Just a Can of Hairspray

So while I am still figuring out where all my images went (I think they are gone! Boo!), I figure I would write about my thyroid. It’s been such a drag lately. The supplemental therapy I was doing has somehow come to an end…it quit working. My hypo symptoms have come back, and while the iodine is supplying me with some energy, it comes in spurts. I went this past week to have my blood taken and the results confirmed that my thyroid is crazy! My doctor now has me on Armour, and I can’t wait to see the improvements.

So it’s been almost 3 weeks since I started back on Iodoral. Am I feeling better? Sometimes. Do I have my energy back? Sometimes. Did I think it would take this long to feel better? No. I still get cold hands at work. They aren’t as dry, which is good. I need to start checking my temperature to monitor it. My weight has somewhat leveled off. Now to just peel this weight back off would be a good thing. I don’t tolerate carrying out 10 pounds very well. Both physically and mentally. I will probably go this week to have my blood taken and levels checked.

I have opted to working out earlier in the day, preferably at lunch, so that I’m not as tired. My eating habits are doing well. I’d just like to fit back into my work pants. For this week, that is all I ask. Maybe next week I’d like to drop down 15. We’ll see.

Well, the energy and feeling really good lasted a day or two. I am just plain tired today. I have such a hard time concentrating while sitting here at work. I just can’t seem to focus. My mind drifts and then my eyes want to shut. I am trying so hard to not rely on caffeine, but desperate times call for desperate messures. I am thinking of upping my Iodoral to an additional 4 tables. When I originally started last year, I did 100 mg, or 16 drops. Now that I’m on the tablets, 1 tablet = 2 drops. I use to feel great at 16 drops, so maybe I just need to increase back up and see what happens.

So  I am currently on day 2 (again) of 4 pills (50 mg) of Iodoral. For those that want to know what else I take with iodine: 

• 1 tsp Celtic Sea Salt
• Multivitamin
• B- Complex 100
• Riboflavin (200 mg)
• Niacin (1000 mg)
• Vitamin C (3000 mg)
• Iron 195 mg (Ferrous Sulfate - 975mg)
• Omega 3 (2800 mg)
• Selenium (200 mg)

I feel absolutely awesome today. Since Tuesday morning, I’ve dropped 3.4 pounds of water weight. YAY! My legs/feet don’t feel as water logged and my stomach is looking more normal. I have my energy back and just feel really good.

My thyroid has come crashing down. After months of being on iodine supplementation, I started cutting back. I was doing well for a while and then started to feel my symptoms again. So I started to increase iodine and ended up with tons of acne. After not being able to get it under control, I had my doctor prescribe Armour. Now I know that tons of people have done really well on it, but for me, I started to swell up like a ballon. I’ve put on about 7 pounds of water weight in the past week. Seeing as it’s summertime has not made me very happy. I pride myself on staying in shape and looking good. Being bloated did nothing but bring me down. So back into the doctor’s office I went yesterday. I am literally at wits end with this thyroid crap. Since my doctor was all booked up yesterday, I saw her nurse practioner. She asked me what I wanted to do in regards to my thyroid. HUH? I am there for you to tell me what to do. I am at the point where I need someone to tell me what to do. I can’t go on like this.

So I am back on iodine starting today. I’d figure I would track my thoughts and how I feel on here. Based on my previous posts, it didn’t take long to start feeling better. Lord knows I need every ounce of “feeling better” that is out there. Once you reach the bottom, the only other place to go is up, unless you just keep going down.

I’m so excited to have my latest results back about my thyroid. My thyroid TSH levels have dropped 2.6 UIU/ML since 3 months ago due to iodine replacement therapy. My doctor expects my levels to drop even more and my Free T3 to go up even more.

I am so excited that I did not have to get on a thyroid pill nor take one every day for the rest of my life. I feel great. I have tons of energy throughout the day. I am grateful to my doctor for knowing to nip the problem in the bud instead of putting a band-aid on it.

Not much is going on in my world right now. I’ve been helping some friends stay afloat through their hardships, working and putting together my patio. I have 4 pots of flowers right now. I’ve never tried to keep to keep live flowers before. So we’ll see how long they last. They look great out there though all purple, pink, orange, red and yellow flowers potted in vibrant blues and greens. I might need to take a photo…

I had a 3 month check up with my general doctor in regards to my thyroid yesterday. She drew more blood to see where all my thyroid levels are currently. I am hoping for good news!  I am feeling great, better than I have in a long time!

I never knew how important iodine was until recently. I don’t eat fish or any form of seafood. I personally think the smell is disgusting enough that it allows me to have no desire to eat it. Except maybe fish sticks with lots of ketchup.

I have been on iodine replacement therapy for almost 4 weeks now. Tuesday will be 4 weeks. I can’t believe how much energy I have. I hardly want to sleep now. I am able to work out after work and have plenty of energy to do all that I want to do there. I wake up and am not sleepy. No matter if I get 5 hours of sleep.

I am happy. I am losing weight. My hands/feet aren’t as cold anymore. I am more calm. I will continue to be on iodine instead of my doctor prescribing a daily thyroid pill. My thyroid will soon be better than ever. After my check-up on Friday, I found out that my adrenal glands were also going a little crazy. My cortisol levels were way off. My doctor believes that the iodine will help that as well.

I am interested to see how I will feel in 6 months. I’ve been hearing that I will have even more energy! MAN! What will I do with myself???

My doctor called last week with the news: You have an underactive thyroid.  GREAT! That is what I wanted to hear. Besides weight gain (that has left me feeling not so cute), having cold hands/feet and not sleeping at night, I have NO ENERGY. I have to keep my eyes peeled open in the mornings at my desk and sometimes making my way to the gym takes all the strength I have.

Tomorrow I start on Lugol’s Solution. It’s a mixture of iodine. The thing I like about my doctor is that she isn’t going to mask my problem. She is going to fix the problem. What a concept! Basically people with hypothyroidism have iodine deficiency. And replacing the lack of iodine in my body will get my thyroid back up in working.

I cannot wait to have energy again.