Stephie - I hope all is well!! Thoughts and prayers with you and your family.

I've had an okay weekend food-wise, but my jeans and shirt were SO tight today. Shouldn't my inches be going down at least a little? This is very frustrating. Pushing on with high hopes!!

In other news, I've got a weird problem. For over a year, I've been having these episodes (very rarely) where I'll be sitting or laying down, doing nothing strenuous, relaxing, watching TV and all of a sudden, I'll breathe out and it is a struggle to breathe back in. I'll breathe normally for a bit, then it does it again. Only a couple times. Then my chest gets tighter, sometimes I get pains and I can hear and feel my heart beating. Then I feel like I need to cough. Until last night, I'd never had an episode around anyone. I was sitting with my boyfriend, watching TV, and it happened. I told him what I was feeling and noticed that as I was speaking, I had to stop every few words to take a breath. Then my head felt kind of fuzzy ... like I had a buzz, but hadn't had anything to drink. I've controlled the episodes by sitting still, concentrating on my breathing, making sure I'm completely relaxed. I did this last night and the episode went on for a good hour; up until now, the longest I've had an episode was half an hour. I've never had an issue when working out or doing anything other than sitting still or laying down. I've decided this has gone on too long, I don't think it's a panic attack and I'm not sure it's superficial. Going to schedule an appointment with our at-work nurse this week to see if she can refer me to someone or give advice.

Here's what I posted in the EM2WL forums (em2wl.com):

Just wanted to post an update and vent some frustrations. This is beginning week 3 for me of my consistency. I hit my calories every day last week except Saturday. I went on a 4-hour hike and ended up netting only 500+ calories. I could NOT eat any more! Ouch. I burned over 2700!! I lifted two days (heavy!) and did 40 minutes total of HIIT in two 20-minute sessions. I drank adequate water (always do!) and have been super regular thanks to probiotics (TMI - sorry.). BUT, this morning when I went to put on a pair of my usual black dress pants for work ... they were tighter than ever. Tighter than they were when I did the reset!! Tighter than they have been since I bought them.

I don't get it. I don't think I'm retaining *that* much water because I am getting up at least four times per night to go! I drink lots and lots and lots of water throughout the day. I am not going to falter from the process, but I hate that I am even bigger than I have been during EM2WL. I couldn't fit into the shirt I tried on first this morning and had to settle for another, bigger shirt. Sigh.

Any words of motivation? Or ... anything I am doing wrong?? Shouldn't SOMETHING be happening other than gaining? I'm supposed to eat around 2700 to maintain. I'm eating at 2400, plus exercising, not netting below my BMR (with the exception of hiking that one day), eating cleanER than usual (I've added lots of veggies), staying hydrated ... it's not paying off.

So ... I've done quite a bit of reading and am now more confused than ever! Haha. I am on Synthroid, which apparently is only a T4 medication. I've read about dessicated thyroid meds (like Armour) which provide all of the needed supplements. SO, I've scheduled an appointment to talk to my doctor about trying Armour. I'm still experiencing hair loss and I think I've accepted my sleepiness as typical, so maybe I am still lacking something.

I've researched gluten and the thyroid, as well as dairy and the thyroid. I'm not sure I'm gluten intolerant, but I see that there's a test. I'm going to ask about that when I go to the doctor. I'm not sure I want to cut out gluten before knowing that it's causing an issue. I *did* read that the gluten and lactose intolerance can be directly related, though! I also read about psoriasis, too! It's amazing how much of this can be tied together!