Blog changes

Thanks to everyone who followed Training Because I Can! over the last nine years. This blog started with Addison's Disease, hypothyroidism and a crazy idea of doing an Ironman distance triathlon. My life has changed and so has this blog. I am using this blog strictly for Addison's Support topics from here on out. I hope to continue providing people with hints for living life well with adrenal insufficiency.

Saturday, January 12, 2008

Miscellaneous: Pictures from this week.

I don't have much to say...



Our mailbox (on the right). The box is located off the county road. The mail carrier won't deliver when the box is snowed in like this. I've dug it out several times and it's hard, dense snow. Whaaa!



Snowed in again and more.



My lazy solution. Pull the damned mailbox out of the snow pile and move it out to the road in the morning and away from the road in the evening (so it doesn't get plowed under).



The beautiful view south, toward Teton Pass last Sunday.



Curious cows during my run on Cedron Road last Sunday.


A creek on the Teton Springs property. The snow is deep!



The top of Targhee from Teton Canyon. During the Grand Teton Races 100, I'll go from where I took this picture to the top of Targhee several times.



The view of the Tetons from Teton Canyon on Tuesday



The view at the end of the Teton Canyon skate ski track. It was cold (10 degrees F) but quiet and peaceful.



This is what skate ski tracks look like. Not the lines that look like corduroy, but the other ones that cross the corduroy.



Sad. A moose near K-Mart in Jackson, Wyoming. It appears to have been hit by a car or truck. It was taken away by Department of Wildlife shortly after this picture was taken.



It was beautiful




A different view of the skiers on Teton Pass.
Different than this view



Thursday, January 10, 2008

Training & Addison's related

I've ramped up my training but neglected to up my meds. oops. Problem.

When I was training for the Vineman and the GTR 50 in 2007, I upped my daily Hydrocortisone to 25 mg/day and Florinef to .05. I've not been doing so much for November and December so I decreased to 22.5 mg HC and .025 of Florinef (couldn't go lower on either). In the last 2 or 3 weeks I started doing more and have not increased any meds at all.

Yesterday was terrible. It started out with a headache and 1.5 hours of shoveling 12 inches of snow out of the driveway. I was exhausted too. Skipped my run for the day and moped around. By evening, I took 10 mg extra of HC to no avail and I started getting nauseous and really unable to form coherent sentences (I'm sure it could be argued that I never make coherent sentences). I took 5 more mg of HC and started feeling much better, nausea went away and slept well. Woke up this morning feeling like a million bucks.

Moral of the story: Make sure you increase your HC if you need to!

Wednesday, January 9, 2008

Addison's: Addison's and Celiac

Remember, I’m not a doctor. All I’m trying to do here is provide minimal interpretation and lots of information so you can make the best decisions for you with the help of your doctor.

Many of these articles require a FREE and very worth while subscription to Medscape.

After you read this and think you might have celiac, I highly recommend that you avoid gluten (with the support of your physician) and see if the symptoms abate.
At the end of this post, I will post some food items that you can purchase from your local grocery store so that you’re well stocked and not hungry when you try a gluten free diet.
Here is an excellent description of Celiac Sprue, also called Celiac disease, from emedicine.com (can be accessed with the same FREE subscription of www.medscape.com ). If you feel that you have any or many of the symptoms mentioned in the article, you may want to print it out, highlight the symptoms you have and take it to your doctor. Be proactive and educate your physician. Chances are, your physician does not know the symptom sof celiac disease (see below articles)
These symptoms are copied directly from emedicine.com:
  • Chronic diarrhea
  • Steatorrhea
  • Abdominal bloating or cramps
  • Flatulence
  • Weight loss
  • Fatigue
  • Anemia
  • Bleeding diathesis
  • Osteopenia
  • Seizure disorders
  • Stunted growth
PRINT THIS OUT TOO: More symptoms are listed in this PDF Brochure from the Celiac Disease Foundation

Discussion of the lack of detection of Celiac Disease and testing can be found here: Detection of Celiac Disease in Primary Care: A Multicenter Case-Finding Study in North America This article concludes: “In conclusion, our study demonstrates that an active case-finding strategy in the primary care setting is an effective means to improve the diagnostic rate of CD [Celiac Disease] in North America. The most common reasons for positive screening tests included gastrointestinal symptoms, thyroid disease, family history of CD, and iron deficiency. It is strongly recommended that all individuals be screened for the large variety of clinical manifestations and conditions associated with CD by their primary care physicians. Those with one or more of these features should have serological testing for CD and, if positive, should be referred for definitive diagnosis by means of an intestinal biopsy. A larger application of this protocol could raise the awareness and increase detection of this common disorder among primary care physicians and in the general population in North America.”

Another excellent article: Advances in Celiac Disease

There is a very important and often overlooked link between Addison’s Disease (and other autoimmune diseases) and Celiac Disease.

Treatment for Celiac Disease is easy.
Avoid gluten in your diet. These two organizations (among many) have great websites with FAQ sections, recipes, and support.
Items to buy from the grocery store.
If you are fortunate enough to live near a Trader Joe’s, it’s got many, many excellent gluten free choices. I can find every one of these items in my local (very rural) grocery store. You will probably be able to find these items or similar where you live.
  • Pasta
  • Crackers-rice crackers that are gluten free , many choices
  • Cookies
  • Flours (if you want to make your own gluten free stuff)
  • Gluten free mixes cookies, cakes, pancakes, brownies, biscuits and breads
  • Cereal
  • Polenta
  • Gluten free bread – many choices in your frozen foods health food section
  • Corn Starch as a thickener
Ideas for going out to eat:
· Salad and chicken
· Salad and seafood
· Steak and potato
· Mexican food with a corn tortilla
· Broiled chicken without the bun
· Eggs, potato and bacon
I welcome your comments, suggestions and ideas! Please use the comments link below!

For fun: Dolly enjoys the snow.

The Addison's post is coming. I'm claiming a snow delay today!

We got a foot of snow (very unexpected!) last night and I've spent the last 1.5 hours getting all but the end of the driveway dug out. I was grouchy and cranky about the snow. Dolly, on the other hand, loved it. The video is 6 seconds long.