Amanda, I'm very concerned for you. I'm concerned that you have an obsession with losing weight daily, rather than trying to lose it healthily and for good. Doctors/trainers/nutritionists recommend that healthy weight loss is about 1-2 lbs/week. I agree with others that your body is settling into starvation mode and or dehydration.
Please trust me when I say that I want to see you succeed in your weight loss! I know how frustrating it is to be fat, and I don't wish those feelings upon anyone else either.
I think you're being a bit unrealistic in your goals of making sure some weight is gone every day. First of all, you don't know whether that is water, fat or muscle you're losing. You hope it's fat, but it's probably not. Most likely it's water, hence the dehydration.
Every body, including yours, knows what it needs. That's the way we were designed. Think of newborn babies, they are the best eaters. They cry when hungry and stop eating when full. Unfortunately as we age, otherthings (emotional eating and whatever else) gets in the way and we start eating for reasons other than sustaining our bodies and we gain weight. Small tangent, but my point is that your body will tell you what it wants and needs and your mindset will NEVER change that.
Every person is different, so every person will react differently to different foods, different calorie levels, different exercise levels. What you need to do is get back to a healthy body. Yes, unfortunately, you probably will gain weight, you might not either, I'm not sure. But, you will not lose fat by dehydrating/starving yourself.
I want to challenge you to try something for this week. Do not step on the scale until at least Friday, but try it until Monday. Put it away. Ask a friend to hold on to it. Give yourself 3 days of not looking at the scale. I'm afraid that you're going to go crazy trying to make yourself a slave to the scale. It will be hard--there is no doubt about it. That's what weight loss is. Hard work. But we are here to support you. We want to see you succeed! We don't want to see you go out of your mind (btw, I'm so glad you stopped the pills).
The second thing I want to challenge you to until Friday is to eat when you're truly hungry in your stomach. You don't have to eat a lot. Start out with a yogurt and a peice of fruit. or some crackers and cheese. You may be hungry every 2 hours or every 7 hours--every one is different and every day is different! Every time you eat, drink at least 1 cup of water. Your body is craving water!!
I invite others to this challenge too--eat when you're hungry. You may have to continue this for a couple weeks until you see results, but your body will react. Weight loss that lasts isn't about a number or a size. It's about a healthy body that is getting the amount nutrients it needs to survive (and it knows what it wants!) Excersize, not just diet, will help you tremendously. Try 30 minutes each day this week.
I really hope you are feeling better. And be honest with yourself this week about being hungry. I am here for you, Amanda, and I will continue to be here for you next week and the weeks after that!
Amanda -- I am glad to hear that you are okay after that scary episode! I do have to agree with what other said though, especially Jenicra. Obsessing over weight loss and eating a very low calorie diet can be signs of disordered eating (like anorexia), which is a very serious problem. I'm not saying you HAVE an eating disorder, but that if you're not careful it could happen.
You said that you don't believe eating more calories ever made anyone lose weight. Well, I'm a counterexample to that! A few weeks ago, I went on vacation, and I didn't even think about what I was eating while I was gone. I ate what I wanted and I'm sure I ate more calories than usual, in addition to not exercising. When I got back, four pounds were gone. I've had this happen at other times too -- when I eat 1200 cals/day, I will plateau and be totally stuck. When I eat 1400 I will lose steadily. One thing to look at is your average calorie intake over the entire week. It's okay to eat 2000 calories one day and 1200 the next day, just listen to your body. You don't have to be hungry all the time to lose weight. I haven't gone hungry at all since switching to a healthier lifestyle.
Also, I think you are expecting to lose unhealthily fast. 5 lbs in a week isn't a normal loss, in fact more than 2 lbs in a week may be unhealthy (unless you are very heavy, in which case 2 lbs is a very small percentage of your total weight). Losing half a pound in a week is perfectly normal. I step on the scale every morning like you do, and 90% of the time it just says the same thing. Often I have seen patterns like this in a week:
For me, I would call that losing a pound in a week, since I started on Monday at 140 and ended on Sunday at 139. The scale didn't move down every day. In fact, it even went up in the middle of the week. But when the following Monday comes and I'm still 139, I know I have lost a pound. You don't need to see the scale go down every single day in order to be losing weight healthily. Plateaus of weeks to even months are totally normal. I've been 135 for almost all of September now. Back at the beginning of the year I was 160 for at least a month and a half. They key to long-term success isn't getting the weight off as fast as possible, it's losing slowly and steadily while maintaining an eating plan that you are comfortable with following for the rest of your life.
