Tuesday, June 30, 2009

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.

Wednesday, June 24, 2009

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!!!

Thursday, June 18, 2009

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

Sunday, June 14, 2009

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.

Monday, June 8, 2009

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