Thyroid test "Normal"

I saw my doctor yesterday aftering having my usual blood tests done on Tuesday. I am happy to say that the tests have come back at an acceptable level (as I suspected). I didn't write down my readings (I will get these from my doctor next visit) but I remember the TSH was 0.7. But I was told that all is good. After telling her that I have not taken any medication (dose that I was told to take at last visit - 1 neo-mercazale to keep heart rate down) now for a few weeks and my heart rate is fine she is happy for me to come back in 6 months or before if any symptoms come back. I am obviously really happy that my Grave's has subsided and hopefully is gone for good. Time will tell. I know that medication was necessary in the beginning but I think that maybe diet, lifestyle changes and possibly dental revision may have played a part in my cure. I cannot be 100% sure but every day I read about GD sufferers who never get to the stage I have, so I will continue to do what I am doing. I hope that there are some sufferers out there who might benefit from my documenting my journey over the past 18months. Maybe some of the things I have discovered have worked for me will also work for someone else. Good Luck to all!

FULL OF ENERGY

Dont know what's going on but I am full of energy, I feel great at the moment - I feel cured!. I got over the tiredness of the past few weeks and as of last week I have been feeling great. I started running last week and this week have increased the excercise again. So far this week I have run for 40mins 3 days in a row and also done minimum of another 20mins each day on the bike or other machines at the gym. Last night I also did an hour and 15min step class. I can't beleive it....as of last Monday I can say I have no symptoms at all. I have not taken a neomercazale at all this week and my heart rate is staying low even while running. Dare I say I must be in a remission stage of "Graves". I don't know whether having the mercury removed from my mouth has helped but I am pleased to say it has not made anything worse - they say symptoms can get worse before they get better. In my case apart from tiredness for a couple of weeks no worsening of symptoms. I still have the root filled tooth to come out so I am looking forward to feeling even better. I can't really be sure dental revision is the key but hey! who knows?????? Keeping my fingers crossed.

It's Been a while

It's been a while since I last posted, very slack I know. It seems I don't have too much to report from day to day now as things have even out. I am in the middle of the my Dental revision. Amalgam removal and removal of a root filled tooth. I had 7 mercury fillings removed two weeks ago. It wasn't painful, just like having a filling really but as I had seven done at once my mouth, jaw and gums were a bit sore. A couple of the replaced fillings (they are now a different substance - non toxic I assume and are white) need to be filed down a little and I am having that done tomorrow along with the removal of the remaining 4 amalgams. Each time they remove the mercury fillings I have a drip of Vitamin C and Magnesium (don't know if there is anything else in the drip). I found this quite painful, sort of like when you have a drip in your arm and they flush it with saline - it stings for a while. Well this stings the whole time to the point where your whole arm throbs and the feeling you get is weird. I felt dizzy and drunk-like and warm timgling sensation in my stomach and legs. I felt strange for about an hour and then felt really tired. The next couple of days I felt really drained and had bad headaches. I presume this is the toxins being expelled from my body that were released when the fillings were drilled as no doubt I swallowed some and I think it goes directly into your bloodstream. Anyway tomorrow is the 2nd and final of the removals. Then it will be the Root filled tooth which has a crown to be removed completely. I don't think I have to replace it as I have never lost a tooth before so I have plenty. This root-filled tooth which was treated about 4-5years ago shows up on a dental xray with an infection beneath it. As I have mentioned, studies have proven these toxins from mercury and infection can be traced in people with auto-immune disease and I want to give myself the best chance to recover. On another note my heartrate is really good - The 1 neo-mercazale I am supposed to take now I have not taken for a couple of weeks and my heartrate is great when I exercise. Therefore I could say that I have no symptoms. I am tired a lot but I think I have just got used to be tired and sleeping more than usual, I am trying to break this habit. I will have another blood test this week and see my Doc for results, I am hoping for next to normal T3 T4 and TSH (this has not happened yet so I am hopeful) going by how I feel I think I am in remission. The dental revision can only benefit my health more and I have to try to stick to my eating plan. This has not been the case over the past 3-4weeks. I still am very keen to stick to the plan but life just hasn't allowed that. It is a lifestyle choice not just a fad diet so I have to keep trying to improve my habits all the time. I am trying not to be too hard on myself and just keep trying to make the better choices.......I am far from perfect.

nothing to report.....

