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Coffee Talk #OldSchoolBlogging Vol. 9

I’ve probably done enough old school blogging for the week, what with my over-analyzing my purpose with ye olde blawg and all my detox recaps. But I also realize that many of you couldn’t give a fig about the detox, and I saw a new doctor this week that I’m all excited to tell you about.

Because we have no idea how I got this stress fracture or why, my orthopedist recommended I get a bone workup with another doc in the practice. Is this a new thing? Within this orthopedic practice, there seem to be sub-specialties. Like, he sent me to another guy in the practice for that nerve study. And now yet another for this bone workup.

So whatever, I’m not complaining because I LOVE HIM.

He is a runner, he has plantar fasciitis, and he is all about using nutrition to heal me. I feel like I found my people. 

The first thing he did was ask about a family history of osteoporosis (yes.) Then he wanted to know if I drink milk (I don’t) and if I have any digestive issues or thyroid issues that might prevent me from absorbing calcium (yes to both.)

So he was very interested in all that. I explained my eating habits, and he ordered blood work to see where my Vitamin D and calcium levels are. He also wants to get the results from my recent thyroid bloodwork and take a look at that.

I’m currently not on thyroid meds, and I don’t want to be. When I was on synthroid is when I lost so much hair, and I have no idea if it was to blame or if it was a coincidence, but I do not want to find out and I told him so. He didn’t lecture me or really even raise an eyebrow so that earned him another point in my scorebook. Of course, we will see what he says after he sees my bloodwork.

My primary care doctor says I’m borderline and don’t have to be on the synthroid if I don’t want to, although she wants to watch my levels closely. My levels never change, though. They have been the same since I was diagnosed 8 years ago so I’m skeptical about the whole thing. Anyway, I digress.

After we talked for a while, he recommended that I work with a nutritionist. Which sort of makes me laugh, but okay. I am happy to do that as long as it is someone who isn’t going to tell me I need to eat according to the stupid USDA food pyramid. I am actually curious to have someone look at my specific diet and bloodwork and tell me if there are any major holes or areas where I’m deficient in certain nutrients. I’m sure there are because I can’t drink milk or eat nuts, seeds, avocados — all nutrient-rich foods that help round out a paleo diet.

He has a nutritionist he recommends, and I can meet with her online, which is a total plus. I have no time to waste driving to appointments. So I will try that.

He also wants me to get a gait analysis when the boot is off, which might shed some light on the plantar fasciitis issue. I’ve been wanting to do something like that but never knew where to go.

Of course, the first order of business is to figure out why I got a stress fracture doing pretty much nothing. I go back in 2 weeks to hear what he finds out from my bloodwork results and how we should proceed.

I’m so relieved to finally be working with someone who gets me and has a game plan.

In other news, the first week of school went swimmingly. It’s always a bit of an adjustment getting into a new school routine, but all of my kids are happy with their teachers and seem to be getting on well with them.

As for me, having the house to myself all day long every day is pure bliss. As unbelievable as it may seem, I’m a bit of a recluse and perfectly happy to be by myself for long periods of time.

I’m starting to count down the days until the travel season starts up. I have three major trips coming up. YES, THREE! And it’s my “busy season.” Fall is always nuts because in addition to the back-to-school craziness and all the usual holidays, all three of my kids have their birthdays. AND blogging explodes during this time of year, with brands pitching products for gift guides and wanting sponsored content for the holidays. But there wasn’t one of these trips I could bear to turn down. I actually did turn down two others I really wanted to do because I’d like to stay happily married. Priorities, you know.

First, I’m going to the International Food Bloggers Conference in Seattle with Krusteaz. I cannot wait to meet the other #bakers13 (Krusteaz ambassadors), and I hear the food and wine at the conference is phenomenal.

Then I’ll be home for a mere TWO DAYS before I leave for Costa Rica for the ROAR Retreat. Yes, it’s a tight turnaround, but Paul and I talked it over and decided we can manage. It is a lot on him and I’m so thankful he is willing to support me. It helps that our kids are in school all day; I’m just praying no one gets sick so he can work.

