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« Update on the doctor talk | Main | Food for thought »Wednesday, January 16, 2008
More thyroid stuff
So usually when I post something about the thyroid stuff, I subsequently get several emails asking me for follow up - what meds I take, when, what supplements, what I eat, etc. Hypothyroidism is sort of this weird condition wherein a few of the symptoms are universal (for the most part) but the solution varies vastly. Medication helps for the most part, but in what amount? And should you wait a half-hour or an hour before eating breakfast after you take your daily little pill? Are there certain foods I shouldn't eat? Should eat? For me, as it is with anything, I do lots of research. Part of that reaction is due to my training - I'm a reporter by nature, so I'm always inclined to try and suss out as much information as I can. When I was diagnosed, I Googled like a mad woman and then bought two massive books on the subject. Here's the thing: your doctor can only do so much for you. He or she has dozens and dozens of patients and won't always take the time to chart out a detailed plan for you. In an ideal world, they would. They just won't always be able to. So it's up to you to pay close attention to your body and figure out when things are related to the hypothyroidism or not. Chart, track, research, tinker. When I hit my 20s, I started having horrible migraines. At least once a month. Since I started taking my thyroid medication in June? I've only had one. And migraines apparently can be symptomatic of hypothyroidism. When I break it down to why I had the one I did? I had been sick as a dog and coming off of the holiday season where the cheese, breads and refined sugars were plentiful ... ... and because I've figured out that eating these things make simply feeling normal a more arduous task, I don't eat them. Which was another tip I learned from the research. The pills alone don't do the job. They help tremendously - without a doubt. But your body's ability to function at nearly every level is compromised by the condition so you need to help it wherever you can. I'd rather suffer through a world without crusty bread than one that includes migraines. The pills help with the migraines, I help with the digestion. Anyone with hypothyroidism who's learned this fundamental will tell you that. Now I've heard from a few of you that the brand-name synthetic - Synthroid is what it's called, the generic is simply levothyroxine sodium - has shown a remarkable difference in how you feel. I'm hoping it will for me, too! The symptom that has really given me the most trouble, the one I can't seem to lick no matter what I do, is the exhaustion. I get no less than eight hours of sleep every night. I eat well, exercise, take vitamins ... I'm still pooped. Some days, all I will do is sleep. Since my numbers are still on the high-end of normal, I'm hoping the increased dosage, and name-brand prescription (which doubled in cost, BTW), will help. I'd give my eye teeth not to doze off as soon as I sit on a couch or let my mind relax. It's insane. I used to think it was just me until I was told exhaustion is one of the most common symptoms you can have. ANYWAY ... Since I know how frustrating it can be to find little-to-no information about things, I'll share some of the things I've found to be successful in my treatment, with the caveat that it might not work for you! 1) Sleep. For the love of all that is good and holy. SLEEP. If you can't get in eight hours, aim for seven. Sleep is crucial, no one gets enough of it, even those without an endocrine condition. Weight loss, stress, all of it can be helped so much if you get some rest. To that end, and I don't recommend this for everyone, but I have found melatonin supplements to be tremendously helpful. Sometimes it's hard to just turn off your brain and sleep. I buy it at Whole Foods and take 3 mg a night. It's also thought to aid with seasonal affective disorder (SAD) and I think I'd buy that. I've been taking it for a month now and I'm not nearly as depressed by the gray, cold weather. Use at your own risk, though. 2) Little-to-no refined sugars, starches, processed foods, etc. Sometimes eating these things is unavoidable, and eschewing these things completely makes them even more desirable - especially if you're like me and have been fighting with eating demons your whole life. I don't necessarily advocate moderation for myself here, either, though. Since it takes a particular amount of time to digest certain foods, I don't want to overly tax my body with this stuff any more than I have to. Every few weeks, though, if I want some french fries, I'm going to have some. Sometimes I find substitutes - think low-carb pasta and bread - but I don't make them a staple of my diet. Still not an optimal choice. 3) Eat as cleanly as possible. Yesterday's menu included a bowl of Grape Nuts with light vanilla soy milk - I need to make sure I have some fiber in my diet somewhere to compensate for the lack of rice, breads, etc. - some turkey chili (which consists lean ground turkey, garlic, diced tomatoes, jalapenos, black beans, chili powder and cumin) over a bed of kale, lettuce and carrots with a Tablespoon of reduced-fat cheese. For dinner I had a plain baked sweet potato, a veggie chicken pattie, one slice of the low-carb bread, a teaspoon of light mayo and a pepperoncini. I had some frozen cherries later on in the night, and a piece of string cheese earlier in the day. It's not perfect by any means, but it works for me. I just make sure I have a decent amount of protein, fruit and veggies, fat and fiber. If I have anything such as the Grape Nuts I make sure they're early on in the day to give my body the time and energy to digest it all. 4) Exercise. You know this already. If you didn't, you wouldn't be reading this blog in the first place. You need to do this especially if the hypothyroid thing has an effect on your weight, which it most likely does. When I work out hard, I feel my best. I try and take at least three tough cardio workouts at the gym (kickboxing and spinning, mostly), along with at least three days of weight lifting and a couple of days I run. These are activities I enjoy doing the most so that's why I do them. 5) Supplements. I won't go into all of them, but my staples are a multivitamin, two calcium tablets with Vitamin D, Vitamin C, (now) two Omega 3-s and a super Vitamin B complex. The Vitamin B complex has been the most helpful in keeping my energy up. Can't recommend this one enough. 6) A synthetic. Prior to this week I've been taking 25 mcg of levothyroxine sodium. Now I'm taking 75 mcg of Synthyoid. I take it first thing when I wake up, with a full glass of water, about 40 minutes before I eat. This is what's recommended to me so I try and not screw with that. Sometimes it can't be helped - I'm running late and I'm hungry - but I'm usually really good with this one. 7) Relax. I build in time for myself to chill out. I read on the train, a few minutes before bed, go for a walk with my dog, anything to help me just tune off for a spell. It all adds up during the day to a more chilled out me. That's about it. I'm sure this will change now and again to adjust with how I'm feeling. Like I said before, I'd really like to be able to enjoy bread more frequently than I'm able. But, if I can't, it's OK. It's not the end of the world! |
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