Having Trouble Losing Weight with Fibro
katie001x
Posts: 19
Hi everyone. I've been working on exercising more and eating healthier since May. While I think I've done well (other than the few times I fell off the wagon), I'm having trouble losing weight. It seems like once I lose some pounds, I end up gaining it back and then some. I'm always hungry, I'm always exhausted, and I have no motivation. I don't know what I need to do to get this weight off. I'm 22 years old. I was skinny in high school. It only took me 4 years to double my weight from when I was skinny. That is not healthy. Does anyone else have this problem? Has anyone gone through this and was able to push through? Any advice is appreciated. Thank you.
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Hang in there Katie! I know it can be discouraging. It does seem like the pounds go on fast, but come off at a much slower rate. With fibro our bodies are all messed up. What works for me may not work for you. I think the best approach is to make sure you've set up your goals realistically. Of course I'd like to be 150 tomorrow, but I think it will take me to the middle of next year to get there at the rate I'm going. I don't exercise much. I just don't have the energy, or motivation. After work, which is a struggle to get through, all I want to do is come home and do nothing.
Are you currently on medication for your fibro? Some medications make it more difficult (if it wasn't already) to lose weight. Also, I'm on vitamin D, since I was severely deficient, which only helps slightly with my exhaustion. If you're not on Vit D, I would ask my doctor to be tested. Getting enough sleep each night is one of the keys for exhaustion. I think I need at least 10 hours to function at my "normal", but that isn't possible so it's a daily struggle. Some days worse than others.
Hang in there!! We are are struggling and we can support each other through this process!
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I'm on Tramadol and Escitalopram. I only just got diagnosed in March of this year after 9 years of suffering. Right now I'm waiting on my insurance to give an approval for a sleep study. I've already done the consulation, and I have chronic insomnia, but they won't prescribe me a sleeping pill until they find out whether or not I have sleep apnea. And I completely understand about the exhaustion. I made a goal to go to the gym 3 days a week: Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. I haven't gone the past three gym days. But I'm going in today on a non-gym day to get a work out in. Thank you for the support and I will ask my doctor about vitamin deficiencies. I've read from one of my fibro support groups that a lot of fibromites (but not all) have a B-12 deficiency.0
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I was on Nortriptyline and Amitrytiline, and now am on Trazadone to put me to sleep. They are psych drugs for depression (I don't have depression), but it helps me get into the REM sleep pattern. I still am tired each day. My doctor said I needed to lose weight (I already knew that! LOL), or else I'd have to go on more medication. I'm currently taking Savella, Celebrex, Trazadone and Vitamin D. I was taking other vitamins, but with trial and error, realized they didn't do anything for me. I also have cut out red meat. I eat it occasionally, but not near like I did. With a lot of fibro sufferers...Irritable Bowel Syndrome if very common. I've not been diagnosed with that, but my stomach always bothers me.
My motto to lose weight...."One day at a time"! I'm under 220, so my next goal is 215. Baby steps which are realistic help keep me on track!!
How was the gym???0 -
Lol. I was diagnosed with IBS way back when all this started. I look back at all the symptoms that I had and look at the most common symptoms of fibro, and it makes me wonder, why didn't they see it right away? It was all right there in front of them! I had depression, IBS, pain even though I was physically healthy, headaches with no cause, cysts in my ovaries that could be endometriosis, fatigue, difficulty sleeping..... It's like a face palm that they didn't connect the dots. Lol. But instead, my old doctor decided that the pain was all in my head. And then decided that I was a hypochondriac. So I stopped going to the doctor except for my annual check up, and if I had a sinus infection that lasted more than a month. My husband finally convinced me to find a new doctor. I did. I didn't even tell her everything because I was scared she would think I was a hypochondriac. But my rheumatoid factor was extremely high so she sent me to a rheumatologist. He was the one that finally diagnosed me. He said it was very clear. He couldn't figure out why my rheumatoid factor was so high though, so he wants me to come in on a regular basis to make sure rheumatoid arthritis doesn't show up.
The gym was good! And I definitely felt the burn! Lol. Going to the gym tonight!0 -
Hi Katie! What a nine years of suffering you've been through! I'm glad you found a new doctor because it sounds like the old one was part of the problem, not the solution. I have Fibro and related conditions that add to my fatigue and pain but, after firing my first doctor too, finding a better one, and deciding I'm in charge of my own health, I'm doing much better.
I agree that it takes patience and setting realistic goals to make slow but steady progress. Have no doubt though that you can make progress! Here's some more food for thought:
First, your skeleton and other organs aren't fully developed until you're twenty five years old. So your body is still growing and taking shape. Make sure you're getting enough of the right nutrtion for a growing woman.
Second, I recommend you check out the work of Bruce Campbell, PhD, a Stanford University scientist who had Fibro and cured himself. Now he runs a program and has books to help others with it to get well. For more info go to
http://www.cfidsselfhelp.org/about-us/bruce-campbell-bio. It's really good!
Third, right behind sleep as an important factor is diet. Diet can help control or contribute a lot towards inflammation which underlies the Fibro and IBS to a great degree. There's lots of info on this online but I found Time Magazine's cover story on this in 2004 very helpful as a starting point. For more on this you can visit http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,993419-1,00.html. I also recommend the documentary 'Forks Over Knives' to you to enlighten you more about the amazing influence of diet on all this. Because of what I've learned, I've become a vegan and I can say I've noticed real improvement in my condition since.
Fourth, I suggest you get familiar with Reiki, the Usui System of Healing and learn to do it for yourself because it's a fantastic tool for creating inner peace, promoting sleep without drugs, and healing yourself,
Lastly, get yourself some postive thinking friends here at MFP because they will help you stay motivated and keep you laughing, another form of good medicine. Feel free to add me if you like.
By the way, NO ONE should use what they weighed in high school as a standard because no one is fully developed then and who they are going to be.
Best wishes.
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Even a 20 minute walk will help you move forward. I know some days I just don't feel like moving...but when I don't move I feel even worse. It is hard, but not impossible. Also, look at your choice of foods and change them up a bit or a lot. It kick starts my body to elemenate some foods for a while. Hang in there on a plateau - it IS progress, you are NOT gaining. But then I gain a bit, and work to re-claim the lower number on the scale. Hang in there you are worth it.:flowerforyou:0
