Hi Gretchen; sorry carb cycling didn't work optimally for you. It's frustrating that it's SO hard to fine tune our bodies w/thyroid issues, when it seems so effortless for those w/normal thyroid to lose weight. I've been feeling down lately; put on an EASY 5lbs w/chang over to new BCP, plus, w/alot of stress (yes, considering a career change from chemist to teacher) and such, I've been snacking on carby things more often and not sleeping well at all. WAs back up to 170 for the last 2 weeks, and today I get on and it's 167.5 I"m not even going ASK how that's possible..but I'll take it!! Not really exercising either, since I've been busy exploring this teaching option (6th grade math/science at a Montessori).

I've been trying REALLY hard to be good diet wise. Was experimenting w/RM at lunch, but I still tend to want carby things at dinner...so I think I need to think about a bigger lunch w/large salad and alot of good green veggies ( I can't get enough cucumbers!!)..

My endo visit w/new Endo here is Monday; I really hope that she is able to set me on a good course!

Nice to hear from you!

Hi guys,

Sorry, Gretchen that the carb cycling was not successful. The way you describe it, is definitely what would happen to me too. I'm also up a few pounds from our vacation. It IS depressing, but it's important to just accept that this is a lifestyle and not a race. Impatience often derails good diet plans, because one looks for quick fixes and they cannot be sustained and then one is off the diet plan/woe and far worse off than before, with maybe a couple of extra pounds on as well. I'm learning.

Holly, so sorry you have also gone up in weight, but at least it is coming off again. I understand about stress eating. That happens to me waaaay too often. I know it is happening and seem unable to care or stop. Terrible feeling, but thankfully it only happens sporadically.

I'm struggling to get back on track with CALP - so I'm trying to do it taking one day at a time.

Soon I'll be switching to natural thyroid hormone. I am nervous, as I feel well on the synthetic combination. I'm waiting until I run out of meds. LOL Chicken to go through the stages where one feels cold, etc. I know how that feels, so I'm going to chat to my doc about upping the medication before the testing, if that happens. I mean I already know what hypothyroidism feels like. If I just happen to take less T3, my body temp immediately drops and I can gain 2 lbs overnight. It sucks...

Take care you guys and keep on keeping on! Keep in touch!

Sue, I hope your switch over is successful. I think I'd be nervous about digging up old hypo feelings too. I"m curious about what my new endo will say tomorrow, if anything, since my last labs showed TSH at 1 but my cortisol was high, DHEA was low, as was my Free T3. I'm stressed lately, looking for a new job and all, and lately I look like I have 2 Louis Vitton duffle bags under my eyes (hey, if I'm gonna have bags, they're gonna be NICE ones!!). I wish there was a 'formula' that our numbers + symptoms could be plugged into so that we'd feel better out the other side; very tired of this 'chasing 2 pounds' game, only to gain or lose it alwasy on a whim and never when I'm really trying.

I do believe CAD is good for me, but on not much sleep, alot of stress and anxiety, it's REALLY hard not to eat those comfort carbs when I"m feeling like this.....

I hope you both have a good weekend; talk to you soon!

Hello Holly and Gretchen,

Holly, I've been taking DHEA for about 10 years - 25 mg (smallest dose) once per day (in the morning). It has worked for me.

I giggled about your expensive bags - but you know what, it sounds to me like you are retaining fluid due to being hypothyroid - i.e. undertreated. I hope this all resolves soon. It takes a good while to sort out strength of meds. Your difficulty in losing weight is something I still deal with even while being adequately treated, but if I am mindful of frequency of eating and calories, I do lose - and I have to exercise too. Your FT3 and FT4 values should preferably be in the mid to upper range and your TSH could even be near zero, depending on how you feel, that's okay. Your body temperature readings tell a LOT. If you are constantly running around 97 deg. F. or lower, then it's a problem. Hope this helps a bit.

Gretchen, are you doing CALP now? Come visit ok?

HI Sue! Had a good visit with new Doctor yesterday. Turns out she's holistic (I did know that, but not really what it meant) vs just an endo. She requested ALOT of tests for me, including:
TT3
T3 Uptake
TT4
Total Testosterone
TSH
Celiac panel
Free T3
Free T4
Reverse T3
Anti thyroglobulin Ab's
Antithyroid peroxidase Ab's
and ASI (incl: cortisol, DHEA, insulin fasting, etc...)

whew! Hope there's a story in there when all the results come in!! She's amenable to prescribing armour, and heck, I'll try anything these days! I'd even take up smoking!! (nah..too gross!!)

Hope you're doing well; it'll be nice if Grechen joins us; I like having a 'clan' doing the same thing; it's good for support. Had a good CAD day yesterday and today; need to work on the water and exercise, but overall, not losing OR gaining!

Hope you have a good day...I'll keep you posted on new lab results and her recommendations.

Hi Sue and Holly,

Hi you two! I'm back on line. And back on CAD (well, my own new version that I'm experimenting with), and feeling really good lately, oddly enough. No heart palps, and I dropped the extra pounds I gained while carb cycling. Looking back at my food journal, not only was I eating quite a few times during the day, but I was eating a lot of saturated fat. I don't know if that is relevant, but I was on a big butter phase.

