Health

I really suck at updating this personal blog!

Why am I so good at blogging about Home Decor, but when it comes to maintaining a personal blog I am terrible? Home Decor is so much more fun to write about!

Okay, so the thyroid update.

I made an appointment with a Wellness Institute (think holistic) that wasn’t covered on my insurance. I had to pay $300 out of pocket. OUCH.

But it was so worth every penny because I am happy to say I got the medication I needed and am feeling so healthy now. Let me back up though…

Before the appointment I ordered all my own lab work. I couldn’t get a doctor to give me the tests I requested (their arrogance I guess) so I had to order my own online. It was really easy. I ordered my tests, went to the lab and had my blood drawn, and a week later had my results emailed to me. I used this lab and paid $249 out of pocket for my lab work.

Armed with all my lab work, I went to see this Pauline Martin at Austin Integrative Medicine. She was wonderful and I am so happy I chose her.

In a nutshell, here’s my problem. My thyroid is fine but my T4 is converting into too much Reverse T3 instad of T3, causing HYPOTHYROID SYMPTOMS.

So I don’t have hypothyroid, but I do have an issue that is indirectly related to the thyroid.

My thyroid makes T4 just fine. My body isn’t converting the T4 into the proper T3 like it’s suppose to.

There are so many great articles and resources online for this very topic, so instead of me trying to explain everything, you can follow the links below to read all about it.

I do want to say that if you have hypothyroid symptoms and your TSH is still in range and your T4 is normal, don’t give up. I wrote off the T3 thing the second I read about it. I never considered it or gave it any thought. In the end it is exactly what I have wrong with me. So if you feel like you are hypothyroid, don’t just write off this condition and ignore it. You very well could have this instead of hypothyroid.

This condition is caused from having weak adrenals.

“If you have been through chronic stress of any kind, your stress-busting adrenals have been working hard to keep you going with extra cortisol and adrenaline, or to make up for your low-functioning hypothyroid state.”

Well, without getting into too many personal details, I have had several life-altering experiences I’ve gone through in my life that would certainly wreak havoc on my adrenals. Growing up with an unmedicated, undiagnosed bi-polar father certainly caused my sisters and I a great deal of stress. In addition there are a few other situations I’ve been through that have been extremely stressful and painful for me.

Dr Martin gave me a prescription for T3 which I had to get filled at a compounding pharmacy.

I started on one pill a day, in the morning. After a week I went to one pill in the morning one pill 12 hours later. After a third week I went up to two pills in the morning and one pill 12 hours later, for a total of 3 pills a day.

I’ve noticed it is most effective if I can take it exactly 12 hours apart. Even an hour difference is noticeable for me.

I’ve been on the T3 for 5 weeks. It wasn’t an overnight success like the Levothroxin (sp?) was, but in retrospect I don’t think that was the right medication for me.

The T3 did make me feel better, but it’s been a very gradual process. After about 3 full weeks on the medication I started to feel well enough to actually want to start exercising, which was a big milestone for me. I’ve started running 2-3 days a week.

After 5 weeks now I’m happy to say that I’m finally starting to feel like a normal person again. There was a period in my life after Kinsey was born that I felt my best. I had energy, motivation, & drive. I stuck to a diet, never wavering, and I exercised daily.

There was a moment in my life during that period of time where I distinctly remember starting a gradual decline in my health (due to a very stressful situation that took a few years to resolve. And no, it had nothing to do with my marriage or infidelity, even though everyone always assumes that). After 6 years of feeling worse and worse, I am now feeling almost as great as I was during that healthy year.

Some people only need one or two 12-week cycles of T3 and can then wean off and be fine the rest of their life. Some have to take it indefinitely. I don’t know where I’ll fall, but I will be more than happy to take this medication until the day I die if I means I can feel happy and healthy again.

Here are the links to articles about T3:

How Adrenals can wreak havoc (STTM website)

Dosing with T3 only (STTM website)

Do you need T3 only? Use this ratio chart to determine if your T3 is low (STTM website)

Wilson’s Temperature Syndrome: official name of low T3/adrenal fatigue

Order blood work online

Dr Pauline Martin @ Austin Integrative Medicine (for people living in or near Austin, Texas)

I will end by saying one last thing. Wilson’s Temperature Syndrome is very controversial. Most regular doctors will laugh it off and say it isn’t a real thing. There are some doctors who recognize this condition though.

It’s kind of like Chiropractic Medicine. Most doctors will argue that it’s a joke and isn’t helpful. Other people swear by it.

