I had been put on thyroid hormone in 2004. However, I noticed no difference in how I felt. My hair still was shedding faster than what my husband liked, though for as many years as I can remember, it’s always been that way. I didn’t feel any more energetic, not that I was feeling lethargic before my physician at the time told me that I had hypothyroidism. The most bothersome issue I had, however, was the fact that I wasn’t losing weight.
My oldest sister had also been put on the same thyroid hormone I was given, same dose, everything. She did lose weight, but I have to wonder when looking back, if there were not other factors to the sum of it all.
You see, I had been noticing a trend; it seemed like a lot of people I know are suddenly befallen with hypothyroidism; “suddenly” meaning within the past two to three years. It had me debating on whether or not this is just a trend that physicians are clamoring to be a part of, as in those days of women routinely being told they needed hysterectomies and C-sections (and not for the benefit of the woman).
A friend of mine told me that she had the same lack of reaction to the thyroid hormone, and her physician ran special blood tests for other forms of hypothyroidism, including Hashimoto’s. So, when I visited with my physician for my routine exams, I would question him, and inform him of my concerns, and requested not once, but in the course of being his patient until I finally terminated my relationship with him, at least five times, to be tested for these other forms. I was repeatedly put off “until the next time.”
Another example of a problem with this physician, is that he had given me a light diuretic because one day my blood pressure was high. According to him. One time only. Rather than asking about any stress or high activity at that period in time. Because high blood pressure is something my mother battles, so I took the diuretic. It wasn’t until several months down the road when I told him I wasn’t feeling so great and he ran blood tests, that the effects of that diuretic was evident; he did not prescribe potassium to take along with the diuretic. Upon my own research, I learned that was a big no-no; you have to take potassium supplements when taking a diuretic.
My last visit with him in early 2007, I had an odd problem with a vein of mine that was determined to be nothing; the varicose veins I’ve had since I was 19 were not problematic, things were good. However, I was continually gaining weight, and that just couldn’t be, since I was taking Synthroid, right?! I mean, my diet hadn’t changed any, not that I particularly ate a lot of food and did a good amount of walking. The first words out of his mouth regarding this was, “have you considered surgery?”
After I got over the initial shock of a physician suggesting the FIRST method of weight loss to be via surgery, I was determined he was no longer going to be my physician and replied to him that I was not overweight enough to be considered a candidate. In my mind, I was thinking, “WHERE is that physician-ly advice of offering a diet plan, or … something?!”
My boss hired a woman to help us out in the office, and during our course of chat, we shared our problems with our thyroid meds levitrakamagra.com. She, however, was seeing an endocrinologist, and gave me her name and number, highly praising the physician.
In July 2007, when my last prescription of Synthroid ran out, I neither called my physician for an appointment nor requested a refill prescription. Instead, I wanted to go a few months, three at least, without both the Synthroid and the diuretic, before seeking the counsel of the endocrinologist whom I was referred to.
It was in January 2008 that I walked into Dr. T’s office, and I’ve never been more glad. She was a wonderful physician who didn’t make you feel that your time was not worth her time. We discussed at length, in easy conversation, my past three years of taking Synthroid. She was rather concerned that my concerns were ignored by my internist, and more concerned that he would suggest surgery without all other options at least attempted under his guidance. She did a couple of in-office tests to insure my thyroid wasn’t enlarged. It wasn’t. So, she sent me off to have a battery of blood tests, including the panels that I have been wanting to be tested for far too long.
Oh. And my blood pressure was just fine.
I returned February 13th for the results; my blood pressure was again just fine. Once again, I sat at length in discussion with my endocrinologist regarding the results of the blood test. I did not have hyperthyroidism; everything was clean save for my sugar levels were a big high, a clear danger sign that something was up there.
Dr. T explained that by taking thyroid hormone when you don’t need it will increase your weight; your body will begin to think it is lacking thyroid hormone and that’s what happened to me. It wanted more and more and so I gained weight even though I hadn’t changed my eating habits or physical activity.
Also a metabolic specialist, she provided me with a diet plan to use as a guideline, informing me of how many calories per day I had to limit myself to. I looked at the diet and wanted to cry.
I went home that evening, rather glum, knowing I had to live a life of 1,500 calories-per-day, or risk becoming full-blown, insulin-dependent diabetic, among other serious health issues. I took out the diet and considered it thoughtfully. If I could make the diet something more than just a diet plan but rather something else … because it wasn’t just a diet, something I consider short term to burn off 10-15 pounds. No, this was a permanent thing, and a change of eating habits and exercise habits; it was a change of life totally.
So, it became what I call, my Life Plan.
