Well for the most part I've been doing pretty well with the 6 month diet**bet. It's mostly kept me away from junky foods and got me out exercising more. I'll be doing my first official mid-bet weigh in on Tuesday morning - that will qualify me to be in a drawing for what they call "consistency" prizes.
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I received $20 in AGC from Swagbucks, and am now just waiting for the last $5 card.
I also got my credit for the last bill cycle - only two days after the payment posted. I guess they heard enough complaints about how long the last one took to credit? Either way, I'll take it. 
I now have more than enough SBs for my December $25 AGCs and am now working on extras.
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After work on Friday I stopped at the public library to pick up a book for one of my 6th graders - she asked me if we had The Great Gatsby. We (being an elementary library) of course didn't have it. I didn't tell her it wasn't really a book most 6th graders would want to read/be able to understand -- remembering that when I was 13 I read both War and Peace and Ana Karenina - and did book reports on them! It was a lot smaller than I remembered.
I also picked up groceries - somehow I managed to spend $80!! All but $5 of it was for healthy foods. And here I was planning on trying to eat down my pantry and freezer before buying more stuff ... Ooops. Next week I'll definitely just stick to bananas and maybe orange juice.
I did buy a strawberry/bannana smoothie from McDonald's that is in Walmart. I was pretty hungry and thirsty, and figure that a smoothie was better than a soda!
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So .. about the sigh... I had my doctor appointment Friday morning. I had already eliminated the possibility I was *really* hoping for before going. So after explaining to her how I've been feeling and my other health concerns, she told me that it could just be chronic fatigue syndrome and/or peri-menopause. Ugh. I'm 37. Not the words I wanted to hear coming out of my doctor's mouth, even though my Internet research told me that was one possibility. She's testing various hormones to see if this might be the direction I'm headed. I wanted to go home and curl up in a ball for the rest of the day, but I had to get to work. Work was a good distraction.
What really frustrated me though was that she told me that about the only thing I could do that would help my energy/health would be to do 20 minutes a day of activity/exercise. When I told her that I'd been pretty consistent for over 4 months of 5+ days a week of 40+ minutes of exercise (summer)and it had done NOTHING for how I was feeling, all she said was "it takes time." Arghh!
This is when I really wished I lived in a bigger city and had more choices of doctors - or wish I could be back in Dallas and back with my doctor there. I really liked that doctor - she was my doctor for ten years!
Oh yeah, on Monday night I had a sweet potato and asparagus about 6:30 p.m. Tuesday morning when I woke up and rolled to my back, I had my very first experience with acid reflux. When I told my doctor about this, all she said was "make sure you eat 3 hours before you go to bed." Ummmm....thanks.
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My mom keeps asking me if I'm depressed, and I keep telling her that no, I'm not. I'm just so frustrated with my health. 10 months ago I did not feel like I do now. I felt good/healthy much more often than I didn't. Now I feel lucky on days where most of the day I feel half-way decent.
My former principal as we were walking out of Mass on Thursday said to me, "You've been sick a lot this year." I was a bit taken aback, and told her, "Well, I *have* been sick a lot this year, but I have only taken two sick days." She seemed kind of surprised to hear that and later on said something about me being too young to have health issues. I wish.
Her statement to me does make me wonder about what is being said about me around the school. If most of them knew what a struggle it is for me some mornings to NOT call in sick ... and how I spend most of my weekends trying to make sure I rest enough in order to make it through the work week ...
Sigh..
November 9th, 2013 at 06:41 pm
November 9th, 2013 at 09:41 pm 1384033314
When did your T4 get checked last? Also, try to avoid the generic hormone because sometimes it doesn't work as well.
These could be too low.. Vit D? Vit B? Iron/red blood cells?
New research is stearing women away from soy due to estrogen disruption. Not sure how much of that you consume.
November 9th, 2013 at 09:53 pm 1384034036
I almost forgot one part -- she (doctor) changed my Synthroid prescription from .15 to .125 - without even mentioning anything to me! The only reason I know, is because it was on my checkout forms.
My TSH level is one of the blood tests - I was actually thinking about asking to have my T3 and 4 levels checked, but it seemed like the doctor had ran out of the time allotted for me - as she was rushing to the door .. so didn't ask about that.
