way of navigating true health in a jungle of advice and pharmaceutical pressure. Please do your own research, ask your own specialists or contact those I have used if you wish to find out more about your personal condition and symptoms. To your very best health. ***
It’s been a year!
When I started this blog not only was I just coming out of the realisation that I had the auto-immune diagnosis, I was also under the illusion that I’d be able to tweak my diet and sort it all out.
I gave myself 12 months.
As you know if you’ve been reading this, this hasn’t been the case.
I’m 12 months on, no better on paper as far as the antibody readings go, but definitely better for what I’ve learned along the way.
When I look back over these last 12 months I think that what I’ve experienced is two natural processes blurred with the Hashimoto’s diagnosis.
Firstly, as I mentioned last blog, kinesiology-Annette confirmed that I am in peri-menopause. Once again it never crossed my mind I might be, there’s a pattern here! However when you look at the symptoms associated with this early stage prior to menopause it’s very much like a list of hypothyroid issues I’d been reading about. The chronic sleep issues being one of them.
Secondly, there is a natural decline in DHEA as we age. I had an adrenal test in the back end of last year and my levels were low. Men and women both experience this as they age and it manifests in symptoms like unexplained weight gain, inability to build muscle, low mood, reduces sex hormones, libido and mental fogginess and decline.
Once again, this list looks very similar to the hypo thyroid / Hashimoto’s one and the ease with which this can be confused is apparent.
My new thoughts on this are that I suspect that I’ve been auto-immune for a long, long time and living well with it.
There’s hypo-thyroidism in the family. I’ve had several of the key triggers to cause it from as early in my life as my teenage years, plus gut health and food tolerance issues that have been underlying and weren’t noticed in my childhood but I accidentally acted on as I got more interested in health and diet. I really think being gluten free for 10 years plus has helped enormously with this and that’s why my antibodies aren’t shifting, because it aint about food for me.
So at the time of an unexpected auto-immune diagnosis I also started to experience and notice symptoms that matched this ‘new’ condition. In my view these symptoms last year were peri-menopausal ones that I was confusing for Hashimoto’s because that was the newest thing to be diagnosed and considered.
My improvement to how I feel has been from the work that I’ve done with Annette to balance the basic functioning parts of my system to better cope with this phase of my hormonal life. She’s been able to test and manage my levels and treat appropriately. Yes, I’ve had some wild and fluctuating months when it feels like it’s getting worse, to some pretty awesome times (like right now) when I feel I am able to surge ahead.
And the plan now for my Hashimoto’s remission?
Oh it’s still there alright! And I am still working with a great diet with the addition of an occasional glass of red wine and a coffee when I fancy. I’ve worked on the assumption that given that my antibodies went up when I was at my nutritional best I can probably allow myself the sheer joy of a decent coffee every now and then without any negative impact. And, as you probably know, I bloody love it.
If one of the triggers for Hashimoto’s is prolonged, underlying stress then I have some way bigger personal work to do. I have a work mindset, I need to be doing something, helping someone, coming up with a new idea. And this isn’t conducive to recovery. I am so used to how I am that if I am suffering with stress I don’t feel it.
How I address this has yet to be seen or discovered, but I am confident that more than ever I can manage this better even though I have made 2019 a particularly exciting and busy year with work, physical challenges and personal projects all lined up and signed up already. My head is definitely in a way better place than it was this time last year, my sleep is improving, my energy is up and there’s less brain fogginess. I still squint a bit, have cold hands, feet and nose and have a raspy voice and scalloped tongue. I can cope with that.
What else? Well, I’ve discovered a love for the REV5 way of strength training for health and that one thing alone has kept me sane these past 18 months.
I’ve seen I can manage on less sleep than I expected. I don’t endorse it, but it’s not been the energy-sapping car crash I thought it might be.
I’ve shown myself once again that all things pass. Wherever you are, whatever shit is going on it will pass. Amen to that.
I don’t expect that there will be huge changes that will necessitate a weekly or fortnightly update. However I am still seeing Kinesiology-Annette, have my annual GP review for the hypo-thyroid meds and have all these big things coming up that may challenge me in some way. So whilst I won’t be posting quite so often, I will update and share with you anything that’s relevant to the Hashimoto’s journey as that’s afterall where it all started a year ago.
Thank you for being interested. I hope at some point it’s made you smile, do something differently or get yourself checked out sooner.
