Published on April 20, 2008 By Texas Wahine In Life Journals

I have never been a particularly beautiful woman.  Unfortunately, I am stuck with what genetics dealt me. 


Over the past few years, but especially most recently, I am noticing a marked decline in my aesthetics.  I am way too young for all this to be happening!

A few years ago I developed a nice double chin.  This is the most stubborn double chin in the history of mankind.  Its prominence is reduced by weight loss (and I could definitely use some of that), but it does not go away.  It just gets less noticable.  From the front, it's a double chin.  From the side, it's like a weak chin...you know how normal necks and jaws create an angle from the side?  Not mine.  It's like a sloping curve from my neck all the way to my chin.  This disturbs me greatly.

I used to have nice skin.  It has always been very, very pale (which I learned to be ok with), but it was nice and smooth and supple and mostly blemish-free.  Now I get zits.  My skin isn't radiant or smooth or lovely. 

I am seeing the beginnings of wrinkles on my forehead.  My undereyes are getting thin and saggy like an old lady's. 

My fat used to hold itself in much better.  Now it doesn't even care anymore.  It just wobbles whereever it likes.  I've even worn shapewear under sweatpants to combat this wayward fat problem.  Yes, weight loss is a good solution for this, but my body doesn't like to lose weight anymore.  Efforts that used to drop the pounds no longer have any effect. 

My average-looking belly button lost its allure after my first child.  Models have lovely vertical belly buttons.  My belly button winks.  This is also not affected by weight loss in the slightest.  My belly button has given up.

I noticed a weird feeling bump on the back of my neck near my hairline the other day.  Adrian checked it out and pronounced it some sort of medical term for a weird lump of fatty tissue that does not go away.

Just one of the myraid of body disappointments I'm having to accept.

My boobs aren't what they used to be.  Year by year they grow larger.  Disturbingly so.  I was in a D cup by late JR High.  I am now in a HH.  The fitting ladies at the store put me in a 32 band.  Now, I am not a small 32 person.  This bra is as tight as...something that is really tight.  Unfortunately, this tightness is what keeps my boobies up near my collar bones.  Otherwise, they are like curious toddlers, everywhere at once.  I can't wear many tops because either the design cuts my boobs in half or I look pornographic.  I'm not complaining about having big boobs (ok, well, HH is a little on the ridiculous side) because I do need them to balance out my equally massive hips, but I'm not sure my boobs don't end up making me look even fatter.

My most pressing concern, however, is the newest development:  gray hair.  I am 29 years old.  I only turned 29 in late January.  Every day I find new gray hairs.  No, not gray hairs.  WHITE hair.  Every time I look, I find 2 or 3 more.  Right now they're mostly underneath, but soon I will be very obviously gray.  Soon.  My paternal family go gray early.  Really early. 

Adrian says he still loves me even though I'm going gray.  My mom tells me that I can dye it (no I can't...I've developed an allergy to hair dye) and that if it's white hair, it could be really pretty.  Umm, not on a 29 year old.  Nope.  A lovely crown of solid white hair may flatter a 70 year old, but I'm much too young for that to be anything other than haggard and disturbing.

I am speeding toward old ladyhood.  I didn't have much in the looks department to begin with and now, at the age of 29, what I DID have is sagging, wrinkling, and changing colors right before my very eyes.

I wanted to be an attractive older lady.  Not going to happen.  Even with my best efforts, it's all going to be downhill from here.

I hate Cougars.  They suck.


Comments (Page 2)
3 Pages1 2 3 
on Apr 21, 2008
Tova, you don't have to give me that much info, I've had thyroid problems for the past 19 years and have been thyroid free for over 4 years (I had a lobe removed when I was 18, and the rest over 4 years ago).


Sorry Karma, I like to talk about it because I only discovered this issue about 5 years ago. I can get carried away.

but the only reason why I haven't lost weight is because I eat too much and sit on my butt too much.


Heh, yeah well that will do it too.

