Last resort

[GatorGal93]

OK. This is it. I have been on the Atkins WOL since February and I continue to gain. I know this works. I have done it before, but I am really fed up. Isn't 6 months long enough to give something a go before you throw in the towel?

I ate plenty of cheese last time without stalling or gaining. I even had plenty of wine without a stall or a gain last time. The only differences were that 1) I was younger and 2) I took Fastin regularly (a prescription diet pill).

I can't take a diet pill anymore because I have hypertention. So, I have started taking Xenadrine EFX. That's makes a lot of sense, doesn't it? I am fat, so I have hypertention. I take a bp med (doctor recommended) which makes me fatter and I take Xenadrine (a different doctor recommended). Sounds real healthy, huh?

Sorry for the rant. I have tried to be supportive of everyone else here, but guess what? I need it now. I am to the point of tears and so depressed I am thinking of going BACK on Prozac. That would be great. I would probably gain ANOTHER 20 pounds!

Thanks for your time.

Julie

[wangeci]

Oh Julie,
I feel for you and am sorry you are going through this. With your hypertention and Blood pressure pill sometimes comes water retention have you checked in to see if you have water retention, some blood pressure pills really can do this. I used to be on one actually a calcium channel blocker and it made my feet swell up enormously, I think once I was off, I lost 10 lbs in an instant....I would check into this with your doctor. Also, maybe you cannot eat the cheese and have the drinks as before??? You may have to give them up. I do not know much about xenadrine you say you are on, but maybe if you consult with your doctor about some possible side effects of these, you may find an underlying cause of your lack of losing and also your gaining weight.

I wish I could help you more. Hang in there. And hopefully a few more people can post with some answers that can be of more help.

Cindy

[Rosebud]

Hi Julie,

Does the Xenadrine formulation that you take contain ephadra/ephedrine? Because if it does, you should stop taking it at once, as ephedrine raises blood pressure.
Whether or not you are taking ephedrine, you must tell the doctor who prescribed your BP meds that you have been taking the Xenadrine. Your health is too precious to mix drugs without knowing the side effects of the drug combinations.
I am an ICU RN, and have seen patients in ICU as a result of mixing and matching drugs, with prescriptions from different doctors. I'm not saying this simply to frighten you - I just want to impress on you the importance of letting your doctor know what other drugs you are taking.

Please, talk to your doctor.

I would definitely stop eating cheese for a while. In fact, given your hypertension, I think omitting all cured/manufactured meats would also be a good idea. The last thing you need to be eating is extra sodium.

While you are seeing your doctor, you might ask him/her about potassium supplementation. DO NOT (please!) take potassium supps without checking with the doc.

I hope things improve for you soon. :there:

:rose:Rosebud:rose:

[GatorGal93]

...for your replies. I really needed it. I haven't felt this bad since I started.

The Xenadrine EFX is ephedrine free (E phedrine F ree X enadrine). I took ephedrine before and temporarily lost my eyesight and almost had a stroke. So, very good advice, Rosebud.

Doctor #1 prescribed my bp meds. He is my gp and I cannot go back to him with all of this extra weight. He's a great doctor (I have been through a few) and I do not wish to change, but I just can't see him right now.

Doctor #2 (my gyn) recommended the Xenadrine EFX. He also prescribed a new bc pill which was supposed to reduce my bp. He said I should be able to eliminate the bp meds soon.

Well, my bp this a.m. before food and the bp med was #1: 144/106 and #2: 147/95. Needless to say, I immediately took my med.

I will not give up. But, I will give up the processed meats and all cheese (even feta? :confused: ).

Thank you very much Rosebud and Cindy. I appreciate it more than you know.

Julie

[Lunula]

Best of luck, GatorGal!

I took a look through the carb-listing for different foods (under "Low-Carb Tools" and then go to "Carbohydrate Counter" on top menu here) and was so sad to see feta as a "higher-carb-count" cheese. Might want to try using goat cheese instead - lower carb-count and tastes pretty similar. :)

I'm not losing weight quickly at ALL - as I haven't done formal induction and don't really plan to. I'm cutting some things out (potatoes & flour products) and cutting waaaaaay back on my sugar intake, will eventually get it down to almost nothing! It's tough not to see a weight-loss when you've worked so hard, I know... but I try and look at it like this - if I'm going to eat this way for the rest of my life, I'm not going to kill myself to lose all the weight in six months or something because I have all the time in the world.