I don't have too much to report....Good or bad. I guess that's good as life is just cruising along no symptoms to speak of. My hair has stopped falling out and I can see heaps of new growth which is good. I feel healthy - I would love to not need as much sleep bu at least I wake up OK and I'm am not tired all the time. My diet seems to be going OK I don't seem to feel like meat again though but I notice when I make myself eat what I am supposed to it gets easier. If I don't eat meat (bacon etc) for breakfast for a couple of days I find it hard to start doing it again and just end up with eggs only (not that bad i'm sure still protein). I have not succumbed to the ease of a bowl of cereal nor have I relented and had any bread, which is always the easy choice for breakfast. I find this not a problem. I'm sure some of the things I eat do have some sugars so I suspect my diet still has a small of sugar but I don't seem to crave it at all. I would like to try a totally Gluten free diet and absolutely no sugar at all just to see if I notice a difference. It would take a lot of work to be super vigilant checking everything especially when I eat out. My amalgam removal was booked for next week but I am heading away so I have to wait until the following week. My heart rate is also really good - worked out today on a new machine and my heart rate only got to around 160 much better than 200 so I am assuming the medication is doing it's thing. Hopefully I can get off that soon (1 tablet a day 5mg neo-mercazale). Basically program is going good I think it is well worth it and I feel good.

slack with posting

I am getting slack with posts.....as I am feeling better than I did 3 months ago I find myself outside of the house rather than in front of a computer screen. This is a good thing I'm thinking! I only did 2 gym days last week and I didn't go today either. I had my big weekend last week - of drinking and eating and did not suffer too badly. Although it has shattered my determination to be a strict as possible with the diet. Once I had that first sip of champagne it seems hard to say "no" now. Saturday night, Sunday, Wednesday Lunch, Saturday night just gone and again yesterday. Well I will have to end all this fun soon and get back to doing the right thing if I want to see this through. I have 3 weeks left on the program but I think as I have missed a few days they are going to add on a week which is good of them to do this for me. After I finish I will certainly be sticking to the eating program but I am not sure whether to rejoin for the Gym or whether I can do it on my own. Maybe I should keep going until all my dental revision is completed in case I start to feel awful. I'll have to see.

66kgs

Well I am down to 66kgs (on my scales) which is 5.6kgs. I'm pretty happy about it as it seems to have been a long time coming - my goal is 60kgs but I might be a little ambitious. Now that my TSH is below 2 the weight does seem to be coming off. This weekend is the big weekend I have been waiting for - I am going to drink and eat on Saturday night and not worry about any rules. I am excited about it but also scared that Sunday I will regret it all! Anyway I won't know unless I go for it!

10 weeks today

It's been 10 weeks now - I would love to say that I have lost the weight I wanted.....but not as yet. Today I was only down 0.1kgs in other words "nothing". I was a little disapointed - my measurements were down but that had gone up a little at the last weigh-in (don't know why). So my scales were at 71.6kgs when I first started and now my scales say 66.8kgs so that's almost 4kgs on my scales. I really expected to be down a little more but the past couple of weeks things seemed to have slowed. I asked at the clinic today whether I should pick up the exercise but 3 sessions are week are supposedly adequate - obviously they don't say NO but he didn't say get out there and go for it and you'll lose more weight!. I think I will anyway - maybe just a walk on the days I don't go to the clinic - it can't hurt. Still sticking to diet - been a little slack with vitamins but intend to rectify that today. All else is good .....still think I am much better off on this diet (program) than not - if I had of kept gaining at the rate I was I could have been another stone heavier by now. My amalgam removal is booked for September. Three appointments over a couple of weeks - something to look forward too....

