2011 - Hope for a Better Year

Well, a lot has happened since my last entry. I fired my doctor, when in August I finally got tired of her not listening to me, only reading my TSH test results and not listening to all my litany of continuing hypothyroid symptoms. She wanted to cut my medication, and she wouldn't listen to me about my obvious adrenal fatigue. So, I have been doing many hours of research and have decided to self-treat. In this upcoming year I will be ordering my own tests (yes, you can do this! You don't need a doctor to have lab tests!) to monitor my condition, ordering my own prescriptions from "various sources" ;-), and listening to the advice of some trusted people, moderators in a patient support group online who have helped literally thousands of people with my same situation. They have recovered from similar conditions to what I have, have done hundreds of hours of research, and since there are over 3500 people currently in the group, posting lab results all the time, they have read FAR more labs then most doctors. And, they are not trying to sell anything. They just want to help people who suffer with what they had. That makes me trust them even more.

My primary goal for the year is to GET BETTER. It may take longer than a year to get 100% better, but that's ok. I just want to make progress.

Right now I wake almost every morning achy all over, with my head feeling all foggy and fuzzy, headache, and feeling exhausted. I drag myself around all day and try to get maybe one or two things done. If I leave the house at all, for an errand or whatever, then that is pretty much all I am able to get done that day. When I get home I don't have energy for anything else. Things pile up around me, unfinished projects, unfolded laundry, housecleaning I wish I could do... but I just don't have energy for all of it. Sometimes, if I have tried to do too much, then later or the next day I will feel even worse, with nausea and actual pain in the adrenal area, on both sides of my lower back near the kidneys. I'm serious, this is not muscle or joint pain, it's deep inside... I am convinced this is actually my adrenals hurting due to the damage to them from many years of inadequately treated adrenal fatigue. When I did the questionnaire in the great book, "Adrenal Fatigue, the 21st Century Stress Syndrome" by Dr. James Wilson, it showed that I have level 4 Adrenal Fatigue, which is the most severe level, and running the risk of Addison's Disease (irreparably damaged adrenals, needing replacement hormones for life).

So, next year at this time, I want to be feeling BETTER than that.
In order to reach that goal, here are my sub-goals. According to my research, these are the things that will help the most.

I will go to bed by 10:30 every night.
I will AVOID refined sugars.
I will SEVERELY LIMIT all grains and starchy foods.
I will eat plenty of protein, healthy fats, and vegetables.
I will eat fruit as snacks.
I will listen to my body and rest when my body wants rest. I understand that at this stage of my health, strenuous exercise is actually very unhealthy for me.
I will stop beating myself up and setting unrealistic expectations. I am seriously ill and it is OK for me to take it easy and NOT be a perfect housekeeper.
I will do the tests recommended by the moderators of the Adrenal Fatigue and Hypothyroidism patient group. And I will follow their treatment protocol recommendations. I know they are not doctors, but after 20 years (off and on) of being ill, doctors have not helped me, so that's OK with me. I trust them more than doctors.
I will be faithful with taking my prescriptions and supplements on time, every single day.
I will faithfully take my temperature and chart the results each day, and will also be taking and recording my pulse and blood pressure, to help monitor my adrenal and thyroid condition, since after starting supplementation it is not possible to test, since the tests are inaccurate when taking hormones.
I will purposely seek out and find things which bring me joy and make me happy, and will find ways to incorporate those things in my daily life, since "a joyful heart is good like a medicine" as it says in Proverbs.
When I have energy, I will write, paint, or do other art projects. When I do not have energy for those things, I will read funny books or watch funny movies to make me laugh. I will not allow myself to fall into self-pity and depression.

Well I guess that's it for now... I am glad 2010 is over, and I am welcoming 2011 with open arms!