Recent Posts
Hi all,
I am presently contemplating weight loss surgery but I thought I would just reach out and see if anyone out there has a lost a great deal of weight and managed to keep it off. I am 5'3 and weigh 303 lbs and need to lose over 150 lbs. I have been on a countless number of diets and have lost 100 lbs at least 4 times, only to gain it back. I feel defeated and that perhaps I need to be realistic and consider another option-wls. Just curious about what some of you are doing to lose the weight and keep it off. Would love to hear your story.
M
on 8/7/13 5:26 am
on 8/7/13 5:25 am
Here's a recent article that appeared recently on abc about Belviq :
Here's a youtube video : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZtZyUjeSQ2g
I am posting this here because it fits - LOL. It looks to me like there are some promotional posts here that take you to some questionable sites, but that is my opinion.
Yesterday I signed up at a weight loss clinic to see if take some meds would help me stop gaining weight and hopefully take some off. My husband went with me and I found nothing at the clinic that was contrary to my internet research. I started today with Phentermine Hcl 30 mg and in four hours later will take a Topiramate 25mg. I am hoping to blog and see how it goes.
In 2008 I had RNY gastric bypass and lost an initial 130 pounds. I got into "Onederland" for about five minutes and not sure if I had a hard time dealting with that or what, but have slowly gained since then to a gain of 32 pounds. It has been slow, over 2-3 years, but gaining none the less.
I have not tried jumping back on the dieting bandwagon, as I was such a yoyo dieter, that I really cannot bear that again. I will say that I had had a very emotional 5 years since the surgery - my brother died at 50 from cancer and I took care of him, my mother in law died and then my mother died after losing her 2.5 year battle with cancer. I took leave to take care of her and quit my job after - I was doing mortgages, so that was a relief! It was scary to live on one income, but we did fine. I went back to work five months later.
We moved to Las Vegas at the end of 2011 - I transferred with my job - and we were able to buy a home there at the bottom of the market this time and have been getting reestablished. I had hoped being at a lower elevation would help my allergies/asthma, but it is worse, which is depressing, but I am not giving up on finding a good combination of supplements. I am pretty sure the added weight gain is adding to my problems with respiratory. Before I had the WLS, I had severe sleep apnea - as I lost the pressure was decreased and I am not wearing the machine right now, but might start back on it. My husband says I snore, a lot, lately.
We lost our other house to foreclosure in May - somewhat of a relief, but the inner feelings are more tumultuous. Luckily, right now, we are experiencing no negative side effects, but I worry about the future ramifications.
My husband is disabled and mostly a good source of support for me - I do want to continue to improve my own health in order to be able to take care of him - right now not so much physically, but lots of mental and cognitive stuff to keep track of. I have him more involved in this journey and I think he is seeing some of my struggles that I do not tell him about and he can be more supportive on his own, without my prodding.
I recently attended a WLS seminar with my friend, to support her, and found out about revision options. I had an Endoscopy by a bariatric surgeon and all looks good, but he does not do revisions and does not recommend a band over bypass for me, which I had mostly ruled out. He referred me to their clinic, but we were not all that "warm and fuzzy" about their process, so my husband said to look around. I met someone at work *****ferred me to where I went yesterday.
So, I am interested to see where this new journey will take me. I am very open to feedback/suggestions/opinions, which is why I posted here - I am also going to post this to my blog. I have not been to a support group since I moved here, but hope to attend some support and even the nutrition classes are open to non-patients as well, so hope to continue to look at getting back on track, as well as looking into a revision.
If you are still here, thanks for hanging in there and listening....
High/Low/Regain/Today/Goal
330/199/221/207/175
Thank you
Be careful - the drug (Belviq) is the subject of a FDA investigation right now as there are serious risk and safety concerns associated with the product.
Living larger than ever,
My Bariatric Life
Thank you for sharing the link.
In my opinion, there are some inacurracies in the article that you are referring to.
The article states: "Lorcaserin has had an effect on the serotonin receptor, the origin of theheart problems associated with phen/fen"
This statement is misleading. There are three receptors for serotonin, the 5HT2C receptor which Belviq targets specifically, and the 5HT2A and 5HT2B (fenfluramine) which Belviq does NOT target. Fenfluramine, which is the part of Phen/Fen that caused heart valve damage, targets the 5HT2B receptor.
Here is the FDA briefing document on Belviq: http://www.fda.gov/downloads/AdvisoryCommittees/CommitteesMe etingMaterials/Drugs/EndocrinologicandMetabolicDrugsAdvisory Committee/UCM303198.pdf
"Lorcaserin preferentially activates 5HT2C with 8- to 15-fold greater potency compared to
5HT2A, and 45- to 90-fold greater potency compared to 5HT2B" "Arena additionally demonstrated that based on functional activity across four in vitro assay platforms, lorcaserin grouped with low-potency 5HT2B agonists that are not known to be associated with clinical valvulopathy. By comparison, compounds known to cause clinical valvulopathy such as nordexfenfluramine and pergolide showed substantially higher 5HT2B receptor potency in these assays" "The 2011 receptor potency data provides supportive evidence that off-target activation of the 5HT2A or 2B receptors is unlikely at the proposed clinical dose of lorcaserin (10mg bid)" The article that you have enclosed also states "The medication should not be used by pregnant women". The FDA's opinion is that pregnant women should NOT think about losing weight until after they give birth. The fetus needs nutrients and depends on his mother in order to get the nutrients. The author should have done a lot more research before posting the article.