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.

Monday, May 9, 2011

Past, Present and near Future

Since returning from Morocco, I've been feeling like CRAP physically and emotionally.  I don't care about running or exercising, I don't care about much.  To me, this is what hypothyroid feels like.  Because I didn't care about anything, I failed to get the proper blood work done to assess thyroid function.  I haven't run much in the last month either.  One thing that has been good is my appetite.  I've been eating constantly (this leads me to believe my cortisol replacement is fine, under replacement usually leads to nausea or lack of hunger).

Unfortunately, there's no research out there regarding hormone replacement in deficient populations who do endurance exercise.  If anyone's interested in studying this, I will volunteer and I can find you a few other people who fit this category.

So, yay, I'm a good little eater who is not exercising.  Not a good combo.  I'm getting fat.

I am pulling myself together and feeling better and more motivated in the last few days.  Yesterday I rededicated myself to exercise since the Pocatello 50 is coming up on May 28th.  It's a hard race.  It's usually best to train for a race before you do it. I have come up with some new goals and am sharing them so I can be held accountable.  If I keep them to myself, my goals can fall the the wayside.

Here are my goals for today through May 27, 2011

o   Start runs earlier in the morning
o   No alcohol until after 5/28/11
o   Weigh in on Thursday and Sunday
o   Do ALL workouts (lifting and squats)
o   RUN more (I walk a lot)
o   Do speed workouts on Tuesday

8 comments:

Anonymous said...

Dusty, there is some research on the female athlete triad (reverse T3 is an issue here). Could be that. Maybe on your next thyroid labs add that. A healthy body would adjust thyroid levels to prevent too much RT3, but for those of us on constant replacement there isn't any auto-adjustment - as you well know!!

Hope you recover soon!
ashley

Pip said...

New goals, great! I'd put my hand up for any study on cortisol replacement in endurance athletes as well (still smarting from a comment in another forum that the person thought it unlikely Addisonian runners really had Addisons and that running was a bad idea for us).

I still think it's not really surpising that you're feeling less than stellar after that great effort, even with the potential hormone issues. New goals are definitely the way to go though.

Incidentally, I've just been told to up my thyroid replacement a bit and am hopeful that might help me shift some of the extra weight I'm carrying around. I thought it might have been a bit off as I felt a bit more wary than usual and was also experiencing a slight malaise. Get those tests done!

Linda said...

Listen, my friend, get it checked out and don't be so hard on yourself. Thank you for all of the reminders this past week and a hal about meds and that you were thinking of me.

Unknown said...

Ashley, Pip and Linda,

You gals were the ones I was thinking of regarding exercise and cortisol!!

I did get FT3 tested (wasn't enough blood to run FT4) and it was 340, I felt good at 380. I did up the T3. I really feel hypo. Next time I do a stage race or longterm endurance thing, I will just up my thyroid as well as HC.

Pip, FINALLY! I'm glad you finally upped your thyroid!!!!! I've been harping on that for a year and a half now!!!!

Linda, I've been thinking of you and the kids daily. Sending you positive vibes and strength. I'm glad my texts were helpful and not annoying. Come visit me.

Ashley, I will look into the reverse T3 again. I can't remember what the symptoms are. I really feel hypoT.

XO to you all,

Dusty

Anonymous said...

I'd love to join in on study!
Also, the fact that your T3 dropped on a constant dose shows that your body was making more RT3 and less T3 - otherwise there would be no drop.

The symptoms of RT3 are identical to low T3.

I say keep resting and do gentle exercise while you recover. Pushing too much will only compound the issue...easier said than done, I know!

ashley

Olga said...

I hope you find the studies and the solutions, in a meantime - enjoy Pocatello! It was beautiful, and we had fun getting lost together!

Anonymous said...

After I saw this post I started doing 100 squats per day. :)

Unknown said...

Olga, I smiled remembering us "letting" you and Larry see if we were on the course! We were like, "They look WAY fresher than we do so let them check it out. We'll stand here and rest!" :)

Ashley, Check out the twohundredsquats.com it's fun!

:)Dusty