*** This blog is not to be prescriptive nor give you advice, merely to show you my way of navigating true health in a jungle of advice and pharmaceutical pressure. Please do your own research, ask your own specialists or contact those I have used if you wish to find out more about your personal condition and symptoms. To your very best health. ***
Just writing weeks 48-50 made me feel a bit funny.
I’ve been doing this for nearly a year now.
I set myself a goal of licking this in 12 months. There’s no chance of that. Sometimes you just need to accept what’s what and over the last few weeks I’ve seen highs and lows, holidays and unexpected opportunities that have made me question a lot of things.
My sleeping has been shocking. Awake each night around 2am and then light disrupted sleep until about 05.30.
The digestive issues have crept back in.
Mood has fluctuated, more downs and more crying for no reason.
Bloating after eating that has made me look pregnant. And I am not exaggerating. It’s been a belly to be proud of!
However despite all this I’ve also experienced:
Some fabulous highs and positivity of mood like I’ve not seen for long time.
Increased strength and stamina in my Rev5 sessions.
A new found love (OK, obsession) with skipping.
A real understanding of how my body reacts to some foods.
A lovely trip to Iceland.
One of the main things I’ve noticed this month is the very narrow margin of room I have with what I eat. I’ve realised that my bloating and distension on my stomach is from eating raw salads and veggies. I’ve changed from salads at most meals to protein and a small portion of either cooked veg or something like an avocado or a beetroot.
This has made a huge difference. No more bloat, no more feeling out of sorts because I am all stretched. Hoorah!
I also noticed that I don’t seem to do to well on nuts. This is a blow. I am conscious that I eat a lot of animal protein as I can’t eat pulses or grains and so I eat meat and fish at most meals. If I am trying to reduce that I have nuts and that doesn’t seem to serve me well. When I was with Annette this week, I asked her about it and whilst in the treatment, and without my knowledge, she tested me for nuts and I am indeed not able to digest almonds, walnuts and Brazils. She said I was fine with peanuts and cashews in moderation…so long almond butter and almond milk…
So I am back to a fairly strict paleo diet. Meat, fish and cooked veg. Some fruit and some occasional nuts. I am steering clear of dried fruit and salads.
Over the last 6-8 years or so I’ve had occasion to find a point on the inside of my right knee to be so itchy. It’s odd as there’s nothing there. No pimple, no rash, just an irritation that needs to be scratched until it’s red.
I thought it was linked to my reaction to gluten and kind of left it. However this past few weeks I’ve had it more than ever and, according to my book on NAET kinesiology, it’s a Chinese medicine meridian point linked to the liver. Interestingly so is waking between 2-3am each day. So I mentioned this to Annette and she had me tested again.
Despite my liver testing fine last time I was with her it was struggling again and so she has me on some liver supplements for a while longer. The body is truly amazing. Even if you don’t believe in this stuff, I find it fascinating that these oddities in my lifestyle and how I function do relate back to these ancient traditions of healing.
When I was with Annette I gave her a list of things I had noticed. She writes it down and says nothing, just asks questions.
Then she asks you to lie on the couch and does her testing. It’s all very gentle and either arm or leg pressing and squeezing or wrist palpating.
What I love about this treatment with her is that there is never a chance for me to think that I am affecting the way my body reacts because of what she’s told me.
She tells me nothing!
She does her testing and, because I’ve been a few times now, I know the signs when the body aint’ happy.
Occasionally I ask her as we go along, but normally it’s at the end she tells me what she’s found out.
This time there were a few really weak responses.
The nut reaction.
She discovered that I am in the peri-menopause stage, which may, amongst other things, be impacting my sleep.
My liver.
And the weakest, most wobbly, jelly like arm of all came when she tested me for my antibodies. There was nothing there, no strength, no resistance. My body was having none of it. She did tell me at that point that my body was having trouble with these. (There are times when it’s so nice to know that what you knew was right all along!)
Anyway, treatments done and back in a few weeks for round 4. And there’s an interesting point. Due to an impromptu trip to Iceland I had to move this appointment to a few days before the next one I’d booked. When I was there I asked her if I should come on Monday (some 3 days later). She said ‘let’s see what the body says’ — so with the gentlest of touches she lightly squeezed my wrist. Before she even answered I said ‘it’s no isn’t it?’. I could feel a pain on the outside of my wrist where she was holding my wrist. But she wasn’t squeezing or prodding or stabbing. I could feel it and just knew. So, three weeks from now it is.
