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Thursday, September 23, 2010
Thursday, August 19, 2010
These Are A Few Of My Favourite Things...
The table with glass covered cross stitch made by my Nana.
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- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone
Sunday, August 15, 2010
Tuesday, July 27, 2010
Grave's Disease
I have been diagnosed with this autoimmune thyroid condition for a little over 2 years now. Will link to a good site which covers the basics of having Graves but just want to start a bit of a record of my symptoms.
Today I am feeling quite bloated and fat :( I don't own scales but weighed in at about 73 kilos last week at the doctors. This is about 10 kilos more than I was when my condition was at it's worst (hyperthyroid, too fast metabolism) 2 years ago. I now suspect I am hypothyroid, meaning my metabolism has slowed right down. I am feeling so sluggish and am feeling the cold for the first time in years. Ugh! Blood test this weekend... Endocrinologist appointment next week. I hope my medication (anti-thyroid tablets) are reduced.
13 February 2011
Good news! Since my last post I have had a blood test and my thyroid levels were very good. I am almost euthyroid! which means my thyroid is functioning normally. I say "almost" because I was still on the medication (about 1 tablet a day) at the time of testing and you are not really euthyroid until you are off the medication.
However at this stage I am only taking the occasional tablet... less than 1 a week. I'm feeling great and my weight has gone back down to a healthy 68 kilos. My skin has also settled down. It's great to know that my liver is getting a break too as it can suffer when on medication for too long. I have yet to find a local specialist to help me monitor my Graves and this could be tricky.
I'm wondering how much all this good news is due to finally reaching my long term goal of moving back to my hometown to where I have more support. Maybe my body is producing less stress hormones like cortisol which is reducing all the symtoms? I have also made small improvements to my diet... avoiding too much bread/yeast especially. I have read that bread isn't good if you have inflamation type conditions.
Anyhow so far so good! I hope my next specialist, when find one, agrees with my choice of treatment which is essentially very unconventional! if i had listened to my Endo my thyroid would probably have been destroyed by now!
3 May 2012
Well a lot has happened since the last update over a year ago!
I continued to lose weight after reducing my tablet intake. Around the same time that my husband had a nervous breakdown I felt that my symptoms were starting to increase (probably the stress again) so I saw the doctor, had a blood test and yes, sure enough my thyroid levels were 'up' again. Not dangerously high... but enough to warrant returning to 3 tablets a day.
I also have recommenced tertiary study... and live on campus up at Armidale Mon - Fri. The workload is very demanding and until recently, with the return of some very good results (a HD amongst them!) I have been quite stressed by it all. But the peace and quiet of my room, I think, has helped to keep me centered enough to be calm and therefore mentally healthy.
I have been eating very differently to what I am used to. Much plainer food, more salads and less sweets. The dining hall doesn't 'do' very good desserts so I usually don't have them. I have put more salads on my plate than I probably would at home because I've been conscious that I don't have the time to be sick! I also generally don't eat after about 7pm, that's when the dining hall closes and recently I have stopped keeping food in my room (initially I kept chocolate, fruit and trail mix). I often go to bed on an empty tummy because due to socialising/study I am staying up much later then I used to... midnight is now the common time I go to sleep (as opposed to 9.30pm - 10pm a few years ago) however I am also getting less 'broken' sleep because children aren't here to wake me... nor is my husband's tossing and turning waking me up.
Hopefully it's due to healthy eating habits that is the reason for my continued loss of weight. I am now down to 59.6 kilos. Most of the clothes that I wore back when I started this blog don't fit me anymore, especially the jeans/pants. My skin (except for around my eyes which has dark shadows with too much computer use) is breaking out less. I am feeling pretty good about my health in general. Despite the weight loss I feel that this is actually pretty close to my skeleton's ideal weight. I worry about the loss of muscle tone, especially in my legs from lack of exercise... but occasionally I'll spend a night dancing on social event nights (like last night) so I hope this helps.
Today I am feeling quite bloated and fat :( I don't own scales but weighed in at about 73 kilos last week at the doctors. This is about 10 kilos more than I was when my condition was at it's worst (hyperthyroid, too fast metabolism) 2 years ago. I now suspect I am hypothyroid, meaning my metabolism has slowed right down. I am feeling so sluggish and am feeling the cold for the first time in years. Ugh! Blood test this weekend... Endocrinologist appointment next week. I hope my medication (anti-thyroid tablets) are reduced.
13 February 2011
Good news! Since my last post I have had a blood test and my thyroid levels were very good. I am almost euthyroid! which means my thyroid is functioning normally. I say "almost" because I was still on the medication (about 1 tablet a day) at the time of testing and you are not really euthyroid until you are off the medication.
However at this stage I am only taking the occasional tablet... less than 1 a week. I'm feeling great and my weight has gone back down to a healthy 68 kilos. My skin has also settled down. It's great to know that my liver is getting a break too as it can suffer when on medication for too long. I have yet to find a local specialist to help me monitor my Graves and this could be tricky.
I'm wondering how much all this good news is due to finally reaching my long term goal of moving back to my hometown to where I have more support. Maybe my body is producing less stress hormones like cortisol which is reducing all the symtoms? I have also made small improvements to my diet... avoiding too much bread/yeast especially. I have read that bread isn't good if you have inflamation type conditions.
Anyhow so far so good! I hope my next specialist, when find one, agrees with my choice of treatment which is essentially very unconventional! if i had listened to my Endo my thyroid would probably have been destroyed by now!