Well I feel better today after a workout at the clinic - I mentioned I have been a little "off track" this week (did not give too many details) and have been sent home with instructions to do what is called a C Flush - you take Vitamin C powder (teaspoon) 1000mg per tsp (I already take this twice a day) every 15mins (in a glass of water) until you start running to the toilet - this will flush out toxins and most will be expelled then I take activated charcoal also in water which will bind all the excess toxins and they can also be expelled before your cells re-absorb them....wow wish me luck!. Then I have to prepare a "Mucosa Rebuilder" potion - which is made up of Butter (full fat) & coconut oil & healthy fibre plus (a fibre powder probably like metamucil but chunkier) water then blended together and kept in the fridge - each day I have to take a spoonful - it lasts about 3 weeks. (If anyone is interested in this receipe please email me and I will check the sheet I may have forgotten an ingredient). This apparently rebuilds the healthy bacteria in the gut apparently essential for people with "Leaky Gut Syndrome" but I am assuming is important for everyone- I have found a site with some info but admit have not read it thoroughly ....yet- it is http://editor.nourishedmagazine.com.au/articles/leaky-gut-and-native-nutrition. As usual I will do as I am told......I'll start tomorrow - One thing Grave's has done for me is opened my eyes to a whole new world of Health which I would never have delved into before - there is a reason for everything in this life. There is so many people out there worse off than me - this disease is a fairly"easy one" in comparison to what some people go through - I am thankful for that and hope that all the information that I share might help somebody out there..........

OFF THE RAILS

My husband cooked a great dinner on Saturday night for us and some friends - he thinks he's a candidate for "Masterchef" or something. I could not resist some "off limits" stuff - and a glass of red. I have been so good for 9 weeks with minimal slip-ups but this weekend was a write-off. I had Rack of Lamb (good) Polenta with cheese (high carbs) broccolini (good) Red wine (BAD) and Chocolate Fondant dessert (Sugar of the charts) BAD BAD BAD not one but I had another yesterday. Then I had Thai food for dinner - flat noodles (High Carbs) and all full of MSG - today I feel sick and dissapointed that I gave in to temptation - so badly. I also didn't take any vitamins or supplements all weekend and I have the worst headache - I hope the people at the clinic never see this blog as I pretended everything was normal this morning when I went in -although I am feeling really bad. Well have to get back on track - I wonder how many days it will be until I feel better again? NOT WORTH IT!!!!

I have been doing some more research on mercury toxicity and it's connection to auto-immune diseases - I have asked in some thyroid forums for any info but have not had a reply yet - here are a couple of sites I found that give a bit of info http://www.toxicmercuryamalgam.com/mercury_autoimmune_disease_and_mercury.htm and
http://www.thefreelibrary.com/Setting+the+stage+for+illness:+mercury+exposure+and+autoimmune+disease-a0107756457\
and
http://www.hugginsappliedhealing.com/story3.php
actually if you type in to google - mercury toxicity and auto-immune diseases the results are endless - why are dentists still allowed to put this in our mouths - it is baffling to me - I am a bit confused why I am just hearing about this - I hope I'm not sounding like sound kind of weirdo - but I really think there is something to this.

Mercury Removal

Well I had my appointment with the Dentist and I am going to go ahead and have my amalgams removed. I have 10 amalgams and a root filled tooth which has some kind of abcess under it (I cannot feel any pain) so this will also be removed - the whole tooth that is. This Root canal was done about 4 years ago and cost me about $3000 with the crown - but it's going - I thought I was doing the right thing saving my broken tooth - I broke it trying to open a bottle of nail polish with my back teeth (I know how stupid). This is the kind of thing you yell at your kids over!. Anyway I feel there is enough evidence to prove that mercury (from amalgams and other sources) poisoning is directly attributable to auto immune disease. I can't keep them in my mouth knowing this might have caused my problem - I am in a genetic position to acquire an auto-immune disease but with mercury exposure and a poor diet that does not help your body to fight this risk - well here I am. So far I have changed my diet - what I eat is more nutrient dense which will give my body the best chance to fight off sickness of any kind. Then to have the mercury removed from my body and try to minimise other exposure to toxins (as much as possible anyway). Hopefully then I will be able to recover from Grave's and not look back. At least I have something to try - my Endocrinologist only gave me medication that fixed some symptoms and created twice as many - they just don't get it! I feel I am on the right track. My appointments for removal are not until September, so in the mean time I will stick to the program (diet and exercise) and try to get as healthy as possible. I have been booked for 2 appointments both include an intravenous dose of Vitamin C to flush the toxins released from removal from your body. It's all a bit "out there" but hey what have I got to lose? I keep updating. PS - I have not lost any more weight - but still feel really good and hoping for a bit more loss soon.

