New doctor, New Med, New Outlook, New Weight!! That's my "news".
Ok - I'll start at the beginning!! I don't know if most of you noticed that I haven't been posting a lot lately (thanks for your note twehner5, I really appreciated it), but I was a bit "under the weather for a bit", well, really outrageously discouraged and I didn't want my bad attitude to drag anyone else down with me, since most of you have been losing weight steadily (or holding where you are) and I'm thrilled for all of you.
Some of you may remember that I had been having a very difficult time with weight loss because I was having a problem getting my thyroid levels balanced, which was throwing my metabolism way off and I was losing and gaining the same 3-4 pounds every week or so. At the same time I was having trouble losing weight, I was having trouble with my PCP refusing to listen and he wouldn't even attempt to help me. The last time I saw him, he told me that in order to lose weight, I simply needed to MOVE MORE. Yeah, right!!
I walk daily 3-5 miles most days, plus whatever other physical work is required on the job, then a lot of days, I work out for about 30 min or more when I get home. I've kept my food intake to around 1000-1200 calories and tried to stick with a lot of protein, fiber and "good" fats, etc. None of this was doing me any good!!
While all of this was happening, I had been sent to an ear, nose & throat specialist, a cardiologist, and a gastroenterologist for supposedly unrelated issues. All of these other doctors told me that if my thyroid got balanced, I would be able to lose weight, but my PCP would do nothing to help get this accomplished. Well, the ENT decided that I could benefit from visiting an endocrinologist, so he gave me a referral and I had my first visit last Tues (Jan 27).
The "endo" agreed with all the other doctors (except the PCP) and based on blood work showing my levels were off, he cut one med down and added another med. Within a couple of days, I began feeling the effects of this change. I found myself with more energy than I've had in a couple of years and the best part is that I've managed to lose 2.5 pounds since I took the first dose of the new med on Thurs of last week, which indicates that the med is helping to bring my metabolism in line.
I have continued to eat the right things, but have "indulged" in some rather unhealthy snacks as well, which is something I have not dared to do over the past year or so, unless I wanted to see the scale tip the wrong way. I still do the same amount of walking every day and still have the same physically demanding job, work out, etc.
Now that I've gotten my metabolism back and have lost those 2.5 pounds, I no longer feel like I'm fighting a losing battle and my determination is back full force. My outlook is much better and I'm finally excited about getting on with this journey once more.
I realize that this post might sound more like it should be on a different type of forum (I did post a similar one on the thyroid community), but I felt it important to post this info here as well because I know there are others in the WL&D community who are fighting a similar battle with thyroid, insulin resistance, and other issues that make losing weight extremely difficult if not impossible.
My strategy for some time has been simply to try to maintain and not gain any more weight until I found a doctor who would help me get these issues worked out. I'm not saying that everyone who has thyroid issues will have the same problem - but if you do, don't give up. I don't expect everything to run smoothly forever after but at least now, I know how to deal with it when things go haywire again.
Thanks everyone.