Blockades in the road of Life....

By the looks of it I'm not being as faithful as I thought I would be to writing more on my blog. It's funny how times just seems to slip through my fingers like sand. I haven't been wasting my time but I don't think I've been especially careful in managing it either!!

February and March were months of blah for me in the health department arena. I haven't been feeling myself since November. No energy, fog brain, cold all the time, heart palpitations, feeling that I'm going to pass out, no period for over six months. The symptoms are a mile long but I shortened it for you all!!! I know that I suffer from anxiety so I honestly just shook most of it off. The problem for me was that I felt like I couldn't run without having my heart race so bad and be out of breath withiin seconds of trying to run. I didn't want to be out on a trail by myself and keel over dead with no one to search for me...LOL!! But after almost passing out while sitting on the couch, I knew that I had to find out what was wrong with me.  I had a ton of tests done at the Cardiology office and it appears as if the ol' ticker is doing just fine. However, my blood results show that I'm right in the middle of MENOPAUSE (what an ugly word). I decided to do bioTE  HRT Pellet Therapy. My insurance doesn't cover it but thankfully we have an HSA so I could still afford the treatments. I read everything the doctor sent home with me and talked to quite a few other women who already do it and decided to go for it. I've been on it for about 3 weeks now and I have to say that I do feel sharper, more energy, my moods have also seemed to balance out. I sleep like a baby too, thanks to the progesterone that I take at night. That stuff is wonderful. No more waking up every night at 3 a.m. and no more hot flashes (so far...knock on wood)! The full impact takes about three months so I'm excited to see how I will feel then.

I had more blood work done with my OB/GYN doctor and come to find out I have Reverse T3 Syndrome. I'm working closely with her to figure out why my T4 just sits in storage and is not converted into T3. But what it boils down to is that I have hypothyroidism at this moment. I also found out that I do have a small nodule on my thyroid. I go back in 6 months for another ultrasound so that we can track the size for a while before any decisions are made regarding removal or just letting it alone.  Right now I'm taking a low dose of NDT and I truly feel that it's making a big difference on how I'm feeling. I go back in a few weeks to follow-up with my doctor regarding my blood work that will hopefully help her figure out why my T4 is just going into storage and not being converted. I have hope that eventually I won't have to take thyroid medicine....HOPE!

I'm still experiencing the shortness of breath. No one can explain it. I signed up for a trail half-marathon in August, which I think I'm going to have to defer. I haven't ran a stinking mile since November. But with all of this going on and feeling at times totally depressed and other times hopeful, I've realized that God gave me this body and I must, MUST, do my best to take care of it. I've gotten a bit pushier with the doctor's. I've demanded certain blood tests. I've questioned their comments and practices...something I would have never done in the past because I'm a rule follower. I realized that I am the one paying for my healthcare. They are NOT. They don't get to dictate how I spend the rest of my life on this earth. And that my friends is very empowering!!!

If anyone else has experienced similar symptoms please don't be shy...share with me!! That's why I decided to write this post so that someone may be experiencing the same issues but wasn't sure what to do. I have chosen a more natural solution to my thyroid medicine and HRT and it may not be something you would do, and I'm okay with that. I'm open to everything, so if you want to share I would love it!!

Life in the Thumb- Health Update

Hello Friends,

I'm sitting here at my kitchen table, listening to some great classical music, the hum of the washing machine, and drinking a lovely cup of coffee. I thought that it would be a great time for me to write down and share my health update with my friends as the weather is cloudy (with no chances of meatballs, unfortunately), and I have nothing pressing to accomplish today! That my friends = "sheer bliss!"

So, I left off my last post with the knowledge that I would be having a stress test just to make sure that the ol' ticker was doing what is was supposed to and keeping my body in an upright position while running. As far as I know my stress test went beautifully. I have never received a phone call from the cardiologist office nor one from my GP. I should be totally and utterly shocked, but I am not. I've left a message to call me about my results but I've received nada, zilch, zero..... no response. I'm going to run with the idea that everything is fine. God knows, I would be worth much more time and money to earn if there was something wrong with me.....right? And if that were the case someone would've called me. It's crazy to expect any type of communication from your doctor if everything checks out....???

This week I will be printing off all of my health information and making an appointment with my chiropractor. To some it may sound crazy, but this is one of the only doctors that I've visited who looks me in the eye, listens to what I have to say, doesn't tell me I'm crazy, isn't trying to write me a prescription, and honestly tries to find the "reason" why behind my symptoms. I'm going to focus on the menopause symptoms...that's what I honestly think is going on with me. I'm going to focus on my thyroid and adrenal glands...I also feel that these are issues. My mom had Hashimoto's Disease and all of her thyroid tests came back exactly like mine do, which is normal. On top of the fact that four of my female cousins on my mom's side have thyroid issues...I'm betting that there may be something up with mine.

Photo courtesy of http://healthy-designs.tumblr.com/

In the meantime, I am going to continue on the path that I've decided that is right for me. I'm drinking a green smoothie every morning, I'm eating less animal protein on a daily basis and incorporating more plant based foods into my diet. I'm trying hard every day to eat a rainbow of colors, no processed box foods, no GMO anything in my house or in my body, no sugar, no pop. Basically, I'm learning to eat as if I had to plant and harvest the food that I bring into my home.

The woes of getting older....

photo credits

In a few days I will be celebrating another year of life.....46 of them exactly!! At one point I was pretty rattled by that number as it is closer to 50 than I wanted to be. But something happened. Somewhere along the way I started to become comfortable in my own skin. I believe it occurred when I decided that being a couch potato just didn't work for me. I'm now more conscious about what I put in my body and making time for my health appointments. For the longest time I've been a MOM..and mom's don't worry about themselves. Moms only go to the doctor when they've been sick for 18 days and finally surrender to the war going on within their bodies. I was that MOM. I no longer subscribe to that definition of a mom. I'm me, a woman, daughter, wife, mom, friend, and someone who deserves to take care of herself.

 So......today I had a stress test. I've noticed that when I'm running that my heart rate gets a tad too high. I mentioned it to my chiropractor and he didn't want to worry me, but he was concerned that it might be stress on the heart instead of being an aerobic workout. After that appointment I took his concern seriously and made sure to bring my runs back down to a slower speed when my HR got too high. My dad had a heart attack when he was 44 and his dad when he was 45...heart disease is in my genes. Honestly, I was a little scared. And then I read an article about a runner who was 45 and died during a 5K. That sealed the deal for me. I made an appointment with my physician and they got the ball rolling with the blood work and stress test.

I have to wait for about a week for my results from the stress test, but I'm feeling pretty good about the outcome. I was able to log in to my health account today and looked over my blood work. And of course, I had to call my mother to give her the numbers so that she could confirm and reassure herself and my dad that I was (knock on wood) going to be okay. My cholesterol numbers are pretty good--
Triglycerides 68, HDL 64, LDL 114 (I'm working to bring that below 100). I feel that my heart is in pretty good shape. In fact, I think I'm in good shape.

However, even though I have (some) faith in doctors, I still think something is off. Not once did any of the doctors ask me if I could possibly be going through menopause. I firmly believe that I am either in peri-menopause or the beginning stages of menopause. I think that my estrogen levels are out-of-whack...because I've been experiencing anxiety, heart palpitations, shortness of breath, fatigue, hair loss, heat flashes...and of course, my doctor says my thyroid is just fine. I think I will have to be my own doctor for right now and try to find a better doctor.  A doctor who looks me in the eyes and is listening to me. I'm sure there is one out there!