April 2014 - Bring it on!

Well, April is upon us and here in the UK that can only mean one thing. The days are getting longer, tree blossom is everywhere, trees/bushes are coming into leaf - essentially is a brilliant time of the year. A time of year I really love, because it is natures way of reminding you what there is to look forward to over the coming months. Bring it on I say!

So what about my Pituitary update then....well again not much to report. I have upped the dose of Testosterone as per my most recent Endocrine appointment, I can't say I am noticing any difference as a result but hopefully it will show up in my next lot of blood tests. As for my Cortisol levels, I have noticed now I am getting more active out in the garden at the weekends, I do have a tendency to use up my Cortisol and have an energy crash...this is almost always within an hour or so of me being due my next dose of Hydrocortisone. What I am finding is that I am more in tune with this need, so as soon as I feel myself start to flag I can remedy the situation with a quick drink and an early tablet dose. Of course everyone 'flags' and has energy crashes from time to time, but the lack of Cortisol feeling is quite unique and easy to spot. It is like a sudden 'off button' and I physically sink, so much so that Deb often spots it before I do. As I've said before, this is a result of me taking fixed doses of Hydrocortisone during the day and my body not being able to make any Cortisol of its own, so when it's gone it's gone! Not the end of the world, because I've always got tablets nearby and recognise the symptoms.

Health-wise, I've been on a collision course with my lack of fitness for the last few months. Regular walking has really helped my aerobic fitness and I can zip along for 2 miles without breaking sweat averaging over 4mph and doing a 14-15 minute mile. Much better than 6 months ago. I can't tell you how much good the Pilates is doing too, if nothing else it points out in no uncertain terms which muscles you haven't been using for a long time. In my case, it is my back muscles. Doing the "dart" where you lay on your tummy and raise both your chest and legs off the ground, back in January I couldn't left my chest at all, now I can. Not very far, but far enough to notice a difference. Also my joint flexibility is coming along, still a long way to go but a lot better. Last night we did some new exercises including some press ups, I am embarrassed to say that I couldn't do the press ups as intended, I had to wimp out and do them with my knees down....I could only do two press ups - HOW CAN THIS HAVE HAPPENED!! I used to do 50 press ups easily, granted that was about 20 years ago, and I probably haven't done any press ups for 10 years. The exercise was do the plank for a bit then whilst still in the plank release alternate legs and stretch them out, then do 5 press ups (fail!) then walk your hands towards your legs and stand up....then bend over put your hands down and walk back to the plank position and do 3 repetitions of that exercise. Nightmare! Definitely the hardest challenge in Pilates for me to date. 

I have a desire to get back on my pushbike too, I've been waiting for the weather to get better and I have a few routes mapped out, including one I used to do many years ago when I was fitter. We aren't talking very long distances, probably about 6 miles, but definitely a challenge I want to get stuck into.

I think that's about it for now, a positive update I think. I'm feeling good, the time of year is uplifting, so as I said earlier, bring it on!