Its no secret that I sort of skipped my own advice pre holiday and trimmed my diet back a little bit (even I got sucked into the looking lean on the beach when surfing), and with the mass of walking we did on holiday, my energy expenditure went up. I ate a lot on holiday but not in my usual routine. I think I managed 3- 4 meals a day, but the two middle meals were basically one meal split in two. I then landed in the UK and went to ride in the SSDT based in Fort William. 8 hours of riding for 6 days across some harsh terrain is a serious energy expenditure. At the same time its hard to eat as we get a 15 minute lunch break each day (those who see me eat know that its an hours job usually).
Normally my body copes pretty well with the stress it gets put under (lack of food) and when I return home I put it all right. This year I snapped my Achilles on the final day which is the culmination of 3 weeks damaging my metabolism. From the day we left here to stop at Jen's Aunty and Uncle's house till the day it snapped my energy intake vs. energy expenditure didn't add up and its no wonder I finally snapped. One week under such extreme conditions is something my body managed to deal with, three weeks was just too much.
Its interesting to see listed in amongst the physical problems of thyroid dysfunction are muscle and joint pains, sudden onsets of tendonitis and feeling constantly tired even after a good night’s sleep. On the day of our flight I had a tiny breakfast followed by a long long (delayed I think) flight to Las Vegas. It then took forever to get dropped at the hotel and get checked in. By this time we were starving and my ankle was swollen. As we set of in search of food, I got my sudden onset of tendonitis. If you've followed me for a while and been tracking my blog you'll know that a risk factor for those suffering tendonitis, is Achilles Rupture if they don't rest it.
Other symptoms include:
- General muscular weakness and pain, including cramps, and stiffness
- General joint pain, achiness, stiffness, known as "arthropathy"
- Tendonitis in the arms and legs
- Carpal Tunnel Syndrome
- Tarsal Tunnel Syndrome-- similar to carpal tunnel, with pain, tingling,burning and other discomfort in the arch of your foot, the bottom of the foot, possibly extending into the toes.
Seems I should of taken the physiology book to read on the plane after all. Still, its all a learning experience.