Finally, next month Paul and I are BOTH going to Turks & Caicos for Social Media On The Sand. We debated this trip up and down and back and forth, thinking it was too much on top of Costa Rica (little did I know the Seattle trip was going to pop up too!!!!) But we have never been anywhere tropical together and I’m speaking! (Scroll alllllllll the way down to find me.)

So yeah, our fall is a little busy. There’s that busy word again. But sometimes you have to call a spade a spade.

It will be tough juggling all the travel with my blogging commitments and parenting responsibilities, but I always enjoy conferences and press trips and they are almost always worth the extra stress. I just hope my kids still recognize me come November! Ha.

The good news is, we aren’t traveling as a family until Christmastime, and even then we will be here for Christmas Day and will travel to Virginia afterwards. Traveling for Christmas Day and lugging all the presents is waaaaay too stressful and I swore the last time I did it that I’d never do it again — not until my kids are older, anyway. So once I’m home from Turks & Caicos, I’m home for a while. I’m really glad that trip is last because it’s the one that I get to share with my husband, and by then we will need some time to reconnect, I’m sure!

So what are y’all up to this weekend? Mine is quiet. No commitments other than hopefully planting some mums out front. We had our sidewalk dug up and pavers installed this week, which left my garden in upheaval. It’s time to yank out the summer annuals anyway, so that gives us a Saturday project to work on as long as the rain holds off.

Happy Weekend!

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20 Responses

  1. I am having a similar thyroid issue. Boderline numbers. On synthroid and loosing hair so badly my hairdresser commented. I see the endo this week. My levels actually got worse on synthroid. Just not sure what to do and am curious to hear your thyroid story.

    1. My story isn’t much of one. I was diagnosed “accidentally” when they were doing other bloodwork b/c I had a weird vasovagal fainting spell. I was slightly hypothyroid (my number was like 7??) So they started me on meds. It was also when my 3rd child was only a few months old. So at first I thought the hairloss was due to being post-pregnancy. But over the next few years, it got worse and worse. It wasn’t bald spots. It was like it just wouldn’t grow in. It got so thin and wispy on the ends I had to cut it short. I wrote about it at the time. It was awful. I wondered about the synthroid, and I tried going on and off it but hair takes SO long to grow back in, I couldn’t tell if I was better off on it or off it. Finally I was put on armor thyroid by my new doc (the one I see now) and I took it for a while and then I ran out and never refilled it, LOL. I’m a major procrastinator. I never felt a difference in my energy levels when I was on the meds as opposed to when I was off. My numbers never really fluctuated. And no one knew why I had a hypo-thyroid. As usual. No one ever knows what’s wrong with me or why I have the issues I do. So anyway, after being off it for a while, my hair started to thicken up. And finally it is back to normal. And I am not touching thyroid meds with a 10-foot pole. ALSO, I believe synthroid prevents calcium absorption. My mom was on it for years and she has osteopenia, and she is very healthy and she’s convinced that is why. So all that to say, I hate medicine and I’m not touching it. The end. 🙂

  2. You need to check your adrenals. This is usually the foundation that affects all else – thyroid, hypothalamus etc. Interestingly, adrenal fatigue also affects digestion, hips, knees, ankles and feet. Make sure in your tests you get a 24 hr saliva cortisol test. I think this will shed some light on things

      1. I had to jump in on this convo regarding Adrenals, Thyroid and hair loss. It’s all something I’ve been battling for 5 years since my last child was born. One thing that is working for me in terms of hair is taking high levels of Biotin (Biotin -8 by Thorne). My Dr just prescribed in June and new hair is sprouting all over the place! I can’t see the light reflecting off my scalp in the mirror any longer which was seriously depressing me.

        I also take thyroid meds but will only touch bio compound or something like Armour. Synthroid only addresses T3 and doesn’t work for everyone. Taking sent into menopause like symptoms. When treating thyroid the best route to go is through a integrative medical doctor or naturopathic dr. Endos only want to push pharmaceuticals which usually equates to Synthroid.

        Every doctor I’ve seen (there have been too many to count) have all determined that my adrenals are the issue for my inability to lose weight. I’ve had countless tests and they all come back to adrenals. This is probably the most difficult to recover from once off track. As of this month I’m taking AdreCor from NeuroScience so hopefully something will change. I should write a post on all the supplements I’m taking – it’s crazy.

