If you all follow me on YouTube then you may have seen my video about my weight loss, if not, I'm going to post it below and talk about it a little more in detail here. I'm going to start in the beginning... No, not from birth, just a few years back.
December 2011
I was having a lot of pain, and not just any old pain, REAL pain everywhere in my body. I had pain in my joints, muscles, back; I could hardly walk because my hips were killing me. I had become depressed and cried a lot. This was affecting my job and even my relationship with my husband. Finally, I told my husband I needed to make an appointment to see our family doctor.
When I went in to see her, I took one look at her and started crying. Everything I felt just came to the surface and I lost it. As always, she was very understanding and even offered me a tissue. She asked a series of questions relating to the depression. You know, do you want to hurt yourself, have you thought about hurting yourself, how often do you think about hurting yourself... blah, blah, blah. Then she asked me about my motivation and lack of effort in doing anything. I explained I had absolutely no motivation. I didn't want to cook or clean or even go to work half the time.
She talked to me about depression and what type I had, she said that she was going to prescribe me Prozac and also wanted to do a blood panel and take a look at my thyroid levels. I had also complained that I couldn't lose weight. She promised me she would help me. When I left there, I felt much better, almost as if a big weight had been lifted off my shoulders. I wasn't happy with having to take an anti-depressant, but at least it was going to help.
Fast forward a week or so, and I received my test results from the blood panel. My thyroid was producing no hormone whatsoever. A normal thyroid level is something like .5 to 5 give or take. I can't remember it all, but just trust me, I'm pretty close to right most of the time, just ask my husband. My thyroid was at 90. She said it was no wonder that I was hurting and had no motivation. That little butterfly gland in your neck controls much more than people realize. She started me off on 75 mcg's of Synthroid, not the generic, but the name brand.
2012
I still didn't feel better, in fact in some ways it was worse. The Prozac helped a lot, but it didn't fix pain and just a general feeling of not being well. My job was driving me crazy and I hated everything about it, but mostly my boss. In April I finally had enough and quit. My doctor had told me that the stress of my job probably wasn't helping matters with getting well. She didn't talk me into quitting. I didn't need any motivation in that department. I still wasn't feeling better, and she upped my dose of Synthroid every time I saw her.
2013
My thyroid still wasn't leveling out. I started going to school and I was doing well until my doctor joined a different healthcare group and told me she could no longer take my insurance. Great, just what I needed. My instructor referred to a medical group and to a nurse practitioner name Cheryl. As soon as I met her, I liked her. We talked at length about my medical issues and she ordered up some blood panels, as well. My thyroid still wasn't leveling out. I think she upped my dose once.
2014
I was fatter than ever. My thyroid still wasn't where it was supposed to be and my blood pressure was through the roof. It was 174/105 and Cheryl was scared for me. My cholesterol was also through the roof and my stomach had gotten really huge right under my diaphragm. She did a little poking and prodding and decided not to put me on blood pressure pills since I had never had high blood pressure before. Instead she put me on 25 mg of a water pill. She thought I had severe fluid retention as my feet and legs were constantly swelling.
In a few months I had gone from 310 lbs to 284, the water pill as well as cutting out soda and salty foods had helped a great deal. However, my thyroid wasn't any better and I still felt like crap. I had started a new job and really wanted to make it work, but I knew if I didn't get something done, I might eventually be where I was back in 2012. I had asked Cheryl about a medicine for hypothyroidism called Armour Thyroid. It was desiccated pig thyroid and was supposed to be a miracle drug for patients in my situation. She said that she didn't want to prescribe it, even though it was FDA regulated, it wasn't as effective. I wasn't happy and I spoke with Cheryl about my concerns and she said that she could keep playing with my medicine or she could refer me to an endocrinologist. So I told her that is what I wanted her to do.
July 2014
I had my first appointment with the endocrinologist Dr. M. He was very straight forward about my treatment. I asked about Armour and he said that was exactly what he was putting me on. He said his patients had great success with Armour and he wanted that for me. He prescribed me 230 mg and then talked to me on my first visit about PCOS. He said that just my looking at me he could tell I had it, but didn't want to discuss anything further about it until I had my thyroid levels where they should be. I accepted that.
In October, I landed in the ER with heart palpitations because the dose of Armour was too high. I was told to go off all meds for 3 days including my water pill. I gained 10 lbs of fluid in 3 days. I went back to him, he lowered the dosage of Armour and I was back to square one with my weight. I cut back on more foods, but I still wasn't exercising. He had mentioned in my visit he was scared of me developing diabetes because of the PCOS. He still didn't want to do anything until my thyroid was at optimal levels, but he sent me home with a lab order to get my blood work taken in a few weeks. He wanted to check my sugar and thyroid again.
November
I received word that I had diabetes and had to come in to talk with his PA Jacqui. My fasting blood sugar was 269, normal is between 70 and 120, also my A1C was 9.6, it should be less than 6.0. We went over everything, she ordered up some hormonal testing for the PCOS and she put me on 1000 mg of Metformin. She told me that the Metformin would also help with PCOS and the diabetes. I was told I could not have any sugar and I was to go on a low carb diet immediately. So I did. I cut out everything with sugar in it except fruit. I found low carb options and counted all the carbs I put in my mouth with an app I found for carb managing. I drank water constantly, but I still hadn't started exercising.
December 30, 2014
I had a thyroid appointment with Dr. M. I had lost 8 lbs even over the holidays. He was impressed. I told him that in February, when I had my next appointment, I will have lost more weight. He lowered my dosage again of the Armour because of the weight loss and sent me home. I continued to watch what I ate and started incorporating walking 2 miles a day at work into my regimen. I was still drinking mostly water.
February 2015
I joined a 24 hour gym. I had my 3 month check up with the PA. I had lost 9 more lbs. My fasting blood sugar was 97 and my A1C was 5.9. She called this change extraordinary. She wanted to make sure I was still eating carbs and getting plenty of protein. I assured her that I was. Even though this was my diabetes check up, she had received some lab work I had done the previous week and told me that my thyroid was now at an optimal level. It only took 3 years to get it right, I guess. I had no more changes in medication and was told to continue to keep doing what I was doing.
Today
This is still February and my appointment was this past Wednesday. I'm still trucking along with my permanent lifestyle change. I don't want to call it a diet; a diet signifies that I will eventually go off of the diet and that's not something I will be able to do any time soon or maybe ever. Some people look at having diabetes as being a permanent life sentence. For many people it doesn't have to be. It won't be for me. My PA told me if I lost enough weight I won't have to take medication any longer. To me that is motivation enough to succeed with my goal.
Actual: 267 lbs, thyroid, water, cholesterol, and diabetes pills
Goal: 150 lbs and the only medication will probably still be my thyroid pill
Cyn