1 Neo-mercazale a day

I have been checked out by my GP and spoke to my Endocrinologist and I have been told to take 1 X 5mg neo-mercazale a day to keep the heart rate under control - it's rises to around 200 when excercising - as I mentioned in the last post I have been not taking any medication and all my levels have improved - my only symptom is the heart rate. I am not really keen to have to go back on the medication but 1 a day i not so bad and I suppose the heart rate thing could potentially be dangerous if it is elevated for too long. So I will do as I'm told..... my GP says after 6 weeks we will test again and see if I can stop then - hopefully. I am really dedicated to getting of the medication and hopefully put and end to the symptoms I have been experiencing. I presume this will be what is called "remission" then hopefully this eating plan will keep me in this state of remission. I am also about to embark of what seems a fairly important part of this program and possibly the most unusual part - Dental Revision - I have not mentioned this before although it has been mentioned to me throughout the past seven weeks. After listening to the clinic and having what is called an OPG xray of my mouth I am seriously considering having my almalgam dental fillings removed and replaced with a less toxic material. I know this sounds a bit of a hassle but if the effects of mercury (in the fillings) are toxic and are entering my bloodstream then I want them gone - I also value the opinion of the clinic as so far everything they have told me has pretty much been correct. How could I not listen to them? - I would be stupid. I might just add that I am terrified of Dentists and have very sesitive teeth and gums and sitting in that chair is not something I take on lightly. My appointment for the initial consultation which is to explain everything that needs to be done and why is Friday at 1.45pm so after that I will be a little more clued up on everything and I can post. At this stage all I know is what the clinic has told me and some info I have been sent with links to the web to have a read. There is a really interesting article about the link between mercury poisoning and Auto-Immune diseases that I just can't ignore - it was OK when I didn't know any different but now I have been shown this - how can I not do it? If 3-4 visits to the dentist and possibly a bit of money (not sure how much yet) is going to hugely affect my health I'm going to give it a go. Here is the link to the article about mercury poisioning www.westonaprice.org/envtoxins/mercury.html have a look for yourself - I will be posting as I go through this and I will be honest about whether or not I feel "different" or if my overall health improves over the next 6 months.

6 weeks no medication

Well Monday I hit the 6 week mark. On my home scales I have lost 4 kgs since starting this new eating and exercise plan. I didn't tell my Endo, my GP or the clinic I'm attending that I stopped my Neo-mercazale. I haven't taken anything now for six weeks - before starting I was supposed to take 1 x 5mg for 4 days and week and 2 x 5mg for the other 3 days. So considering the doses I have been on and off and back on again (such as 13 x 5mgs per day plus 2 Inderal) in the past 12months this dose was relatively small so I can't deny that the medication has reduced my Grave's symptons - this was not the issue - the issue with me was the symptoms that the medication had caused such as weight gain - 10kgs, the fact that I repeatedly went between Hypo and Hyper and while Hypo became very depressed, hair loss and generally feeling unwell and horrible about myself. This was the driving force behind searching for somthing alternative to the medication - which hopefully will solve my issues and will be a long term solution. Well this week I feel very confident that this is happening. The diet or should I say eating program which I have adhered to strictly has caused by T3 T4 and TSH levels all to improve over the past 6 weeks. The most important to me (because of research I have done) was to get the TSH down (apparently between 1-2 is optimal anything higher weight loss is hard or even impossible in some cases) - it has gone down to 1.1 when tested 3days ago. I am finally in a range where I am capable of losing weight - which is probably why it has started to happen. I have one Grave's symptom at the moment and that is increased heart rate but so far only while exercising - origianlly I experienced this constantly usually with a heart rate up around 110 - I feel very confident now in this program and would recommend it. I just now have to continue the same path and hopefully this symptom will also subside. I think maybe I haven't lost as much hair lately either and there is definately new growth. My eyes are good but as I have mentioned before they have never been badly affected - I have only suffered watery, sore and itchy eyes and a ache in the back of my left eye for about a year so I don't like to complain about this as I know others suffer a lot more than me. I hope the watering etc has been cured by the diet and supplements as It may give hope to others. My Opthamologist says that these symptoms appear to be first stages of Grave's eye disease so I am trying my best to reduce the possiblity of new symptoms. I don't think it is just the food I am putting into my body from what the clinic say it seems to be very impotant that I get certain levels of such things as iron and iodine and calcium up or down to the level they need to be. They tested me for everything under the sun when I came to the clinic - they even think that Vitamin D which is produced by the body after sun exposure is really important and is actually a hormone - this I am also deficient in - these days we all try to keep out of the sun. I am starting to get a lot more interested in not only the food but the vitamins my body is deficient in - my sister seems to suffer the same deficiencies and she is undergoing tests for celiac disease and there has been mention of lupus when doctors discuss her symptoms - there seems to be evidence that the deficiences are causing autoimmune diseases in susceptible people and what are the other contributing factors. I keep getting fed little pieces of information from my clinic and I feel like it is becoming a lot clearer as I go along. The program lasts for 16 weeks so in 10 weeks I'm hoping to be totally in remission, my symptoms subsided and the weight I gained gone! Is this too much to ask? Maybe I needed to get this disease to be shown a healthier way to live - maybe it's meant to happen this way - maybe it could have been a disease much worse - so if I can learn to live healthier now I might dodge some other nasty illness I was heading for. My mother lived a very unhealthy and unhappy life and died at 59 - this is not the future I want.......so I will continue on. PS on a much happier note I intend to have a drink on the 8th August (Cocktail party to go to) and let my hair down I think I deserve it I have been really strict!!!