3 May 2012
Well a lot has happened since the last update over a year ago!
I continued to lose weight after reducing my tablet intake. Around the same time that my husband had a nervous breakdown I felt that my symptoms were starting to increase (probably the stress again) so I saw the doctor, had a blood test and yes, sure enough my thyroid levels were 'up' again. Not dangerously high... but enough to warrant returning to 3 tablets a day.
I also have recommenced tertiary study... and live on campus up at Armidale Mon - Fri. The workload is very demanding and until recently, with the return of some very good results (a HD amongst them!) I have been quite stressed by it all. But the peace and quiet of my room, I think, has helped to keep me centered enough to be calm and therefore mentally healthy.
I have been eating very differently to what I am used to. Much plainer food, more salads and less sweets. The dining hall doesn't 'do' very good desserts so I usually don't have them. I have put more salads on my plate than I probably would at home because I've been conscious that I don't have the time to be sick! I also generally don't eat after about 7pm, that's when the dining hall closes and recently I have stopped keeping food in my room (initially I kept chocolate, fruit and trail mix). I often go to bed on an empty tummy because due to socialising/study I am staying up much later then I used to... midnight is now the common time I go to sleep (as opposed to 9.30pm - 10pm a few years ago) however I am also getting less 'broken' sleep because children aren't here to wake me... nor is my husband's tossing and turning waking me up.
Hopefully it's due to healthy eating habits that is the reason for my continued loss of weight. I am now down to 59.6 kilos. Most of the clothes that I wore back when I started this blog don't fit me anymore, especially the jeans/pants. My skin (except for around my eyes which has dark shadows with too much computer use) is breaking out less. I am feeling pretty good about my health in general. Despite the weight loss I feel that this is actually pretty close to my skeleton's ideal weight. I worry about the loss of muscle tone, especially in my legs from lack of exercise... but occasionally I'll spend a night dancing on social event nights (like last night) so I hope this helps.
Monday, July 26, 2010
Singing In My Head Today...
OUR FRANK
(Morrissey)
Our frank and open
Deep conversations
They get me nowhere
They bring me down, so
Give it a rest, won’t you ?
Give me a cigarette
God give me patience
Just no more conversation
Oh, give us a drink
And make it quick
Or else I’m gonna be sick
Sick all over
Your frankly vulgar
Red pullover
Now see how the colours blend
Our frank and open
Deep conversations
They get me nowhere
They just bring me down, so
Give it a rest, won’t you ?
Now will you just give over ?
The world may be ending
But look, I’m only human
So, give us a drink
And make it quick
Or else I’m gonna be sick
All over
Your frankly vulgar
Red pullover
Now see how the two colours blend, my friend
Won’t somebody help ?
Won’t somebody stop me
From thinking
From thinking all the time
About everything
Oh, somebody
From thinking all the time
So deeply, so bleakly ?
So bleakly all the time
About everything ? (who I am, how I ever got here)
Somebody stop me
From thinking
From thinking all the time
So bleakly, so bleakly
So bleakly all the time
(Morrissey)
Our frank and open
Deep conversations
They get me nowhere
They bring me down, so
Give it a rest, won’t you ?
Give me a cigarette
God give me patience
Just no more conversation
Oh, give us a drink
And make it quick
Or else I’m gonna be sick
Sick all over
Your frankly vulgar
Red pullover
Now see how the colours blend
Our frank and open
Deep conversations
They get me nowhere
They just bring me down, so
Give it a rest, won’t you ?
Now will you just give over ?
The world may be ending
But look, I’m only human
So, give us a drink
And make it quick
Or else I’m gonna be sick
All over
Your frankly vulgar
Red pullover
Now see how the two colours blend, my friend
Won’t somebody help ?
Won’t somebody stop me
From thinking
From thinking all the time
About everything
Oh, somebody
From thinking all the time
So deeply, so bleakly ?
So bleakly all the time
About everything ? (who I am, how I ever got here)
Somebody stop me
From thinking
From thinking all the time
So bleakly, so bleakly
So bleakly all the time
Eczema!
Refer to "Giving Up Dairy".
Things that could be causing my facial eczema:
Diet
Cleansers
Make up
Things that might help clear it up:
Moisturising
Application of steriod cream
Avoiding alcohol, parabens, fragrances in cleansers
Oatmeal wash
Giving Up Dairy
After many years of denial I have to concede that I need to at least give this a try. My skin is in crisis. I have had facial eczema since January 2010. It began when I was in hospital with my son for a week. What started as a small patch beside my nose has spread to both creases from nose to mouth and there is also a patch on my chin. My doctor has prescribed steriod cream but of course doesn't have the time to discuss actual causes. I also have periods of acne. I look shocking.
According to the book I have about blood types and the link to disease my type (A) is linked to dairy intolerance. There are other foods that I regularly eat that should be avoided by type As but I'm going to try to eliminate one at a time. So. No more milk. Daunting. Today so far (before I decided upon this course of action) I have had a splash of milk in my tea and cup of coffee and butter on my morning toast. What will I do tomorrow? Soy milk in my tea and maybe Nuttelex on my toast? Stay tuned.
Tuesday 27th July
Ok got my oat milk. It's ok, tastes like soy. Caved in and had some yogurt and cheese today though not much... just finished off what my son didn't eat. Applied regular oat wash to my eczema yesterday which seems to have helped as it wasn't as red today.
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- Bathsheba Smith
- Full-time Student and Mum of three who oscillates between perfectionism and slovenliness. Never wastes a good crisis!