As an aside I managed a 5 day trip to Iceland in this time where I was generally OK with food. Had a lovely supply of coffee for 5 days, and had some really nice salads (before I had the salad-makes-me-bloat wake up call). However something I ate at one restaurant gave me rashes up my forearms. I tell you, I’ve become a walking, talking beacon for foods that don’t agree with me!
So there you have it.
In summary: a peri-menopausal woman has very similar symptoms to Hashimoto’s. Now we know I have Hashimoto’s but maybe the other symptoms like insomnia, digestive disruption, low libido, mood swings and energy dips are related to that and not Hashi’s.
I am back to a limited diet, but tolerating it to get the gut health in order to improve both liver and thyroid.
I’d like to sleep better. Really, that would be lovely.
I’ve done a lot of skipping.
I also cried pretty much for two days and had a blinding epiphany at an event I went to last weekend. But that’s for another time ๐
*** This blog is not to be prescriptive nor give you advice, merely to show you my way of navigating true health in a jungle of advice and pharmaceutical pressure. Please do your own research, ask your own specialists or contact those I have used if you wish to find out more about your personal condition and symptoms. To your very best health. ***
Over the past few weeks, probably since Christmas and New Year, I’ve been struggling to keep my attention to the goal of getting my auto-immunity in remission and hopefully a reduction or removal of my meds.
I’m not sure if it’s lack of real progress or the samey-ness of it all but something is making me feel twitchy. And when I get twitchy I go into ‘stretch it mode’.
It’s not full on self sabotage, but this stretching of the rules seems to make it more exciting or interesting.
It would make way more interesting reading if I’d been on a mad fast food spree, a chocolate binge and had a cheese hangover, but nah it’s not that. But it’s enough to tip the balance.
I’ve also been reading about ways to improve the immune system and fasting keeps coming up. I’ve done intermittent fasting before, where you don’t eat for 24 hours and then go back to eating normally again. This worked well for me with regards to weight management and I can’t remember why I even stopped. But the articles and blogs I’ve read recently have been for 3 days fasts with reports of great improvements on clarity of thought, energy and immune repair alongside healing leaky gut, hormone balance and fat loss. Also if you’re going through chemotherapy it’s a fantastic way to improve how you feel. My friend Emily has been testing it out.
I thought it was worth a go.
There are lots of articles on the health impact of long fasting so I won’t replicate here, you can find it on the web. What I thought I’d do is describe the process and how I felt through it.
Some articles spoke about drinking coffee with oil, fruit juices and broths during the fast. As I understand it, that’s not a fast. When you’re fasting you allow your body to rest and repair. That’s where the magic happens. Eating and drinking anything but water stops that.
This is a water fast. No food, only water for 72 hours.
I had my last meal on Monday evening at about 18.30. I had a beef mince and veggie concoction followed by some rather moreish grain-free granola I’d made. It’s made with walnuts, pecans, sunflower and pumpkin seeds, figs and prunes. Drizzled with honey and coconut oil and baked. I had that with some almond milk and blueberries. I felt quite full…
Tuesday morning, up as normal, didn’t walk today but headed out to the chiropractor bright and early after having my meds and water. Not hungry at this point and wouldn’t normally eat first thing anyway.
I spent most of the rest of the day preparing for or attending a launch event of a local network meeting. I was giving a little talk so had that to distract me. It was easy enough to sit with others who were eating and I realised that I hadn’t yet felt any hunger since getting up. At about 13.30 ( I made a note) I was vaguely aware of a possible hungry feeling, but it really passed rather quickly.
When I got in about 3pm, the house still smelled of whatever Mr S had cooked for his lunch and that was quite a challenge as my nose and belly went into operation-prepare-for-food. I made a hot water and left the kitchen!
My first real hunger of the day was 24 hours in. By about 6pm on Tuesday I had graunchy noises from my belly and I felt hungry. I did feel a bit tired too, but I slept poorly the previous night and that’s not going to help.
Got through the rest of the day really quite fine. Felt cold and quiet but that’s all. Hunger really wasn’t an issue and hot water kept me going.
One of the things that I haven’t suffered with, which I think several other bloggers have noted, is head and body aches. Many have noted a nasty low level head ache that kept them thinking that it wasn’t worth continuing. My reduced caffeine and pretty clean diet has probably kept that at bay which I am grateful for. No one wants a bad head and to be hungry!