I had my Vitamin D/B levels checked six? months ago. They were both somewhat on the low side - I have been taking B/D supplements (not consistently though - because sometimes they seem to make me more nauseous - though I'm not positive they're the culprits.)
As to soy ... Well, I am a vegetarian. I really *try* to not consume too much soy products. For example, I switched from drinking soy milk to rice milk. But I do LOVE the vegge meat products - and especially with the canned ones, once you open it, it needs to be eaten within a week. I just try not to open them very often ...
I eat a LOT less soy than I used to, and really should consume even less. (Soy products at various times in my life were a main part of my food consumption.)
November 9th, 2013 at 10:45 pm 1384037136
I don't know if you make any exceptions to your diet like eggs or fish, but it might be something to think about. You can get ethically raised eggs. Fish, not so much. But a can of salmon with it's healthy fats cooked in a bit of olive oil could go a long way towards helping if you have low protein intake.
Just something to think about. I have known vegetarians who have absolutely no problems with eating that way, and I have known others who have, after many years of eating that way, had to abandon it for health reasons and began feeling better and more energetic as they added healthy, ethically raised meats back into their diets. I don't know what your reasons are for being vegetarian and I'm not suggesting you give up the lifestyle so much as give it a hard going over to make sure those protein needs are being met.
November 9th, 2013 at 11:04 pm 1384038274
I do eat cheese and eggs (although am trying to cut back on the cheese!) Whenever I remember to journal my whole days worth of food, I usually meet the protein levels suggested (either Sparkpeople, or more recently My fitness pal.)
A typical day might be: old-fashioned oats w/rice milk,chia seeds & brown sugar, string cheese, prunes, banana and some kind of juice for breakfast.
Lunch might be an Amy's burrito (if at home) or some hummus, sunflower seeds and veggies, maybe a grilled cheese (if the cafe is serving it!)
Supper could be sweet potatoe w/butter and asparagus or vegge baked beans, a couple vege hot dogs (Big Franks!), one of the Michlanei (sp?) frozen dishes, etc.
Then at some point I might have a SunBelt granola bar as a snack
Roughly 1400 - 1500 calories (well ... at least when I'm trying to stay away from junk food that I can easily eat 1000+ calories of in one day ... though the longer I keep to 14-1500 calories, the less junk food I'm able to eat in one day .. guess my stomach shrinks or something.)
November 10th, 2013 at 06:42 am 1384065772
Hope you feel better soon...
November 10th, 2013 at 12:45 pm 1384087514
I know that your current situation has you pretty isolated, and you do so much for your job. It is very easy to overdo things with work, especially in a school where there is always a need for you to do more, more, more. That can't help with the fatigue. Take care of yourself, try doing less at work?
November 10th, 2013 at 02:29 pm 1384093759
November 10th, 2013 at 03:15 pm 1384096546
Thinking of you--
November 10th, 2013 at 03:31 pm 1384097517
November 10th, 2013 at 03:42 pm 1384098159
Susan - That's an interesting suggestion - mold in my home. These mobile homes are pretty old (circa 60s I think,) so that very well may be a possibility. I know at LEAST one other home where there has been major mold found here.
Mamasita - I honestly feel as though I *have* been doing a lot less this year. I haven't gone in on a weekend at all yet, and I've been leaving most days right after the busses on most days. I also haven't been spending as much time outside of work, working on research for classes. I just haven't had the energy or motivation ..
CCF - I really don't think it is depression. No, I don't feel hopeless - maybe discouraged and wondering if its too little too late for a particular issue, but not hopeless.
MEC - I think I do have some level of emotional exhaustion in dealing with some of the kids, and do sometimes still get hit out of the blue with missing my dad. My 3x weekly Skype dates with NE almost always make me feel better, no matter how awful I may have been feeling beforehand. I bought a couple of books (meadevil romances) recently which I've been enjoying. There aren't any movies in the two theaters here that I'm even somewhat interested in at the moment (well, there is Thor, but NE wants to see that when he's here.)
FreebieQueen - Allergies are definitely my nemesis. I'm constantly taking either allergy releif meds, mucus relief, or Oregano supplements -- and for awhile a small nightly dose of generic NyQuil.
