Six Years Later: Here's What Good Thyroid Treatment Looks Like

Hi my friends!

I thought today would be a good time for some inspiration. It's been six years since I started the journey to solve my hypothyroid condition. If you are new to my story, this meant I couldn't exercise, I had no energy, I would sleep 10 hours and wake up tired, I was 35 lbs overweight and no diet helped (read the whole story). So, being able to post this update is really exciting, and I hope it inspires you!

Nine months ago I started doing CrossFit, which is darn near the hardest workout I've ever done in my life. And something I never could have done six years ago. Since starting CrossFit, I've been sore every day for nine months, but in a really good way. The way my body should feel after exercise, not in the hypothyroid-way (where exercise made me want to cry). I never knew exercise could feel awesome until I was treated properly.

So what does it look like to get proper treatment? You need photos! Here are the latest pics of yours truly. At 40 years old, with hypothyroidism and recovering from adrenal fatigue, I never thought this kind of workout would be possible. But the proof is here. And yay!! Seeing this reminds me that life can be better. So keep at everyone. Anything is possible if you put your heart and mind to it.

xxxxxoooo

Lizzy

135 lb Front Squat - Personal Record - woooohoooo!!!

55 lbs overhead "Snatch" - I did 30 of these at 45lbs, and 30 at 55 lbs. Let's hear it for the over 40 moms!

Where to Get Advice

Hi my friends, sorry it's been so long since my last post. Life is busy, and luckily I have the energy to tackle it head on every day but this also means sometimes I take on too much! For many of you, I know that sounds like an impossible dream -- to have energy and feel great -- but hang in there and keep looking for answers. On that note, I wish I could answer all the emails from everyone but sadly I can't keep up.

Fear not, there is an amazing Yahoo group who helped me when I was getting started. I highly recommend joining this group to get advice. They have seen the range of hypothyroid and adrenal fatigue related conditions -- like RT3, Graves Disease, Addison's Disease, hormone imbalances, high blood pressure, low pressure, high cholesterol -- you name it, they have seen it. 

When you post be prepared -- try to keep your story and questions clear and simple. And be sure to include your full (and recent) labwork with the lab ranges. This will help you get a faster response. If you don't know what labwork to order, my worksheet has all the info.

http://health.groups.yahoo.com/group/NaturalThyroidHormonesADRENALS/

xxxooo

Lizzy

Thanksgiving Dinner Survival Guide

Vermont CremeryThanksgiving is one of those holidays that's all about carbs and sweets -- pretty much the foods which make me feel bleh because of hypothyroidism. That's why I developed my own way of eating with the Miss Lizzy Diet.

At Thanksgiving everyone is eating what they want, so I wanted to find a way to survive Thanksgiving where I felt great and totally satisfied with foods (as well as not gaining weight!). Here's what I do:

1. Thanksgiving morning, eat a good breakfast with protein and veggies (this really helps with carb cravings and holds me over until dinnertime)

2. Bring an appetizer that makes me happy and that I can eat -- like cheese! -- have I mentioned I really love cheese? Cheese really helps with my carb and sugar cravings because its rich and satisfying. Pretty much anything from Vermont Cremery is heaven for me. I skip the crackes and just eat the cheese straight.

3. At mealtime, I fill my plate with any food that don't have carbs (a little breadcrumbs or flour in the gravy won't hurt) I am always suprised that there's a lot of non-carb dishes to choose from -- like salads, vegetable side dishes, Turkey, gravy, even some potatoes. I'll have seconds if I am still hungry, but again avoiding all carbs. Maybe at the end I'll try a little stuffing, but at this point I am usually full I can have a little carb without overeating.

4. For dessert, bring a super awesome treat specifically for me (I am going to post my special cheesecake recipe shortly!)

So that's pretty much it. Eating this way on Thanksgiving helps me avoid the brain fog and lethargy of carbs, but still enjoy the day, feel great, and not gain weight (!)

xxoo

Lizzy

Latest Update on My Medicine for Hypothyroid and Adrenal Fatigue

Hi my friends,

It's been a while since I've posted about my medicine, and it's been an interesting year! So I wanted to share what I've learned. First, I want to say wow - it's all a big experiment! And that's tough sometimes because I want the answer right now. But the only way to learn is try, test, observe and somehow be patient along the way. So my dear friends, keep at it and you will find answers too. Here is my medicine and general update...

Update on Thyroid Medicine

For a year I have been on the Thyroid compound prescription I special order from Collier's Pharmacy (details below) in Arkansas. I continue to love it. On the new compound medicine, I take 180mgs day which seems like the right dose for me. On Naturthroid, when I raised above 130mgs I had super freaky hyper and hypo symtpoms. Yet on the compound I can take 180mg beautifully. Weird, isn't it? So I am super happy to report feeling great now though on the compound. We affectionality call it "The Miss Lizzy Compound" -- you can ask for it by name at Colliers. Neat. 

