Fatness sucks: case in point

For two years, a friend of mine from school and I have been planning on arranging a hot air balloon ride to celebrate successfully completing our school program. Over the last couple of months we've been tossing dates back and forth and making a more specific plan. I finally called to make the reservation today, after including a couple more friends in the planned outing, volunteering to drive to the site, and encouraging everyone else to make their reservations soon too.

The hot air balloon company won't take me because of my weight. Their usual maximum limit is 240 pounds but they will allow up to 300 for an additional fee. I'm still over that.

Luckily, when I had to tell my friends I couldn't do it they were supportive, but the whole thing was awkward and embarrassing for me.

Maybe I can revisit the idea later. :-(

Update on phentermine trial

I've been on the 30mg QAM phentermine for about 2 weeks now and I thought I'd do an update. For one, it's not making me super anxious, which is something I was concerned about. In fact, the first few days I took it I felt extremely exhausted and sleepy. My weight was 357 on the morning that I started the phentermine and this morning I weighed in at 349.8, so it does seem to have kick-started my weight loss again and ended my last plateau. There's often one day per week that I don't take it due to my changing sleep schedule for work.

I do still feel hungry, especially when I first wake up in the morning. And sometimes I wake up at night and I'm so starving I go downstairs and have a protein shake or something quick. I don't know if that's because the phentermine has warn off by bedtime, or perhaps related to my ever-shifting day-night sleep schedule due to work. I don't remember being as aware of the intense hunger in the night during my days off before. I am eating, and thinking about, food less often. I did notice my usual upswing in my cravings for fatty foods in the week before my period, despite the drug.

One thing that I've noticed is that I sweat A LOT since starting the medication, even with mild exertion. For example, for work sometimes I have to wear a plastic gown to go into certain patients' rooms, and this has always been a sweaty, uncomfortable situation for me, but during the last two weeks if I find myself in that situation, I sweat through my scrub top to the point that there are dark circles under my arms, down my back and front. And just walking at my normal pace causes beads of sweat to roll down my forehead.

So, I've only lost 13 pounds in the 6 months my doctor has been intentionally working on weight loss with me, which is discouraging, but the rate over the last two weeks with the phentermine is brightening my outlook some. I have no certainty about keeping it off when I stop taking the pill, or how long it will work for. Another friends said it lost its effectiveness for her after about 6 months. Cautiously optimistic & glad to see the numbers decreasing again.

Phentermine trial

So I met with my primary care doctor again today. On the protein regimen (>100g protein per day, <100g carbs per day) I lost about 10 pounds over 2-1/2 months, then started glucophage 100mg BID in addition to the protein regimen and I've been plateauing between 354-358 for the last 2 months or so.

Today, I again brought up the possibility of getting a sleeve gastrectomy, or at least starting the referral process so that in 6 months if I'm still not making decent headway with medical management I can go ahead and get the surgery. I made it clear that I would keep being committed to any recommendations he could add to the medical side of things, and that as long as I continued to lose weight with his regime (and at a rate that will get me where I want to be before I'm 40) that I would postpone surgery, even beyond the necessary 6 month preparatory period.

He agreed to that arrangement, and wrote orders for some pre-operative lab work, mammography, bone density scans, etc that I am supposed to get done as part of the referral process to the surgical program. He also prescribed phentermine 30mg once a day before breakfast, to try to get me off my current plateau. I picked it up from the pharmacy and took my first dose around noon today. Normally I would be concerned about taking it so late in the day, but I'm working night shift tomorrow night, so I need to stay up late tonight in preparation for that anyway. My other concern with phentermine is that my personality tends toward the anxious (not outwardly, according to my friends, but very much so on the inside) and I worry about the phentermine heightening my anxiety. Fingers crossed that it's just an extra boost of energy to get some school work and exercise done.

I did 2-3 hours of yard work the other day and my body really felt it the next day. My arms were as weak as cooked spaghetti. Felt good to do something physically demanding though.

I will continue to track and share my progress. Here's my current front and side view. About 357 pounds this morning.