I thought maybe I should start to talk about some of the foods I'm allowed to eat and what I'm not allowed to eat in case anyone is wanting to give this a go. As I said I feel great I have not felt bloated in more than 5weeks and it is good to have some energy. Butter is in - margarine is definatley out - olive oil in - polyunsaturated oils are out - bread and other wheat based foods are out - cheese is in - not low fat cheese. no biscuits, no porridge (high carbs) no milk - cream is allowed it has low carbs and low sugar (surprised me too). Anything with sugar in it is OUT if you look on the labels of your food - everything seems to have added sugar - even tinned food. Naturally occuring sugars like in fruit are OK but you need to limit these. Berries are the best. So for dessert you can have berries with some cream. I am taking all sorts of supplements - I will tell you the ones I know the rest I will research (bottle) and ask the clinic what they are for and then post. I take Vitamin c in powder form - 1 teaspoon is 2000mg I take this in a small amount of water each day - I'm sure it has saved me from getting sick over the past weeks as my whole family have been sick (it's winter here) I take iron 3 times a day (when I remember) I take at least two tablets a day anyway......let me check out the rest

Well I got weighed last Wednesday and have lost another 0.8kgs I know it's not a huge amount but considering that I have not been able to lose any weight at all and have only been gaining for the past 6months anything is a bonus. I have lost several centimetres also and I am really noticing this in how my clothes fit. I feel really good and don't seem to crave anything. I have plenty of energy at the moment and just generally feel a lot better about myself. I have even started to regain a slight bit of interest in shopping (for clothes) that is, grocery shopping still does nothing for me!. My next weigh-in is next Monday (22nd June) I'm sure the scales will start to show more by then. The clinic still keep telling me it's about cm's lost more than weight and I can see their point now. I am still exercising 3 times per week and they seem to be trying to get me to push a little harder, at least when I leave I feel that I have actually done something.

4 weeks yesterday

Have not been weighed this week yet but will be tomorrow at the clinic. I am hopeful, I am really starting to notice the difference in how I feel. I dont crave anything, am never hungry and my world does not revolve around food. It's a good feeling. I am pretty sure I have lost weight again - i just feel that I have, not heaps but something maybe 1/2 to 1 kg......tomorrow will tell. I am currently keeping a food diary for the clinic logging every thing I eat and drink and calculating Protein and Carb amounts. This is to teach you how to look at a meal and know exactly what is in it. Apparantly once you get this right it is easy not to make mistakes. I am really starting to think I can live without sugar and bread etc. It's not that hard, once your body get's over it you really don't want it. Keeping my protein up to the expected levels is a bit hard and for the first time in years I don't seem to really have an appetite - I don't know if this is a good thing or not - hope this is not an indicator of how slow my metabolism is at the moment - although I am eating heaps of food. Still having bacon and eggs or an omelette for breakfast every day and I'm sure this is what sustains me for the day and maybe why I am not hungry. The proof will be tomorrow - fingers crossed

