It is now about just about a month since I attended a workshop at the wonderful Ayurveda Yoga centre in nearby Daegu. It coincided with the Thyroid Summit, a huge, 7-day free online seminar featuring a collection of some very dedicated, passionate nutritionists, naturopaths, medical scientists and ex-GP's who spoke about various aspects of thyroid health and related issues.
Even though I had been trying to alter my diet for what seems like ages before that, the info I got during those two events helped to guide me in the direction of the journey I am on right now. My boyfriend of 1 year and 11 days broke up with me 2 weeks before the yoga centre workshop started. For a few days I didn't eat or sleep very well, but coming out of that I forced myself to buy a few basic supplements and try to take better care of myself. The break-up was just the final straw and a kind of catalyst at the end of a cycle of events that left me feeling quite broken. I had to take charge, I had to feel better. At that point all I wanted to do was sleep. I would nap after school and then be unable to sleep at night. I was extremely tired ALL the time. I discovered that I was more irritable and snappy than I remember being before. This is not normal! Nothing interested me, I wasn't motivated to do anything, I didn't see anyone (part of the problem was that all my friends had left Korea, so I was feeling quite alone and miserable). This might just sound like depression, but I knew I wasn't depressed, this was something else.
So the journey back started that day in the supermarket, reluctantly buying groceries and stopping at the supplements shelf. Next came the workshop and the seminar, where I gained more knowledge and insight into thyroid functioning and disorders than, sadly, GP's get in their entire medical training. I realised that cutting out wheat, dairy and sugar from my diet would probably solve a lot of problems. I had already tried to cut these down, but I wasn't doing so well on the wheat and I bloody love cheese - even though here in Korea it is scarce and expensive, which means I eat a lot less of it than I used to. It's a constant process of elimination, and it's been tough, because eating out and even eating lunch at my school suddenly got a hell of a lot more complicated. Some days I'd look at the food in the school cafeteria and just laugh and walk out. It was a joke amongst my friends, "What do you eat, woman?"
I stuck it out, made the small changes I needed, like not buying soya milk, no wheat at all (except the crumbs on the occasional indulgence of fried chicken - Korea is SO good at that!), no added refined sugar. This is especially tricky in Korea, as they LOVE adding sugar and corn syrup to everything. Potatoes, sauce on fish (!), inside some of my favourite dishes - it's everywhere. Even the potato chips here are sweet - it's quite bizarre. So I've take to cooking at home even more than before. Some recipes do need the added sweetness, so I compromise and use honey or maple syrup. I am also not in a position to throw out the things I have at home and just buying new EVERYTHING. Besides, a little fruit sugar now and then and some honey is not the main cause of my problems.
I think I'm getting the hang of it. After a consultation with my yoga teacher last week, I am now once again pretty much avoiding white rice. I had temporarily gone back to eating it in moderate amounts when I first cut out wheat as it's mostly a choice of rice or noodles everywhere you go.
Anyway, not wanting to make this post too long - after just 3 weeks I was starting to feel better. The extreme, inexplicable fatigue is gone. The weird muscle and joint pains and inflammation that lasts for months is pretty much completely gone. The psoriasis/dry scalp is about 99% gone. I got up, started cleaning my house again and the effort as well as the self-love, the care of my space, the shift in energy, has made me feel better. I ordered a thyroid supplement(Thyroid Energy) and Omega oils from iHerb and have been taking that for just over a week - it's an enormous help, my energy levels are better and I feel healthier. I think I may be smaller - but that always takes a long time for me to notice, so not too sure yet. But usually when I start to notice, other people have been commenting on it - I haven't seen any of my 'old' friends in a while, so I don't know.
Overall, what I feel is important to say at this point is that this process for me is as holistic as it comes. This is not just a thyroid issue. This is my entire life coming to a point where it felt like it stopped, and then started to move in a new direction. I am being moved to heal decades-old issues. I am being tested and proven in a whole lot of different fires. The energy shift is intense, and requires a lot of self-love and dedication. I fuck up sometimes, and that's OK too. I am trying to control my potty-mouth, as this is yet another way that things are manifesting or being expressed, and it becomes a habit that determines how we think and relate to the world, and it changes the energy. I see this in the way my animals react when I start with the strings of expletives that would make Debra Morgan proud. So that's an ongoing battle.