        JoLynne – definitely ask your Dr about the saliva test. If he tells you blood work will be the same it’s not the case. You have to test adrenal function throughout the morning to see when you spike. For example my adrenals spike in the morning when they should be low because I’ve been asleep. Blood work will not show you this.

        1. Very interesting. I’ve heard about this, but I haven’t been miserable enough to pursue it, lol. I did get the saliva test yeeeears ago – I went to see this naturopath type. The whole thing was odd, and she gave me about 10 supplements to take, which made me thoroughly sick so I just ditched the whole mess.

  3. Hey, you’ll be in my hometown, Seattle! I would love to attend a blogging conference, but since I’m not a food blogger, that’s probably not the best one for me. Have fun on all your trips! Glad you’ve found a doctor to help get to the bottom of your foot problems. Have a great weekend!

    1. Oh fun!! I love Seattle. I went once with my husband. He was on a biz trip so I explored the city by myself and worked in coffee shops all day. It was a blast (See the part about me being a hermit and enjoying being by myself, haha!) I can’t wait to go back.

  4. Another GREAT POST!
    Want to know something? Dark chocolate makes my hair fall out. Seriously. Total food allergy/gut issue. I thought it was tied to thyroid but it keeps coming back ‘normal’. I too found myself nutrient deficient after about 8 months – then worked with naturopath to get things in order. Since I started with Vit D my back (sciatica) and plantar issues resolved. Unfortunately not the bone spur that I earned through the process. You wil get all the pieces into place.
    Now if I could only get my reg. dr. to stop recommending that stupid USDA food pyramid… thats another battle.

    1. They all bother my stomach. Milk is the worst culprit. I will be ill immediately and for hours. It’s horrible. I can have heavy cream, ice cream and cheese with no issues, though. But drink a glass of milk? Oh boy . . . (a Lactaid tablet will make it okay tho.) Avocado affects my stomach much the way milk does, not as severe, but the same sensation. Nuts are dicey. Sometimes I can eat something with nuts and be perfectly fine (this goes for peanuts or nuts – although peanut butter is fine). Other times I can’t. And my son has a severe tree nut allergy, so I try to keep them out of the house anyway. Which SUCKS b/c 90% of all Gluten-Free/Paleo baking uses almond flour.

  5. Sounds like you found a Dr. who listened to you and wants to take a whole person approach and not just treat the problem in front of you…awesome ! I would bet my next paycheck you got the stress fracture from compensating somehow with your other leg / foot while you were struggling so much with the plantar fascitis.

    Thyroid stuff is tricky. Most of the time we don’t have a rational explanation for someone as to why their thyroid isn’t working well. I am hypothyroid. I don’t notice a huge difference in energy necessarily when I am on my meds, but wow…when my TSH goes towards 7 I really can’t think as quickly and succinctly as I need to in my profession. Even my daughter can recognize it! Thyroid meds have such a long half life and take SO long to be absorbed too, so the differences are very subtle. It’s weird your hair thinned out…I don’t have a good explanation there ! I’ve been a provider long enough to not be cocky and think we know it all, it’s not a one size fits all solution.

    I hope you and your Dr. can slowly start working together towards some answers !

    1. Yes, a lot of people have mentioned that theory for the stress fracture. Makes sense b/c I wasn’t even exercising. And now, that I have been doing NO RUNNING at all or anything, my PF is kinda bugging me – not the spot in the heel, but in the arch where that cortisone shot went in (he did not get the right spot) – I think b/c NOW I’m doing the OPPOSITE and standing more on my PF foot b/c the other foot is in a boot. I feel like its a vicious cycle. I try not to do much standing at all.

    2. And yes… the thyroid. I really have no clue if that is what affected my hair or not. But it was so horrid – they will have to do a really good convincing job to get me to try it again.

  6. As a Dietitian and reader of your blog for awhile now I’d suggest you look into food intolerance testing. Check out http://www.alcat.com. Ask your doctor about it and feel free to email me with questions. Curious to hear how your online Dietitian consult goes. 🙂

  7. I’m glad you found this new doctor. Sounds like he’s willing to think beyond the box, and wants to leave no stone unturned. Plus, his questions seem logical to me. Yay! May good things result!

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