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Saturday, October 22, 2011

I got in trouble yesterday...

To preface this post, I first have to explain about something that has been going on that you aren't aware of because I haven't been blogging.  I've mentioned it in passing before, but never in great detail.  About 8 years ago I started loosing my hair.  It was only in small quantities and I didn't really notice it too much.  I knew that my hair was getting thinner, but it wasn't bad enough to bother me all that much.  Over the past 2 years this has gotten extremely worse and when pictures are taken of me now, my hair is so thin and my hairline is so far receded that it looks like I have practically no hair at all. In an effort to try and stop the hair loss process and potentially even reverse it my doctor referred me to my very first endocrinologist.  I saw her for the first time about 3 months ago and she did a bunch of tests.  I was re-diagnosed with PCOS. She changed all of my medications and wanted to immediately refer me for weight loss surgery but I talked her into giving me some more time to try to lose it on my own.  I don't have the money for the surgery and my insurance won't cover it. It was a far from pleasant experience let me tell you. Yesterday was my follow up appointment...and I haven't even started losing yet.

Yesterday I was told that I am killing myself.  I was told that in a matter of months I will be a full blown diabetic.  I was told that my risk of complications is much greater than that of others.  I was told that there is no pill that will fix my problems and unless I decide to do something about it, I will basically kill myself.

So, I guess now is about the time that I have to start pulling some of those things off of the back burner.  The problem is that I just don't know where to start.  The obvious place would be to start with the weight loss, but I don't have the foggiest clue how to do it.  It seems like I have tried everything but I can never stick to it.  I just don't have the strength or the will power to stick it out.  I don't want to do this but I can't just not do it either.  I don't want to fail again.

I'm scared.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

It is hard because it so very much easier to eat the less beneficial foods than the good foods ... compare the cost of fresh fruits and veggies to junk food, or the cost of high sugar juices or soda to milk. And of course the advertising done to sell the high calorie, not-so-nutritious or even deceitfully marketed things.

I wonder if you have access to a library where you could get out some books on eating to look over?

My dad is diabetic, my brother is syndrome X (pre-diabetic) and I have others in my life with experience with messed-up glucose metabolism. The best approach I have seen for them, and what has also helped me, is a South Beach diet type of plan. It is a big shift (at least it was for me) but really worked well. Finding a maintenance phase is another issue, also possible but difficult.

Another approach - years ago I did something called the 'addition diet' which basically said - the first week, you MUST eat 2 fruits a day - eat anything else you like but you absoultely have to fit in those 2 fruite. then the next week was 8 glasses of water a day (plus continue the fruit). Then there was 5 servings of veggies added to the rest ... then soup 5X a week was added on ... etc. It helped me eat in a more healthy way, though I don't recall if it did much for weight loss.

I hope you will find your way through this. Any chance you could see a nutritionist, paid for by your insurance? jsut a thought ...

praying that your path will open up for you ...

Andie

the misfit said...

Did your doctor give you any kind of nutrition plan that was specific to you? I mean, you have specific medical issues, any kind of diet that worked for anyone else might not work as well for you (or might even be bad for you). I think her phrasing is super unhelpful. It makes sense to threaten someone who is complacent, because that person needs some sense knocked into him; not someone who is motivated to improve but feels helpless. You'll just scare the heck out of that person, which does not help. Is there some rule that requires doctors to have no people skills?

I don't know if you're looking for suggestions, and, as noted, others' suggestions might be unhelpful or harmful to you, but here's what I've got. First, I hear metformin is THE drug for PCOS. If you're not on it or the doctor won't prescribe it, maybe find one who will. Did the doctor say anything about the hair loss? If that is reflective of an endocrine problem, the doctor should be doing something to address it now, because it is an issue now. Weight gain DOES NOT cause hair loss, so saying that you have to lose weight first seems ridiculous to me.

As far as diet - I understand that a low-GI diet is recommended for PCOS, because PCOS is somewhat like diabetes. And my understanding of a low-GI diet is that it avoids not only processed sugars (obvious), but also simple starches, such as those in white bread and pasta. There are probably PCOS bloggers who could give you some good suggestions for favorite recipes or cookbooks to start here.

Least helpful, but the only thing I know anything about: weight loss. There are a few things that I have found helpful. First, I try to eat most of my food in the middle of the day. The American habit is to get the most calories with dinner, but this makes no sense. You don't do anything strenuous after dinner. Second, when I'm hungry during the day, I try to start with protein (cottage cheese, string cheese, yogurt, peanut butter, nuts, a slice of ham wrapped in a slice of cheese - pick something you like enough that you'd be willing to eat it all the time), because protein (and fat) take a long time to digest, in comparison with sugar and starch, so you'll feel full a lot longer. (I note that this is what I do when I'm being disciplined, which is not that often.) Third, a friend put me onto an exercise routine that's really helpful, no gimmicks, doesn't take a lot of time, and I've found it really makes a difference (I was running before, but this works better). The idea is 20 minutes of walking/running every other day at varying speeds - I can send you the details, tell me if you're interested - but it's supposed to run up your metabolism for 48 hours, and it does seem to. My friend has lost a ton of weight doing this, and I a little (I'm not doing it consistently).

Anyway, I'm sorry your doctor is rotten, and I wish you the best of luck with your health goals.