Little by little. Getting there. :)
Tuesday, July 8, 2014
Getting Tested
My yoga teacher asked me to get medical tests before he could start with any therapies or treatments. I was skeptical, because I don't like doctors as a general rule, seeing as they are not really so much in the business of healing one as making you well enough for a little while so you'll quit complaining but still believe they helped - which means you'll go back to them next time and voila - congratulations on being a medical cash cow!
Anyway, I have a lot of faith in my wonjangnim, as I've experienced his amazing healing energy and attended two of his multi-day workshops, so I made an appointment at the hospital in Daegu where I needed to be tested. This meant sleeping over at a friend's house, missing half a day of school and traveling for 2 1/2 hours to get back home. It was stupidly expensive, but the doctor was very friendly and listened as I explained my symptoms and why I thought I might have a thyroid problem. He said that he would do several different tests, including blood sugar, cholesterol and lipids, as well as TSH, TPO, T4 and T3 thyroid tests. My blood was drawn without too much hassle and nary a tear on my part and I made my way back to my town. I was scheduled to go back a week later for the results, so I took another half day off from school and made the 2 1/2 hour journey to the hospital. Got there, thank goodness didn't have to pay anymore bloodtestmoney and went to see the doctor. "Everything is normal", he said. Why he couldn't have told me that in a simple phone call blows my mind. I asked him why he thought I had all these thyroid symptoms then, if my thyroid tests are normal. He shrugged. In his opinion, because I didn't have three of the common thyroid symptoms (being cold all the time, being constipated and having dry skin), I clearly didn't have thyroid issues. The fatigue, the hair loss, the dry scalp, the muscle pains, inflammation that has no apparent cause and lasts for 6 months sometimes? Nope, no idea. His advice was that I should exercise every day. Gee, thanks for that enlightening bit of info, doc. I then asked him what he thought the link was between nutrition and thyroid disorders. He got very flustered and initially said there is no link, then started, very unsure of himself, to blab on about how in countries who eat a lot of seaweed and seafood, people have thyroid problems. Really? Wow. Anyway, he as a nice man, so I thanked him, got a print-out of my tests and went on my way.
This didn't change anything for me. I know what I know, and I am experiencing the change I feel on a daily basis, only due to changing my diet and taking a few supplements. The exercise bit I haven't quite gotten to yet - it's the next step. :)
Anyway, I have a lot of faith in my wonjangnim, as I've experienced his amazing healing energy and attended two of his multi-day workshops, so I made an appointment at the hospital in Daegu where I needed to be tested. This meant sleeping over at a friend's house, missing half a day of school and traveling for 2 1/2 hours to get back home. It was stupidly expensive, but the doctor was very friendly and listened as I explained my symptoms and why I thought I might have a thyroid problem. He said that he would do several different tests, including blood sugar, cholesterol and lipids, as well as TSH, TPO, T4 and T3 thyroid tests. My blood was drawn without too much hassle and nary a tear on my part and I made my way back to my town. I was scheduled to go back a week later for the results, so I took another half day off from school and made the 2 1/2 hour journey to the hospital. Got there, thank goodness didn't have to pay anymore bloodtestmoney and went to see the doctor. "Everything is normal", he said. Why he couldn't have told me that in a simple phone call blows my mind. I asked him why he thought I had all these thyroid symptoms then, if my thyroid tests are normal. He shrugged. In his opinion, because I didn't have three of the common thyroid symptoms (being cold all the time, being constipated and having dry skin), I clearly didn't have thyroid issues. The fatigue, the hair loss, the dry scalp, the muscle pains, inflammation that has no apparent cause and lasts for 6 months sometimes? Nope, no idea. His advice was that I should exercise every day. Gee, thanks for that enlightening bit of info, doc. I then asked him what he thought the link was between nutrition and thyroid disorders. He got very flustered and initially said there is no link, then started, very unsure of himself, to blab on about how in countries who eat a lot of seaweed and seafood, people have thyroid problems. Really? Wow. Anyway, he as a nice man, so I thanked him, got a print-out of my tests and went on my way.
