The State of Lorraine

[lunabee34]

1. Dealing with my interstitial cystitis is going okay. I did a very strict elimination diet in December that I hope to never have to do again. Between the celiac and the IC, the number of foods I was allowed to eat (that were appetizing) was vanishingly small. I think some measure of physical discomfort is worth not having to eat like that. But in the last couple weeks I have started to add foods back: onions, yogurt, apples, sour cream, chocolate. I keep adding something every few days. Yesterday I ate sour cream and chocolate (which I knew as I was doing it I should just have done one), and then I forgot to take the prelief until after I ate, so I don't know exactly what's up there. I'll probably have to take it easy for a couple days.

I have started taking aloe vera and marshmallow root, and Josh found me this stuff called Prelief that you take as you eat that neutralizes the acid in your food. I discovered that sex and the menstrual cycle can also trigger IC (which is so damn depressing), and I think I am just going to have to deal with a fairly constant low level of discomfort if I want to live any kind of a normal life. I've only been taking these things for a short time, though, so hopefully their effects will build over time.

I started taking one drug for IC and quit taking it because it made me too sleepy during the day. I declined to take the other drug they use for IC because they don't know how it works (WTF!) and it has terrible potential side effects.

2. I am continuing to lose weight. I've lost 13.5 lbs since the first of December, 46 lbs total. I started running five miles at a stretch on Dec 6, so that undoubtedly plays a huge role; I also was doing that elimination diet which may have also played a role. Part of me is a little concerned that I continue to lose weight (my default position is always that something is terribly wrong LOL) because I don't really feel like I'm doing anything at this point to keep losing weight. I'm maintaining the way I eat and I'm exercising, but I haven't upped my cardio or anything. The other part of me thinks that even though I was asymptomatic, the celiac was making me really sick in invisible ways, one of those ways being that I couldn't lose weight. Once I went gluten free and started eating thoughtfully, I started losing weight. I also think that even though I have always been physically active (I've always gone to the gym as an adult; I've spent the last eight years going to the gym on an almost daily basis without losing any weight at all), because the celiac and the IC and the Hashimoto's were doing a number on my body, I was just so tired all the time that I couldn't exercise to the level and intensity that I'm exercising now. Some people think that going gluten free also helps Hashimoto's, but these people also tend to think that going gluten free has the same magical properties as a dip in the River Styx, so IDK. I do know that as I have lost weight, the overt Hashimoto's symptoms have disappeared, leaving me to believe that my metabolism has upped considerably. I'm starting to wonder if now that my body isn't fighting itself internally quite so much, it's just much easier for the healthy things I'm doing to take effect.

On the down side, this means that clothes are a bit of a nightmare. I bought three pairs of pants at Talbots two days after Christmas. I wore one pair last week, and they were already starting to get a bit big. I'm not even taking the tags off the other two so I can return them. I bought the next smallest size of underwear and can already tell that they're not going to last long either. I think I'm not going to buy any more pants until I'm the same weight for two months in a row because constantly buying and returning things is getting tedious. Fortunately, I have a friend who has kept all her clothes from every weight, and she is now currently wearing many of the clothes I've sized out of, and every couple weeks, she pulls a new size out of her closet for me to try on. I have missed having a friend to swap clothes with. LOL

So now, I'm just wondering when this is going to level off and stabilize. I would have been satisfied if it had six pounds ago, so I don't have any particular goal any more. I weighed 145 lbs for almost ten years, all throughout my adolescence. That's what I weighed when my metabolism was at its most glorious. I wonder if I'll get that far. To cite an extremely arbitrary number, I need to weigh 154 not to be considered overweight by the BMI chart, and I'm only five pounds from that now. In any case, 12s will soon be to big for me, and I'll be in 10s before long unless I level out very soon.

Exciting to see what's going to happen.

3. Meeting my reading goals! Already read 3 books this year.

Comments

[executrix]

Check out the LLBean catalogue. They have pants with elastic waistbands or posher-looking hidden elastic waistbands, and they have belt loops. Get a size 10 with straight legs. They might be a little snug now (the elastic helps with that), and then eventually they'll be kinda loose at the waist, so snug them up with a belt, and the legs will look like they were supposed to be wide.

LLBean also has lots of knit tops that are basically fancy t-shirts--the tunics and cowlnecks would definitely be good workwear, they don't gap like button-front shirts, and they go right in the washer and don't have to be ironed. If you need a jacket for IRSrsBiznessProfessional tiemz, the cotton jersey cardigans do all that and are more comfortable than a blazer and don't have to be dry-cleaned.