I think my motto for health overall really is SLOW AND STEADY WINS THE RACE. Losing weight, if you lose slowly you are more likely to keep it off. If you are starting an exercise plan, don't expect to be running marathons in a month! Take it easy and as long as you are reliable about continuing to eat/exercise/whatever regularly, you will come out ahead in the long run, and by come out ahead I mean that your body will thank you and you will live longer and be healthier.
Anyway, I don't know if that helps at all. I just wanted to remind you that there is no magic bullet for weight loss -- you can't lose those pounds instantly. It takes a long time, and it takes a lifetime of hard work to keep it off. Good luck!
Okay, I see what you're saying. If I had read my post and had absolutely no background info on me I would be concerned as well. However, many of you have read my posts from back yonder. Realistically though, I can't expect you...or anyone else for that matter, to remember my life story/personal circumstances. So for this reason I feel the need to clarify everything...once again, lest I come out looking like a royal @sshole.
1. I have thyroid disease. Not your typical everyday pop a pill and I'm good to go kind of thyroid disease. My body makes happy little fighter antibodies that not only attack my thyroid on a continuous basis, but also attack the thyroid medication I take. So even though my thyroid is being "treated", there isn't much that can be done to stop my body from fighting it.
2. I have seen an endless littany of doctors, specialists, nutritionists...etc. I have been placed on every diet (by doctors, no less) known to man and beast. I have been on liquid diets, and every single calorie level you can imagine. My doctor started out putting me on 1600 calories a day...and had me stay at this level for 2 months. When I started out at 1600 calories per day I weighed 216 lbs...2 months later I weighed 228.5 lbs. My doctor then slowly moved my calorie level down every two months. When it got down to the 1200 calorie level she had me stay at it for 3 months, during which time I gained about 1/3 a lb per week. Then she moved me down to 1,000 calories and I finally began losing...about 2 lbs a month. Then I stalled at 220. She then put me on a liquid meal replacement diet, which didn't last because I was always getting sick (stomach issues and migraines). At this point she was desperate...and put me on Atkins. Atkins worked, and I went down to 140 lbs in an incredibly short period of time (I was supervised closely by my doctor, who was thrilled with the results and not concerned with how fast the weight was coming off). As time went by I grew to hate Atkins...couldn't stand the food anymore, so I went off of it and quickly gained back every single pound (big surprise). My doctor was pissed, and worried...but just told me to stay at 800-1000 calories a day, so I did...and I plateaued at 215.
3. I did not get my prescription for phentermine off the internet, or from a guy on the street corner. When my doctor had tried everything else she finally insisted that I go on it. I didn't know a gosh darned thing about it, all she told me was that it would increase my metabolism and help me to be able to eat at the 800-1000 calorie level without feeling nauseus and dizzy all the time. She was right, it made me feel normal. I didn't have that intoxicating speedy feeling so many people associate with phentermine, rather it gave me back the energy level that I had before my thyroid went. It was a god send! Unfortunately I had a reaction to it and I had to go off of it. My doctor didn't want me to go off of it...in fact, she assured me that if I did I would gain it all back unless I cut down to no more than 800 calories a day. I ignored her advice, and went off of it anyways. Please don't insinuate that I am putting my need to lower my weight ahead of my health. I pay top dollar for professionals (endocrinologists and metabolic specialists) to tell me what to do and when to do it. If my doctor tells me to do something I trust that she knows what she's doing, and when I stop trusting that I will stop paying for her advice. Not everyone who takes weight loss drugs has entirely idiotic reasons for doing so. You wish you had my weight loss results...well I wish I had your metabolism!
