And tomorrow I run...

This picture is a perfect example of the quote below. Although many, many people have put this many miles on their treadmill, I am excited enough about it to take a picture. I've been planning this for since December when it started getting close! My husband helped me get it to 1,000 miles but I've done plenty of 20 milers to do my part.

"Enthusiasm spells the difference

between mediocrity

and accomplishment."

- Norman Vincent Peale

I'm back up and moving. I have been for about two weeks. It's taken me nearly this long to figure out what I can do and what I want to do with myself. My hip barely hurts at all any more! About 10 days ago, I started a workout program that also includes stretching. At first some of the stretches were uncomfortable, immediately after stretching the pain and range of motion in my hip joint was incredibly better! On February 13th, I started my one mile and three pull-ups a day streak again! Yahoo!! I am hoping to be in shape, OK, that's not true, I'm not "hoping". I expect to be in shape enough to run Big Horn 100 in June through a carefully planned running schedule and lots of cross training. I will be qualifying for Hardrock 100's lottery this year. If I don't complete Big Horn, I can finish Grand Teton or the Bear. And tomorrow, I begin running! It will only be for a minute or two at a time but I will begin!

Enough about me. For the next while, I will be trying to do more Addison's related posts. If you've got Addison's and you're not part of my forum, you may want to check it out. www.addisonssupport.com There's lots of knowledge, experience and support for those with Addison's, hypothyroid or undiagnosed. CHECK IT OUT!

Steroid guilt

There's a subset of people with Addison's Disease who are VERY hesitant to increase our steroids despite our body giving us clear signals that we need more steroids. I like to call this "Steroid guilt". I most certainly a sufferer of this STUPIDITY.

I think the more athletic Addisonian's tend to suffer the worst from this. We are used to putting our body through good pain and getting good results. We have conditioned ourselves to overlook the symptoms below, often until it's too late and we're really sick.

Those of us who suffer with steroid guilt will refuse to see these adrenal insufficiency symptoms as signs of needing to increase:

• low blood pressure
• nausea
• vomiting
• being cold to the bone and having a hard time warming up
• heavy arms and legs
• chills
• diarrhea, especially bloody
• inappropriate fatigue
• extended injury
• frequent colds
• frequent trips to the ER

We will go on about our days complaining of a persistent stomach ache or being cold, giving no thought to increasing our steroids or blowing someone off who suggests it.

Why do we do this?

I think it's because it's been drilled into us that we

a) will get fat if we increase our steroids

b) will get osteoporosis

c) need to be on the lowest amount of steroids possible at all times

d) we've seen others pop HC like candy, who suffer from Cushingoid symptoms, take waaaaay too much HC way too often. We don't want to be like them.

We completely disrespect our body by ignoring the fact that if we had working adrenals and have any of the above symptoms, our body would make extra cortisol. We force our body to work harder and be under stress longer and not heal as well because we are stubborn and feel guilty. It's stupid. I have done this over and over. I am committing to treating my body much better and listening to it calling to me with the symptoms I listed above.

You know what can happen if we ignore our body's cry for steroids, we can end up with vomiting and have to go to the hospital to get IV fluids and IV steroids (and it costs a lot of money!), we can end up with the diagnosis of IBS because we're not giving our intestines what they need to work properly, we can end up with cold after cold that might turn into pneumonia

You that don't take enough meds, you know who you are!

Think twice about complaining about the persistent nausea! Try increasing your steroids for a day.

Don't keep wondering why your BP is so low for days on end, don't attribute it to something else, try increasing your steroids for a few days!

Hear me complaining about nausea, low bp, being tired, don't hesitate to tell me to increase my steroids.

You get the picture! If you DO increase your steroids, you can ALWAYS drop back down to normal levels immediately. If you increase your steroids and you show signs of over replacement, drop back down immediately. However, if you increase your steroids and your symptoms go away you know you've done the right thing and perhaps you're training yourself better for the future. You may be potentially avoiding a trip to the ER.

This is too long. I hope someone has read and heard and will listen.

I'm legit now

It's official, I'm off the crutches and free to walk as much as I'd like. I made Dr. Mo Brown repeat that twice and threatened to tape record him saying it because I thought my husband and friends would think I was making up that statement. I brought the crutch (that I was not using much) to my appointment and was praised for bringing my "prop" along.

It's such a relief to be off the crutches legitimately. I've been using them less and less over the last few weeks. Dr. B says I should be back to where I was running wise in 4 - 6 months. What a coincidence, the Hardrock 100 lottery is today and the race will be held in 6 months and 2 days. Perfect timing! If I don't get into Hardrock this year, I will need to do another Hardrock qualifier this year so I can try to get into the lottery next year. Today is such an exciting day because I can start planning out my race schedule when I find out if I get into Hardrock or not. Either way, I'm excited to get my ass outside and into the sunshine. I've been homebound for nearly 3 months now.

On the endocrine front, I'm starting to feel much better. I'm still tiring out easily and sleeping a lot. I'm hoping that the addition of a little extra T4 and increasing amounts of exercise will get me mentally, emotionally and physically to where I was.