Still at it! Monday will be 3 weeks. I am feeling OK. Have note had any bread or sugar or alcohol for three weeks. It's not that hard really to cut those things out and if I had lost heaps of weight I would be happy to say I will never eat them again.....but that's not the case. maybe my expectations are a little high. The only thing I am struggling with at the moment is MEAT. I am so sick of eating meat. Especially breakfast. I would love a bowl of porridge or muesli. I am still eating the same things - bacon, sausages or lamb chops etc for breakfast and two eggs either scrambled, fried or poached, but I am so sick of it. I have got to the stage that by dinnertime I have not really been eating anything because I can't bare to put another piece of meat in my mouth. I hope this is doing something. I don't feel I have lost anymore weight since my great 0.7kg weigh-in on Monday. I will stick at it, I have made the commitment, but if something doesn't happen soon I will be very disillusioned. I'll keep you posted!!!

weigh-in today

Well I did get weighed this morning and although I am not exactly jumping for joy I did lose 0.7kg. I suppose it is better than nothing. As I haven't excercised for about a year the work I have been doing in the last couple of weeks in the gym, I'm told would have built some muscle which weighs more than fat. I hope this is true. Measurements show that I have lost and my clothes are fitting slightly better. I have to keep hope that 0.7 will turn into more over the next few weeks. I have stuck to the diet precisely apart from one (only) moment of weakness where I had a coffee on Sunday morning, it wasn't about the coffee as much as it was just to have something I wasn't supposed too. I don't feel that guilty as this is the only mishap in over two weeks. Time to knuckle down and see what happens. I have started cooking a bit out of the recipe book given to me at the start of the program and this makes life a little more interesting. I have made an orange and almond cake (no flour) which is really nice. I have made another cake which has sour cream, cream cheese, honey, almond meal, (no flour) that is also really nice. I have made a couple of frittata's which are really easy and taste really good. One I made yesterday has chicken, bacon, mushrooms and spinach, cheese is allowed but I put much less (1/4 less) than in the recipe as I just don't think you need so much cheese and it is really good.
I will keep going - 2 weeks down and 14 to go!!!!!

Into my 2nd week of new diet

I am well into my second week, I feel good but I am not sure I have lost much weight yet and am still not allowed to get weighed in at the clinic. Yesterday I was pushing pretty hard for a weigh-in so they said tomorrow after a workout they would do it and take full body measurements again. I need something, just a kilo even to keep up my dedication to this diet. Not that it is hard, but I am saying NO to a lot of things I like, such as sugar in tea, caffiene, cereal for breakfast, bread and all wheat products (which covers a lot) and milk also. So I would kill for a cappachino. Anyway I think maybe today is just one of those days where if I didn't have anyone to answer too I would say "stuff it" and eat whatever I liked and feel depressed later! I will push through it and hopefully get a good result at weigh in tomorrow. I will post as soon as I know my weight loss (if any) I'm guessing 1 to 1.5kgs that's how I feel anyway. Hope so! In regards to the rest of the diet I am doing OK excercise is fairly easy and could be increased but I;ll do what they say. I would like a bit of variety in foods but I guess I have to study the recipe book etc they gave me and try and find some alternatives to what I have been eating. It's up to me I suppose - I think I will go and find something in the book to cook for dinner - a dish I will enjoy eating!

sample menu - for a whole day

on rising - green tea no milk or sugar
breakfast - bacon and scrambled eggs made with butter no milk
baby spinach (wilted) grilled tomato
Morning tea - almonds 15
rice crackers 10 with camembert or brie cheese
Lunch - chicken with skin and salad of lettuce, tomato and feta cheese
Afternoon tea - rice crackers 10 with cheese
green apple
Dinner - Steak with mushroom sauce made with full cream, broccoli,
1 small potato and small piece pumpkin
After dinner - green tea and frozen blueberries and rasberries with a tablespoon of full cream



As you can see there is a fair bit of fat in this diet but no canola oils or margarine etc are allowed
These fats consumed are considered good fats and are essential, also your carbs are kept to a minimum but they are required and good choices with carbs is essential - also protein is high and sugar is non-existent - this is basic run down without going into great detail - there seems to be a lot of other rules for me to learn but they don't want to bombard you with everything straight up. Sauces with msg or canola oils are not allowed. In an earlier post I had said that suaces were allowed but I have found out today that it is best to make your own to avoid all the ingredients that are not suggested and the sauces seem to be full of. I have been sticking to a simialar menu to this, just changing the type of meat but everthing else stays the same. I'm sure once I get into it there will be more choice but for now I am happy to stay with the choices that I know are safe.