4. Everyone around me is happy. My best friend is pregnant, and getting married. My son goes to a happy little private christian school where I am constantly surrounded by cute coupples and their wonderful families. I attend a church with a large congregation...overflowing with the American dream. And here I sit. 25 years old, the single mom of a child I acquired through rape, no husband, no boyfriend, and virtually no one who would give a rats @ss if I dropped off the edge of the earth tomorrow. And to top it all off, I'm fat. Yeah, I know, smallest violin. If I seem a little obsessed about my weight, it's because I am. I understand that weight loss is a marathon, and not a sprint, but I have news, I have already run the marathon...I missed the water stop, and I am in last place anyways. As a college student I am broke, poor, and busted. As a mom I am doing the best job I know how to do, but I am at the end of my rope. When that little guy was born Amanda died, and I missed her funeral. I have little in my life that I can control. There just isn't enough time in the day, and thanks to my thyroid I haven't the energy to accomplish any more than the day-to-day necessities. When the chips are down, I come last. To make matters worse, like I said before, no one gives a dam*. I refuse to let my weight be just another factor in my life that I can't control...so if anyone wants to take offense at the fact that I'm pissed when I hit a plateau, then that's just too dang bad! I didn't just make an all across the board statement like "2 lbs in a week means that YOU are slacking off". Heck no, I simply state how I'm feeling about MY weight loss...not anyone else's. And let's be realistic, at some point in time everyone has voiced their own disappointment in their personal results, eh? Is their a chance that you might have insulted someone else when you were griping about the results you were seeing? Of course you could have! I'll appologize when everyone else does! Besides, if we can't vent our weight-loss-related frustrations on a weight-loss board, then where can we? The world isn't going to walk around on tip toes for every person...and we can't be completely politically correct all the time, can we? Do you think I haven't felt a little bad about myself when I read that so-and-so jogged 10 miles this week...all the while my arthritis has been acting up, so I wasn't able to jog? I don't expect every jogger on the board to tip-toe around my feelings...I guess I'm just realistic.
5. Anyone on this board, if faced with having to be starving just to lose, would become more than just a little obsessed with their weight. Since I went off the phentermine I have not been able to lose an ounce...at the same calorie level. This would not affect me so greatly if I didn't spend every day ravenously hungry! Even though upping your calories might work for some of you, I can assure you that it does not work for me. My doctor has tried everything...vlcd is the only way I can lose.
Hope this cleared a few things up for you, and thanks to all of those who have left me supportive/encouraging comments.
Amanda, You sound so pissed off. I can't speak for everyone else, but like you said, if you would have read the post your wrote without any background you might have jumped to the same conclusion. I understand that you may be mad at my and some of the other posts but I am not a mind reader that's for sure! It seems irrational for you to expect everyone to take all of the above into account when you write a scary post like you did. I dont' think that anyone thought that you were an @sshole; but again without the background info how would you want people to react. And of course this is the place to vent your frustrations, but just like you have all that background so does everyone else. The last thing that I needed to read the other day was someone being depressed about a little (or what I percieved at the moment to be little) plateau, it made me feel like $hit!!! Obviously there was a thread of misunderstanding! Had you mentioned in the original post that it was a Dr. prescribed med? I don't remember if you did! I apologize for the misunderstanding, but I am not sorry for the reaction at all because I haven't read ALL of your post, in fact the last one I remember reading was the one about you losing another pound! EVERYONE HAS A STORY behind them, and not everyone knows everyone's story! Pretty much every post is taken at face value. So you ask for help, and I know I didn't have you medical history in front of me! I am sorry that you have such a struggle and next time, since now I know, I will take that into account, or just not post at all!
Amanda - I appreciate the clarification on a lot of those issues. Your previous health concerns and your contact with your doctor make a huge difference. I was only working from what you had given us here, you know? I was trying really hard NOT to be offensive, 'cuz I know that we all hate feeling "attacked" like that. The only reason I said anything was because if you did indeed have a problem, I would feel some level of responsibility if I didn't say anything. You can count on the fact that anything I said to offend you was said only out of concern.
I'm with you on the obsessed thing too, I tend to obsess about the weight when I'm "in it" too - I think that's pretty normal. Now that I know more about your history, I see just how much more amazing your loss to date has been - you deserve a big hand for that.
I hope if nothing else, that some lurkers that have been reading this have gotten some good info about all the $hit that comes along with weight loss! Amen to that - because talking about this stuff is what this forum is all about.
As far as the constant hunger thing goes - some of my tricks for fighting the hunger pangs include a boatload of water (and a big glass before every meal), sugarfree chewing gum, a brief spurt of exercise, and brushing my teeth. I can't imagine how frustrating all of that must be. Keep it up okay?
Amanda -- I'm sorry if I offended you with my post. Your more recent post has made a lot of things a lot more clear. I don't think that in your original post you mentioned that your doctor had put you on the drug or that your doctor had you on an 800-1000 cal/day diet. You might have mentioned these things a few weeks ago somewhere, but to be honest I don't remember (we read so many people's personal histories around here, it's really difficult to remember everything). Obviously the fact that you are following doctor's orders makes all the difference in the world. I am not a medical professional, I know nothing about thyroid diseases, and so any advice I give is assuming that you are just like me -- overweight from too much food and too little exercise, and trying to lose the excess. I believe 100% that you should do what your doctor says over what any of us say -- we're just people on the internet. We're not professionals.
