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Hi, My name is Tina and I just found this site today! I am so happy! I just went to the Dr. last week and he ran blood tests. So now, in addition to diabetes, high BP, anti-depressant meds, he tells me I have high cholesteral and wants to put me on an additional med! I am really fed up and getting serious about losing weight. I weigh 308 lbs. the new diabetes med made me really hungry and I ate all the time-gained the last 15 lbs. in the last 9 months! I was on Atkins about 5 years ago and lost 68 lbs. then got tired of it. Now, I need to regain my health, in addition to losing weight.

QUESTIONS: I also stopped Atkins because my hair was thinning. It still is and I have been off for over 5 years. Has anyone else had this problem?

2- The dr. said Glucophage wasn't working and put me on Avendament which made me ravenously hungry. I felt better on glucophage XR. I was on 500 mg. once a day (many times I took it twice a day)

3.- He is very open to low carb diets, but I can't say much about his interest in doing things naturally. I am sick of more meds and wanting to take control of my life instead of just letting things happen, so I am going back to the low-carb.

4. Has anyone had loss of hair from BP meds? My was thinning, but since I have been on BP meds., it is definitely worse.

5. My cholesterol is 232. I asked the nurse to send me the complete blood reports, so I am waiting for those.

Any help and encouragement anyone could give would be greatly appreciated. I am an emotional eater and am fighting hard NOT to eat when I am stressed!

Also, has anyone heard of HCA? I read about it in "The Diabetes Cure" and it seems to be helping.

Thanks to all of you. Tina

Hi Tina, I can't answer your questions, but want to welcome you to the baord. My think is that if you lost 68 lbs before, you can do that and more again. I have not seen it, but I have heard that there is a specific part of this forum for those who's goal is to loss 100 lbs or more. I have certainly heard, that with weight loss, often the associated health problems subside.

Anyway, I am sure someone will point you in the right direction on your questions.

Hi Tina! Welcome aboard!

I'll answer a couple of your questions:

1) If you've been off Atkins for 5 years and your hair is still thinning, it's probably unrelated to diet.

3) Good for you! Your doctor is not your dad or your boss - s/he is an advisor. IHMO, those kinds of medications are a band-aid solution - they don't solve the problem. Why not solve the problem and eliminate the need for the meds?

Much luck to you. Seek help (here or elsewhere) in fighting the emotional eating thing. Like a boyfriend who has cheated on you, food has stabbed you in the back and you need to kick it to the curb, even though you may still love it.

Just be sure to check in with your doc because you will surely need your meds adjusted.

Keep us posted!

Kristin, I love the way you always insert humor into answers. I love that little line about the boyfriend and food!! ROTFLMAO!!

Tina, you've made a good step by deciding to go low carb. If you scroll on down the list of forums here you will find one for folks who want to lose more than 100 pounds.

If you are interested and haven't decided exactly what low carb diet is best for you, why don't you look in on the Dr. Bernstein forum. That's on down below as well. Dr. Bernstein is a diabetic and developed a low carb approach to controlling diabetes. It might be worth your time in checking it out. Also, to the right of this thread is a list of quick links. The first one is "Which low-carb plan is right for me?" If you click on that link it will show a page with low carb diets and a synopsis of which each plan is about.

Good luck to you. I think you've made a wise choice in deciding to take control of your life and your health and kick that nasty food to the curb!! LOL

shortstuff

Hi Tina,
Good for you taking steps in the right direction. Seems to me that 500mg of glucophage is not even considered a theraputic dose. (1000mg is sort of the base)
You dont mention what your BS are running, but Glucophage is one of the better meds for trying to lose weight, I gained 10 lbs on Glyburide in a flash.
I want to refer you to an excellent book which you can read online diabetes-book.com. As well there is a forum there where some of your questions might be answered. It is alot of the same people who are on the Dr Berntien/Diabetes forum here.
Good luck on your journey and remember you are not alone, you can your find daily support here .

Okay, I seriously love this quote and am thinking of shamelessly thieving it for my own nefarious purposes!!! LOL

WTG TINA - you can do this. I have had some hair problems, too, but think that mine is more stress/hormone related. You might check out Quikdeb's journal - I think she is using coconut oil in and on every inch of her body to cure various woes, and is having a lot of success with it.

Deanne

Thanks all for the wonderful encouragement and advice. I am researching it all. So glad to be a part of this forum. Blessings, Tina