Also, I've seen it said that your metabolism really needs to heal itself when you start LC'ing - so that might be what's happening. The "supplements" kind of scare me in general, hehe. Vitamins & minerals... ok - but the others I've always stayed away from because there are no FDA regulations around them. Just be careful & monitor your health! And again, good luck!! Don't give up!!! Who knows? You could be "giving up" a day before your body shifts into high-fat-burning mode! :)

[kodi10]

Hi..and I can empathize with your frustration.

Lord knows I have had my difficulties with this diet. It is not the diet or WOL per se, it is the slow weightloss. I have been stuck for over two weeks which felt like an eternity. Other weeks I have lost .5 pounds and the like. Rarely have I lost more than 1.5 - 2 pounds.

I found early on that I had to add weights and aerobics to my daily plan. I was driven hard enough to do daily workouts and aerobics.

If not for that, I too would possibly be gaining (or at least not loosing a thing). Atkins says that some people need to add exercise to see weight loss. I am one.

I just started (today) taking Xenadrine EFX. Like you, I hope it helps.

I wish you luck and just want you to know that I understand your pain. There is an answer to this, you just have to experiment to find it. Everyone is different.

-Dyna

[destro]

Julie,

I am very sorry for what you are going through. I can also identify. I DID have a lot of weight loss early on, however it has come to a stall. I am remaining optimistic, however, although optimisim is not a natural state for me--
Like you, I have multiple drugs that I take many (maybe all???) of which will slow down my weight loss. I continue to take the drugs since I believe that their benefits are more important than not taking them.

BUT I can totally understand how painful it is for you to have all your hard work seem to be to no avail. There are a couple of good possibilities to consider: even if you are not losing weight, you may still be getting healthier; even if you are not losing weight, maybe you are losing inches or gaining muscle.

Please try as hard as you can not to despair and give this some more time!

Natalie

[Kristine]

Hey Julie,

My sympathy, FWIW.

>>"He also prescribed a new bc pill..."

This could be your problem. Out of all the female friends, coworkers, etc that I've met who have been on BC, I have not met ONE who did NOT gain a noticable amount of weight, including yours truly. It works against all your best efforts to lose weight. You might want to consider a form of BC that doesn't involve artificial hormones.

Re: cheese - someone said feta was too high in carbs, but the brand I have has 0.1 g per 1 oz serving. It's Danesbourg.

[GatorGal93]

Thank you Kristine. I didn't mind not losing any weight, but GAINING was/is making me insane. I never correlated the weight gain with the switch in type of bc pills! After reading your post, I immediately called my doctor for a new new prescription. I will start it Sunday.

Thank you again,
Julie

[Kristine]

I'll cross my fingers for you. I think if you can go with the lower dose pills they have these days, that generally lessens the side effects. And I think it's the estrogen - ie, if you were on the "mini-pill" or depo-provera, which are just progesterones, it's usually less weight gain. But I still gained on depo-provera. It was just not as pronounced as it was when I was on the pill.

They need to get moving on that MALE bcp, IMHO. :D

HTH - good luck...

[tizzielish]

Meds and weight loss can be so complicated. I am sorry for your hard struggle.

Please let folks know how you do with the new medication, once you have had a chance to evaluate it.

I wish I could wave a wand and end your struggle.

[GatorGal93]

I was depressed all weekend.

Friday, I came home with nothing to do (I usually go to Key West for fishing on Labor Day weekend, but I am trying to save money since business is so bad). So I ate.

Saturday, I went fishing locally. Not one person on the entire boat caught a fish. More money wasted. Depressed. I ate.

Sunday, I didn't even leave the house. I ate.

Monday was better, but each day, I didn't want to get out of bed. Heck, yesterday I even woke with tears in my eyes. "Why should I get up? I have nothing to do." (no pms or tom either)

I have (almost) no friends or family to talk to. I want to see my doctor so he can prescribe something (preferably Phentermine - I was always upbeat on that) but I cannot see him weighing 30 pounds more than last time. (he was the one who put me on Prozac which I quit taking months ago)

I feel like an idiot typing this, but maybe I feel a little better at the same time.

I hate being so fat. :tears: I am too young to be this out of shape.

My fat clothes didn't even fit this a.m.

Signing off (can't see the screen through the tears). Thanks,

Julie