Armour Thyroid is still prescribed by many Endocrinologists,


The problem is the military does not consider it a replacement, at all. I fought hard to get it and they always said no (and still say no) ...the pharmacy doesn't even carry it. I won't go into the long battle but in the end, I ordered it from England myself over the counter and started taking it using 2% T3 to 98% T4..which means I take 1 grain of armour and 50mg of Synthroid at night before bed.

I read a book called "What Your Doctor May Not Tell You About Hypothyroidism"...in it Dr Ken Blanchard says women (like you who have no thyroid function and women like me who have little function) often don't do well on just armour because its 20% t3 and 80% T4...he says in his decades of experience that is too much T3...so he treats women with 2% t3 to 98% T4.

So I ordered it at $30 a bottle (!) about three months ago from England and WOW, within two weeks my brain fog was GONE...I was writing again, doing crosswords again, and my energy was rocket hot once again....so I waited for about 6 weeks to make sure it wasn't all in my head, then went back to my Military Endo who got really pissed when I told her how much better I felt....she refused to treat me and gave me a referral to a civilian off base (which is what I wanted)

He also does not typically prescribe armour...but he is from India and pretty open minded, when I told him how it was really helping me, he asked me the name of the book by Blanchard and basically told me, he wants me to feel good no matter what...he is open to what works for me, not what the numbers say. WOOT.

There I go again....but this was a huge huge battle...military Drs poo poo me and throw anti depressants at me (Which I hate with a passion) ...everytime I went to the endo I knew more than she did, because I was/am reading all the literature.

So, what caused your hypothyroid? If it had that drastic of a change, didn't they look into the root cause? Have they scanned it to see how it is functioning? Auto-immune disease and all sorts of underlying health issues can cause thyroid issues. It's as important to find out why it's not functioning correctly as it is finding out at all. A lot of times it's a symptom of something else, not the problem itself.


They say it was having my last kid. But I wonder. I'd love to have it scanned...hahaha...but every Endo I've seen says there is no reason...they do blood work (and the military only treats according to TSH). I don't have a goiter or any pain usually, though a few days off and its weird to swallow. I was tested for Hashimoto's (-sp).

The weight thing for me totally sux.

I've always been athletic, and strong. I do cardio, lift weights, and I don't usually sit still for too long....but nothing really seems to matter....I can maintain as long as I stay active and working out...the minute I stop, hello to the poundage. I was sick for about a week last month, I didn't work out because recovery time is already doubled with the thyroid issue, but when I'm sick...its really bad. In seven days I gained 4 pounds...and I wasn't really eating anything but soup, low sodium tomato soup to be exact..heh.

I will look into the water retention thing. You know I went off the pill because it was driving my blood pressure through the roof. The cholesterol thing is hereditary..I can't believe I held off as long as I have without being high. Most of the people on both sides of my family start on chol. drugs in their teens, in puberty. My twelve year old is borderline, and I think puberty may push him over....I hope not, hoping my husband's genes will help out.

I didn't know water retention and chol. are related though.

Very interesting. I am going to look into that more....

Sorry Tex for highjacking...I know thyroid talk is BORING to people who have a healthy one...

on Apr 21, 2008
lack of activity/poor eating and d) metabolism slow down with age (I read that 25 is when you start noticing it).


Tex, I don't think this is true? Maybe an old wives tale. I will be 40 in September and never gained weight because I was getting older.

My endo says you don't just gain weight because you get older...you will lose muscle mass in your 30's if you aren't doing something to prevent it...which means your metabolism slows and that can help add it on.

Have your thyroid checked and be sure to ask for your TSH number. Studies show women who are borderline often benefit tremendously from treatment.

And you said your nursing less....that's when mine showed up.  
on Apr 21, 2008
I'm sure you're right.

Heh, I know, I know, I need to get on the ball with exercise. I have great intentions and all sorts of things at my disposal to do it. I just don't. Ugh.

I will actually be seeing a civilian doctor, btw. Adrian had me and the kids get docs off post. I will definitely ask about it.
on Apr 21, 2008
I will actually be seeing a civilian doctor, btw. Adrian had me and the kids get docs off post. I will definitely ask about it.


WOO HOO...that's already a step toward wellness.  
on Apr 22, 2008

When all else fails...photoshop.