My personal opinion is that if you’ve tried everything else and have gone down all avenues of mainstream medicine, and nothing is working, it doesn’t hurt to experiment with alternative medicine. I went to this doctor as a last-ditch effort because I was so desperate to feel healthy again.

I tried every avenue I could think of using mainstream medicine and came up desperate and empty handed each time. When I finally went and saw Dr Martin and she confirmed that I really have something wrong with me, I almost started crying in her office. I was so relieved it wasn’t “all in my head” like I’d been told by my family doctor.

Now that I’ve taken the medication for 5 weeks I can assure you, it has helped me and has made me feel whole again. And I know this isn’t all in my head.

I called that doctor I mentioned yesterday.

Unfortunately he is booked through April, which I’m willing to wait for, but he has a Family Practitioner that has an appointment a week from Monday (13 days from now).

I was hesitant, but I asked the receptionist if this NP would treat based on my symptoms and not just my lab work. She said yes, that is their practice and they prefer to do it that way. Check. I asked if this NP would be willing to prescribe me a dessicated thyroid treatment like Armour instead of the standard synthetic one. She said they usually will only prescribe the natural ones, and that they really don’t like Synthroid at all. Double Check.

I quickly booked the appointment. I am VERY hopeful right now. I told her I would have all the paperwork ready today (I have to print stuff from their website, fill it out, and bring it with me) so if she had ANY cancellations at all, please call me because I can be there at the drop of a dime.

My blog conference – Blissdom – is a week from Thursday. Just 4 days before my new thyroid appointment. I was so hoping I could start medication before I trek up to Nashville for an intense blog conference where I will be expected to socialize a LOT with brands, companies, and fellow bloggers. I fear I will act antisocial because of my thyroid imbalance. Oh well I guess. I’ll do what I can do.

At least I’ll be back to normal (hopefully) and the pleasant fun person I usually am by my next conference this summer – Haven.

This new office unfortunately doesn’t take insurance, however they will provide me with the paperwork I need to file my insurance out of network. Also, the visit is about $320 (ouch!) but fortunately I have an HSA account with a decent balance so the visit won’t hit my pocketbook at all. Whew.

Oh, and PS, I mentioned a few weeks ago that I was training for a 5k and was running 3-4x a week…

Well, that was because of the thyroid medication. I told you I felt great while on it.

I ran once after stopping the Synthroid. Since then I’ve gone back to my usual habit of sleeping in half the day, drinking a few diet dr peppers and an energy drink, getting enough energy to do a project or two for my blog, then spending the evening after the kids are in bed being lazy watching 30Rock on Netflix instead of keeping up with chores and the dreaded email load I get from HoH. I’m telling you, I have no energy or drive to do anything more than I have to. It really sucks.

And what really REALLY sucks is that I love running. Like, I’m one of those weird people that actually smiles while I run. I crave it and I look forward to it. And that drive came back full force when I was on Synthroid. I LOVED every second of my running program. It was a glorious two weeks. I can’t wait to get whatever help I need so that I can start running again. For now, just walking up the stairs leaves me huffing and puffing and totally out of breath. Makes me sad.

So anyway, there’s the really long novel just to say I made an appointment and it’s in a week and a half. Wish me luck.

I could write a freaking novel on everything I now know about thyroids. I won’t. But I could. If you want to read a novel, here’s a great blog to start with.

Anyway, where do I even begin? Let’s play a word association game. When I hear “thyroid” the first word that pops in my head is

FRUSTRATION.

I am frustrated. I have almost every symptom of hypothyroid. It’s actually ridiculous how many symptoms I’ve been struggling with. Besides the obvious ones, my obscure symptoms should have been a huge red flag to any doctor I’ve seen in the last 10 years. What obscure ones? I’ll tell you. Hypoglycemia. Infertility. Unexplained Weight Gain. Dangerously low Vitamin D levels (mine was a 7). Low body temperature (my average is always 97.6). Severe hair loss (I hardly ever shave my legs because I just don’t have growth on them, as well as other areas including my head!). Um, oh, family history of hypothyroid.

Every time I read about hypothyroid, I discover yet another random symptom that I’ve suffered with for years.

So, you’d think it would be an easy diagnosis for me, right?

I wish. I’m to the point where I cry daily because I feel so frustrated and helpless. I’m so overwhelmed and I don’t feel good at all, yet I’m having to really suck it up and fight for myself to get the diagnosis that I need.

4 years ago I stumbled upon a diagnosis that I fit perfectly. It encompassed all my symptoms. I didn’t know anything about it, but I knew that my doctor could test for it. I went to my (previous) family doctor and asked to be tested for Hypothyroidism. The TSH test came back “in range” and I left thinking my symptoms were all in my head.