I think you have all the right in the world to vent your frustrations about your weight loss here. You have to understand though that from just reading your first post, it was a little scary and all of our posts were out of concern for your well-being. Ultimately, while obsessing about your weight may be understandable given the conditions, I personally don't think obsessing about anything is ever healthy (in the mental health sense - but I'm not a mental health professional either, this is just my opinion). I have done some reading about eating disorders and from what I have read a lot of them spring from feeling like your life is out of control, and your weight/eating is the one thing you CAN control, until it gets out of hand. That is what I was thinking about when I wrote my earlier post. You say that nobody really cares about you -- well we do! That is why we had such a shocked reaction, because we care about you and want you to lose weight the healthy way. We didn't know your medical history, and without knowing that the things you posted scared us and we were afraid for your safety.
As for the upping calories and losing weight thing, you are right, just because it worked for me doesn't mean it will work for you. Everyone is different. I was just responding to your earlier post where you said (I'm paraphrasing, but I'm pretty sure this is what you said) that you don't believe *anyone* can lose weight by upping calories.
Anyway, I hope that made sense. I don't think any of us meant to offend or insult you -- we were just scared for your safety and trying to help. Thank you for your post clarifying the issue, and like Jenicra said, you deserve a big hand for all that you have done so far.
What did your doctor say about all this? (you mentioned the pharmacist's recommendation, but i couldn't find any info. about your doc's recommendation). I was concerned as there may be some risk in stopping this med. completely, instead of tapering down or did the doc. just change/lower your dosage so there is no huge 1/2life. Are you questioning your doctor's dosing insturctions and asking him/her about the contraindications of this med and? maybe you need a different one? If you are placed on anything else, you might want to ask for COMPLETE DETAILS on the pharmacology so you know if you start feeling funky what to look for.
Hope you are feeling better, good luck and congrats on the weight you have lost!
Hey all. When I said psychotic episode, I meant it. I am sorry if I jumped down anyone's throat. When I went off of this medication it did something to me mentally...made me over-emotional, overly-sensitive, and tempermental. I guess I just have a hard time expressing myself on a normal day, and a harder time when I feel emotionally fragile (as I have ever since I went off the medication). I understand that no one on here was trying to attack me, and the advice/commentary voiced was done so out of a sense of concern on the part of those replying. I appreciate it...really I do. I never thought for an instant that anyone on here assumed that I had gotten the drug from anyone but my doctor. I just assumed that I was being told that I had no business taking phentermine even though my doctor put me on it...to which I became alarmed, as I realize that no one on here is a metabolic specialist.
I am slowly recovering from my little episode, and I am going to see my doctor at 3:00 today. She is a great, and qualified doctor...but sometimes resorts to not so widely accepted methods in order to get results. My pharmacist is also very knowledgeable (yet obviously not as "qualified" as my doctor) and he recommended the same thing my doctor recommended..."cut back, but don't just stop them". As much as I wanted to follow my doctor's instructions, I was scared. Phentermine made me temporarily INSANE...not just a little loopy, but out of my freakin' mind! After that, well I'll be darned if I'll ever even look twice at them again, let alone take another one. So I rode it out...and just stopped taking them. The withdrawl was harsh, but no where near as bad as losing my mind again.
What I'd like to do at this point is start logging my daily food intake, calorie level, exercise, weight, and how it all went...all on here. I thought about starting a journal on this site...but it doesn't really appeal to me. I'll probably start it on another thread. Hopefully in doing this you gals can let me know what I'm doing right, and what I'm doing wrong.
BTW, I lost another pound...you gals are so smart, it must have been a plateau!
Wow Amanda! I would never have guessed you'd been through so much! I'm feeling a little sheepish now. I'll make this short because otherwise I'd just be copying paperclippy's last post. We care & we want you to be open to sharing your frustrations and joys. Congrats on your next pound off! It is truly amazing that you are where you're at now after all you've been through. Keep it up!
Hey Amanda, I am so glad to hear that you are doing better! It would be great to post calories and food on a thread! Glad to hear that you lost another pound, that's awesome and I know always a little uplifting. I hope that there are no hard feelings! I think that you are one of the funniest and most entertaining people on the boards. I hope the rest of your day is great!
Thank you Fuller, and Stephanie! You gals are all too good to me! Okay, so I went back to my doctor's, and she said that she wants me to go back on the phentermine, but to take it every other day rather than every day. Personally, I think she's crazy...so I'm just plain going to ignore her for the time being and try to go about this in a less dangerous way. I'll let her think I'm taking it, but really I won't be. Is this bad? Probably...so maybe I should go back on it, but I just don't know. Anyway's, I can only stay on a moment, but I am going to come back on later and begin a thread where I post my food log...going back a few days. Oh yeah, and I'm down another pound!