Wednesday morning I woke after a slight broken night’s sleep. My first thought was, ‘oh half way through‘. I wasn’t hungry but maybe a little empty. I had some hot water to go to teach Fit Camp on and felt quite OK.
I spent the day doing office based work and going to another lunchtime meeting where I watched them eat some rather lovely food. It wasn’t tough, but I did think that today there were meals there I’d have enjoyed whereas yesterday I wasn’t too bothered about what they’d had.
I’ve had more bouts of hunger today, but it’s really very brief. Maybe 5 minutes or so and then it goes. Maybe some graunchy noises but not much. I’ve also noticed a strange taste in my mouth at times, a bit metallic.
All the other blogs I’ve read have talked about improved thinking and energy. I can’t say I’ve had either of these. I’ve been quite the same or lower energy, had a nap on both days so far and brain is as fuddled as normal. Maybe tomorrow I’ll wake up and be zingy?
Have there been times when I’ve considered quitting early? No, not really. That I am doing this is certainly front of mind, and I find myself calculating how many hours I’ve done and how many left. But it’s really been very do-able as I approach my forty-eighth hour.
I know that when I do break the fast it needs to be small, preferably easily digestible and not too carb loaded (otherwise you get a carb crash). I am still deciding what it will be! It keeps me forward thinking and focusing on finishing not quitting.
I was very cold going to bed on Wednesday and even though I warmed up in the night I was awake really early, about 3am and didn’t go back to sleep again. By 4.30am I’d decided to get up and walk, so not really waking up zingy! It was much colder than I realised and despite mittens and layers I was fairly chilly all the way around. I am walking the Jurassic Coast Challenge in June and so am working on getting miles on my legs where I can. So I spent 3 hours looping around Winnersh and Wokingham when everyone else was in bed! It’s a very quiet time of the day but I was glad that it was a normal feeling kind of a walk given that 1) I’d not eaten since Monday evening 2) not slept well 3) done it on water only (it’s recommended that you drink your water with a pinch of sea salt whilst your fasting to replace electrolytes. I didn’t do this, but would do so next time).
When I got in however I was so cold. The fog had come down whilst I was out and it was bitter, but, mmm a lovely cup of hot water did the trick!
As you’d expect I was pooped by midday and had 45 minutes nap before carrying on with my day.
There is no permanent hunger. There is no rumbling and loud noisy belly. There are no head aches and nausea and feeling spacey. It’s all been quite easy really.
Breaking a fast, anything over 16 hours, is not something to play around with. The body is in a state of repair and we don’t want to suddenly overburden it again with a big meal or the wrong combination of nutrients.
The first meal should be no more than 500 calories and something very simple like bone or fish broth, free of veggies if you don’t want your guts to bloat and get all gassy. Definitely avoid dairy, gluten and sugars in this refeeding phase.
I’ve also read that it’s a good idea to drink something first that helps to balance the pH levels, kill off unfriendly bacteria and promote digestion. What fits the bill? Apple cider vinegar, so a glass of warm water with 1/2 lemon juiced, 2 tbls spoons unpasteurised ACV, a pinch of sea salt and a pinch of cinnamon will do the job.
Then my plan is to have some beef bone broth and then an avocado about an hour later. I’ll then have my breakfast as normal tomorrow focusing on smaller portions of protein and vegetables.
With an hour or so to go until 18.00, I can smell the soup gently cooking…there had been a part of me that wondered about continuing until the morning, but I know what I am like. I have an addictive streak that can lead to no good. So I will finish at 72 hours, ease back into the world of food gently and see how I feel tomorrow. Knowing that I only have 45 minutes left and now I am feeling hungry. My brain is ready, my stomach is getting ready!
I had the apple cider vinegar combination which was interesting enough, not the most tasty start back to eating after 3 days off. Then about 20 minutes later I had a mug of the beef bone broth. I chose the broth only, no meat and the event was pretty unspectacular! I then went out to Fit Camp to teach, had one of our campers, Pam’s cacoa nut bites which was very lovely, and when I got in I had an avocado with a sprinkle of salt.
In summary, I understand from the research that this type of fasting (occasionally) can benefit the immune system. That’s what I need. So I am happy to do it again and know now that it’s very doable. I expect I’ll do it every 4 months or so.
