How long have you been contending with obesity?
For many, contending with obesity is a life-long battle. How long have you been living with it and what helps you cope best?
I’ve been living with obesity for about three years, since my T2D diagnosis. Ozempic helps with appetite, and daily walks plus simple low-carb meals keep me on track.
I hope you start seeing both the blood sugar management and weight loss effects of Ozempic soon. Are you experiencing any negative side effects? I'm glad you are incorporating daily walks. Not only are helpful for achieving physical health goals, but walks can be so good for the soul as well. Best wishes. - Lori (Team Member)
I started gaining weight in 2011. Due to several factors. I quit smoking, had 3 surgeries in 4 years. Plus 2 major moves. There have been several emotional upheavals along the way. Bottom line, I was diagnosed as obese in 2019. I'm not coping well
my weight stabilized at 215 for about 3 years. A few months ago my husband was diagnosed with liver cancer. I have gained anput 15 pounds now. I am so sorry to hear about your husband's diagnosis,
. How is he doing with treatment? It can be really hard to take care of yourself when you are caring for someone else and when you are always worried about them. I hope you are patient with yourself. You can only do so much. Can you try to focus on preventing weight gain right now instead of focusing on loss? Maybe if you can stabilize again for a few months, you can eventually start making small changes that will lead to slow, but sustainable loss. Gentle hugs. - Lori (Team Member)
I didn't start to pile on the pounds until my neurologist put me on depokate for my migraines. Even then it wasn't too much until my thyroid started to malfunction. I wanted to cry when my weight went up to 200 lbs., then 210 topping out at 236. I am currently at 212 and seem to have plateaued. The only solution that the weight loss doctor had was a gastric bypass. Not going there. I would like to lose another 90 lbs, but I'll be happy to be under 200 lbs.
I really wish neurologists and psychiatrics would share more information about the potential for weight gain with drugs like depokate. Even if you have no choice but to take it, it can helpful to be aware. Are you still taking depokate? Is your thyroid under control now? Getting under 200 pounds sounds like a reasonable and attainable goal. Hopefully, exercise will get easier as the days begin to get longer again and you'll have even more success. Personally, I have much more trouble getting motivated at this time of year. Is that an issue for you as well? - Lori (Team Member) I have chronic migraines -- I started on Depakote 25 years ago because it's considered one of the safest, most effective migraine treatments to help get a handle on migraines. I also gained an amazing amount of weight, and it made my hair fall out. But it helped with the migraines. Once there was a handle on the migraines, I was able to switch to a different medication in the same category that continued the success Depakote started. Talk to your doctor about other medications in the same category.
I think you're very smart to say no to weight loss surgery. Keep in mind that surgery impacts how your medication is absorbed (and how other things are absorbed) for the rest of your life. Think of this horror -- you have the surgery, you lose weight, but your migraines become intractable because you no longer absorb medication the same way! So you're skinny but in intractable pain. UGH.
Since I was 18, so 37 years or so. I'd have periods where it would go down, but was still obese. I was diagnosed with endometrial cancer this past May. It was found really early and a total hysterectomy got it all with no chemo or radiation. I decided once I was healed and cleared it was time to tackle my obesity once and for all. I'm 55 now and want to age in a more healthy way
Thank goodness they caught your cancer so early and that surgery was so successful,
. How scary. I hope you are able to lose the weight even if it takes a while. We're here for you whenever you need support or a safe place to vent. Best wishes. - Lori (Team Member)
