Cakes symptoms and conditions

Just want to survey everyone and ask for responses for the following 3 questions:

1. how long did you keep your Mirena and if you no longer have it, why did you have it removed?

2. how many of you had your thyroid checked? who's came back abnormal? what were the levels?

(I'm a medical student doing research on this one since I believe the levonorgestrel affects our thyroid hormone. My TSH was elevated to 5.2 which is considered "subclinical HYPOthyroidism". This was mid cycle when my natural progesterone AND synthetic progestin were cumulatively high. When I had it rechecked 6 weeks later (around my period when any natural progesterone level is gone) it was normalized at 1.5. So I think that the P+P screws up our thyroid and can throw us into a high TSH and "hypothyroid state". The opposite effect may be true during menstruation and we can become HYPERthyroid for a few days... hence the really bad anxiety?!)

3. where is everyone from? perhaps we can have support group meetings?

I have been on Topamax for a little over a year. I've had most of the side effects; tingling, numbness in the fingers, dry mouth, forgetfulness, and weight loss - love the weight loss. All the side effects have sort of slowed down as I've been on the medication longer. The weight loss has slowed and I've even began to get my appetite back- I'm afraid I'm going to start gaining weight now! I've lost about 40 pounds and I needed to lose it, so that was wonderful. I've had a very hard time losing weight all my life so this was wonderful.

I was addicted to Coca Cola and this med also helped me kick that habit because I lost my taste for the carbonation.

Does anyone know if the weight loss usually evens out after about a year or a year and a half? I need to lose about 30 more pounds and was hoping that I would continue losing weight!

Anyway, I was on the Topamax for headaches and it has completely helped that! It has truly been a God-send for me. Other than monthly hormone headaches, I don't get migraines hardly at all!

I am wondering about having my doc up my dosage for the weight loss aspect????

I started taking some form of lisinopril (5-10 mg) ten years ago when I needed to lose 20-30 pounds, and had a mild BP problem. Now I need to lose 50-80 pounds, even though I no longer eat boxes of cookies, candy bars, packaged foods, salty snacks, crackers. No soft drinks (no diet either). Gave up butter, eggs, cheese last October. I also stopped baking cookies and cakes. I haven't lost 20 pounds yet. I too think my doctor is a quack and in cahoots with the drug pushers. They try to make you think every pain and discomfort is your weight and from what I'm reading, it's that %#@& snake poison. I forgot to mention the itchy eyes and the cough. I thought I was allergic to my house. I wake up reaching for the Visine. My doctor subscribed a tiny bottle of eye drops that cost $100. Yes, that's what I said. Once, about 5 or 6 years ago, I woke up and my head was the size of a prize winning pumpkin. Never did figure out what caused it, until now. Thanks for letting me vent. :-)

Hi Mollie!!

Well, what I say now might sound a bit strange, but I'M SO HAPPY TO HEAR, WHAT you're DOC said!!! It's so relieving to see, that a doctor is telling you that you could do NOTHING against the weight gain after getting off the pill!!

Believe me, it's much harder to hear things from a doc like "you should eat less" or "you should do everything to come off that weight immediately" and so on!! Because I just know, that I didn't eat too much the last months and I know, that it couldn't be normal to go up 2 dress sizes within just 3 (!) months (it's been 40 lbs I had gained after getting off Yasmin within such a short time!!!) WITHOUT eating cakes and chocolate and big amounts of other food every day.

And that it might last ONE year to get off the weight again I've heard from another woman in another german forum, too!! She also had gained about 40 lbs after getting off a bcp and after about ONE Year everything has eased up and normalized finally!! I can't say how, and if it happens suddenly, but just the hope that it WILL get away some day gives me hope again and gives me more patience again!!

There's really not much doctor's that really admit that getting off a bcp can cause such a weight gain and I'm so happy to hear, that your doctor does!!

All the best wishes and much patience to everyone out there suffering!!

Silke

Hi Sherry!!

No, the weight gain didn't ease up at all..... And I feel your pain, too!! I've been controlling my weight now for about 2 months (I therefore even bought a new digital scale which also shows the body fat you have...) and the weight even went up another 2 pounds since starts October without eating cakes and chocolate or anything else like that.... But at the moment it seems to have stopped (it didn't move for about 2 weeks now!). And believe me: I HOPE SO!!!

I'm totally caring about healthy food with less calories and how much I eat. Excercising for me is still not really possible because of the some days still upcoming muscle weakness I had been suffering from since december 2004. And even if it is not as bad as it was, I'm not able to workout or go for a walk longer than about 10 minutes a day... I hope this will get better soon (well, it already has gotten better, a few months ago I wasn't able to walk even that 10 minutes!!)....

It's so depressing to look into the mirror, see how fat you have become and not be able to do anything against it... :(

Well, in that times I try myself to remember, that it still needs time and someday everything will be ok. That's the only thing that keeps me up a little...

The next tour with my band (February 2006) I've already canceled (the second band-tour within 13 years which I'm not able to join and everything just because of this wonder drug from hell....), because I don't think that until February I will be fit enough to handle that stress and I don't feel that I will look like the old "silke" until then... I can't go on stage at all in such a shape... I would be ashamed to dead...

It's all so sad, but I have to be thankful to be still alive after all that I went through the last year...

How are you doing Sherry?? Has anything helped, yet? How about the water pills??

Best wishes and god's bless to you out there!!
Silke