51 laps

Saturday, July 11, 2009

I'm just sayin'. Although the new goggles I picked up at Academy Sports helped a lot.

And now, I must go shower, then collapse.

Okay, there's a reason why you need a rest day

Thursday, July 9, 2009

Because if you swim 6 days a week and you get your tubby body up to 45 laps, your muscles are gonna, well, hurt.

Of course, now that I've gotten into the habit of swimming I actially felt kind of guilty that I didn't get into the pool yesterday. However, when I got on the scale this morning and discovered that I'd lost .8 of a pound anyway (most likely water weight from inflammation of sore muscles, but whatever), I decided it was a good thing nonetheless.

One thing that IS frustrating me about the scales, however -- I can see the changes in my arms and legs, and even my tummy is starting to shrink the tiniest bit, which is all good. But scale-wise I've lost almost nothing, which is somewhat frustrating. I don't know if I'm replacing fat with muscles (I'm more used to doing that when I lift weights, but I suppose I would increase muscle mass somewhat with swimming), and I'm not complaining about the physical changes. I would just like to see a downward shift in that magic number, as well. If nothing else, my feet would appreciate it.

I'm gonna live!

Saturday, July 4, 2009

Yesterday the doorbell rang -- it was my neighbor from down the street, who had received the blood test results from my doc (this is normal for my neighborhood -- we routinely get other people's mail, and I just redeliver it). Slightly nervous, I opened the envelope and read the results.

Ta da! No diabetes, no cancer, no infections or any kind, no liver or kidney problems, heart's in good shape, and I just need to work on my bad cholesterol which is slightly elevated (watching fats and weightlifting will fix that, and my good cholesterol is at a nice level). Dr. Allen added a note saying that the labs were all good, asking how I was feeling, and offering to prescribe a diuretic if I felt I needed it (we have a very good working relationship, and he knows I won't ask for something unless I feel it's necessary).

I need to let him know what happened now that I'm on the name brand Synthroid. Who knew that something as simple as dumping a generic would have such a massive effect? Phoo.

Also, I'm now up to 40 laps. Go me!

35 laps -- go me!

Wednesday, July 1, 2009

And the Triffid is now sporting one rather odd tuft but is otherwise completely trimmed back. Now I have to work on the bush next to it (I have no idea what it's called -- it has very long grassy green leaves with yellow stripes and sprouts tall bushy sticks by mid-summer) and get that culled back.

Still no word on the blood tests. Dunno if that's good or bad. I do know that it's been a week since I started taking the name brand Synthroid and all of a sudden I'm getting work done around the house, I'm swimming every night, I'm gardening out back and making sure the lawn is watered, I cleaned the patio area so that we can barbeque on Friday, and I plan on spending this weekend getting the bedroom and master bath whipped into shape. Two weeks ago I was lucky if I could haul my ass upstairs to record a podcast. You can't tell me that generic Synthroid and the name brand stuff are bioequivalent.

Still waiting for those blood test results

Tuesday, June 30, 2009

Which is a little worry-making, considering that I've always gotten them back within a week before. Yah...

But there does seem to be a difference with the brand name Synthroid. I'm not nearly as tired (the Triffid out back is almost cut down to size, I've got the bulk of the offcuts bagged and ready for the brush pickup, and I just cleaned the patio area in preparation for this weekend. I think I've been possessed by Martha Stewart), my head's a lot clearer, and Thumper has been behaving itself more reasonably (I'm still getting the occasional heart hiccup, but I'm also entertaining the Crimson Tide and that's the usual time for them)

Plus I'm still doing 31 laps a night, and I'm debating going to the gym tonight and hitting the iron. On one hand it would be a good thing, and then I could just come home and jump in the pool. On the other hand I still have to edit the podcast, and doing some of my own writing might be a nice thing. We shall see.

Iiinteresting...

Thursday, June 25, 2009

Did you know that generic levothyroxine (aka generic Synthroid) can be up to 30% less effective than the name brand stuff, and can show dramatic differences as to how it's taken up and distributed in the body?

Did you know that some of the side effects reported with generic levothyroxine include:

dizziness
heart palpitations
fatigue
depression
recurrent sinus infections
joint pain
brain fog
problems remembering things
edema

Did you know that I've been on generic levothyroxine for years, now, and have experienced:

dizziness
heart palpitations
fatigue
depression
recurrent sinus infections
joint pain
brain fog
problems remembering things
edema

With the dizziness, fatigue, heart palps and edema hitting really hard in the last six months.

I just turned in my renewed Synthroid scrip, and told the pharmacist that I want the name brand, NOT the generic. It may take a couple of days to see an effect, but believe me, I will be watching this.

Oh, by the way, 30 laps last night. Go me.

The weird thing is

Wednesday, June 24, 2009

Even though I'm exhausted and all my muscles ache, I'm still able to swim every night. Go figure. Maybe the buoyancy is helping or something, I dunno, but I'm up to 25 laps, with a break every 10 laps. If I could get up to 50 laps, I would be a happy camper indeed.