Hello and to the Ups & Downs Support Group: November 2014 thread! Please feel free to join in at any time if you are a newbie. If you are a regular, please check in and keep on posting! Thank you all for making this group a wonderful source of support for all of us!!!

hello, i'm joining this month if I may....going through a hard time and hoping i can still lose weight.

Zumbachica: to the group! Of course you can join! I am happy that you posted. Sorry you are going through a hard time. Best of luck to you in your weight loss journey! YOU CAN DO IT!!!

Hello. I'd like to hop on this thread too. I've been dealing with a lot of depression from unemployment and living with difficult relatives; right now the struggle is maintenance to not undo the current weight loss.

Welcome, welcome Zumbachica and MrUki! So glad you both are here.

Zumbachica - so sorry to hear you are going through a rough time. I think you can still lose weight! We are here for you.

MrUki - Unemployment and difficult relatives would make anyone depressed. Totally understandable. You can definitely maintain your weight! We're here for ya!

And hello to everyone else!

I am doing fine although I have a headache today - totes get how ya feel Lisa! - and I went back to counseling today. It's been a few months and I really am glad I'm getting back into it. Last week I spent all of Wednesday and Thursday with friends and by the end of Thursday night I was SO. DONE. I just couldn't keep pretending to be happy. I went outside for a breather and that helped... I just needed some alone time and I hadn't gotten any. I got some yesterday and some this morning, and I'll get some tomorrow morning. I just can't go more than a day or so without a few hours to myself. I am such an extreme introvert.

I am really struggling with losing weight though. I can't seem to get out of this 5 pound rut I'm in. I get down to almost 260 and then shoot back up to 265. Over and over and over. It's driving me crazy. Hopefully this month will put me in the 250s for good.

Hope all is well with everyone!

MrUki: to the group! Sorry to hear that you are dealing with depression from unemployment and living with difficult relatives, but you have come to the right place! How much weight did you lose? We will do all we can to support you during maintenance. YOU CAN DO IT!!!

AmyLynne: Sorry you have a headache today. I get them all the time, so I can relate. That is great that you went back to counseling!!! I am very happy for you. And it sounds like it came at a good time, since you had friend overload last week. I am the same about needing alone time. It keeps me sane and grounded. I can very much relate to struggling with weight loss. I can't even get 5 pounds off. I think it is because of my thyroid. I have an appointment with an endocrinologist on November 19th and I am REALLY hoping and praying that she can help get my thyroid operating at an optimal level, so that I can FINALLY lose some significant weight again. Hang in there!!! It is so frustrating when the scale won't budge, but you will get results sooner or later if you are putting in the effort. Be patient with yourself. You have taken a step in the right direction by going back to counseling. That's PROGRESS!

Hello friends and Zumbachia, I hope you find this group helpful to you

to MrUki also!

Hi amylynne , sorry to hear of your headache yesterday.. and that you're not getting satisfaction from the scale! I hope it shows something good for you soon

Hi Kathleen! gosh I also hope that once you have your appt. with the endocrinologist, it helps with your weight loss success. And I hope you are still doing good with weaning off the depression drug?

HI to everyone else!

I am doing GREAT with exercising, and HORRIBLE with eating!! Each day at work I"ve had something cakey and delicious in the afternoon. I can't start that habit already!! I have tried eating a filling lunch..it's the psychological grab of that %&*@# sugar and fat. The exercising is for my mental health, and for my heart and strengthening muscles and bones..not for calorie burn. I don't know what to do to get myself back on track with keeping away from the goodies in the afternoon when I'm left alone

I hope your endo appointment goes well!!! I always hated going to the endocrinologist and seeing how many pounds I hadn't lost. Fortunately it has gotten better... I have polycystic ovaries so I totally understand how hard it is to lose this weight. Plus when I'm at work I get the munchies... we have snacks available for our clients and I go to town on them all the time.

Hello chicks

today I do have off, so I worked out, did a ton of laundry, found my snow tires and put them in the car 'cause I have an appt. tomorrow to swap them...yup we have to be prepared early up here. Yay for me for doing all that

I also have to prepare an agenda for tonight, it's our monthly motorcycle rights organization meeting, and I don't wanna but being Prez I kinda have to And the meeting is 40 miles away, ugh. It's not so bad in summer when we can ride but it sux in the cage! (cage = car )

I'm sure not in my happy summer mood but I'm not (yet) feeling Winter Dead, so there's that.

I've never ridden a motorcycle, Holly, but I've always wanted to! So cool.

