Think I Quit

Did you think I quit my blog? Actually things around my house have been very busy. And there have been issues that have just kept me from getting on and writing. So.. gosh what can I say about the past month. Well one of the biggest has been this hypothyroidism of mine. I had my thyroid removed when I was 15 years old, so do the math... I have been on thyroid medication for over 40 years. I have taken Synthroid, the generic Synthroid, and Armour. The past five years I have been on Armour because it is both T3 and T4 hormone and it worked very well with me. However, the past year has been difficult for pharmacies to get Armour. I think it is a marketing scheme by drug companies.. only my opinon. So... my doctor had to switch me to synthroid.. only I was taking the generic. I have been on Synthroid before and when I took it, I took 150 mg. But my doctor was reluctant to start me on such a high dose because if it was too high, I could have a heart attack. So he wanted to start me on 50. I begged and pleaded until he agreed to 100. I knew this would not be enough, but I complied with his wishes. You have to wait a few months to have it checked because it takes awhile for this to show a proper reading. I knew it was not enough- weight gain, loss of energy, feelings of anxiety and depression, loss of concentration.. and mainly no zest for life. So, exercise has been quite a chore for me. I have mainly been doing walking. Now let me give you a condensed version of how the TSH works. I hope I get this all right.. you have a little organ called the hypothalamus in your brain- it tells all these other organs like the thyroid gland, the ovaries, etc to produce hormones. Well, if the hypothalamus is producing a high number of TSH (thyroid stimulating hormone), it is saying to the thyroid..give me more thyroid, this is not enough, and you would be considered HYPO thyroid. And if you have a very low number like a negative, then your brain would be saying, " this is too much, don't produce anymore." This would be you were HYPERTHYROID. When you have your thyroid gland removed, you are immediately hypothyroid and you have to take thyroid medication because your body cannot produce it. And if your TSH is a high number, then you are not getting enough.. hence, increase the dosage. The normal lab results for TSH should be .5 to 5.0. And most women operate best when it is 1.0 or 2.0. So you want to know what mine was???? 45!!!!! Yes, no wonder I have felt so out of sorts. So hopefully I will be getting my new dosage- so far the doctor has not called it in, and it will take a few weeks to a couple of months to get me back on track. I hope that was not too boring. But I hope this is also for anyone who thinks that they need an antidepressant when maybe it is not that, but rather thyroid medication that they need. You will have the same symptoms.

My family owns a beach condo. It has been under construction since Hurricane Ike ( 09-08). I spent my first night in it last Friday night. So I have been trying to make many decisions about what is needed and how to get it ready to rent. This has been a very stressful series of events- making these decisions and hoping you are making the right ones. Not to mention the expense and loss of revenue that has caused. I think my family will try to use it as much as we can, and hopefully as the market gets better in Galveston, we can sell soon.

When I returned yesterday my husband had to give me some terrible news. One of his work associates that is about 58 died in his sleep. This man was a friend and well respected man of my husband's company. And it was a big wakeup call to my husband. I hope he will get on the bandwagon of healthy eating and exercise.

My little granddaughter is walking and she is such a doll. I am so glad that I have Skype so I can see her regularly. My youngest son just got his Aggie ring. This is a really big deal for anyone who graduates from Texas A&M. He will graduate in August, we are so excited. My mother is happy in her independent living retirement home. What a great relief for me that she is so happy. And... with my mother's hearing problem, I had to take care of lining up all repairmen (plumbers, electricians, AC man, sprinkler man) because she cannot communicate over the phone. It was like I had an extra house. I am free from that. My husband has a grat garden planted. We even have lettuce that came back from last fall. I have a kitchen herb garden. The only trip I have planned right now is a wedding in Austin and my unome friends will be meeting in Sugarland (by Houston). The office where I just retired has called me to work a day in May. That sounds good to me. So, I will soon be going back to Galveston to get that taken care of and then I hope to make a trip up to Dallas to visit my little granddaughter. And I sure hope that I am soon feeling more myself so I can do some exercise-maybe get back started on my P90X.