This didn't change anything for me. I know what I know, and I am experiencing the change I feel on a daily basis, only due to changing my diet and taking a few supplements. The exercise bit I haven't quite gotten to yet - it's the next step. :)
Wednesday, July 2, 2014
Where this story begins (part 1)
I'm already a little fuzzy on the exact time-frame, which is why I am starting this now, before I totally lose track. About 4 weeks ago a friend of mine posted a link to a thyroid summit happening online. It was a 7-day event, with a bunch of different speakers. This started me on a research journey into the effects of thyroid disease on the body, and the different symptoms that could indicate problems with thyroid health.
For quite a while before that, I had increasingly felt less and less OK. For years I had been adapting my diet in order to seek relief to a seemingly random array of symptoms, dry scalp, shooting pains in my left arm and in my hands & one or two fingers, waking up with severe pins & needles in my hands. I am also now much heavier than I was 15 years ago, despite having made continual efforts for the last 10 years or so to be healthier, more active, to drink less and generally take better care of myself. I eventually completely stopped eating red meat about 2 years ago, when I realised that the shooting pains and numbness in my hands and arms happened when I ate meat. However, I felt OK after eating pork, chicken and fish, etc, so I continued with those. I stopped drinking milk a good number of years ago, opting instead for rice milk (when I was in South Africa) and soya milk when I moved to Korea. I stopped eating yoghurt almost completely, and figured if I cut out most other dairy products, I can still enjoy cheese. That worked, to a certain degree. I used to eat a LOT of dairy, especially as a kid, and would have sinus problems afterwards. It wasn't severe enough for me to give it up totally, so I cut down a bit. Sometimes. But seriously, I freaking LOVE cheese. I have never been too big on sodas, and I stopped drinking Coke altogether many years ago (guys, this stuff is poison, please don't touch it). I like juice, but had been diluting it by about half for many years, finding that it's just way too sweet. I also only buy 100% juice, unsweetened - except that in Korea it's really hard to find, and they seem to have a serious sugar addiction going on. Also, my very limited Korean skills meant that I never really knew what was in any products that I bought. More about this later. I LOVE pasta, and used to eat a lot of it - often, and in HUGE portions. Usually topped with a mountain of cheese. I also like bread, but I prefer rye, seed loaf, etc to the fluffy, nutritionally impoverished white breads. In short, like most other Westerners, I consumed a shit-ton of wheat in all of it's many forms. I heard an estimate that about 60% - 80% of our diets are made up of wheat, which I think is scarily accurate. OK, that's enough back story.
Before I moved to Korea, everyone told me how I would lose SO much weight here, how everyone just shed pounds effortlessly due to the Korean diet, and that we walk here more than at home. Generally speaking. Well, guess what - I didn't lose a thing. The traditional Korean diet is healthy, sure - lots of vegetables, kimchi, which contains probiotics and reportedly has anti-carcinogenic properties, lots of seafood & seaweed - but it also contains mountains of white rice, as well as noodles, which are often consumed in one meal. I would choose one or the other - either rice, or noodles, but never the two together. Then, for quite a while, I stopped with the rice, pretty much completely. Two of my favourite dishes, kimbap (seaweed rolls with vegetables ans sometimes some form of meat -they are pretty much like sushi rolls) and bibimbap (rice topped with fresh & lightly cooked vegetables, combined with spicy gochujang chilli
paste) are based around rice, so obviously when having those I would eat it, but generally I caused a minor commotion around the lunch table at my school because of not eating rice and meat. This also meant that I often was left with not too many choices. In Korea, at least in the Korea I inhabit (in the country, IOW not Seoul), people don't understand vegetarianism. I have seen Korean friends of mine sneer and scoff when they hear that someone doesn't eat meat. Also, announcing that you don't eat meat is usually met with, "Oh, but this is pork, not meat." or "But chicken is OK, right?". You see, 'meat' means beef, to most Koreans. However, by far my favourite response is, and this is delivered with eyes squinted down and by indicating the very tip of a finger, "Oh, there's only a liitttllee meat in there." The concept of not eating meat because you don't want to eat animals is not even a consideration! Aahh, Korea. How I love thee.