November 10th, 2013 at 04:29 pm 1384100996
November 10th, 2013 at 04:47 pm 1384102029
November 10th, 2013 at 06:07 pm 1384106868
November 10th, 2013 at 07:00 pm 1384110050
My first thought is thyroid, just because so much of my own stuff has been written off as hormones and post-partum. When in the end I felt like I got my energy back when I had half my thyroid removed. It never showed up in the numbers (the thyroid issues never did), so I am skeptical how useful the blood test numbers are. Aside from that, everything was written off as post partum or peri-menopausal (though I don't think that was taken seriously - would be extremely unusual at our age). I've come to feel that given my age that any hormonal changes are a sign of some other health issue. Usually the first sign. But, I think thyroid levels would be the obvious first step to look at in your shoes.
Beyond that, if I worked with kids I would be sick ALL THE TIME. It doesn't stick out to me as unusual. Those kids are just little germ magnets, and going back into the school system it takes time to build up immunity. I also have perpetual allergies and am very sensitive to stress, so it just doesn't strike me as unusual that you have been sick as you have. (Just to appeal to the non-hypochondriac side of things).
I heartily second the soy comments. Soy does a number on your hormones. I am really concerned with soy from a health standpoint, having vegetarian friends with severe health problems. Those random, deadly and unexplainable health problems are starting to get linked to soy in studies. It wouldn't hurt to cut out the soy for a while and just see if it improves anything for you.
November 10th, 2013 at 09:15 pm 1384118116
Thanks MonkeyMama,
I've been on Synthroid since I was 19. From what I've read on the Internet, hypothyroid symptoms can sometimes mirror those of perimenopause, with one big exception. Unfortunately that one big exception seems to be happening with me (cycle becoming weird, very weird.) My doctor changing my Synthroid meds though without mentioning it to me, or waiting for the lab results, seems very weird to me though. So maybe she was thinking something along the same lines - but why wouldn't she mention it to me??
Most of my vegge meat products are those that can sit in a cupboard or freezer for eons, so that wouldn't be too hard to avoid for awhile and see if it has any effect. Soy though is in SO many foods .. but maybe just avoiding the foods that are explicitly made from/with soy would help.
November 11th, 2013 at 12:18 am 1384129099
I had a check up with my doctor this week. I used to have a physical in the summer so I didn't miss work. Two years ago they moved my appointment from June to August. Last year I had to take half a day sick time to have the appointment. To be honest, I didn't want to take the time off this time because I sort of feel since I'm older, the powers that be might be looking at me as someone who isn't dependable if I take off time. I realize that sounds paranoid, but the talk is about how the young teachers are so much better than those of us who've been around. I don't want to give them an excuse to replace me. So, my doctor agreed to running the blood tests and checked my blood pressure with the promise of I will have a physical in June when I'm off.
November 11th, 2013 at 12:31 am 1384129893
I'd love to keep my appointments for bloodwork, etc to just breaks, but with thyroid issues (esp. if your meds are being adjusted) you may need to be seen every 6 - 8 weeks. So .. you just have to figure out the best timing of it.
November 14th, 2013 at 10:30 pm 1384468235
I have to concur with LuckyRobin about protein. And a lot of those veggie meats also use gluten as a protein. I'm not one of wheat is wicked crowd, but its something to notice.
As far as exercise is concerned, my experience has been that higher energy is the first thing you notice, not the last.
Could it also be seasonal? I know that you are in the SW, and daylength doesn't change that much ... but it could be enough.
Also been my experience that crap doctors are everywhere. Yes, in a bigger city you have more doctors, and you have more choice of crap doctors. And more types of crap insurance that won't pay for the good doctor.
November 14th, 2013 at 11:09 pm 1384470588
I know! You would think the doctor would say something to me about making such a large drop in my dosage. I am still waiting for her to call me with the results, and when she does I'm going to ask her why she changed the dosage. Until then, I'm continuing to take the .15 (still have 3 weeks worth left.)
I finished some Big Franks I had on Monday, but haven't eaten any vegge meat products since then. Soy is in so many other things though .. but I'm going to give it until Christmas and see if I notice anything.
I really don't think it's seasonal. I've been feeling off since March. Some days are better, some are worse. The last few days have been better overall - don't know if it has to do with laying off the soy, or the fruit/veggie smoothies I've been drinking most days.
Yep, there definitely are crap doctors everywhere. I lucked out on finding a good one in the DFW metroplex, which is why I was willing to drive 90 minutes to get to her office when I moved (multiple times ..)