The coworker I was having issues with got the boot today I feel a little bad being so excited but my life just got a lot easier. I got upgraded to full time!!! I'm official So I am eligible for benefits now, plus I will be working more and making more money which will definitely help. 28 hours just wasn't enough. I will definitely miss having half of Wednesday and all of Thursday off though!! And my Christmas plans are slightly in jeopardy... he was supposed to cover 3 of my shifts. Uh oh. Hopefully they will get covered by someone else.

Sorry I haven't been posting, but I've been utterly trashed all the time. I just discovered what has been wrong with me. I've been suffering severe muscle cramps & spasms, plus nausea so bad I have barely been able to eat a thing. It was really wearing me out!

But today I realized that I had mistakenly been attributing these symptoms to the changes my body is going through as a result of the Qigong treatments, when in fact I had screwed up my withdrawal from Geodon, a powerful antipsychotic—one not to be messed with. I started the withdrawal at the farm because the Qigong was so helpful, I wasn't needing the Geodon so much. But I blew it big time and tapered it way too fast. No wonder I have been so sick! So now I've calculated a more sensible taper and marked it in my datebook so I won't forget to withdraw sloooowly. I still feel very weak this evening, but the nausea has abated so I could actually eat my lunch, and the cramps & spasms are much more tolerable. =whew=

Greetings to the new folks!!! Y'all sound like excellent additions to the thread. I'm afraid that's all the energy I have to spare, before giving the kitties their evening meds and then going blotto...

Hi everyone,

I doubt I will be on much for the next week or so. I have a kitty who is very sick and he will probably be put down tomorrow. I am heartsick. He is my little buddy. I am crying a lot and don't feel like talking much.


Much love to all.

Lisa: I am so very sorry to hear about your sick kitty! I am thinking of you and keeping you in my prayers today. Putting an animal down is the WORST. My heart breaks for you. Hang in there!

Holly: My taper off of Abilify is still going great. It is an anti-psychotic drug for bipolar disorder. I thought I would have to be on it for life, but my doc agreed to let me try to get off of it. Thank God! My life is SO incredibly different now from when I first went on the drug. I have only had one manic episode in my entire life and the details surrounding it were very confusing and controversial, so I really don't think I've needed the drug this long. Weight gain/difficulty losing weight is a big side effect, so good riddance to Abilify!!!!! HOORAY for YOU for doing "GREAT" with exercising! Just focus on PROGRESS with your eating. It will come. It is SO difficult to put the "whole (weight loss) package" together, isn't it?!? It sure sounds like you had a really productive day yesterday. Good for you! I hope all went well with your motorcycle rights organization meeting. I still think that is so "KEWL" that you are the PREZ!!! "cage = car" = hilarious!!!

AmyLynne: HOORAY that your difficult co-worker got the boot!!! Not to gloat about someone else's misfortune, but your life will be easier without having to deal with that person, so I am happy for you! And your upgrade to full time is terrific!!! I love good news! Hope you will be able to get someone else to cover your shifts at Christmas time.

Fi: Sorry to hear that things have been difficult for you, but happy that you figured out what has been wrong. Good luck with your SLOW Geodon taper! Hope all goes well!

Things have been okay with me. There always seems to be room for improvement in the food and portion control categories, but exercise has been good. I have been extra tired again lately, though, and I am hoping it is just my thyroid still being low. It is so frustrating to not have enough energy to do all the things I want to do! Oh well, at least I am getting the necessities done. I will choose to be happy about that! I am so sad for one of my best childhood friends. Her 47-year-old husband died of lung cancer (not a smoker either) the other night. He has been very sick for 2 years, so they knew this was coming sooner or later, but he was so young. Just feel heart-broken for my friend and her children right now. Sorry to end on a downer, but that's what is mostly on my mind right now.

Waving hello to everyone and wishing you well!

Fiona, I am so sorry you have had such severe problems! I hope the taper goes better slower. I'm glad it's getting better as you have figured out a better taper... Tapering out antidepressants is really hard but it's so worth it.

Lisa, I am so so so sorry about your precious kitty. I totally understand not wanting to talk. We are here for you!

Kathleen, thanks for the encouraging words. So sorry to hear about your friend's husband. That is so upsetting. Praying for her and her family, and you.


Y'all, I am severely procrastinating on homework I need to do for my grad school classes. I procrastinated on the last paper and I got a bad grade on it (because I waited so long!) and I am totally doing the same on this. I have to get a good grade! Hoping I dont wait until Sunday to do it - and if I do, I'm hoping I still get to see my friends that day.