Returning to My Roots

Sep 06, 2015

Obesity Help was where my journey started.  I used to frequent this site hours each and every day: reading stories, looking at the inspirational before/after photos on the front page, sharing all about my experiences and gleaning from the experience of others.  I've not been here in a very long time.  I guess Ive gotten so used to my new life, put the past behind me and didn't really have a reason to come back.  However, occasionally I get a friend request on OH with someone asking if I still have my blog (which I quit writing a few years back).  Today I decided... maybe its time to return to the place it all started.  I could use the support and have issue(s) of my own to share.  

One of the biggest things I've dealt with over the past few years is reactive hypoglycemia.  And, my Insulin Resistance returned.  Remember when your doctors told you that weight loss surgery would cure diabetes, PCOS, Metabolic Syndrome/Insulin Resistance?  Well...  guess what.  Studies are now showing that those conditions usually return within 5-6 years.  It's more of a "remission" for lack of better terms...  My blood sugar was crashing within 2 hours of eating a meal.  I had to eat something to get it back up, and it was a vicious cycle of feeling lousy all the time.  I felt just like I did just prior to my weight loss surgery (same issues occurred back then).  Eat a meal + 2 hours later = crash.  My doctor put me on Victoza a few weeks ago.  Thing seem to be leveling out.  I'm feeling better, more alert, less fatigued, even my anxiety has somewhat been alleviated.  

The biggest thing that upsets me is this:  I have known all along that those medical conditions I had prior (PCOS, Metabolic Syndrome/Insulin Resistance) could return.  I kept a close watch on it for a number of years.  But, looking back at my weight tracker (which goes back to 2006), I identified weight gain occurring in October 2013.  This past year or so I've felt lousy.  I tried to tell my physician last year that I thought something was going on with my PCOS or Insulin Resistance.  But, he said go see the nutritionist. We will start there, and if that doesn't help, we will do something natural.  I guess he didn't want me taking Metformin or other drugs.  I should have pushed the issue sooner.  (If you read farther back in my OH blogs, you will see that I truly believe PCOS and Insulin Resistance was a tremendous reason I was obese).  I know I was eating more - as a nurse friend explained to me, not only did I have to eat more frequently in order to get my blood sugar up after a crash, but when the insulin does not make it to the glucose, your body feels like it is being starved to death.  So, I was eating larger portions as well (still, they were not "regular people" portions).  The insulin wasn't utilized or used, which resulted in being stored around my midsection.  REPEAT OF A PREVIOUS LIFE BEFORE WEIGHT LOSS SURGERY!

Victoza is helping me not feel hungry.  I feel better that my portions are now like they were a year after my weight loss surgery.  I feel full all the time.  I don't crave breads, bagels, pasta.  I am not having to eat so frequently or as much.  So what do I want to have you take away from this story?  Please, if you have a medical condition, please continue to monitor it.  See your doctor before gaining all the weight back.  I am so thankful that I was 163 and not 251 as I previously was.  I am now back down to 154 in just a few weeks. 

Part of my "home coming" is to help me continue this next phase of my journey.  Maybe I forgot that it's a journey - a lifelong one...  and somewhere I thought I had reached my destination.

0 Comments