Jenny-O sounds like you ae doing very well with your weight loss. I have been checked for thyroid. Since I put on almost all of my excess weight over a three year period that is one of the first things my doc checked. He should have been at my home while I was eating everything in sight. I do agree that people should have their thyroid checked since it can be a souce of weight gain.
However, I do agree with Mrs. Jim (who is always most sensible). Think that you should let your doctor handle it and if needed prescribe the correct medication.

I had my weigh in on Tuesday night (not mandatory) and am now down 62 lbs, which is exactly a 10 lb a month loss. It is a bit quicker than my doctor expected but I have really stepped up the exercise. The 10mg Merida still seems to work for me so I will continue to stick with that.

AmyVictory, you are a young woman, don't worry about your skin sagging. Come into chat and we will all exercise with you.

Hope everyone is doing well. Do check in.

Here's my edit:

Winebrat, sorry I just saw your new thread. I use the name Merida---is anyone else out there??? because a woman " Don't Worry Be Happy" started in and I have not heard from her in ages. Thought I would keep the name in case she ever returned. Skipped right over your new thread. A big congratulations to you. I know you must be so pleased with your weight loss. That's what we have to remember every time we want some goodie.....we have to remember the satisfaction we get from losing the weight.

Hi everyone.
I am having a challenging week - crazy busy with work and the night class I am taking. I am feeling very overwhelmed. Also, haven't been to the gym since I've been so busy and the scale is not budging! I have been stuck at 195 for almost 2 months. I know that it takes wating right and exercising to see success - so I just have to make the time.
Congrats to those of you who are losing! Keep up the good work and hang in there

That's ok, i just a little overly ambitious last night in my fit of insomnia!

Well I guess I need to stop drinking water before my WW meetings, cuz that stupid scale only showed a .2 loss...AHhh well PMS and water will do that!

Ahhh tomorrow's friday!

It's so nice to see everyone doing so well with Meridia. The only people I know are you "online" people that are joining me in this so it is great that we are able to succeed together! I'm so psyched about how great I feel after being on 1500 calories for over 3 months. My mom was convinced that I would get sick, "because I've never been able to eat just 1500 calories for very long before." Well, I'm feeling great and I just keep getting more and more energy. The other day I thought, "it seems so much easier to go up the stairs these days" and then I realized that I've lost as much weight as one of those 5 gallon bottles of water we use on our water dispenser weighs (according to my husband a gallon of water weighs 8 lbs. - I haven't checked but I assume he is right). Anyway, thinking of having to carry around a bottle of water everywhere I go 24-7, no wonder I was tired all of the time! I have another "3 bottles" to go (aka 120 pounds) and I believe I'm gonna get there!

I've recently started doing Jane Fonda's low impact aerobics (yeah, it's old but effective). I like doing the dancing exercises better than the TaeBo so I think I'll be able to stick to this easier!

Good luck to everyone...and keep up the good work!!

Starting weight 308
Current weight 270
Goal weight 150 (or maybe even 135?)

midnight here and am sooo tired

just stopped by to say hello

OHHH my gosh...they just laid off 20 MORE people at my company.
ACK
I don't think I will be next, but it's SO STRESSFUL and all I want is some BEN & JERRY'S!!!! phhhhhlt

Just thought I'd share...

Winebrat, I know it is such a scary time Everytime I hear about a layoff I shudder. It is hard not to eat during times of stress.

Still on the Merida. Now down 65 lbs but lots more to go so I try to stay OP and exercise and drink water

Food is getting much easier to deal with but I have yet to go on vacation so will see how I do with that.

Take care

Yeah...layoffs stink. They're moving EVERYTHING offshore, except sales and finance...eeeeks.

Oh well, I will NOT eat to console myself! At least my appetite is down with Meridia. Can't pig out even if I wanted to!

Have weigh in tomorrow...dont' really want to go...but if I haven't gained, then that is a success!

Well, it seems like we are dropping like flies.....whatever that means.