With regards to intermittent fasting you can start by moving your meals so that you get 12-14 hours overnight between dinner and breakfast to get some fasting benefits. From there you can move to a 24 hour fast say from dinner one night until dinner the next. Before building up to longer stretches.
The BIG proviso here though is making sure that food post fast is small, easily digestible and not used as an excuse for over-feeding. Any fat loss results, bloat reduction, weight loss and health benefits are lost in that mindset. If you’re not sure you can do that, start with the night time fasting for now and I am sure you’ll see results from those efforts.
And there we have it. A mini experiment done and delivered. Until next time…
*** This blog is not to be prescriptive nor give you advice, merely to show you my way of navigating true health in a jungle of advice and pharmaceutical pressure. Please do your own research, ask your own specialists or contact those I have used if you wish to find out more about your personal condition and symptoms. To your very best health. ***
I am definitely in a period of sameness.
No new therapies to try out. No new books to read and, as such, no riveting progress to report on.
Over the past three weeks however I’ve noticed a positive vibe in my thoughts that hasn’t been there for a long time, despite some challenges this year. I’ve noticed what I need to do each day to have a good day and I’ve seen some of my exemplary behaviours around food slip.
I’ve known for a long time that I need to get out each day. I need the smack of fresh air on my face and I need to see sky. I don’t know where this comes from but there are brief moments in my life when I can remember that feeling, so it’s been with me a long time.
Running Fit Camp means that I am outside most days to run a session, but I hadn’t realised how important the time of day for being outside was to me.
Around the middle of January I had a morning when I didn’t have to get up for Fit Camp and there were no pressing appointments early on. Despite waking up early enough to get up and walk like I would normally, I lay in bed.
I didn’t feel guilty and I wasn’t particularly bothered (otherwise I’m sure I’d have got up) but by the mid morning I was aware at how grumpy I was. It took me a while to figure it out, but if I am not up and outside first thing it affects my mood. This was a great reminder and now I prioritise getting outside first thing. It doesn’t matter if I am running a Fit Camp session or walking or rebounding – I just need to be outside to get my kick for the day.
I have registered for the Jurassic Coastal Path Challenge in June and so I have started longer walks in the morning when I have time. These have started mounting up too. I got myself some new walking trainers and have been plodding the streets of Wokingham (it’s so like the Dorset coastline!) to get some miles on my legs. One of the fabulous benefits of my 14 months strength training at Rev5 is how easy this is. I’ve built my distance up to 27km and not felt it or ached the next day. This is a good place to be.
Talking of Rev5 I still love this time of my week. Every Saturday 06.15-07.00 I am in a bubble of happiness. It’s bloody hard and I give it my all each week and the improvements in my working times and weights are improving. I’ve impressed myself with more improvements on my leg strength and endurance and it keeps me motivated to want to be better next time.
Despite all this, the Hashimoto’s effect is slowing down what I see in terms of body composition change and my body fat percentage is increasing despite the improvements. I’d be lying if I said this didn’t bother me. It’s frustrating. I eat completely cleanly, no junk or processed foods and yet my body fat has tipped from the healthy range into ‘over fat’.
Getting a handle on sleep would certainly help this. Stress too, but a big fat GRRRRRRRRRRRRR, for it not quite going to plan in this department just yet. There’s more work to be done on the autoimmunity and other factors that are aggravating it for sure.
I am choosing positive workout wear to remind me what’s important…
I mentioned some changes to my eating and you may be thinking ‘ah-ha! that’s why the changes in your body composition‘ – I hope not. My changes are still clean. There’s been no sudden influx of custard (there’s one for you Sam) or cakes or sweets. Coffee is still at bay, although I’ve had the odd one or two, but really nothing more than 1 every 2 weeks or so.
But what I did discover was that Marmite isn’t gluten free! Shock-bloody-horror! I probably should have thought it through, but after a particularly bad breakout of dermatitis herpetiformis, for what I thought was no good reason, Mr Strickers suggested Marmite which I had recently started to slather on rice cakes. Lo and behold the yeast is grown on barley, oats, wheat and rye and so no wonder I was all an outbreaky itch – I can’t eat any of those!
I’ve ditched it in favour of Meridian’s yeast extract which is gluten free, but that affected me too and I know I am particularly sensitive so have decided to leave that alone for now too.
