To my Thyroid Sisters and Brothers...
For the most part, I was pretty stable with Levoxyl 112 mcg. I'm not sure how many patients out there experience side effects when not using a certain brand of thyroid replacement meds, but I for sure do. The brand name Levoxyl go pulled from the shelves May 2013. This threw me into a bit of a panic because thus far, I've discovered through a series of experiences, that all other brands/generics OTHER THAN Levoxyl really mess me up.
Being that I'd tried the generic version of it, Levothyroxine, and Synthroid, but both made me feel terrible, we resorted to Tirosint. I felt fine for about 8 months, but as the end of the 8th month approached, I began to exprience symptoms of fatigue, but always felt antsy when I did try to get sleep...leg cramps from time to time. However, the worst part for me is that I've got this weird thing where my left eyelid wants to droop. My vision is fine, but at times my left eye wants to only stay open 1/2 way. It sucks.
All of the above symptoms all happened around the same length of time of usage of both Levothyroxine and Synthroid. This is the only reason I'm not freaking about about there being a neurological issue or optical issue. I really want my Levoxyl back. This blows. I noticed a definite pattern this time around. Certain lighting, such as overcast or flourescent lights, seems to trigger the eye droopage. This causes me to overcompensate by trying to open my eye more by lifting that eyebrow. I feel lame when this happens. Oh and also, stress. Stress definitely triggers this, too. Ugh.
I was at 112 mcg of Tirosint, but the PA at my endocrinolgoist dropped me to 100 mcg. It's helping a little bit, but I've still got the symptoms. My last visit, he found out that the Levoxyl reformulation was completed on March 3rd, the day before my birthday. This is a good sign. Unfortunately, it hasn't been released to the wholesaler that my pharmacy uses. Hopefully this happens soon because I'd really like to look normal again. (well, normal for me...haha)
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My henna business...
Well, that is finally starting to pick up again. We're coming out of the winter months, so people are starting to book again. YAY!!! I've got a few fun bookings coming up, so I'm excited about that. :)
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Artwork...
For the time being, I'm putting my painting on the backburner. I'm really enjoying working in clay again. Last year, I did my first live demos and sales of my work at the OC Fair. I had such a great time, I'm definitely signing up to do this again for 2014.
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As of 2012...
I've been volunteer teaching Painting and Pottery classes at the Braille Institute in Anaheim. I am by no means a teacher, but it's been an interesting process as I learn my way through teaching visually impaired students. You might say, we're learning together. I teach them techniques that I know how to do that might help them complete an idea they might have. I've encouraged a few of them to enter their artwork into the Shared Visions Art Show :)
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So that's it for now. Since I've discovered the Blogger app for my iPad/iPhone, it'll be easier for me to update here more often. Stay tuned also for a few posts about my upcoming trip to Spain with my mother-in-law.
Some recent henna:
Some of my students' work at Braille:
