Pain, Pain, Go Away!

Merry Christmas! First, I'm happy to say my cold got nuked out of orbit before it had a chance to set in. Hydrocortisone and Mucinex FTW! Second, my health is much improved from a year ago. The scary palpitations are now infrequent and only mildly concerning and I'm starting to slowly lose weight after upping my thyroid supplements again. (My latest test showed free T3 in the lower half of the reference range.) My digestion is better, probably thanks to lots of Pepto-Bismol early this year, peppermint lattes (LC, of course), L. reuteri yogurt, and adrenal supplements. I don't have all my energy back, but I've lost the neurotic fear of trying things like making a slipcover and no longer have the feeling of being in la-la land. Next year I'd like to try tuck-and-point the masonry on my house--I think I could now handle a tuckpoint grinder. Third, I'm thrilled to see the complete turnaround in dietary ideas. When I started low carb almost ten years ago, peop...

Propublica says, "Doctors who received payments from the pharmaceutical industry prescribed drugs differently than their colleagues who didn’t. And the more money those doctors received, on average, the more brand-name medications they prescribed."That's the result of their investigation using a large database of doctors and the prescriptions they write. Good news, though: you can use ProPublica's database to find a doctor in your area (in the US) who prescribes T3. Many patients have a hard time finding a doctor who'll write a prescription for T3. T3's official name is Liothyronine. Go to the site , click on your state, sort by drug (click on "drug"), and scroll down to liothyronine, and click on it. You'll see some of the doctors in your state who prescribe T3.  Sad to say that the the most common prescriptions in the database are atorvastatin (a statin drug) and levothyroxine (syncrap).  In happier news, I'm fighting a cold-...

Things are continuing to improve. I've stopped taking my adrenal cortex medicine and digestive enzymes because I don't feel I need them. I'm now down to hydrocortisone cream and natural desiccated thyroid (NDT). I got some lab tests done the other day--I'm sure they'll show improvement. I couldn't take any hydrocortisone that day (and I forgot to take my NDT until that afternoon). I didn't take my vitamins or electrolytes, either. I ended up eating a whole can of chocolate covered nuts. And a small order of fries with my lettuce-wrapped burger. Cortisol helps control blood sugar; maybe it has something to do with controlling cravings, too. I went back to my supplement regimen the next day and felt no desire to eat fries or chocolate--just tacos. I had chicken, salsa, cheddar cheese, guacamole and pork rinds. Now that I'm feeling better, thinking more clearly and no longer desperate to get well, I took advantage of a slow day at work to look over cos...

It's been four years last week since I escaped moved from Denver and ten years ago this month that I started this blog. I have much to be thankful for: My health is a lot better than it was last year. My digestion, energy, palpitations, and mood are better, even if I feel like I still have a ways to go. A nice Thanksgiving meal with good company. My meetup group went to Bob Evans and we talked about Day of the Dead , health care, the economy, and I don't remember what else. I was bad--I had eggs benedict with biscuits since I don't like Thanksgiving fare--but felt fine. I'm not going to make a habit of getting glutened, though. I haven't forgotten how sick I was ten years ago, and how much a gluten-free diet helped.  I live in Indiana, where I can get lab tests without a permission slip from a doctor. I live in Indiana, where raising a vegetable garden is easy. I live in Indiana, where so many beautiful plants grow so well that I'm having a hard time p...