Sammi, Glad you're on your way to feeling better! If you envision your diagnosis may be a barrier to you in meeting your weight loss goals, you may want to ask your doctor to be referred to a dietician or nutritionist. Keep persevering! Danielle - Bilingual Support Specialist

Sammi Jo Well, at least you know what it is and are being treated for it. Weird, yeah? You make strides in getting healthy, and then out of nowhere something else pops up. Been having some of that myself. Maybe these are all just little tests to see how serious we are about getting healthier. I am soooooooo glad you asked your doctor about the eye thing...and got the answer you did. Smoking is NOT an answer.......to anything. I'm also happy to hear you're back on the bike, have a son who will help you brave the machines, and that it is pool weather :) -aloha [B]My Milage:[/B] [B]My Quit Date: [/B]3/22/2007 [B]Smoke-Free Days:[/B] 85 [B]Cigarettes Not Smoked:[/B] 3,400 [B]Amount Saved:[/B] $578.00 [B]Life Gained:[/B] [B]Days:[/B] 11 [B]Hrs:[/B] 23 [B]Mins:[/B] 24 [B]Seconds:[/B] 25

This thread has turned into a journal of sorts for me... and it's helpful for my journey, so thanks for bearing with me if you're reading this. I finally got a definitive diagnosis. Yesterday I went to see the Endocrinologist and he said that my immune marker tested positive for Graves Disease. Graves causes the immune system to attack the thyroid, which makes it overproduce hormones. The bad news is, there's no cure for Graves. The good news is, it's treatable, and often goes into remission. So today I started a new med which will lower my thyroid's hormone production - thereby lowering my metabolism as well. I am NOT HAPPY about that. Since getting sick, I have gained back 10 of the 15 pounds I lost. That really depressed me, that even though my thyroid is going nuts I GAINED weight AND that the treatment for this disease will make it EVEN HARDER for me to lose weight. BUT -- then I thought... I can do this. I can. If I can quit smoking, I can do anything. The drug will make me feel better, stronger, able to breathe again. Once I can breathe, I can MOVE again. If I can move, then I can lose weight. I can. I'm bicycling again. Wednesday I went 5 miles, last night 4, tonight 3, but this afternoon I cleaned the pool and then did some laps (if you can call them laps in a round, above-ground pool!). I bought a family membership at the Y, which is only 5 blocks from my house. My son said he'd go with me and show me how to use the equipment. I've never done this before and I'm nervous about it because I know I'm gonna be the biggest woman there, but I don't care, nervous or not I'm gonna go. To be honest, while I was in the doctor's office yesterday, I had SERIOUS thoughts of starting smoking again. [i]I quit smoking and ALL THIS STUFF started happening! I'm supposed to feel better, not worse! If the smoking was masking the condition, then maybe I should start back up again... [/i] A few minutes later, I asked the doctor a question: "I know that Graves Disease can cause the eyeballs to protrude - is that going to happen to me??!?" (For some reason I am SO grossed out by this possibility, LOL! I used to have an aunt that had protruding eyeballs and whenever I'd see her I'd check my own eyes, so scared that her condition was genetic and any minute it'd happen to me!) Anyway, the doctor's answer was: "You don't smoke, right?" "I quit five and a half months ago." "That was long enough ago," he said, "you would be at much greater risk to have ophthalmopathy if you smoked now." THERE'S A REASON FOR EVERYTHING! I'm SO glad that I asked that question, because OMG you can be certain that I will NOT be smoking, UH HUH NO WAY!!! Anyway, thanks for reading this far.... and special thanks to Alohakeia and Danielle, for sticking with me here. And Aloha, I did see your post to me but it wasn't until a couple days later and I didn't wanna hijack someone else's thread. Thanks for caring, and I'm doing good. Finally broke in that pool. :p [B]My Milage:[/B] [B]My Quit Date: [/B]1/1/2007 [B]Smoke-Free Days:[/B] 165 [B]Cigarettes Not Smoked:[/B] 4,950 [B]Amount Saved:[/B] $495.00 [B]Life Gained:[/B] [B]Days:[/B] 17 [B]Hrs:[/B] 1 [B]Mins:[/B] 39 [B]Seconds:[/B] 49

Sammi, Hypothyroidism can generally be treated with medication. Most respond well to treatment once the correct dosing for that individual has been established. Danielle ____________________ The SSC Support Team

