Help losing weight?

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Thanks I hope the arthritis eases up soon too...it always does eventually...patience & gentler exercise routine.

I think you are right to conclude that the trouble with your leg yesterday morning might have been due to swelling caused by new exercises. Sometimes when I over exercise while my arthritis is flared up I will get some numbness or weakness in my arms and legs - this is because the inflammation from my arthritis (around joints, spine) is combining with inflammation in muscles and soft tissue (normal and healthy result of exercise - muscles especially will have some minor swelling due to increased blood flow and the repair of tiny tears in their fibres, which is how they grow and regenerate themselves). The combination of swelling from an injury/arthritis and muscle inflammation from exercise can often be enough to pinch nerves, which gives the sensation of tingling, numbness and weakness. I do just what you did when this happens - stretch it out & keep moving. Often I will focus my workout for that day on other parts of my body though, just to give the swelling a chance to recede a little.

Remembered a good thing yesterday in my comfort-food-craving-frenzy. A babysitter when I was young taught me that you can microwave apples to make apple sauce...just pierce the apple with a fork a few times & microwave on high for two to three minutes, depending on the size of the apple. Let it cool for a few minutes (it steams within the skin) you can then tug gently on the stem & the core will usually slip right out. With cinnamon sugar & a handfull of pecans this was almost as satisfying as pie...almost

Medications can have a problem.

Until a little more than a month ago, I've been gaining weight faster than at any time in my life and I started trying to figure out why. At the same time, I've been taking more antihistamines than ever before. So I did a web search and found that in some people antihistamines el lead to weight gain. There are even antihistamines that doctors have been known to prescribe to help them gain weight.

Apparently, if you gain weight in response to one antihistamine you may gain weight in response to any antihistamine. I've quit taking antihistamines entirely and my weight gain has seemed to level out.

I mentioned this to one doctor and he was surprised because he had never heard of any connection between antihistamines and weight gain. So he did a web search and found that there are a few legitimate peer-reviewed journal papers on the subject. His comment was that the limited number could reflect the difficulty in doing research on them.

Many other medications can lead to weight gain, too. On the medications you take, you might want to ask the pharmacist for the "package insert". If they don't want to give it to you, take your prescription elsewhere to have it filled. I don't know if it is true, but I've been told that if you ask for the package insert they are required, by law, to give it to you. Once you get the package insert, read through it looking for anything that indicates a possible weight gain as a side affect.

For what it's worth, I won't accept a medication without the package insert. However, that is becoming rather useless because the print is too fine for me to read any more without a magnifying glass.

By the way, on the subject of antihistamines, I gained about twenty pounds over the 20 years from the age of 20 to 40. To the best of my knowledge, I never took an antihistamine until I was about 38. Since then, I have gained 80 pounds over 20 years -- a rate 4 times higher than the previous 20 years. It may or may not be coincidence that the weigh gain came during periods when I was taking antihistamines.

I'm certain my medication caused my weight gain from 135 (which I had maintained for years just fine) to 163. It happened in a very short time, right as I started it. I had to adjust all of my other medications afterward because the gain was so much that it threw off the effectiveness.

However, I can't stop taking it. No other medication helped me with the symptoms that this one does.

Today I haven't done much, but I have eaten a big apple as a snack so far. I'm not sure what I'm going to eat the rest of the day. It's a work day, which makes things rough because I can't eat for two hours before work or during work because my anxiety flares up very bad if I have anything on my stomach.

Tomorrow I don't have work, so I can focus on eating right and often enough

I also always research side effects before starting new medications, but I did not know that one could request the package insert from the pharmacy. This is sure to save me some research time in the future - thank you so much for explaining this Eric76.

Dragonwhiskers, I hope today was a better day & that you've been able to eat again. I can sympathize completely with the feeling of having your tummy tied in knots by anxiety. On days when I have a panick attack, I am rarely able to eat. I wish I had a perfect solution to this problem that I could recommend. I have been trying to apply exposure therapy techniques to my panic/anxiety. It is working a little, though, slowly. I am happy to post a few links to info&instructions if you are interested in having a look. I remember reading that anxiety is often triggered by thyroid problems...but that, unfortunately, as with most of the other precipitating factors in an anxiety disorder, the anxiety lives on after the thyroid condition stabilizes...until you can find therapy or coping techniques that work for you.

Try keto, some people find it hard to cut out all carbs, but it was really easy for me as I have IBS and a lot of the carby things I liked also gave me horrible stomach issues.

I've lost 70 pounds so far as of today, and I have 30 more to go.