I have been eating only one meal a day lately, but letting my rm go longer than an hour because I don't want to try and stuff all my food in so quickly. I didn't think I would be able to go all day without food, but it's been really easy and I'm liking it. I've been doing it about a week at this point, so we'll see how things go during the next week.

I was going to check my thyroid levels today, but I lost the lab sheet. I was frustrated at myself. I emailed my doctor to see if she can fill out another one for me before our appointment in two weeks, so we'll see. I'm very curious what my levels will be. I feel like I'm at a good level right now, so I hope my labs confirm that.

I hope you are both well! Holly, your holistic endo sounds awesome! I hope that goes well for you. Sue, what effect does taking DHEA have? How did you know that you needed it.

Take care, Gretchen

Hi you guys! Nice to see you back Gretchen. Yay, back on CAD. You're doing super and lost the 5 lbs you gained. Wow, talk about motivated! Sometimes if one is really strict right after gaining weight, it comes off pretty quickly.

Way2goal sounds like you have a good doc. I'm also switching to Armour next month. I'd love to compare notes with you for sure.

Gretchen I did not and do not know my DHEA levels. I just took the smallest dose and basically it just made me feel so good and I believe being the precursor to making hormones, it has kept me younger looking by about 8 to 10 years, people frequently tell me. I think it is true as too many people have said so for me not to believe it anymore. I do notice now since being on thyroid hormone and since entering perimenopause, that some changes are now taking place, however, not too serious yet. I think it is just normal to age anyway. Besides that it is great for energy and libido. I think dh likes the latter. I have a fairly high level of testosterone when last tested (but definitely in the normal range) and was mildly surprised, as I have a very womanly figure with boobs and always thought I had lots of estrogen instead.

I wish I had the determination to do one meal a day again. I simply feel I need breakfast these days. I am down a couple of pounds.

Hi Sue and Holly,

Sue - congrats on your recent loss - yay! That's really interesting and pretty cool about your experiences with DHEA. I'll have to keep that in mind. Though I already look younger than my age without that - I think it's the freckles, LOL! Actually, probably more likely it's a combo of good genes and a life-time of sun avoidance.

I will see how this one meal a day thing goes. I started it because I realized that CAD didn't work for me when I ate two cm's, and even with one cm it was very hard for me to find any cm meal that didn't give me LBS and make me feel hungry and weak afterwards (and I was very careful to follow the CAD guidelines). Then I was re-reading Rachel's story, and I started wondering about trying one meal a day. I've always been a big breakfast eater, and I usually have a huge appetite all day long, so I would never have believed that I could actually go all day long without food. But if I don't eat, I don't get hungry. And then I have one very satisfying meal when I get home from school (it really does feel like a reward). But I haven't been doing it all that long, and I will have to play it by ear and see how I feel about it after trying it for another week. I also read an article about how intermittent fasting (fasting all day and then eating at night, or fasting one day and eating freely the next) is really good for our bodies, so I decided to give it a try.

OK - have a great weekend both of you! --Gretchen

Thanks, Gretchen - you have a super weekend too! And, Holly, you too!

I think I'm going to try fasting once a week again. I used to enjoy how that made my body feel. Thanks for reminding me. Is that article on the internet, Gretchen?

It's interesting about the LBS - you probably had a huge breakfast. A light breakfast should usually prevent that.

I have not shunned the sun, as one needs some. It prevents MS for one thing, so do take D3 supplements to help you. I do understand shunning the sun though due to being fair and freckly. I get freckles too - lots of them, but only on my arms and legs mostly.

Hi Sue,

I get the magazine Alternative Medicine, and in Sept 2004 they had an article called The Food Lover's Guide to Fasting. In it they talked about four different modes of fasting (well, one was reducing calories to extend lifespan, and the other three were fasting variations). One of the ways was called intermittent fasting. Apparently the doctor who did the studies (on rats, not humans) found that the rats who fasted one day and were allowed to eat all they wanted the next had really good brain function and overall health. So he his theory is that humans would do well on this too, but he suggested fasting all day and eating in the evening instead of one day on, one day off. It reminded me of CAD, and I remembered how skipping breakfast had felt surprisingly good to me when I tried it before. I felt funny, because it goes against all the nutritional advice I'd always heard, but I loved the light feeling of going without food in the morning. But I always had trouble with lunch, and I'd get reactive hypoglycemia really easily, even being very careful to follow the CAD guidelines. So I decided to try this and see how it goes.

If you are interested, do a search on the internet for intermittent fasting and you can check out the study. Also check out The Warrior Diet, which recommends eating lightly all day and eating most of your calories at night. It is similar to CAD except that he recommends fruit and such during the day, which wouldn't work for those of us who are sensitive to carbs.

I don't know how long I will stick with this, but right now I'm enjoying the way it makes me feel. Let us know if you try fasting for a day and how that works for you.

Take care - I hope you and Holly are having wonderful, relaxing weekends.

--Gretchen

Gretchen - I'm going to do an experiment. One meal a day for 1 week, but I think I'll have tea with cream and a tsp peanut butter at breakfast to raise my serotonin levels, otherwise I feel sort of depressed. I'll let you know how I do.