I have had to take a step back from any sort of physique or body compositional goals over the past few months. I began to feel very unwell 2/3 months ago: extreme fatigue, excessive weight gain, lack of motivation, low mood, loss of strength, hair loss and sporadic appetite. I had a full blood count done by the blood lab to check if there was anything significant going on from a health point of view.
I was found to have some ‘abnormal’ thyroid readings, see pdf below for my thyroid panel:
/Users/rebeccadean/Desktop/thyroid blood work 1.jpeg
/Users/rebeccadean/Desktop/thyroid blood work 2.jpeg
And an elevated prolactin level, please see pdf below:
/Users/rebeccadean/Desktop/prolactin blood work.jpeg
DISCLAIMER these are MY blood results and the advice given to me following these was from a medical professional based off a wide variety of info, my background, past medical and drug history. If you want to seek support please contact a professional and do not compare any blood work to mine. This is purely me sharing my information and will not be applicable to anybody else
Based off these results, symptoms and relevant history I was diagnosed with a most likely immune disorder called Hashimotos Thyroiditis. Which is ’Hashimoto’s thyroiditis is caused by the immune system attacking the thyroid gland, which damages it and makes it swell.
As the thyroid is destroyed over time, it’s unable to produce enough thyroid hormone. This leads to symptoms of an underactive thyroid gland (hypothyroidism), such as tiredness, weight gain and dry skin.’ (NHS Website).
It was pointed out to me that my prolactin levels ‘could’ be elevated by medication I have been taking since April of this year which is a type of anti-depressant called Venlofaxine, this medication could also have impacted my thyroid hormones.
As it was unclear ‘what had caused what’ or what symptoms I have been experiencing are caused by, I have tapered down off my anti-depressants through GP guidance and now am not taking any at all. I will be getting repeat bloods done in a couple of weeks to get a ‘baseline’ of what naturally my body is doing, then gauge a management plan from there under professional guidance.
Coming off anti-depressants was extremely unpleasant and I experienced the following symptoms: pins and needles, headaches, nausea, digestive issues, night terrors/sweats and hallucinations.
I finally feel I have gotten over the worst of it now and feel more like myself so I can focus on everyday things including work, training and socialising. It has been an incredibly difficult few months which has massively impacted my mental health but I feel in a much better place now to start taking some positive steps forward for both my physical and mental health.
I cannot express how important it is to put your health first and make it your upmost priority. Regular blood work is a good place to start, especially if you push your body in any sport including bodybuilding or take any form of PEDs or regular medications.
I will continue to keep this blog updated on my progress regarding my health if anyone is interested, please if you do have any questions you can reach out.
Hopefully, health will only be on the up now moving into the new year and I can set some more physique and performance based goals!
28/07/2022 – Blog Update 1
Height: 5’9
Weight: 71.9kg upon wake
Phase: Mini Cut
Assistance: None
Heyy
I am going to run through what I am currently up to regarding training and nutrition, then discuss my future goals! If you have any questions at all please let me know and will be happy to answer/help :)
Currently, I am in a mini cut phase to lose a bit of body fat and reset body composition in order to be nice and responsive for new tissue to be added, when I enter an improvement phase again soon.
As it stands, my current nutrition is 2000kcal daily, 160g protein which is relatively low for me. This mini cut is going well and I am enjoying feeling slightly leaner/seeing visible changes. Cardio is daily 30 mins, steady state at roughly 125-135BPM. Training split is x4 weekly which is my norm whatever phase I may be in:
Monday: Quads and delts
Tuesday: Rest
Wednesday: Lower
Thursday: Upper
Friday: Rest
Saturday: Posterior
Sunday: Rest
I train lower x3 weekly with an emphasis mainly on delts for upper development. My key weakness from my last competitive season last year was lower development so this is the priority, which is quite common for a bikini athlete.
My plan is to enter a further offseason soon with the goal of making my pro debut later on in 2023.
Choosing a selection results in a full page refresh.