Fast forward 4 years… I got on the hypothyroid tangent again after learning that my dad and sister have it, as well as my late grandmother.

I decided it would be best to just bypass the family doctors and go straight to an Endocrinologist. I waited impatiently for a month and a half for that appointment. I talked about that appointment daily for a month and a half. I just knew my life would become a fairytale once I saw the Endocrinologist.

I had the appointment and told her I wanted ALL the labs for thyroid – the standard TSH as well as the additional T3 and T4 tests (including the FreeT3 and FreeT4 ones). I gave her a 3 page typed list of my symptoms. I came prepared. She said my thyroid was “enlarged” and ordered an ultrasound. I went to CPA and had my blood drawn.

Two days later the results came back. I went in for my followup appointment. She walked in the door and said, “Your thyroid is fine. You are pre-diabetic.”

I went into complete and utter shock. How could my thyroid be fine? How could I be pre-diabetic?

I left in tears. As I studied the lab results over the next day, I became enraged. My labs were fine and normal. I am not pre-diabetic. However, as far as thyroid labs, there was only one on there – the TSH test. I had specifically asked her for the additional tests, yet she never ran them.

Frustrated and desperate, my sister gave me some Synthroid (hypothyroid medication) that she had left over (she recently switched to Armour).

Yes, I know it is WRONG to take prescription drugs that aren’t prescribed to you. But I did it anyway. And I don’t regret it.

For two weeks, I had the best days of my adult life. For the first time in over 10 years, I was NORMAL. I felt great. I felt normal. I don’t know how else to describe it.

I didn’t get winded taking a shower. I didn’t have to drink an energy drink just to do the laundry. I did basic life functions like a normal person, without the racing heart, getting out of breath, and having severe fatigue that usually would send me straight down for a nap. I also didn’t take my usual 3-hour nap 30 minutes after waking up in the morning. It is usually a daily occurrence for me to take the kids to school, then go back to bed and sleep until 11 or noon. The two weeks while on my sisters thyroid medication, I napped twice – for 15 minutes each time.

My chronic acne cleared up. My face looked creamy and my puffiness went away. I was the best me I had been in years. I had forgotten how it felt to be a normal person. And I loved the new me.

After the Endocrinologist debacle (telling me I was pre-diabetic when I wasn’t, and not ordering the labs I specifically asked for), I fired her (in my mind) and went to my usually super-cool family doctor. I had no doubt I’d be able to waltz in there, show him my symptoms, tell him how great I was feeling, and he would obviously just write me a prescription for the Synthroid. Naturally.

Ha! Boy I must live in a fantasy world to assume that.

He was furious that I was taking Synthroid when my TSH was “in range”. He told me to stop taking it immediately. He said I wasn’t hypothyroid and that I was causing severe damage to myself.

I cried and convinced him that I wanted more tests. He hesitantly agreed (simply to appease me) though he was annoyed about it. He made me wait a full 10 days before he would do my blood work so that the Synthroid would be expunged from my system.

I had a panic attack right there in his office. There was no way I could go off the Synthroid. I had seen the light, and I did NOT want to go back to the horrible sad pathetic depressed life I had before. I felt too good to stop taking it. Yet, I was out of pills anyway, so if he didn’t give me any, I’d have to stop taking it regardless. So I agreed.

The next morning I didn’t take anymore Synthroid. And I was more depressed than I’ve been in years. Maybe ever.

I cried all day. Literally. I literally cried all day long. I felt awful and I was so depressed knowing that I would go back to feeling like shit again. Knowing I was going to go back to the life of feeling awful all day made me so completely and utterly depressed that I just laid in bed all day crying.

I was seriously acting like I needed to go to a mental hospital. I even said several times that if I had to go back to that old life, I would surely check myself into a mental hospital. I just could not go on living like that again. Not after I had tasted true health and feeling good again.

That afternoon I decided to make an appointment with my sister’s doctor. He had given her thyroid medication while her levels were “in range” and he had even given her Armour, which many doctors are opposed to, so I felt really hopeful that he would help me. The appointment was for 8am the next morning.

I woke up and went to my appointment armed with my lab results and my 3-page typed symptoms list. Surly he would help me.

I didn’t tell him about my family doctor the day before, but I did tell him I had stopped taking the Synthroid. He was much more understanding and supportive, but he gave me even worse news. He wanted me clean from Synthroid for a full MONTH before he would do my labs.

I started crying right there in his office. He said he knew the month would be hard, so he wanted to give me an antidepressant to help get me through it. He did have a tone though that he treated me like my issues were depression and not thyroid. I left with a month’s worth of Pristiq.