[lunabee34]

Josh buys clothes from them from time to time so I probably even have a catalog around here somewhere.

I want you to know that the things you've sent me over the last couple years that I am growing out to have gone to a great home. My friend looks awesome in that red cardigan you gave me (it's not made of sweater material but IDK what else to call it) as well as the navy one, for example. I love being able to pay what you've done for me forward.

[executrix]

Err. Ummm. If the black wool jersey dress with the V-neck* is too big for you (it might look great on you in a more glide-y way than it used to) I wouldn't mind having it back.


*Not the velours skater dress, that was always too big for you so it got adopted.

[lunabee34]

Oh, shoot. I don't have it anymore, and I can't remember who I passed it on to. I'm sorry, Exec.

I am still wearing (and it looks even better than when you first gave it to me in the fall) that black three quarter length sleeve dress; it looks great with a belt now.

[executrix]

That's the one I mean, but I'm glad that it's still useful in its belted form!

[lunabee34]

Ah, ok. Well when I size out of it, if I do, I'll send it back to you.

[monanotlisa]

What, 3 already? Jesus, you overachiever. :)

" Some people think that going gluten free also helps Hashimoto's, but these people also tend to think that going gluten free has the same magical properties as a dip in the River Styx, so IDK."

HOMG, so true. I have to keep myself from rolling my eyes out of my head a lot around here.

(But then again, avoiding gluten versus other adjustments is difficult -- like, legumes give me bloating, and so does xylitol, so I avoid these items just because my system is sensitive; the gluten does that but also gives me pain, several trips to the toilet, and some other stuff we don't talk about unless prompted.)

[lunabee34]

*nods nods nod*

It's one thing when you have celiac or a gluten intolerance/sensitivity/allergies. Then it is absolutely necessary to avoid.

Here's my totally amateur and anecdotal idea of what's really happening when people with Hashimoto's or Graves Disease or whatever feel better after going gluten free:

1. Truly going gluten free means getting rid of a lot of processed food and convenience food, and not eating that stuff makes them feel better.

2. Potentially a placebo effect.

3. And the one I think is most at play: autoimmune diseases are like nesting dolls. I wonder how many of the people with one actually have others lurking silently. If you have asymptomatic celiac and you quit eating gluten you're going to feel better. IDK

[monanotlisa]

1. Truly going gluten free means getting rid of a lot of processed food and convenience food, and not eating that stuff makes them feel better.

Could be true for some people, I think -- it wasn't true for me. In 2011 when I started getting sick, my diet didn't have a lot of processed food ingredients. These days I eat more processed food than then -- I can't have the pure butter-and-flour-and-sugar cookie my co-worker brings from her organic kitchen, but I CAN have the shitty, thirty-industrial-ingredients sterile gf cookie, of course. And I will have it; sugar is the one thing I need to be working on to reduce (my fat intake is good, my fruit and veggie intake is good, I get enough protein, hydration, etc.).

2. Potentially a placebo effect.

Ya, it's possible. I tend to do well on my varied but gf diet and blame gluten-cross contamination when going out and the next day I'm feeling funky, but honestly, it could be not the gluten, and I'm just blaming it. Could in fact be any convenience food ingredient triggering a reaction of my sensitive intestinal tract -- I don't know whether you followed me back when I was living in the same house as a cute neighborhood restaurant (I always befriended owners and staff, for the two iterations of the restaurant)? I learned, during the French-Belgian reign, that GOD THERE IS A LOT OF PREPARED SHIT IN HOSPITALITY. :)

3. And the one I think is most at play: autoimmune diseases are like nesting dolls. I wonder how many of the people with one actually have others lurking silently. If you have asymptomatic celiac and you quit eating gluten you're going to feel better.

That one. Yes. My thyroid issues were simply treated for a couple of years with medication. My psiorasis is confined to my head, and has been since age thirteen, so even my sister scoffs at me (like all Germans, where you're healthy unless your head's chopped off). My IBS is of course another basket of "we can't explain why your system acts up, but we can tell it does, sorry, dude."

And to your very point, the three items above are just what was actually diagnosed by medical professionals and has been treated with various medications (or medicated shampoos, as the case may be).