8 comments
6/12/2022 – Blog Update
Phase: Health focus
I have had to take a step back from any sort of physique or body compositional goals over the past few months. I began to feel very unwell 2/3 months ago: extreme fatigue, excessive weight gain, lack of motivation, low mood, loss of strength, hair loss and sporadic appetite. I had a full blood count done by the blood lab to check if there was anything significant going on from a health point of view.
I was found to have some ‘abnormal’ thyroid readings, see pdf below for my thyroid panel:
/Users/rebeccadean/Desktop/thyroid blood work 1.jpeg
/Users/rebeccadean/Desktop/thyroid blood work 2.jpeg
And an elevated prolactin level, please see pdf below:
/Users/rebeccadean/Desktop/prolactin blood work.jpeg
DISCLAIMER these are MY blood results and the advice given to me following these was from a medical professional based off a wide variety of info, my background, past medical and drug history. If you want to seek support please contact a professional and do not compare any blood work to mine. This is purely me sharing my information and will not be applicable to anybody else
Based off these results, symptoms and relevant history I was diagnosed with a most likely immune disorder called Hashimotos Thyroiditis. Which is ’Hashimoto’s thyroiditis is caused by the immune system attacking the thyroid gland, which damages it and makes it swell.
As the thyroid is destroyed over time, it’s unable to produce enough thyroid hormone. This leads to symptoms of an underactive thyroid gland (hypothyroidism), such as tiredness, weight gain and dry skin.’ (NHS Website).
It was pointed out to me that my prolactin levels ‘could’ be elevated by medication I have been taking since April of this year which is a type of anti-depressant called Venlofaxine, this medication could also have impacted my thyroid hormones.
As it was unclear ‘what had caused what’ or what symptoms I have been experiencing are caused by, I have tapered down off my anti-depressants through GP guidance and now am not taking any at all. I will be getting repeat bloods done in a couple of weeks to get a ‘baseline’ of what naturally my body is doing, then gauge a management plan from there under professional guidance.
Coming off anti-depressants was extremely unpleasant and I experienced the following symptoms: pins and needles, headaches, nausea, digestive issues, night terrors/sweats and hallucinations.
I finally feel I have gotten over the worst of it now and feel more like myself so I can focus on everyday things including work, training and socialising. It has been an incredibly difficult few months which has massively impacted my mental health but I feel in a much better place now to start taking some positive steps forward for both my physical and mental health.
I cannot express how important it is to put your health first and make it your upmost priority. Regular blood work is a good place to start, especially if you push your body in any sport including bodybuilding or take any form of PEDs or regular medications.
I will continue to keep this blog updated on my progress regarding my health if anyone is interested, please if you do have any questions you can reach out.
Hopefully, health will only be on the up now moving into the new year and I can set some more physique and performance based goals!
28/07/2022 – Blog Update 1
Height: 5’9
Weight: 71.9kg upon wake
Phase: Mini Cut
Assistance: None
Heyy
I am going to run through what I am currently up to regarding training and nutrition, then discuss my future goals! If you have any questions at all please let me know and will be happy to answer/help :)
Currently, I am in a mini cut phase to lose a bit of body fat and reset body composition in order to be nice and responsive for new tissue to be added, when I enter an improvement phase again soon.
As it stands, my current nutrition is 2000kcal daily, 160g protein which is relatively low for me. This mini cut is going well and I am enjoying feeling slightly leaner/seeing visible changes. Cardio is daily 30 mins, steady state at roughly 125-135BPM. Training split is x4 weekly which is my norm whatever phase I may be in:
Monday: Quads and delts
Tuesday: Rest
Wednesday: Lower
Thursday: Upper
Friday: Rest
Saturday: Posterior
Sunday: Rest
I train lower x3 weekly with an emphasis mainly on delts for upper development. My key weakness from my last competitive season last year was lower development so this is the priority, which is quite common for a bikini athlete.
My plan is to enter a further offseason soon with the goal of making my pro debut later on in 2023.