Also regarding foods, I’ve come to the very sorry conclusion that raw leaves don’t agree with me and my 3 salad meals a day are leaving me bloated and brick-bellied. I’ve started to cut back on them eating meals more based around cooked veggies or having something like meat or fish with an avocado and fruit. No leaves or salads at all. It seems to have made a difference and so I am monitoring that for now. Another minor irritation…you do what you think is the best thing. Eating raw, organic, fresh veggies and salads and they don’t agree. As such I’ve asked kinesiology-Annette if I can get in to see her more quickly to discuss some of this stuff.
In terms of thyroid related symptoms I still have cold/white hands, cold feet and nose all the time, scalloped tongue, poor memory, early waking, dry skin, lack of proper energy, laying fat down and a feeling that the thyroid gland is more swollen than before as even dropping my chin to my chest now feels uncomfortable, like I have a blockage in my throat.
On the upside, because I always like to think of the upside. My mood and positivity is up, way up compared to last year. I am able to stick to my plan without saying f**k it I can’t be bothered anymore, I am strong, fit, capable and happy. And I know that at some point this will all make a shift and I will start to improve.
And that’s that. Back with you when I have something to report ๐
*** This blog is not to be prescriptive nor give you advice, merely to show you my way of navigating true health in a jungle of advice and pharmaceutical pressure. Please do your own research, ask your own specialists or contact those I have used if you wish to find out more about your personal condition and symptoms. To your very best health. ***
As I wrote in my last piece it’s been a few months of humdrum sameness and I have certainly become used to this sameness. So much so that I had almost forgotten what I was doing and why. Luckily some interesting things have happened that have reminded me to stay focused on the end result.
We decided this year to buy ourselves something for Christmas that would benefit us both but wasn’t particularly exciting to put under the tree. We have invested in, and had installed a reverse osmosis water filter.
This sits under your sink and filters your water so that all the contaminants are removed and you get completely pure water. This is quite an important part of the healing process for the thyroid as our water supply contains, amongst other things, fluoride. Fluoride is sometimes added to water to prevent tooth decay by some water authorities. (You can check here if your area is one of them).
Fluoride is a thyroid inhibitor and affects the production of normal thyroid hormones. It’s a huge topic, too big for here, but suffice to say you don’t want added fluoride in your water and even more so if you have a thyroid issue.
Given that my antibodies weren’t going anywhere in the right direction I decided this was something we could do that I could control. Yes, I know that I still shower in ‘normal’ water, but this is still better than not bothering at all and I feel I need to do all that I can to assist my body to function better.
It’s also worth noting here (I had a head slapping/aha moment) that when I was about 5-7 years old I had to have ‘fluoride’ on my teeth at the dentist.
It was a new fangled thing that was going to improve the health of teeth, so I used to go and have this disgusting pink gel piped onto a gumshield for both upper and lower teeth and had to sit with my teeth in this pink-gunk (fluoride gel) for what felt like ages but was probably 5-10 minutes every 6 months.
If I was predisposed to a malfunctioning thyroid by my genes this wasn’t going to be a great start. Probably the second trigger, after genetics, that didn’t help me.
So we now have shiny, pure water. Lovely.
When you’re working on improving how your body functions you become very aware of how it works. You tend to notice things that maybe you wouldn’t normally and become heightened to changes in things. As such I noticed since end of November or so that my body doesn’t really know how to metabolise and store properly.
I am eating the same as I have since June, added in a few nuts and seeds, the odd egg or two and the occasional hot cacao made with coconut milk. Nothing excessive, untoward or remotely ‘off-plan’. But I do notice a fluctuation in where and how I store fat. Without any change to my intake or exercise routine I can lay down an extra layer on my belly.
This isn’t an ‘I’m fat’ observation, I am not unhappy with how I am, but I am curious as to what my body thinks it’s doing with the green veg and protein that it gets pretty religiously three times a day. That’s one for Annette the kinesiologist.
So you know I said earlier that there had been a few months of sameness? Well the first Sunday back to Fit Camp in the New Year has been etched in my mind because of the profound difference I noticed that day.
Until then I have been delivering Fit Camp sessions in my big woolly hat, gloves, several tee-shirt / base layers, a fleece, an anorak and a kagoule style coat on top. I’ve been comfortable, not over-toasty and sometimes damn cold still.
It was no warmer on that first Sunday, but I started teaching the warm up and became aware of feeling pretty warm. And warm enough to feel uncomfortable. Within a few minutes I was stripping the coat and anorak off, hat and gloves too and finished the session in my fleece.