OK, this post is getting way too long. Part 2 to follow.
For quite a while before that, I had increasingly felt less and less OK. For years I had been adapting my diet in order to seek relief to a seemingly random array of symptoms, dry scalp, shooting pains in my left arm and in my hands & one or two fingers, waking up with severe pins & needles in my hands. I am also now much heavier than I was 15 years ago, despite having made continual efforts for the last 10 years or so to be healthier, more active, to drink less and generally take better care of myself. I eventually completely stopped eating red meat about 2 years ago, when I realised that the shooting pains and numbness in my hands and arms happened when I ate meat. However, I felt OK after eating pork, chicken and fish, etc, so I continued with those. I stopped drinking milk a good number of years ago, opting instead for rice milk (when I was in South Africa) and soya milk when I moved to Korea. I stopped eating yoghurt almost completely, and figured if I cut out most other dairy products, I can still enjoy cheese. That worked, to a certain degree. I used to eat a LOT of dairy, especially as a kid, and would have sinus problems afterwards. It wasn't severe enough for me to give it up totally, so I cut down a bit. Sometimes. But seriously, I freaking LOVE cheese. I have never been too big on sodas, and I stopped drinking Coke altogether many years ago (guys, this stuff is poison, please don't touch it). I like juice, but had been diluting it by about half for many years, finding that it's just way too sweet. I also only buy 100% juice, unsweetened - except that in Korea it's really hard to find, and they seem to have a serious sugar addiction going on. Also, my very limited Korean skills meant that I never really knew what was in any products that I bought. More about this later. I LOVE pasta, and used to eat a lot of it - often, and in HUGE portions. Usually topped with a mountain of cheese. I also like bread, but I prefer rye, seed loaf, etc to the fluffy, nutritionally impoverished white breads. In short, like most other Westerners, I consumed a shit-ton of wheat in all of it's many forms. I heard an estimate that about 60% - 80% of our diets are made up of wheat, which I think is scarily accurate. OK, that's enough back story.
Before I moved to Korea, everyone told me how I would lose SO much weight here, how everyone just shed pounds effortlessly due to the Korean diet, and that we walk here more than at home. Generally speaking. Well, guess what - I didn't lose a thing. The traditional Korean diet is healthy, sure - lots of vegetables, kimchi, which contains probiotics and reportedly has anti-carcinogenic properties, lots of seafood & seaweed - but it also contains mountains of white rice, as well as noodles, which are often consumed in one meal. I would choose one or the other - either rice, or noodles, but never the two together. Then, for quite a while, I stopped with the rice, pretty much completely. Two of my favourite dishes, kimbap (seaweed rolls with vegetables ans sometimes some form of meat -they are pretty much like sushi rolls) and bibimbap (rice topped with fresh & lightly cooked vegetables, combined with spicy gochujang chilli
paste) are based around rice, so obviously when having those I would eat it, but generally I caused a minor commotion around the lunch table at my school because of not eating rice and meat. This also meant that I often was left with not too many choices. In Korea, at least in the Korea I inhabit (in the country, IOW not Seoul), people don't understand vegetarianism. I have seen Korean friends of mine sneer and scoff when they hear that someone doesn't eat meat. Also, announcing that you don't eat meat is usually met with, "Oh, but this is pork, not meat." or "But chicken is OK, right?". You see, 'meat' means beef, to most Koreans. However, by far my favourite response is, and this is delivered with eyes squinted down and by indicating the very tip of a finger, "Oh, there's only a liitttllee meat in there." The concept of not eating meat because you don't want to eat animals is not even a consideration! Aahh, Korea. How I love thee.
OK, this post is getting way too long. Part 2 to follow.
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