Why bother going to a physician if you are going to ignore the medical advice?
Why don't you discuss your apprehension with your doctor instead if you want alternate treatment? It's really not in your best interest to try to FOOL the doctor, "let her think I'm taking it".....you can only hurt the patient who is you.
I'm sure a medical professional wouldn't be offended with their patient's opinion ("she's crazy"),it's not a personal issue, but would explain fully in layman's terms her treatment plan for your health which is her main concern.
My doctor is stubborn. I explained everything to her plain and simple. She said the risks involved with obesity are her main concern...that she doubts my episode was even caused by the phentermine. I told her that I checked the website, and web md...and both list psychotic episodes/mental prblems as potential side effects. She told me that she didn't believe that. She is under the impression that I cannot lose weight without the use of a drug...I am under the impression that I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. I still need to see her, as she is the only good endocrinologist in my area...and if I tell her that I refuse to take the phentermine, she wil tell me to go find another doctor. If I start to regain, then I suppose I'll have no choice other than to start taking it again. But if I can lose it on my own...
a little knowlege (from a website with general information) is a dangerous thing....as is self-treatment.
The endocrinologist went through 4 years of medical school, 3 years of medical residency, and 3-4 years of sub-specialty training. She passed her Internal Medicine Boards and Endocrinology Boards and any other sub-specialty she applied for in her field. She studied, probably put in some research in a lab and presented hundreds of cases to achieve certification in Endo. and probably published some of the results....she's not "stubborn", she has extensive medical knowledge backed up by medical facts, not a vague thought of "if I can do it myself...". She's absolutely correct in telling you that there was probably no relation to your reaction.
The term "psychotic" is a strong diagnosis and is totally inappropriate terminology in general conversation. It was made by whom, a pharmacist who knows your entire medical history? over the phone when you asked about drug interaction? Or is this a self-diagnosis? Most pharmacists are not specialists in pharmacology, they just have general drug-interaction knowledge.
If you don't trust her, Get a second opinion if you are not comfortable with your current doc's treatment plan, you can get a referral from the state board of endocrinology or the local medical school which is probably a teaching hospital affiliate where your in-house testing of your metabolism occured, it's only done at a large lab, as it's a specific test. I'm sure she is not the only endocrinologist in your area, your info. shows you are in a large urban city.
All this insulting of pharmacists is kinda getting me down so I had to butt in
Currently in the states, pharmacists are going through a 7 year Pharm. D program so they are certainly worthy of the term "drug expert". We know drugs. Doctors learn about drugs on the job (this is from my friend who was a pharmacist and is now in med school). Pharmacists are most certainly specialists in pharmacology- along with medicinal chemistry, pharmacokinetics, clinical aspects of therapeutics and much more.
That also said, you're correct that pharmacists cannot diagnose medical conditions. I was under the impression it was a self diagnosis of psychosis but I could be wrong. It sounds like a reaction to the drug which doesn't really fit the definition of psychosis, but it's not my business to say if it is or isn't.
1. 40-50% of prescriptions written by doctos are not filled. She is certainly not the first person ever to do this! While I certainly advocate that patients communicate their actions to their doctors, sometimes, for whatever reason, it doesn't work. I'm a bit concerned about stopping it cold turkey though or going off of it without a doctor's care since it can cause dependence and should probably be tapered off.
2. Second opinions are a good thing. We all hope that since a doctor has certain credentials he/she is competent at their job but sometimes that doesn't happen. Again I'm not making any judgements here but if you're not satisfied, see someone else.
3. Someone mentioned that taking less of the drug decreases the half life. Half life is independant of the dose given- taking it every other day will simply give it more time to clear & will hopefully stop the buildup of the drug in the body.
*gets off her soapbox*
I'm curious as to whether the drug is appropriate- is your BMI over 30? This is a really serious drug to be taking- I've only seen it prescribed in seriously obese people (we're talking 250-300 lbs) probably because of the dependence issue and the side effects. However your doctor may have specific experience in treating people with your kind of thyroid disorders. Thanks for sharing your case- I'm sure it will help me out with patients later on in my career who are dealing with the same problems as you.
Amen to that - because talking about this stuff is what this forum is all about.
I'll make this short because otherwise I'd just be copying paperclippy's last post. We care & we want you to be open to sharing your frustrations and joys. Congrats on your next pound off! It is truly amazing that you are where you're at now after all you've been through. Keep it up! 