As for the off post drs vrs on post....I was hit by a sudden unexplainable gut wrenching pain yesterday at 3 pm.  I could barely breath cause it hurt so bad and it still aches even with the nice happy drugs they gave me.

The apt line told me there were no more appointements, but fortuanatly, I know my way around the system....and I got in.

I have thought about going off post but I don't know any tricks to avoid a trip to the ER if they have no apts.

on Apr 22, 2008
Tova: Ha, we'll see!

LH: Hahaha, as you well know, I am BEYOND photoshop! LOL.

Are you ok? Nothing serious?

I don't mind seeing a military doc, but apparently Adrian would rather us go off-post (he had been told that the clinics here were waaaay overcrowded and it is really difficult to get in).

My plan is just to not get sick ever.
on Apr 22, 2008
My plan is just to not get sick ever.


That's the plan I go with, and so far, it's worked. And if it hasn't, I wouldn't know because there's nobody to tell me any different!
on Apr 23, 2008

I got nothing to add except I think you're a gorgeous person, regardless of how you look.

on Apr 23, 2008
Jythier: LOL. I understand completely.

Maso: Thank you. I vacillate between thinking I am ok and loathing myself entirely. I am guessing I should strive for a happy medium, haha.
on Apr 23, 2008

I am guessing I should strive for a happy medium, haha.

Or maybe even a medium well-done...

on Apr 23, 2008

I take 1 grain of armour and 50mg of Synthroid at night before bed.

I don't mean to be an alarmist...but, are you sure that is right?  That is complete thyroid replacement, which you really don't want to do unless you have a noticeable goiter or nodules/cysts that are growing.  That is also a really high dose- as high as what I am on, and I'm overweight and have no Thyroid at all.  Too much hormone can cause serious problems including heart failure. 

TW, I'd get a thyroid test done with your yearly check-up.  Can't hurt, and it will keep you from obsessing over it.  However, if you are having cramps all the time, you may be getting ovarian cysts, which can throw your hormones off and contribute to weight gain.....The fast food probably doesn't help, either.  lol

 

on Apr 23, 2008
I don't mean to be an alarmist...but, are you sure that is right? That is complete thyroid replacement, which you really don't want to do unless you have a noticeable goiter or nodules/cysts that are growing. That is also a really high dose- as high as what I am on, and I'm overweight and have no Thyroid at all. Too much hormone can cause serious problems including heart failure.


I take 50 mg of Synthroid and 1/4 grain of Armour...my bad...for some reason in my head I always equate one pill with one grain...but its a 1/4 grain pill...so total I am getting 59 mg of T4 and 2.2 mcg of T3 daily. Not the 98%-2% solution exactly, more like 96%-4%...but I feel much much better. It keeps my TSH at right at or below 1.

Before I started armour they kept upping my Synthroid...to 100mcg and I was sick all the time.

Thanks for catching that Karma.




on Apr 26, 2008

Thanks for catching that Karma.

Glad that was a typo, lol, I was a little scared for your thyroid!

I completely agree with Armour.  I was on synthroid for years with no success.  I have a feeling that my inability to use Synthroid is the reason that my thyroid kept growing new tissue instead of shrinking like it should have on the dose I was on.  By the time I got switched over, it was too late for my thyroid.  My local pharmacy used to not stock it at all, now they have a hard time keeping it in stock due to so many people switching and seeing improvement.

I wish there was a magic pill that would make me more motivated to work out and eat less....other than speed, I mean.  lol

 

 

 

on Apr 26, 2008
other than speed, I mean. lol


LOL.

I think meth does the same thing.

Unfortunately, it gives you face worms that you have to dig out with tweezers. (Sad, and not all that funny, but I had a classmate in college who was an ex-meth addict and she had huge scars from digging "worms" out of her face. She also said she was wearing the same size clothing as her elementary-school age son when she was on meth. Eek.)

on Apr 27, 2008

Unfortunately, it gives you face worms that you have to dig out with tweezers.

Hmmm...not the solution I am looking for.  Yikes!!!!!!!!!!

3 Pages1 2 3