Well, that was fun. Not.
I dropped this blog in July 2021 without even a by-your-leave. No explanation. No nothing. Truth be told - life got in the way. I got a crash course in thyroid hormones! And a disease called Hashimoto's Syndrome.
There I was, merrily picking up the threads of my life after my Dad passed away in early 2019. Got a book published in May 2019. Travelled to England that same month and generally had a good time. Although... I did notice that I was feeling quite tired and... blah... for lack of a better word. Chalked it all up to grief after Dad's passing. Until it wasn't.
Crash Course in Thyroid Hormones
The short answer is my TSH (thyroid stimulating hormone) had been going steadily up since early 2018. But it was always "within range" so my family doctor just waved it away. Despite me pointing out that my Mom and two maternal cousins both had thyroid diseases. And then, in March 2021, my TSH crept over the "within range" marker and... boom... now there was concern.
Many more tests later and I was formally diagnosed with Hashimoto's Syndrome. It's an autoimmune disease in which your immune system attacks your thyroid. This means that your thyroid no longer produces enough thyroid hormones (T4 and T3) which means the pituitary gland sends a message (TSH - they thyroid stimulating hormone) for the thyroid to ramp up production. But the thyroid is damaged and the T4 and T3 keep going down. And the TSH keeps going up.
And with less thyroid hormone (T4 and T3)... I was feeling sluggish, tired, putting on weight and just generally feeling... blah.
Enter Synthroid!!!... yay.... woohooooo... sigh... Synthroid is basically synthetic thyroid hormone (T4) and the trick is to find the right dose. The doctor started me at 25 mcg... which helped a bit... and then we went to 50 mcg... oh... and you need to be on a dose for 6 weeks before getting another lab test... patience, Grasshopper. At 50 mcg, I was still going up. The doctor explained that the my thyroid was dying so it might still produce some T4 and T3 but that it also might do this in spurts. Lovely. After several doses... I thought I had finally found my sweet spot - 88 mcg... yay!! That was last January and April... alright... no more lab tests. No more tweaking of doses. All was well.
At least I now have a standing lab requisition for 6 week testing of my TSH. We'll see what the future holds. Synthroid doses go all the way up to 300 mcg... good grief. In the meantime, my medicine cabinet is stocked with the remainders of various doses of Synthroid. Ugh.
Oh... and in amongst all that... we had the whole Covid pandemic. Charming.
Oh... and I got some interesting Ancestry DNA results in March 2022 which completely threw me for a loop.
New Diet
All in all, not the most productive two years. And here's the rub. With Hashimoto's Disease, gluten is not my friend. My two cousins with the same disease are quite firm on this. No wheat gluten of any shape or form. Apparently in people with Hashimoto's gluten can trigger a stronger immune response against the thyroid. My family doctor is like... "there's not proof of this".... uh-huh. I will listen to the voices of experience and my own body.
Cause you know what... it all begins to make a bit of sense. We went plant-based in January 2020. We then started eating more plant-based "meats"... many of which are made out of vital wheat gluten. Soooo... that's not a good thing. Obviously. But when you're already on a plant-based diet, cutting out grains like wheat and barley and spelt... well... you're left with very little. Yum. Kale. Ugh.
I knew what I needed to do. It's just... knowing and doing are two very different things. I even wrote about the plan to deal with Hashimoto's in May 2021.
But then... other things started showing up. I was having unpleasant reactions to the liquid Omega-3 not-fish oil (made from some vegan alternative) that we were taking. Might be linked to the Hashimoto's. Might not. But that's when I said "enough-is-enough"!
While I really, really, really wanted to stay plant-based... my body said "no"!!! In on uncertain terms. So I've now added eggs and fish (salmon, sardines) into my diet. I've cut gluten out of my diet - mostly. And discovered that gluten-free breads and buns are not the yummiest. Can we say dry cardboard? We still eat a lot of legumes and lentils and the occasional bean-based meat alternative, like our not-world-famous black bean burgers. It's still a bit of a struggle and given a chance, I will go full-bore carnivore - like at the resort we stayed at over Christmas... beef, chicken... let me at it!!
But now that we're home... it's back into the swing of it. On the plus side... our food bill has stayed relatively stable this past year. Legumes haven't gone up as much as beef or chicken. Mind you... salmon is not the cheapest alternative. But we have gotten quite strict on our portions - 4 oz of salmon is a portion. And a slab of salmon from Costco can make several portions. So... all-in-all... not bad.
I'm due for another TSH test in 10 days or so. Fingers crossed it's down and going further down.
In the meantime... I am trying to thread a new path through life, focusing on my health first and foremost. And... yes... still dealing withe the sugar demon! Ugh!!
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