1st week over - new diet program

It has been one week today since I started following my new diet/health program. I actually feel really good and feel not so tired. I am still not experiencing any real negative side effect. I still find the hardest thing is to take all the supplements which are not so much important for the weight loss but for health. I know that losing weight should not be my first priority, but I am sad to say it is. I really do want to feel healthy and get off the thyroid medication but I think the weight gain is so far, worse than any of the other symptons. Some days I think I would rather have the palpitations, sweating, muscle shakes, eye problems and possibly even the headaches than to feel overweight. I know this sounds really vain, but I really feel bad when I am overweight. Hence the reasoning behind this search for a weight solution. The clinic would not weigh me today, so I will have to wait another week, but my husband who has followed the diet (except for vitamins) has lost 5kgs in one week. We have had plenty to eat, the foods on the diet suit my husband probably more so than me but I will get used to it. I can't post any results yet but I can say I feel good and the fact that the program insists on 3 exercise sessions per week this has made difference in how I feel. The exercise is fairly low impact more muscle building and toning and only 45mins x 3 times a week is not bad. I actually feell like doing more and may start next week going for a walk/run if I am still feeling good.

Day 5

I have been feeling great....up until last night. Yesterday I had heaps of energy, I have worked out (as per the program) at the clinic with resistance training machines, quite easy and have not been sore after. I felt great until just before dinner last night I took all my prescribed viatmins and had my orange powder and lemon drink and 10ml of castor oil, within about 20mins I felt really sick. I was in the middle of cooking dinner and the smells just added to the sick feeling. I forced in some of my dinner and then went to bed. I slept for about 11 hours and woke up OK. I have a theory that one of the vitamins is making me feel a bit sick - it appears to be mainly iron in this tablet and I have been sick before after taking iron, so I will cut that out until Monday when I see a consultant at the clinic. Still eating similar foods, probably need a bit more variety, they have given me a receipe book and I am cooking some corned beef at the moment. This week i have mostly consumed meat, eggs and cheese I have had no sugar at all only what is in sauces etc which is minimal, I have not craved sugar at all and still have not had a headache. I have been told not to weigh myself, and it might be in my head by I feel I have maybe lost weight. I am taking one neo-mercazal tablet (5mgs) per day. I tarted at 4 x 5mgs per day about a year ago and rose to 11 x 5mgs and has slowly come back down to 1 x 5mgs. Apparantley my last blood test showed that the t3 and t4 levels were OK but my TSH is "a bit on the high side" so maybe this is why I have been putting on weight consistently for the last couple of months and find it impossible to lose. One of the supplements I have been told to take on this program is Lugol's solution which from what I can gather is just plain iodine - I am having two drops per day. I will be interested to see my blood results in a couple of weeks time to see if there is any change.

Day 3

I am already up to day 4, I have been eating similar foods everyday as I am finding the book they gave me a bit confusing, so much information. I mainly have eggs with some sort of meat, ham, lamb chops or minute steak for breakfast, I am supposed to have some carbs also like spinach or tomato which I have tried too but this is so much food I have trouble consuming all of it. Snacks have been cheese(allowed and encouraged)and a type of seaweed rice cracker(not bad especially when breads and biscuits are not allowed - i'll take anything)also almonds I have been having for a snack at morning tea. I drink soda water all day and 1 cup of black tea no sugar in the morning (I have put a little full cream (allowed) in my tea). Lunches are salad with either chicken or lamb chops and dinner is similar either steak or some meat and green veges. It hasn't really been that hard and because I have been trying to lose weight for months my sugar intake has been fairly low and I have tried to eat bread and pasta only occasionally. I haven't really suffered too many detox symptoms, I'm sure I should have by now. The hardest thing is taking all the tablets, I take about 24 vitamins a day, a Vit-C powder in water, a oil mixture, a couple of drops of iodine and a mixture of a fibre powder and water. Oh and I forgot I am up to 4 teaspoons morning and night of the Ghee - this is only for the first week. I think it's the tablets and Ghee that are making me feel nauseous but like I said no headaches and the sick feeling only comes and goes and doesn't stop me from doing anything. If this is the worst of it, then I'm sure I will have no problem with this program. I hope it works. I am not allowed to weigh myself for two weeks and they say some thyroid patients take longer to lose. My husband has been following the diet (minus pills) and he seems to think he has lost weight already! typical. Anyway to sum up the last few days, this program is a bit time consuming, and I feel a little sick, but nothing really bad to report so far. I hope by next week I have something good to report.