This may seem pretty insignificant and unexciting, but I can assure you this is EPIC! The thyroid is the metabolism. When you are hypothyroid your metabolism runs more slowly, you gain weight, you feel the cold. I’ve been cold for 12 months. Even in the heat of the summer of 2018 there were days when my feet, hands and nose were still cold.
THIS change to feeling warmer reminded me that things can change.
It reminded me that I was doing ALL this to change (and I’d forgotten that).
I was so excited that at last something, that was so linked to the thyroid function, was different.
Other areas I’ve noticed changes in a my oomph. I’ve definitely got a more can-do attitude than I did last year and it’s palpable. I feel it.
I’ve become decisive and action focused. Two things that just didn’t happen last year at all.
There’s a risk with this that I end up running myself ragged again and I am aware that I need to be careful of that. My sleep is still broken and I am getting about two spates of 3 hours a night. So I am ensuring that I take a day off each week so I get my version of a weekend. It’s early days, but I know I need to enforce this.
Finally, for this is already long, I saw kinesiology- Annette early in January. I told her my changes to temperature, attitude and how I felt I wasn’t really burning my calories well.
She did her tests on me and confirmed that the work she had done in November (and ongoing supplements) had worked and my blood sugar was manageable and my liver functioning better. Given that the liver is responsible for producing and synthesising thyroid hormones I wondered if this meant my thyroid was picking up now that my temperature seemed higher.
After a spot more testing she confirmed that it had improved from where it was at the last visit, that my body was struggling with one of the digestive pathways and so storing more fat and that my immune system was ready to get a little boost.
The reason for me going was to also have a standard clearing treatment to clear any issues I had with calcium. The treatment itself is fairly quick and you have to lie still for about 10-15 minutes afterwards. Whilst lying there I was musing on the fact that I Annette had pre-warned me to avoid everything with calcium in it for the following 25 hours.
This means no tap water (hooray for the water filter!), green vegetables, dairy produce, fish and more. But in that musing I thought that I eat a lot of green veg and wondered what I’d have to eat that day. Then I wondered whether having eaten ALL the green veg that I have over the last 7 months has been a waste of time! If I am having trouble utilising and tolerating calcium no bloody wonder I don’t feel fabulous despite having the diet of a goddess!
Good grief! It’s staggering to think of the number of strands I’ve linked over the last 40 odd weeks or so.
So these treatments with Annette will allow me to use and tolerate these foods optimally giving me the health benefits that quite honestly I feel I’ve been cheated of!
That was a good day. In fact it’s been a good week.
The dawning realisation that I am making improvements.
The understanding as to why I’ve not felt as good as I’d hoped for the effort put in.
And the woo-hoo, yee-hah reminder that there’s a reason to all this and it’s only bloomin’ working!
*** This blog is not to be prescriptive nor give you advice, merely to show you my way of navigating true health in a jungle of advice and pharmaceutical pressure. Please do your own research, ask your own specialists or contact those I have used if you wish to find out more about your personal condition and symptoms. To your very best health. ***
Doesn’t time fly when you’re getting on with life?
This has been the last few weeks, months.
I’ve been keeping to my regime. Doing my exercises, mostly, and accepting what has now become normal with regards to erratic sleep, cold extremities and a strange metabolism.
You may be wondering what Christmas was like? It was pretty good and as far as being ‘on-plan’ goes I had already decided what I was OK with and what I wasn’t.
I had a few glasses of wine. But no sweets, cakes or puds. And really kept pretty much to plan, maybe just had a bit more of it.
I made my own grain free pastry for some mince pies. I think I made six in all. They weren’t too bad, they weren’t like normal pastry but they weren’t terrible and I’d definitely make it again. The recipe is here.
Felt a few low moments in December, but nothing I could really lay my finger on.
I also started to see again that my body didn’t really know what to do with what I was eating and I could feel and see my clothes getting tighter for some weeks and then loosening off again without any change in diet or intake.
Other than that life continued as normal as it has for the last few months, it’s certainly become a pattern and habit that I have adopted as my own now.
Onwards and upwards into the New Year. I have an event to run and my next appointment with Annette the Kinesiologist.
