Hi - my name's Christy. I'm 29 and need to lose about 45 pounds. I have severe psoriasis and psoriatic arthritis - I really need to lose the weight for the sake of my joints.

My husband and I just moved to a new town. I'm a little depressed by how chubby I am. In the two week we've been here, I've been trying to follow a moderately low carb diet and exercise every evening and have lost 7 pounds so far. I think my bad mood is just a combo of the crummy weather today, my weight, and my thesis (working on a PhD in astrophysics)

I left school early today, came home and just ate. I have refrained from buying junk food, so I was binging on chips and salsa and veggie curry, so the damage probably won't be too bad

Nice to meet you all!

Hi, Christy. I'm Kelley (31 - just turned) and I have Lupus and Rheumatoid Arthritis. I'm new here on the boards, too. I'm married for 9 1/2 years, and I live in OKC w/ no kids.

I know how you feel. My joints hurt so much. I'm now about 220.. Geesh! I can't believe I just posted that. That is a first for me. I'm 5'6". I was a size 6 and about 119 when I got married (although I've always had weight problems - that was my smallest when I got married) I just got some pictures back we took last week, and I cried looking at pictures of my face and legs. I can't believe I've gotten this big. I guess I'm one of those people who doesn't see herself in her mirror.

Big problems for me and I bet for you, too is joint pain, stiffness and that deadly weakness we feel - even my muscles and skin hurt, too. It seems like by the time I'm limber enough to walk I can't because I'm so weak. The pain really wears on you, too. Like a vicious circle. I also eat huge portions.

Anyway, I don't know what I'm going to do either, but if you need a peer to talk about anything please feel free to e-mail me (my address in on my profile), or if you want to post here. I'll be here too. I'm really happy to find a group.

Kelley/okidoll

Thanks for your response!!! these autoimmune diseases are really exhausting, aren't they? I think I'm just tired today - never sleep well with the aching joints.

I'm headed to a new doctor on Thursday which I'm not excited about. I know I'll get the weight lecture and I hate the whole joint examination ("Does this hurt? What about this?")

On a lighter note, I have been doing well getting out and walking every day. We just need to keep taking it one day at a time - every good choice we make will get us closer to feeling our real age rather than feeling 80!

Sidenote: I'm on my third month of Enbrel now - love it. While I still get pretty stiff, before Enbrel I needed a cane to walk sometimes. And I was one of those 'cart people' at the airport. Now I can pretty much get by on my own.

I'm taking Methotrexate by injection once weekly. I take Vioxx daily and Plaquenil (for Lupus) and other meds. The Methotrexate has really helped. My hands were turning into stumps. I couldn't even write my own name. I could see and feel my joints twisting. It was really frightening. Thank God I got the use of my hands back. No med will get my hands and joints back to the way they were, but at least I can use them. My wrists are turned in a little and my knuckles are huge. My feet/ankles are usually pretty bad at the end of the day.