Now, I’ve been on Wellbutrin for 10 years now. And he said to keep taking it but to add the Pristiq. When I was on the Synthroid I felt so great I was ready to stop taking the Wellbutrin completely, but now not only was I still on the Wellbutrin, but I was also on a 2nd antidepressant!

I’ll admit, the Pristiq helped. I didn’t cry all day any more. I didn’t get choked up during Pamper’s commercials. But I certainly wasn’t happy. I was now depressed but unable to cry. If I wasn’t allowed to have Synthroid though, the Pristiq did help take the edge off from my depression.

So, finally a week later I went back to my first family doctor to have my labs done. I made sure he knew I wanted the T3 and T4 labs as well as the ones to test for Hashimoto’s.

I waited two more days for the results. Finally he called. “Your thyroid is fine. Stop worrying about your thyroid.”

What? Seriously? You have to be kidding me. I told him I wanted a copy of the results and drove up there to pick them up.

When I received the results, I looked at them when I got in the car. I was so angry and pissed off I was ready to punch the doctor in the face. Would you believe me if I told you this was the second set of labs I specifically requested with T3 and T4 that the doctor DID NOT ORDER?

My 2nd set of labs, from a 2nd doctor did not have the F%*#(@(#)@)(#$*%%$&$& T3 test on it, even though I specifically asked him to order it. It did have the T4 fortunately, but that is useless to me.

So this is where the story ends for now. This is where I’m at. I’m waiting 3 more weeks to see the 2nd family doctor (my sister’s doctor). My 1st family doctor didn’t order the labs I asked for. The Endocrinologist didn’t order the labs I asked for.

What will it take to get the labs I ask for? And what will it take to get the medication I need?

I need to be treated based off symptoms, not off what a stupid TSH level says.

And meanwhile, I’ve been off Synthroid for two weeks now, and I feel even worse than before. And my face looks like shit now. My eyes are puffy, my cheeks are swollen. My face is splotchy and red. And the worst part – my acne is back with a vengeance. Not to mention all the other ways I feel absolutely horrible.

So here I am, needing help with no help on the horizon.

I found a clinic that treats hypothyroid patients, but it’s holistic only and no insurance companies will accept it. I found a thyroid office that treats based on symptoms as well as labs, but wants nothing to do with dessicated thyroid, only synthetic. I’m weary of that.

I’ve googled until I can’t google any more.

I found a doctor who I’m hopeful about, but can’t call until the morning.

At this point I feel like I’m in a pit of despair. I’ve tried twice to get labs, and twice the doctor has not ordered the labs I specifically requested. I tried a 3rd doctor, who only put me on yet more antidepressants.

I’m ready to crawl into a hole and never come out. I’ve honestly never felt so helpless in all my life. If this new doctor can’t help me for whatever reason, I might just check myself into the State Hospital and refuse to get out of bed ever again.

Why is it so hard to get treated for hypothyroid? Why have I had to fight the entire time?

Now, when I say I’m going to check myself into the State Hospital, I am in fact being dramatic, but really, I am fed up with this lifestyle. I’m fed up with needing a Red Bull just to get the laundry done. Or needing a Red Bull just to mop my floor. It’s ridiculous. I am fed up. I am on a mission to find someone who will help me.

Don’t worry, I’m still doing the South Beach Diet. And I’m still running.

I’ve settled into a 3-4x a week running schedule. I was doing daily but my joints can’t handle it. I don’t want to injure myself.

In a week I’ve cheated on SBD exactly one time. I had ONE chocolate dipped raspberry (that Kinsey and I made ourselves so they were a lot healthier than the store bought version).

Yesterday was my first weigh in. I have lost exactly 2.5 lbs in one week.

I was hoping for a huge number since a lot of people lose like 8 lbs the first two weeks of SBD, but I can’t be sad about 2.5 lbs. It’s something!

I feel like the jerks on Biggest Loser who lose 6 lbs in one week then stand there and cry and are angry because they were hoping for double digits.

Um, hello. It’s only a week. 6 lbs is freaking A LOT for one week! Quit crying and be happy and own it.

So, considering I work out about 1% as much as the Biggest Loser peeps, I’d say 2.5 lbs is pretty darn good.

Today I’m headed out to get fitted for a pair of running shoes. I’ve never been fitted for running shoes, and I’m very excited about it. After that I’m going to Academy to buy some running clothes with the gift card Ben gave me for Christmas.

I WILL be a runner, even if it kills me.

Oh, and I’m going to sign up with Merideth for a 5k next month. 5 weeks actually. I’ll give you more deets soon.