Update on Hydrocortisone

The other super big change...I weaned off Hydrocortisone! This was a huge step. I started Hydrocortisone three years ago to help with low cortisol and adrenal fatigue. And Hydrocortisone definitely helped me. But I was always a little worried that the Hydrocortisone was causing some weight gain, and perhaps had something to do with hair loss, though I wasn't totally sure. This summer I decided it was time to try weaning off Hydrocortisone. Here is what I did:

1. On STTM Janie felt she had avoided adrenal fatigue because of the high doses of Vitamin C she took daily. So I increased my Vitamin C to 2k mgs a day along with 1k mg Bioflavonoid (per Dr. Wilson's suggestion). And btw -- chewable vitamins really make it much more fun!
2. I started the process of decreasing my Hydrocortisone by 2.5mgs a week. 
3. If I was stressed during the process, I would hold the dose, and then continue when I felt ready. The idea was to take care of my body and not cause shock.
4. If had I felt any adrenal fatigue symptoms, I would have stayed on the Hydrocortisone but luckily it seems my adrenals are really well healed now! YAY!!!

It took about 3 months to fully wean off the Hydrocortisone (long time, I know!). And I happy to report, I feel great. It was definitely worth it for me to be on the Hydrocortisone but it was time to try without. It's been two full months, and so far I seem to be keeping my weight down with greater easily. Over the coming months I will be observing weight gain/loss and hair volume/regrowth to see if the Hydrocortisone might have be related. And of course I will share what I learn!

xxoo

Lizzy

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Here is the info for Collier's. The pharmacist Rodney at Colliers is SO awesome. He gave us his direct phone extension for ordering the compound (479) 935-4336. Ask for "The Miss Lizzy Compound" and he will hook you up. (A doctor's prescription is of course needed and he can explain what to do.) 

Recovering from the Great Hair Disaster of 2010

Hi my friends,

Wow, sorry for the big delay in posting. I have so much to share and plan to do more frequent updates this summer. First I wanted to share an update on my hair, after the Great Hair Disaster of 2010.

To give you a refresher... in May 2010, using myself as the usual experiment test-dummy, I took DHEA to see if it would help with my thyroid and adrenal issues. Whether it was the DHEA alone, or a perfect storm of stress combined with my flat iron, within three weeks I lost over half my hair volume. And what hair remained broke almost to the root. Devastating? Yes!

I had no idea how much I loved my long hair until it was gone. I've been sulking for a year now, enviously watching women with long hair. For a while I wore hair extensions, which was great and helped me through the early trauma of losing almost 8 inches of hair. Finally I've recovered, and now embracing the short hair while it grows out, sans hair extensions. 

That's the backstory, now the goods news! I've done tons of research on how to grow and maintain healthy hair, which I am excited to share with you all. Even if you have strong hair, you might know someone who has gone through a similar tragedy. And if you have hair care tips, please share!  

Here is low-down. In my research, it seems that growing strong and healthy hair has four key parts:

Hair Growth: Iron Supplements 

My first concern was speed of hair growth. Every morning in the mirror, I desperately willed my hair to grow. Apparently healthy hair grows about 1/2 inch a month. So 6 inches a year! But for us hypothyroid people, I read we often have low iron which means hair grows slower! My iron was very low, so I made sure to take my iron (25 mg/day). From what I've read it takes about 3-4 months to get iron levels up so it was important for me to be diligent.

Hair Strength: Zinc

My hair had inches of terrible split ends. So I had to work on strengthening my hair. I read that Zinc was good for hair strength (also supposedly good for thyroid) so I added Zinc 10mg a day. My hair is no longer splitting, and the new growth is getting stronger. Thumbs up for the zinc. Plus I noticed an added bonus of less acne, woot!

Hair Shine: Omega 6

I read that Evening Primrose Oil Omega-6 was good for strength and shine, so I've been taking Evening Primrose Oil 1350mg 2/day for a year. It's a little hard to tell if this made a difference with my hair, but it seems like it hasn't hurt. And the Evening Primrose Oil definitely helped with PMS and mood swings! That was a huge bonus. Can you believe I don't have any PMS now? (sorry to the guys if this is TMI).

Stress: Vitamin C

From what I've read, when the body is in stress it draws from the hair, skin and nails first. So the hair tragedy was a clue that my body was not happy with me last year. In the Adrenal Fatigue book by James Wilson, he talks about the importance of Vitamin C to help the adrenals deal with stress. And recently I read on Janie's blog on Stop the Thyroid Madness, how she feels she never had adrenal fatigue because she has always taken lots of Vitamin C. This was great info! For the past year, I upped my dose of Vitamin C to 2k units a day with 1k units of bioflavinoid (for absorption). When I take my Vitamin C, I feel really solid all around. And the great bonus, I wasn't sick at all this year. Sweet.

And now for the photo! This is from June, one year after the Great Hair Disaster of 2010. Doing pretty good I think. My next blog post is going to be about how I stopped using shampoo three months ago (zoinks!) and now just do "conditioning only"...  

xxoo

Lizzy

 PS - Thanks to the ladies at the Yahoo Grow Hair Forum who saved me many many times. xxoo!