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Big People 1- “They just don’t make these planes big enough for us,” said a guy on the plane next to me after leaving an Arenacross. We tried to jam into two little seats too close together. “Well, not much longer,” I said while sitting down, “not much longer I think.” We are about the same size, him maybe ten years younger. He has the puffy eyes and mid section shape of a thyroid case. I saw myself, actually about me in Sept. I showed him my driver’s license photo (a blimp) and he went “holy crap, what did you do?” Living this way is a far bigger pain in the ass than everyone else thinks, and if people had something they could try and stick to that worked, just about all would. The big guy next to me and I chat and in less than a minute, I realize this poor guy is a version of me, but he has nowhere to go and he is in a deep rut. He’s on a big dose of Synthroid, the medicine big people get when drs decide that their metabolism is making them big. The problem with this is Synthroid sometimes makes people big too, and drs don’t tell you. They don’t warn you, or know themselves sometimes, or bother to find out even when their patients lock in at 285. Standard practice is measure one thing - TSH - and if it’s off you take a thyroid replacement. When that is in limits, hands off. What about the people that blow up to huge? “Wow these patients sure do need to work on portion control.” He said his normal weight was 185 or so, then all of a sudden it jumped to 275, then 300 where its locked in. He’s been on Synthroid for years. His friends nag him to diet and exercise. He keeps telling them something is wrong. It doesn’t work. He bought a treadmill and did 45 minute workouts, which made him feel dragged down, and he gained more weight. Dr’s just tell him keep taking the stuff, its in limits. Sure sounds familiar to me. Who teaches drs this bullshit anyway? 2. "My Thyroid Died and Went to Heaven" In March 2008, I'm at a bank and about 200lb. The teller sees my blimpo-license photo and asks what changed. I said "medical thing." She's asks again, I don't mind, and I realize why she asks- She's on synthroid and it's making her big and miserable and she's doesn't understand it. She shook her head as if she gave up and said "My thyroid died and went to heaven. I used to be thin and I felt good, nothing else they can do." She's another wreck thanks to bad thyroid medicine I suspect. I keep a few extra cards from my dr's office and I gave her one and said "Hun, you call this office and don't go back to your dr. I'm going to come back here in 6 months and I want to see a new you." Sorry if that was kinda Richard Simmons, it just pissed me off. :) 3. Since posting the first version of what happened on line, I've talked to about 4 people at the races that are very likely going through the same thing, so it's not like it's rare.
Interiewing Josh Grant in Orlando 2006, probably about 300lb. |
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