Concerns

[jebsr]

Am I in the minority? Male-mid 70tys-gained weight as a result of med. to reduce my male hormones. Was on a 65 carb diet about 30 yrs ago. Lost a few pounds. Have been on about 20 max during the past 10 days. Zero zilch loss so far. Controled high BP. Blood work in the normal range.

[Karen]

Hello jebsr! You're not in the minority. A lot of people have difficulty because of various reasons.

It could be the BP meds.

This is from The Atkins Center (http://atkinscenter.com/Archive/2001/12/21-140295.html) website:

High Blood Pressure Medications and Metabolic Resistance
No medication has proven easier to get off of than blood-pressure drugs, which can interfere with weight loss.

If your inability to lose weight dates from the time you were put on anti-hypertension drugs such as diuretics or beta-blockers, you are in luck. That's because they are relatively easy to get off, compared to other pharmaceuticals. Moreover, there is an added impetus to get off of them, since most widely used medications carry considerable side effects.

How Diuretics Work

The diuretic medications work by preventing your kidneys from doing one of their most important jobs: reabsorbing the minerals your body needs. Blocking the kidneys' ability to reabsorb sodium and chloride takes salt out of the body and lowers blood pressure by lowering the fluids that stay in the body. But those blocked kidneys also lose their ability to retain valuable minerals: not only potassium, but also magnesium, calcium, chromium, zinc and many others. Prescription diuretics induce mineral deficiencies that can cause many problems. Numerous studies demonstrate that diuretics aggravate diabetes, elevate blood sugar and increase insulin levels, triglycerides and body mass index (the measure for obesity)1-3.

For all these reasons, Dr. Atkins and the other practitioners at The Atkins Center for Complementary Medicine insist that new patients on diuretics discontinue them and replace them with L-taurine, the natural amino acid that is a powerful diuretic but has no ill effects on kidney function.

Beta-Blockers
The other types of anti-hypertension drugs that aggravate all of the above are beta-blockers. If you are on a beta-blocker, you have little cause for concern about discontinuing your medication. In the first place, the controlled carb lifestyle that you are adopting lowers blood pressure itself. In addition to L-taurine, you may control blood pressure with magnesium, hawthorn, Co-enzyme Q10, carnitine and garlic. Because doing Atkins will naturally lower your blood pressure, continuing to take pharmaceuticals could put you at risk for an overdose. As always, speak to your doctor before discontinuing any medication.


What about starting a journal and recording your food? It helps to have the members of the forum give you advice on what you're eating too. Have you read the newest edition of Atkins? Things have changed a lot in 30 years. :)

Karen