I didn't know anyone got medication without the inserts. Maybe it's different in different countries? I am in the US, and every time I get medicine, no matter how many times I've gotten it prescribed/renewed, the insert is always included.

I don't read them, though. I usually ask my pharmacist lots of questions instead, I have a list of things I know to look for, and I also ask about any specific warning signs I need to be on the look out for in case of a reaction. I did read the insert once for something but it really freaked me out (even though I know rare side effects are called rare for a reason), so now I avoid them.

A lot of people I know have had good results on cutting out carbs, but man I love carbs! Most of my digestive problems are directly related to my anxiety, but I do have problems when I eat mainly carbs, not that it's good for me anyways. I am trying to cut down on the carb intake, though.

The main solutions I've come up with for anxiety messing with my stomach is to deal with the specific problems the best I can. I try to avoid eating when I know I'm going to be going somewhere or working, I carry TUMS and phenergan with me (latter for emergencies only, I have emetophobia and the anxiety-sick will trigger even worse anxiety if I feel too sick or feel sick for too long), I visit all new places at least once before having an event there so I can map out all exits and bathrooms, etc. It's a lot to deal with, but that's life I guess!

Today has been better for me. Still didn't eat the best because of free food (apple, and dinner was fried shrimp and some fries) and plans, but tomorrow I'm going to shop for some new healthy snacks so I hope that will change soon!

You're probably getting a patient information sheet. It's not the same as the package insert. The package insert is far more detailed.

You're welcome.

When you ask for the package insert, the pharmacist will likely be very surprised. It appears that very few people ever ask for them.

Last winter when I went to pick up a prescription at one pharmacy, the pharmacist was not only surprised but made of of the more stupid comments I ever heard made by a pharmacist. The pharmacist told me words to the effect that if he gave me the package insert and then someone else wanted the package insert, they wouldn't have one to give them! I burst out laughing at that one. I don't think he realized how stupid that sounded.

Keto can mess with the thyroid gland and cause fatigue. I would not recommend it for someone who already suffers from thyroid problems.

Really? I have a slightly slow thyroid my endocrinologist said but I was only super fatigued for about two weeks. After that though I've been quite energetic.

No, this is supposed to be after a long time on a low-carb diet. As in six months.

I'm pretty sure I'm getting the package insert. It's usually a small packet-like thing that is stapled or folded multiple times, with fairly small type, that has tons of information and is usually written in more than one language. Most of them are a few pages long at least, and are on paper that reminds me of Bible paper, really thin and makes that crinkly sound.

I'm going into my sixth month now.

Hi there!

There have been tons of good suggestions so far, and I just wanted to add one thing based on personal experience. Many of the issues you have mentioned having can be connected to a MTHFR gene mutation. It's pretty complicated to explain all of that, so I'll give you a link so you can check it out. In certain cases (I am a prime example of this) the gene mutation makes it difficult for your body to use folic acid (vitamin B12) among other things. This can cause or exacerbate all kinds of problems. I went to a naturopathic doctor and got a treatment plan that involves a specific diet, taking different forms of B vitamins that my body can use, and some other supplements. This has completely turned around my digestive, mood and thyroid problems and led to natural weight loss.

Everyone's situation is different, but there are so many similarities I figured it was worth mentioning! More and more mainstream doctors are getting hip to MTHFR issues, and naturopaths and functional medicine docs have been treating it for ages. This is just one of many online resources about the gene defect, various issues related to it, diagnosis and treatment.

http://www.stopthethyroidmadness.com/mthfr/

The package insert is usually pretty small type and on such paper. I don't remember ever seeing one in multiple languages but that could merely be because I didn't pay attention to any other languages if they are there. I've never seen one stapled.

I suspect that the only times a package insert is routinely given is when the patient is receiving a medication in its original package and the package insert is inside the package. Whenever they are dispensing things like pills, where they are putting maybe 20 pills into a pill bottle from bottles that contain large numbers of pills, they only have one package insert and could not possibly give one to everyone. But they would have plenty of the patient information sheets.

If you've ever seen a Physician's Desk Reference, the information given for the various drugs are the contents of their package inserts.

Update for today:

Didn't eat very well (one big, unhealthy meal), but I did get out of the house and got lots of things done without getting very anxious or panicked.

Did a good bit of stretching, my muscles are already loosening up better! Tonight when I held my legs straight out and above the ground, my hips would make a popping sound, but it didn't hurt or anything. I think it has to do with working the area in a way that it isn't used to, and as long as I don't feel any discomfort or pain I'm going to keep doing that.