Hey all,
Ron and I are finally moved in, and I wanted to show off some of our shabby chic decor! Before we moved in, we began collecting cheap home items at TJ Maxx and Homegoods. Looks like it paid off because here are a few pics of our fabulous place! (Sorry, the pictures are a little dim– it’s an overcast day here in New England!)
Pretty, right? I really like how we have a mix of modern decor and pop art. I also like how the bright colors off-set the dark browns and blacks. Sophisticated but fun!
Okay, and now for the bad, but paradoxically good health news: Remember how I’ve had chronic hives all summer long? And my weight loss had been slow-going? And I sometimes felt fatigued? At first I thought my hives were an allergic reaction to something, and that my random bouts of fatigue/anxiety were normal for grad student life. But the longer I had hives and felt cruddy, the more I knew something was wrong.
Well, so did my doctor, and after a few months he ordered me to have extensive blood work done. Everything looked normal on my blood tests, except one thing: my thyroid. I have elevated levels of anti-thyroid peroxidase antibodies, which means my body is attacking my thyroid–in other words, my body is attacking itself, despite my thyroid being perfectly fine. I most likely have an autoimmune disorder associated with the thyroid, and this is causing the condition of hypothyroidism. Symptoms of hypothyroidism? Weight gain, fatigue, problems concentrating, sleeplessness, round face, anxiety, depression, etc. The thyroid monitors all the processes in your body–from metabolism to mood–which means my body has just been out of whack. Hilariously enough, these symptoms are very typical of grad student life and were hard to detect. I mean, what grad student isn’t stressed out, gaining a little weight, and feeling anxious?!
But honestly, I’m kind of relieved to hear of all of this from the doctor. Things could be worse, and I am just grateful hypothyroidism is very treatable. I’m also happy to hear that the things I’ve noticed about myself–problems remembering things, anxiety, having a hard time losing weight, problems sleeping–can be improved. I sort of assumed all these issues I had were normal! How else would I have known?!
After my doctor called, I decided to try and take care of myself with both medicine and homeopathic remedies. This means taking supplements that help the function of my thyroid (selenium and vitamin E) and possibly lowering my gluten intake. Many people, including myself, can tolerate gluten, but the thyroid has to work harder to metabolize it. I am going to try and stick to a low carb, low gluten diet and see if that helps. I guess this means more almond flour recipes, right? Yum! I will let you know how this all goes! Cheers!
Take care.
Thanks, Mouse!
Take care my friend, I am glad your medical issue is treatable
And absolutely loving the apartment decor!
Cheers
Choc Chip Uru
Hurray new apartment! We actually started shopping for everything MONTHS in advance. We cruised our local discount home goods store every weekend!
Oh dear! Take good care of yourself- one of my best friends had the same condition and is now healthy, happy and glowing. But it can be very taxing on the body while it persists- I saw how tired she used to get. On the other hand- your home is adorable! Love that big beautiful window and the woodsy cabinets.
Thanks for the support!! Yes, I am actually kind of excited to change my diet and have a better quality of life! And I love our place, too! It’s farther away from the university we work at, but it’s much nicer than any of the apartments around school!
your new home looks gorgeous, very sophisticated!
My hub has Hypothyroidism, after years on Thyroxine he has finally got his vitality back after changing to desiccated Thyroid. The difference in him is amazing. We can’t get des’ Thyroid here in UK, he has to get it imported. But it’s worth it. xx
Thank you so much for that tip! I only read about synthetic treatments–the des. thyroid sounds promising!
The new house looks awesome! And diet has SO much to do with hypo and hyperthyroidism. Check out http://www.tustinchronicconditioncenter.com/ — this guy has literally changed people’s lives. The medicine doesn’t work, sadly, so I’m glad to hear that you are up for altering your diet. (And we can exchange gluten-free recipes!) Best of luck!
Thanks, TKS! Yes, I’ve been researching thyroidism and even people’s blogs talking about the issue, and I noticed how many people were dissatisfied with the drugs. Because people recommend different diets, I don’t know which one to follow! And I’m interested in holistic medicine, but I’m low on money as a grad student and can probably only rely on my health care plan for services (boo). But I’d LOVE to exchange recipes! I’m serious about lowering my gluten intake, if only because I don’t love hives (I get red spots on my face that I can’t cover! Annoying!) and of course I want to feel better. I also feel more fatigued than usual, and I’m putting on weight like crazy!
Btw, I just bought the cookbook Practical Paleo. I will let you know how it is if you haven’t already heard of it!
I’ll look that one up! I’m loving Well Fed, and the Paleo diet is working well for me so far. I hope you’ll be able to stay off gluten even on your budget–and it will be great to put our minds together and come up with some yummy recipes! Good luck!
(And BTW hives sound horrible–good riddance to those!)
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