Journal : Daily menus,observations, changes etc

About 6 or 7 years ago I started feeling less and less useful, more and more sluggish, more Meh I don't really care, I stopped leaving the house if it could be avoided. My husband got worried took me to the doctor and I was told that I have depression. I was given some pills and that was that. That wasn't that at all, I was still waking up through the night, still feeling tired in the morning there were days I could sleep for 10-12 hours and still not be up to par. I was back in my rut, I wasn't sad all the time but I sure was listless, disenchanted, disinterested. We stopped going out to dinner, we stopped going out to our favorite Karaoke bar. I grew up singing and I loved to sing, I have a decent voice, won some contests in my time, but I just stopped singing all together. I didn't feel happy with my life, I felt lost, useless,alone, I didn't want to burden anyone with my problems cause I thought my problems were boring. Gradually it got worse, I hate the way I looked, was convinced that I was the poster child as to why Viagra was made. I would beat myself up day and night. I felt unaccomplished even though I had 3 children a great husband and a great marriage (March 20th this year will be our 20th anniversary)It got so bad that I didn't leave my bedroom let alone my house for almost a year.
So finally 2 years ago I started talking to my PCP about my Thyroid, my mother was then diagnosed with hashimotos, so I pushed for thyroid testing with my pcp even more, he insisted on only doing one test a T-3. Every six months I would ask again and again, nothing. We moved in June of 2012, I got my ducks in a row and found a new pcp but the story stayed the same more anti depressants, higher dose for sleep meds, after my third T-3 test with him and a month long calendar detailing my food intake, body expulsions, and exercises (the little I can do since a car accident in 2008 damaged my back)  He stood there and looked at me and said well the problem is you're fat and you overeat. *note for one month of tracking my daily caloric intake was between 915 and 1035*
At that point I decided I was going to find someone who was going to listen to me and treat me as I should be treated a patient needing help.
I found out about the Clinic that I'm now attending Innovative Medical Solutions, made an appointment and after a 3 day screening process I was accepted into the program(I'm not here to ring their bell, this will be the only time they are mentioned)
Once I got the news that I was in I new I wanted to share my past and my upcoming treatment plan with anyone who wants to follow this blog. It will be raw, at times non pc I'm sure, but above all else I want to share the tools I'm being given with those that may have all or just some of the symptoms related thyroid malfunctions so that you guys can use them to. I also want everyone to know we aren't freaks or weired or anything like that, but I do know how great it is when you find a place where there are other like you and you can talk to them, you can be yourself and hopefully make some friends and try some of the diet ideas or any other things I post over the course of my journey.

March 3, 2013 This coming week I take the steps to begin my journey with my new treatment plan. The goal over the next 6 months is to cleanse the body, then gradually introducing foods at intervals and watch for any reaction I may have if any. The first 21 days include blood tests, saliva and the less pleasant. As the test results come back my supplements will be adjusted or added to create a balance of all the organs and systems inside the body.
Hashimotos means that your body is producing antibodies that are then attacking your thyroid so that it doesn't work properly. Along with these ambush attacks come so many symptoms most doctors treat them as they pop up. For example Depression, anxiety, and fatigue are 3 of the most common, except these symptoms present before there is a loss of Thyroid hormone production so your lab work will be normal. Another symptom is a spike in cholesterol, so again your blood work will show nothing wrong with your thyroid but it will tell the doctor you have high cholesterol. So at the end of your visit you leave the office with an anti depressant, an anti anxiety med, a statin for cholesterol, and maybe something for sleep. None of these will treat the thyroid problem, it will continue getting worse so will your symptoms until eventually your thyroid damage finally shows up on a test and you get another pill. So now you have 7-9 pills a day that you take that are trying to maintain your symptoms at a workable level but the cause is still there. So what's the point of using a bandage when really you need stitches.
Like I said starting this week I will be leaving my test samples and talking meal plans over with my doctor as well as going over inflammatory foods, what  to look for when determining an inflammatory. As the test results come back they will show what foods I may be allergic to that I had no idea about for 38 years, or what foods are highly inflammatory, I will also have all my enzymes, hormones, etc counted where an irregularity is found my supplements will be adjusted to get them to the right level for my body.
So for 6 months we will work week to week on what's good and what isn't. During the trial and error phase my body will also go through a natural healing process particularly in the esophageal and digestive tracks, liver, kidneys and gall bladder. in essence once I know what foods cause my body to produce anti bodies I avoid those foods and if I'm not making anti bodies to attack my thyroid it too will heal. I am one of the lucky ones, My Thyroid is not so damaged at this point that I need meds, the hope is now that through this program I can learn things about my body that will help me understand how to make it work at it's best, gradually get off my antidepressants, anti anxiety pills, sleeping pills and hopefuly reduce my pain killers. I recently learned that one side effect is inflamed joints particularly in the hips, If I can eliminate hip pain and only have to deal with low back pain from the accident then I will be one very happy camper.
During this journey my wonderful family, husband of 20 years, Sons 17,13 and daughter 9,have agreed to join me through the cleansing process.