and a progress we shall see

hello all. greetings from not-so-fat-ville. all your hopes and prayers for me lately have paid off!

i went to my weight loss appt this past wednesday. met a very nice, young, (*clears throat*) HOT doctor (i love you dave). we sat for about 30 minutes and just talked. i told him about my history, focusing on the past year. he became very excited when i told him i was a triathlete. he seemed to light up every time he realized some aspect of their plan he'd have to tweek for me since i already have such an active lifestyle. that gave me a bit of confidence in him. i was very hesitant to follow parts of the plan, and in fact so hesitant that i'd had all the meds for 6 days already and hadn't taken a single one. i wanted my questions answered first. at the end of the appointment, he sealed the deal for me. "i want you to lose 3 pounds a week." done. that's totally within acceptable weight-loss range, as losing too fast just leads to yo-yo affect. i left that office feeling very uplifted, like i finally knew for a fact that this body would no longer be mine.

so what's the plan, you say? well, obviously the biggest part for me was having my thyroid tested. i had my labs drawn on 4/25/11 as my part of my yearly physical. my TSH was 2.87 and my free T4 was 0.89. those are both within normal limits according to current ranges. i won't bore you with the specifics or give an anatomy lesson, you can find that here, it's a great article, albeit somewhat technical. a little over a month later, my TSH is now 3.52. that jump is ridiculous, and indicative. the night before my labs were drawn at kaiser, dave took me to red lobster and i had a wonderful shellfish fiesta. i didn't know it, but shellfish can actually skew thyroid results. so all this time i've been begging for an endocrinologist referral off labs that were crap.

for this program, this doc wants all of his people to have TSH levels below 2.5, so i was well within treatable range. we also discussed the fact that the current 'normal' levels are completely antiquated, and don't account for a number of other things that could be going on. a prime example - my PCP at kaiser wouldn't treat me because my levels were within normal ranges. however, they were on the outskirts of those ranges, so he should've taken into consideration my symptoms. this guy has. i'm now on thyroid.

"the plan":

• chromium twice a day = enhances insulin to increase metabolism
• thyroid once a day = also increases metabolism
• phentermine once a day = appetite suppressant
• hydrochlorothiazide = diuretic, not potassium-sparing
• potassium = supplementation from hctz
• vitamin B12 injections every other day = lowers homocysteine levels, helps to enhance metabolism

as is common with hypothyroid, i'm also needing supplemental fiber. which means my water intake has gone from about 16oz to upwards of 2L. i am somewhat worried that the diuretics would lead to a false-positive as far as progress goes. but i've counterbalanced that with a dramatic increase of water, to ease my own mind and to get my damn bowels working. tmi? yeah, well, deal. i didn't ask you to read...;-)

i've now been on all the meds for 3 days. well actually 2, i've not yet taken anything today besides the thyroid. i'm down 3.6 pounds. in the last 24 hours in particular, i'm noticing that i'm not as tired as i've been over the last year. this morning i woke up BEFORE dave (quite an accomplishment in and of itself), and i'm wide awake. i took the phentermine for the first time friday, that's still one part that i'm questioning. essentially it's speed. so he's put me on thyroid and speed. more like speed and speed, taken 3 hours apart. yesterday at work i was a bit wired, got a lot done in the morning and then after lunch i kind of lost my mojo. we'll see how it goes. this program does allow me to go completely natural, without the use of the diuretics or phentermine. i decided to give it a go. after i reach a certain spot, maybe i'll stop them and go natural. maybe not.

so here's the part where i say thank you. i've received feedback from every one of my 4 followers. thanks guys. this part has been so much harder than what i went through this time last year, but i see a light finally...