My journey started 3 months ago when one of my doctors told me I needed to make some changes, which included losing weight.
I was heavy as a kid and then between 14-17yrs old, I was really thin. Between 17-24, I was very athletic and fit and it seems like everything just changed one day. I was tired and sick all the time and didn't have any energy at all. It took 5 years to get a diagnosis, but by then the weight was collateral damage.
The following 6 years were trying a myriad of drugs, multiple surgeries and just trying to keep going. I was able to push my career into high gear, but health/weight just kept getting worse. In fact, one surgeon told me I had to lose 40+ pounds to have a critical surgery. At that point, I was disabled, so exercise wasn't going to be much help. His suggestion was just not to eat.
Fast forward to now - one of my doctors (very supportive) saw the weight pile on over the years and all the medications. She was extremely worried that my body would give out with all the medications and suggested I look into Ideal Protein to start losing some weight and then slowly and surely reduce the medications as tolerated.
I looked into a few IP programs with local chiropractors, but I was really worried that I would spend money on the program, follow it and lose nothing. 3/4 of the medication I was on cause serious weight gain. One actually had off label use for making people feel hungry and actually eat (those who couldn't eat on their own).
I ended up stumbling upon a true weight loss doctor about 5 weeks ago who is a ROCKSTAR and is helping me safely work my way down. She also caught that I was pre-diabetic (dangerously close to being full blown diabetes).
I'm on week 4 of IP and Victoza and down about 13lbs. The food is okay, but I've been making major adjustments to my daily living. I've successfully stopped 1 out of 3 medications that cause weight gain and was at a dangerous dosage. I'm also in the process of lowering the dosages of the other two.
I started at 269lbs and my goal is 140lbs. Fingers crossed that I get there and keep it there!
Good luck to everyone and I can't wait to meet everyone!
Hi WoofWoof. Welcome to the forum. Sorry you had so many problems with your medications, but am glad for you that you are getting a handle on them and your diet. Congrats on your loss and I hope you have great success.
First of all, great work making changing when your doctor said you needed to. That's not easy for a lot of people. It sounds like it was quite the journey to get the help you need, so double kudos for pushing on when you had to.
There is a section of this forum for losing weight with challenges (medical conditions, medications, etc.), which might be helpful to you. The whole site is a good source of information, though.
Good luck with your efforts, and to the site! We're glad to have you here!
Another Newbie!
to the site! We're glad to have you here!