Great news, sammi jo!!!! I know very little about hypothyroidism...but good news on the metabolism!...lol Maybe the fires are still affecting your lungs? Horizontal? leg lifts?...hehehe keep your spirits up..and look at that quit meter!!!!!! woo hooo!!!! -aloha [B]My Milage:[/B] [B]My Quit Date: [/B]3/22/2007 [B]Smoke-Free Days:[/B] 57 [B]Cigarettes Not Smoked:[/B] 2,280 [B]Amount Saved:[/B] $387.60 [B]Life Gained:[/B] [B]Days:[/B] 8 [B]Hrs:[/B] 1 [B]Mins:[/B] 45 [B]Seconds:[/B] 38

Danielle & Aloha, Thank you so much for caring. I was so scared! All my tests came back normal except for two blood tests. 1.) Yes, I'm menopausal, but that's not what is causing my major symptoms. 2.) My thyroid is underproducing (hypothyroidism). I did some research online and I'm a little confused by this since my symptoms are way more like hyperthyrodism, but the blood test apparently showed "not enough" instead of "too much." I have an appointment with a specialist next Thursday. Hypo is better, since it's easier to treat. The good news is that the treatment for Hypo will speed up my metabolism! Wooohooo! The REALLY good news is that my chest x-ray was FINE. I'm still short of breath but it is NOT because of anything wrong with my lungs. WHEW. Because of the fatigue and shortness of breath, I am spending more time laying down than I am upright. I sure hope the specialist can give me some kind of quick relief! Any input about hypothyroidism would be welcome and appreciated! [B]My Milage:[/B] [B]My Quit Date: [/B]1/1/2007 [B]Smoke-Free Days:[/B] 137 [B]Cigarettes Not Smoked:[/B] 4,110 [B]Amount Saved:[/B] $411.00 [B]Life Gained:[/B] [B]Days:[/B] 14 [B]Hrs:[/B] 3 [B]Mins:[/B] 48 [B]Seconds:[/B] 10

SammiJo Great to hear from you and to hear about your continued progress with exercising and weight loss. Sorry to hear about the health problems tho. If you feel comfortable doing so, please share what the tests showed. Hopefully it was mainly due to the smoke in the air. I care. -aloha [B]My Milage:[/B] [B]My Quit Date: [/B]3/22/2007 [B]Smoke-Free Days:[/B] 56 [B]Cigarettes Not Smoked:[/B] 2,240 [B]Amount Saved:[/B] $380.80 [B]Life Gained:[/B] [B]Days:[/B] 7 [B]Hrs:[/B] 21 [B]Mins:[/B] 55 [B]Seconds:[/B] 52

Sammi, Lots of amazing advice and support here! Take what you need and keep it close :) We are always here so don't hesitate to post, there will be many members that know what you are going through :) Josie _____________________ The SSC Support Team.

To all the new quitters out there, if you're quitting smoking, you belong here, we're here to help each other through this! [B]My Milage:[/B] [B]My Quit Date: [/B] 3/5/2007 [B]Smoke-Free Days:[/B] 23 [B]Cigarettes Not Smoked:[/B] 586 [B]Amount Saved:[/B] $242.65 [B]Life Gained:[/B] [B]Days:[/B] 2 [B]Hrs:[/B] 20 [B]Mins:[/B] 1 [B]Seconds:[/B] 37

Sammi, from what I see you fit in everywhere in this site, Yup you're pretty normal to me! We are all going through the same thing, keeping the nicodemon away and trying to beat off the fat man that keeps climbing on our backs. Somedays I think that "Murphy's Law" guy actually follows me around.... Keep it up! I am also trying to get that fat man off my back, have about 40 to lose and I am shorter than most so I look like a walking beach ball...buy hey, thats what makes me, me! This site, is where all the world gathers its best quitters, to help one another thru this, and IT WORKS! So stay close, were herer to help! :p [B]My Milage:[/B] [B]My Quit Date: [/B] 3/5/2007 [B]Smoke-Free Days:[/B] 23 [B]Cigarettes Not Smoked:[/B] 585 [B]Amount Saved:[/B] $242.65 [B]Life Gained:[/B] [B]Days:[/B] 2 [B]Hrs:[/B] 19 [B]Mins:[/B] 58 [B]Seconds:[/B] 13