*** This blog is not to be prescriptive nor give you advice, merely to show you my way of navigating true health in a jungle of advice and pharmaceutical pressure. Please do your own research, ask your own specialists or contact those I have used if you wish to find out more about your personal condition and symptoms. To your very best health. ***
Once again I was bumbling along not thinking much was going on and then suddenly a wave of information comes my way, changes in how I’m functioning occur and improvements noticed to boot.
Following my visit to Kinesiology-Annette a few weeks ago I dropped several supplements that weren’t working for me and added in two new ones.
She wanted to work on the basics first. Get my blood sugar management working well again and boost my liver to start it’s job of detoxifying properly. Alongside this she confirmed that a probiotic I was taking I should continue. As it was I ran out of these a few days later and didn’t immediately replace them. After missing these for a few days I really noticed how they’d been helping with digestive health. So got those back in again pretty quickly.
For about a week after seeing Annette I slept pretty well. I was either sleeping through and waking up about 06.30 or I was waking once and going back to sleep quickly. I was pretty chuffed with this. It’s been a long time since that’s happened and it was like a mini-miracle.
Don’t get too happy for me though, within those 7 days I soon started waking at silly o’clock again. And since then I’ve found myself wide awake at anything from 02.30-03.30 and not getting back to sleep. Whilst it’s frustrating, I am not tired (much like earlier in the year) and I’ve taken to going for walks before even the birds are singing. It’s dark (the skies have been beautifully clear and star filled) and quiet (funnily enough, no cars and no people then) and a rather nice way to start my day if I have to be awake then.
Following Annette’s visit she recommended a book I might like “NAET: Say Goodbye to Your Illness” and in there it shows you how to self test. God help me, that’s all I need is something else to get interested in. So now I’m wandering around self-checking for foods before I eat them. That won’t last long, but it’s been interesting up until now.
I have identified that, for now, I really can’t do chillis. They make me cough and choke and give me an unhappy tum. This is a blow, I damn well love ’em, however I can wait until she does her work on me next year.
As I went into week 36, I made a bit of a discovery. I realised that I hadn’t needed to clear hair from the bath every other day or so. For sometime I’ve lost quite a lot of hair, but that’s stopped. It coincides with me clearing up some scaly cradlecap like stuff on my scalp my hairdresser told me about.. I’ve done two things in this time.
Stopped using the shampoo bar I bought in the summer.
Started the new supplements.
I suspect it’s mainly 1, but 2 has some part to play too.
So this is great news! Some progress ๐
Sleep continued to elude me this week and I’ve covered some dark early miles walking in the rain and that’s kept me going.
My mood was definitely reminiscent of earlier in the year this week. I felt quite flat and ‘dimmer switch down’ again like I have before. But interestingly I’ve had some really good business meetings and that’s kept me moving forwards rather than sitting in a puddle of ‘bleurgh-ness’.
And I’ve noticed that despite following the same eating and exercise regime my weight is no longer maintainable. You know when you know? I didn’t weigh myself until today and in two months I’ve gained half a stone with most of that gain being body fat. It’s a good job I know this is temporary, it could really get frustrating.
I’ve kept myself going with my favourite phrase of the moment, “true success is what you do behind closed doors“. It would be so easy to say f**k it at times and eat whatever I want and sit on my bum and do nothing. But nope. That won’t help one bit and so I haven’t.
The really interesting stuff came on Thursday when I chatted with Nutrition-Janie about my recent adrenal stress test results. They came back in and good news my cortisol levels were behaving as they should at certain times of the day. The not so good news is that my DHEA/Cortisol ratio is low and this is going to be causing my inability to build muscle, insomnia, low mood, poor memory and cognition, low libido and immune dysregulation (ah-ha! Hashimoto’s!).
I was relieved to read this. I’d begun to think that I was making this all up and it wasn’t a ‘thing’ at all, it was all in my head. But to see that this can be fixed and these things will be improved made me cry a mixture of happy and relieved tears.
In addition to walking a lot, I’ve been continuing with the strength training and had a very fabulous session on Saturday. I may not be building muscle right now, but when I get this sorted I am very interested to see how this changes.
So in short.
Hair loss improved
Stress results back with answers
Sleep not great
Mood questionable
Self testing myself with foods a-plenty!
Despite this I do feel like I now know what needs to be done. It just needs time to be done. That I can live with.
And finally, realising how much I’ve learned this year. About autoimmunity, me, the thyroid and health generally. It’s the silver lining for sure!