My low iron and high inflammation were just hovering above and below what's normal, and *points at regular exercise and healthy diet* all other factors were so good my docs were never alarmed to the point of running more tests. I was complaining of constant headaches? Why, just get some botox injections into your neck and shoulders (to be fair, that did alleviate a large part of the pain)! I was complaining of endless fatigue and brain fog? Why, just lower your stress levels! I was complaining about feeling sick? Why, just take it easy, eat healthy, and wait for that little infection we can never ever find or pinpoint to go away!

[lunabee34]

Oh, I didn't mean think *you're* working on the placebo affect at all. I mean, you demonstrably get sick when you ingest gluten which is pretty much the sign not to ingest it.

I was eating waaaaaay more processed food as a gluten consumer; lots of cans of soup, TV dinners, chips and crackers. I still eat some of that stuff occasionally but not nearly to the degree I did before. I still eat a shit ton of popcorn, and I guess that counts in terms of processed food.

Your journey sounds so maddening. I didn't realize you had thyroid issues as well. Knowing something is wrong and never having it verified started to make me feel so crazy, like I was making stuff up or just didn't understand what "normal" is like. I'm so sorry you can't figure out what the underlying issue is.

[zulu]

Hugs for all the Dealing. What a rough December. I'm glad adding things back is going okay.

[lunabee34]

*hugs hugs*

Soon, I shall eat ALL many of the things!

[sallymn]

Trying to get the balance right is a bummer, isn't it? I have a slightly dodgy hip, and every so often I have to tell myself "yes, that's gonna hurt a bit but it'll be WORTH it" when it's something I want to do, but which I know the hip won't like...

Congrats on the books! I'm doing a fair bit of rereading, so I can do my 100 book thingy.

[lunabee34]

I really enjoy those posts. I don't always comment, but you have such wonderful and eclectic taste. I have almost never read or even heard of the books you talk about which is wonderful!

[sallymn]

Thanks! I'm not getting it done fast (the previous 100 things took me ages) but I'll get there...

[umadoshi]

Thank goodness you're able to start adding foods back.

Yay for books! ^_^

[lunabee34]

I know. I feel so much better now that I'm eating better.

[chelseagirl]

Do you ever enjoy wearing skirts and dresses? I find that they are much more flexible as far as weight loss/gains -- like if I gain or lose more than a pound, all my pants are wrong, but I can fluctuate quite a bit in dresses . . .

Which isn't the main reason why I wear them; I just like them. But I think if I hadn't always been a bit too tall, and had the wrong waist/hip ratio (even when I was stick thin, like 110 lbs at 5'8" in college, my waist is thicker and my hips slimmer than sizes allow for), I might appreciate pants more.

[lunabee34]

Yes! In fact, I have always worn a lot of dresses; I've just sized out of all of them except this dress Exec sent me last fall which is black three quarter length sleeves and actually fits me now! My Ultimate Wardrobe has about 8 dresses in it; I just have to start buying them. I've got my eye on a bunch of Calvin Klein and Ralph Lauren dresses; all have hemlines right above the knee. I love sheath dresses and they look fantastic on me because I have an hourglass figure but they almost always gape at the armholes and show half my bra. It's so frustrating. :(

[chelseagirl]

I think sheaths always have to be tailored unless one is exactly the same size as the fit model! That's one of my sewing goals -- to make my own with customized fit!

[lunabee34]

I am so envious of sewers. I know I could learn; I just also know I'm not going to at this point. LOL

But being able to alter your clothes is so awesome.

[chelseagirl]

Alteration makes me more nervous than making from scratch at this point -- too afraid of ruining something! I just need *more time*!! I bought fabric over break, but things got out of control. (When I do have a spare minute, I'm clearing out papers from my aunt's apartment . . . )

[lunabee34]

That makes complete sense re: alterations.

Being busy with your aunt's estate takes up all your free time, I imagine. That's so draining.

What fabric did you buy? What do you intend to make with it?

[monanotlisa]

Ooh, I love CK and RL; generally their class of simple and modern American designers appeal to me.

As for gaping at the armholes and showing your bra...can you get that adjusted, maybe? I know it's an extra, but in the US seamstress services don't seem to be that expensive.

(I like buying Karen Millen, because her models look like me: Hourglass figure, but NOT a lot of boobage. Gotta chose carefully among her designs, though; a lot are Too Much for aforementioned minimalist German sensibilities ;).

[lunabee34]

Oooh, I'd never seen Karen Millen. Thanks for the rec.

I probably could get the underarm issue altered. I should investigate that.