[KathyinAL]

I'm not sure if any of you remember me, but I've been here a few times. Each time I begin with a very depressed miserable, poor me post, but resolved to lose weight. I try for a few days, it's really hard and I just give up.

Well, I finally got to the point where I was out of breath just walking across the room. Not good and IMO, probably unusual for someone weighing 220. I know that is overweight but not overweight enough for the symptoms I'm having. I've also had some other concerning symptoms, so I thought I'd go to the dr. to get a checkup. He ran every test under the sun, many of which haven't come back yet.

He believes I'm depressed, which is probably the case, and he also thinks I probably have sleep apnea and I confessed that I think I may have a binge eating disorder. My A1C was concerning- on the high end of borderline diabetic.

So, he prescribed prozac and phentermine. I was going to take only one today to see how it felt but at this point I'm so frustrated I don't want to waste another day.

Has anyone taken this combination with success? I'm thinking once I lose enough weight to get my life under control, I can wean off both of these meds and rely on natural methods (eating well, exercise, etc).

But, I will admit that although I know the best way to lose weight is purely by eating well and exercising, I'm excited to see what this Phentermine will do for me. I'm really hoping it comes of super fast so my vacation with my husband next month will be just a little more enjoyable. We plan on doing lots of hiking and I want to be able to keep up with him.

[boobooyamma]

Hey Kathy... I'm new here and I was looking through some old posts. I see that you posted this about a month ago... but I hope you're still here. My purely amateur advice here would be to get your depression under control. If your doctor thinks that the medication will do the trick, then take it as recommended and work to surround yourself with positive, uplifting people. You really need a support group and this forum seems like a great place to find that if you don't have it in your every day life.

Don't give up... it doesn't happen overnight, but it will happen if you stick to good eating habits and exercise. I'm not one for exercise myself... I think it's boring. But my aunt and I have started doing Dance, Dance Revolution on the Wii and it's getting us moving. Pick something fun that you love and it won't feel like exercise, even though it really is. Stay strong girlfriend and lean on people in this forum if you need support.

[neon_zephyr]

Hi Kathy,
Just thought I'd share some of my own experiences with things that you are concerned about, in the hopes that they give you some kind of useful ideas.

I struggle with depression and often cope by overeating; that's what's pushed me into the obese category. Family members who are physicians have suggested medicine for the depression in the past and while I didn't take it, I do wish now that I had. Exercise has actually helped a great deal with reducing the depression to manageable levels -- and also aided my weigh loss goals. I encourage you to try the medicine your doctor recommends and try to push yourself to exercise a bit. It might sound odious, but even just doing 15 minutes a day for a week and then building up in 15 minute increments in the next week's routine, helps. It helped me, though some days, making time to exercise or finding the energy feels hard. Having only recently emerged from the lowest of the depression, I've been re-evaluating the things that brought me to this point, in both body and mind. In many ways, I felt isolated and like I had no help in my life. Medicine seemed to come with stigma and seemed like a shortcut that I didn't trust, so I avoided it. But, body and mind are connected. I realize, now, that if I had taken the medicine, I could have been able to find a way out of my depression 3 years ago instead of now (and maybe not gained so much weight, too). I felt like I just lost 3 years and woke up out of it and if I could do it again, I'd have taken the advice.

About phentermine, I can only offer you my personal experience with it. I struggled with weight loss a great deal and it took extreme exercise to get my fat to budge at all, effort that I often didn't have the energy for. After years of suggestions, I finally decided to try the phentermine and have been taking it for 3 weeks. It's helped me so far and I've lost a total of 16 pounds, at least 10 in three weeks, thanks to the phentermine. It does make me a little emotional toward the end of the evening and a little jittery, but it gave me the energy and the emotional boost I needed to get into exercise and serious dieting. It helps with the emotional eating by suppressing the appetite, I think. I was surprised to find that taking St Johns Wort (suggested as an alternative to prescription meds in my case) and Vitamins and taking the phentermine have felt like the supportive boost I needed to feel less isolated and defeated by the struggle.

Anyway, once you start losing some weight and exercising a little, hopefully both your weight and your mood will improve and the cycle will be a happier one. I struggle with this a lot, but I'm finding some positivity. Hang in there and don't give up! You're not alone in this and you're being strong just by considering options and making an effort.