The Graceful Skinny

A homeschool mom of one sharing my thoughts, curriculum reviews, organization techniques, and planning ideas with others in the homeschool community.

Weekly Update: Better Late Than Never April 25, 2011

Filed under: Road Blocks,The Weekly Check in — The Graceful Skinny @ 4:54 pm
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My wonderful readers, I am so very sorry for my inconsistent posting this past month. April has been a bit rough health wise and it has caused me to slack in other areas. I stared this blog as a way to be an encouragement to others and try to do my best to keep a positive outlook in my posts. However, this once I must ask your forgiveness if I come across as a bit negative and whiny, because today I just need a bit of time to vent.

I am tired of being tired. I am tired of medical issues and weight issues and fertility issues and pills and hormones. My issues with asthma and the steroids at the beginning of the month started a bit of a chain reaction.  Aunt Flo went weird (yet again). Provera was needed. And now I am left with 7ish pounds of weight that I am going to have to re-loose!

Though as run down as I am, if I stop for a minute and listen it becomes obvious that God is trying to teach me something through all of this.  And while this is something that I have known for years being able to step back and take peace in this knowledge is not all that easy.

It’s at times like these where I feel so run down and frustrated and find myself screaming out to God, “I CAN’T DO THIS ANYMORE!” It’s at these moments when I finally stop and really listen that I hear God gently whispering back to his reminder that I never could do it, nor was I ever supposed to, and as crappy as all this is to deal with, there is something unbelievably freeing at this reminder.

God is there watching over us and taking control over everything.  When I stop and think about how easy it is to slip into the grind of the daily life and trudge through it all, it is these moments that cause us to break that really bring us closer to God.  And as crappy as they might be to get through, as much as I would LOVE to push the fast forward button on life just to skip all of this, I wouldn’t trade a single piece of it because God has truly used it all to bring us closer to him.

So while I may have my moments of acting like an exhausted two year old, in the end its all good because God is in control and for that I am ever grateful!

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A deeper look into the medical issues in my life- Part 2: Hashimoto’s Thyroiditis April 18, 2011

Filed under: Revalations along the way — The Graceful Skinny @ 5:26 pm
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the gracefulskinny weight loss blog hashimotos thyroidits conditions

Whenever I hear the name Hashimoto’s Thyroiditis I always get a mental image of some crazed samurai randomly attacking my thyroid gland. In reality that image is not too far off from what is actually happening.

Essentially Hashimoto’s is an auto-immune disease in which your auto immune system randomly decides that it doesn’t like the thyroid anymore and then attacks it every so often. This causes the thyroid to go crazy.

During an attack your thyroid is likely to go into overdrive occasionally causing Hyperthyroidism. Hyperthyroidism happens when there is too much thyroid hormones (T3 and T4) being released meaning that your Thyroid Stimulating Hormone (TSH) levels are too low.

Symptoms of Hyperthyroidism are as follows:

  • Heat intolerance
  • Increased Metabolism (This will make you more likely to lose weight and less likely to gain.)
  • Frequent and or loose bowel movements
  • Thinning of hair
  • Change in Appetite
  • Fatigue

After an attack your thyroid shuts down and doesn’t work as well. This causes Hypothyroidism. Your thyroid becomes hypo when the thyroid is under producing the thyroid hormones (T3 and T4). This causes your body to over produce the TSH in order to try to get more T3 and T4.  This is why when the vampires (lab technicians) draw blood to test your levels they look at the TSH levels.  When your TSH levels are high that means that your thyroid levels are too low.

Symptoms of Hypothyroidism are as follows:

  • Cold Intolerance
  • Decreased Metabolism
  • Weight Gain and/or a significant struggle to lose weight
  • Fatigue
  • Drowsiness
  • Difficulty Concentrating
  • Dry Skin, Hair & Nails
  • Constipation

Over all it is easy to manage with proper medication and regular monitoring.  It might take a while for the doctors to find the right level of medication for you but once they do Hashimoto’s becomes more manageable.

Things to look out for with Hashimoto’s:

  • Hashimoto’s and other thyroid diseases are very commonly linked with Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome
  • It is not uncommon for Hashimoto’s to cause Nodules to form every now and then.  I have been told that they are mostly harmless and just a part of the disease but you never know.
  • Stress and weight can be contributing factors.

Hashimoto’s Thyroiditis while not commonly known about is actually the most common form of Thyroid disease.  It is estimated that it affects about 14 MILLION Americans and that it is seven times more likely to affect women then it is to affect men.

Celebrities with Hashimoto’s Thyroiditis:

  • Kim Cattrall
  • Jillian Michaels
  • Linda Ronstadt (musician)
  • Nia Vardalos (actress/writer)
  • Oprah Winfrey

Hashimoto’s Thyroiditis can sound scary and overwhelming when you are first diagnosed but once you become familiar with what you are dealing with it becomes very manageable.

Websites that I have found useful in dealing with Hashimoto’s Thyroiditis:

You can find Part 1 of my Medical conditions series HERE

 

Weekly Update: Pollen: 3 – Me: 1 April 8, 2011

Filed under: Road Blocks,The Weekly Check in,Venting Frustrations — The Graceful Skinny @ 5:17 pm
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Rachael Lorenz, diet, blog, weight loss, pollen, Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome, PCOS, Hashimotos thyroidits, Asthma

Why hello there strangers!  I would like to take a moment to apologize for falling off the face of the earth for a few weeks.  Spring is rolling in fast and with it the evil of pollen has been giving me quiet the beating.  My asthma has flared horribly causing me to have to have nebulizer treatments and heavy steroids.  Not only are the steroids unpleasant by themselves but they always come with extra weight and enhanced hunger and food cravings.

I have sadly gotten slack in stepping on the scale like I am supposed to.  And I am finding out that the longer you put it off the easier it is to keep putting it off and the harder it becomes to make that step up on to the scale. By the time that I stepped up on it this morning it felt more like I was trying to step over a mountain then take a baby little step up on to a scale.

Step up I did though, and I am desperately trying to encourage myself with the fact that at least I am not ignoring the issue. I am trying to remind myself that I am almost done with the steroids and that the weight gain from taking them is just an unfortunate side effect of the medication that is helping me to breathe better.

That being said, I have gained 4.6 pounds in the last 2 weeks.  That by far is not a happy number. To say I am feeling a tad on the dejected side right now would be a bit of an understatement.  But at least I know that the worst is almost over pollen wise and I can recognize that I got that weight off once I can get it off again.  Maybe I needed this bit of wake up call to get my but back into gear.

So how have you been in my absence? Is anybody else getting kicked in the butt royally by this horrid pollen? If so, stay strong dear readers! We can fight it together!