Day 1 - search for optimal health

Today I started the day at 6am with a lemon drink with vitaminC and other vitamin capsules broken into it, a couple of other vitamins including one which helps digestion, this had to be 30 mins before breakfast, for breakfast I had to have 26gms of protein so I had two eggs scrambled with butter(allowed) but no milk (not allowed).  I also had one teaspoon of a melted butter type mixture which i had to make up which will go on for a week and increases by day.  This is what is called a Ghee flush????.  It is meant to get the liver going and then on day 7 castor oil is to be taken and then I am supposed to run to the toilet....can't wait for day 7!!!.  Anyway another vitamin at morning tea with a snack of almonds. Lunch was chicken including skin (I know....strange) with salad and more vitamins.  For dinner more protein and carbs are also on the menu so Steak and veges are on the menu and of course more vitamins.  I also had my first workout with a personal trainer mid morning, and nearly threw up for about half an hour. It wasn't even that hard, but I felt pretty sick from a big breakfast and heaps of smelly vitamins that you can taste all day.  Anyway Day 1 is done and I will keep at it.

Embarking on a new treatment for Graves...today

I feel like I am skipping ahead a little, I have missed out a lot of explanation of symptons as well as medication, doses and effects.  But I will go back to that from time to time.  For now I want to document a new treatment plan that I have started today. A friend of my husbands recently recommended a clinic which offers what they call a "program for optimal health".  My husband and I made an appointment and went to see what they had to offer. At the modern, well equipped clinic I spoke with a couple of employees who filled me in a little on what they offer.  They fairly quickly mentioned that the Doctor that owned the clinic had some different ideas than most when it comes to health and nutrition, and some might even say his ideas have been labelled "controversial".  This got me interested.  What do I have to lose, I have been on meds for over a year and gone from Hyperthyroid to Hypothyroid and back again.  I have gained 10kgs, I am tired all the time, I am losing my hair, my left eye waters constantly and both eyes are sore and irritated, I have been on antidepressants for 6months.  Obviously my Endocrinologist can't help or she would have by now, also when I discuss my ailments (such as weight gain) she denies they are related to Grave's, I leave her office feeling like an idiot.  I enquired a bit more and made a decision to join a 16 week program they offered me for $2000.  I hope it works.  I am intending to document as much info about the program and if it is working for me.  Even if I lose weight I would be happy, but my intention is to feel and look good also.

A brief history

I was diagnosed with "grave's disease" in May, 2008. After suffering some unusual symptons for several months I decided to see my GP. While suffering these symptons I had a tendancy to find reasons for each ailment. Headaches and sore watery eyes (the left in particular) I put down to vision problems due to computer use, I had two visits with an optomertrist and had a prescription filled for reading glasses, this made no difference. My headaches became more severe and frequent and my hands trembled most of the time. I thought it was stress!. My heart was always racing and felt like it was jumping out of my chest, I then started getting muscle spasms, mostly in my legs. I also went through the whole of winter without wearing a jumper, and would need to "cool down" by standing outside, usually wearing only a singlet and boxer shorts. I started to think that maybe I had a serious condition and even researched such things as Mutiple Sclerosis online as the muscle weakness and spasms and the trembling had me a bit worried. By the time I got to my GP I was lucky enough to have sold the business in which I was working and get some time off. With a week or so of finishing up I got to the doctor. Im happy to report that my doctor has had some experience with Thyroid issues and I was diagnosed almost immediately. I was put on Neo-mercazale and Inderal and an appointment was made with an Endocrinologist. from here my journey with Grave's begins.

Welcome to my world

This blog evolved from an idea I had last Friday (8th May, 2009) while driving from a consultation with a Nutrionalist. It occurred to me that while I am in constant search for answers in relation to my "Grave's Disease" probably many others are also. If I do happen to find a solution to any one of the many symptons associated with GD, then why not share this information with others.