Still on Merida here. Finally hit the 65 lbs lost mark and am very pleased but will be going on vacation and worry thats I will overeat. For me vacation=food. Got to try and change my mindset.

Hope everyone is doing well.

Take care.

Still stuck at 195, I will try to increase the cardio and watch what I put in my mouth this week. Hopefully, I will have a loss to report next time.
Hope everyone is doing well.

Well i've had a lousy couple of weeks...lay offs...relationship issues...work issues...
At least i haven't GAINED anything!!!!

I am determined to get back on my horse though.

Hope you are all doing ok!
Perseverence!

Hi all,

Your posts give me great hope! I just turned 27 and I now weigh 240 pounds. At my heaviest I was at 307 and my lowest, a couple of years ago, I was down to 188. My doctor just prescribed Meridia for me today.

I've been exercising 6x/week for the past few months (aqua aerobics 3x/week, cardio and weights 3x/week), but I've actually gained weight. No, this is not muscle. This is me with the appetite of linebacker. My appetite has been a problem all my life. It never occurs to me to stop eating until I've absolutely stuffed myself sick.

How long does it take for Meridia to take effect? Days? Weeks? Does Meridia help control your appetite? Does it do it as well as Phen-Fen?

I lost about 60 pounds on Phen-Fen. It was the only time in my life when I felt like I had the appetite of a normal person. Has anyone been on Phen-Fen before, and Meridia now?

I'm willing to do the work. I've done it before, and I have the exercise part down. I'm just hoping Meridia will give me the help I need to control my eating.

Any advise/words of wisdom are welcome and appreciated!!!

Thanks,

Jean Marie
!Keep hope alive!

Welcome Jean Marie, glad you posted. On the info sheet it says that Merida can take two/three weeks to work. I found that it worked faster than that for me

However, others who have taken Phen Phen, have not been as happy with Merida. From what I know PP was like speed (and therefore dangerous). Merida works on the brain and increases the seritomum level thereby making you feel better.

Someone on this thread said it best. She no longer thought of food all the time and it has worked the same for me. When trying to lose in the past, I would wake up in the a.m. thinking about what I could not have that day, that week, that weekend, my whole life and then I would get depressed and eat. Somehow Merida has taken that away from me. I am no longer obsessed with food. The ads do say as much by pointing out that you are in control with Merida. For me those ads have proven to be right

Again, given you are a former PhenFen user, you may not find it helps as much as you would like. Try it and hang in there. Please post again and let us know how you are doing.

Hey Jean Marie!

Welcome...I wasn't on Phen-Fen, but I was on Redux, which is a derivative of the Fen portion. Redux was similar to Meridia in that it was a Seratonin ReUptake inhibitor which works on the appetite centers of the brain, but it was a different class of drug.
As an ex-Redux user, I find that Meridia is different but I don't think worse / better, whatever.

I'd been struggling for ages on a plateau after losing 20 lbs, and I felt like I was ALWAYS hungry. Meridia helps me get a handle on WHY and WHAT I am eating, so I can make better choices with my body...I still do Weight Watchers though, I think the support is helpful...

Good luck and keep in touch!

~Down another 2 this week, yippee!!~
==Thea==

Hi Nikolas and Winebrat,

Thanks for replying! I did some more research and went to another doctor. This doctor specializes in weight loss and she recommended Bontril. Bontril is similar to the Phentermine part of Phen-Fen (which is somewhat similar to Meridia.)

I started the Bontril yesterday. I went out to dinner last night with my boyfriend, and *I* actually suggested splitting an entree between us. After dinner with my he ordered us dessert (something I would normally do). I only ate a few bites. We actually left with a good portion of dessert uneaten!!!! This NEVER would have happened before.

The bad news is I didn't sleep last night - at all, I mean not even a cat nap. The brochure says sleeplessness is normal for the first few days. So, I'll see how it goes. I'm one who needs a good night sleep, so if the sleeplessness continues, I'll have to have something changed.

Again, thank you both for posting responses! Good luck with your weight loss! I appreciate the support.

Jean Marie