V. Is Blessed but Depressed

Hi V.,
First you are not alone.
Second, I hope you are able to cook and eat lots of vegetables, like broccili, cabbage, brussel sprouts and those items that will help you. Have you tried snacking on either cabbage smeared with a nut butter or celery with a nut butter? Easy and tasty snacks. I have other recipes at ParsleyMagazine.com - not a business, just information. Third, I don't know if you have been tested for food allergies, but you might try that. Also, flat give up beef and sugar. Good luck. L.

Hi V.,

There may be some solutions too long to list here. Please go to my website irenejaeger.myarbonne.com and send me an email where I might call you. There are a few things you can use that might help you lose some of the weight without exercising. Love to talk to you, I.

i wish people would understand this is the place we come seeking help, not help you do business. please ladies, refrain from 'offering that great pill, or that great tea, or that great product your selling.' we don't know you from joe so obviously nobody from here is going to contact you about 'your great product.'
ok back to the posting, V., I have graves disease and i feel your pain. i honestly don't know what advice to give you except get your endocrinologist to give you an RX to see a nutritionist, and push with the insurance to get this covered as the weight gain is due to your thyroid problem. push and push the insurance. ask them to assign a case manager if need to (they will not want to deal with the extra expense so you might just get it approved).
i don't have the weight gain but i do have everything else related to thyroid problem: bulging eye (yes, one eye completely out of its place, you should see it. if nothing, it will make you laugh and realize you could deal with this on your face), lack of energy, unable to sleep, forms of depression, hair has lost all its glory :(, skin, oh the skin. i just put up with it. it's my life and i was dealt this card. i try to make myself feel better, but at times it's hard. hang in there. make sure you're seeing a great endocrinologist, one that will listen to you, and help you get the extra care you need
good luck

I do not have much to offer but I will tell you my mother suffers from fibromyalgia and I know how hard it is. She is exhausted at the end of the day. She did have a massage that concentrates on it once or twice and she said it helped a bit but right now, her insurance does not cover them so she does not go. There are certain foods I know she stays away from, etc. You probably know all this already. my mother eats very healthy to keep her weight down because exercise is limited. good luck.

I too have been diagnosed with fibro. I'll go for a few months feeling ok, then I ache all over. I'm starting to look into nutrition/natural remedies now. I have seen rheumetologist, who really didn't help or tell me anything I didn't already know. I'm thinking of going to a natural doc or nutritionist. So far what helps me is gentle stretching. Google "active isolated stretching", or look it up on youtube. Phil Wharton wrote The stretching book. It is really helpful. I make sure I do everything to get a good nights sleep which can be tough at times. I bot a "water pillow". It can be easily adjusted for comfort-- it has helped my neck and shoulders at night. Yoga is great, but you have to be careful. You need a very gentle or even "restorative" class to start. I take the pre-natal class at a local yoga studio even though I'm not pregnant!! it is the gentlest class they have so it is the best one for me-- other people do this too. I notice that my fibro is A LOT worse right before my period. Someone suggested that I take Vitex (chasteberry) an herb that is used to naturally regulate a woman's cycle. It is great. I don't retain water as much, so it helps everything else as well. I've been told that black cohosh is also helpful, I have not tried that yet. I tried antidepressants but had bad side effects so stopped taking them. I now take L-tryptophan in the evening (500mg-a small dose). It helps me sleep, but also helps my mood and anxiety. A chiropractor told me to try malic acid. I have not done this yet. You can google it. Make sure you get enough calcium/magnesium. I take a really good quality supplement everyday and I think it helps. Let me know what you have tried and what has worked for you too...I wish you good luck and hope you feel better soon. JG

See if your insurance will cover treatment through a dietician. Although my aunt didn't have this condition, she was very overweight and didn't know where to start which led to depression and more eating.

She spoke with her primary care physician who wrote her a prescription for a nutritionist consultation. She has been working for almost six months on portion control and healthy eating and feels wonderful (looks great too!). As the weight started to come off, her ability to engage in exercise increased which made her feel much better. Even a walk around the block each night is better than nothing!

Talk with your doctor. Because of your condition, he/she may be refer you to a physical therapist as well to increase your range of motion.

V.,

I am so sorry you are in such pain. I know you are hopeful by your title. V. is blessed but depressed. You are blessed.

You asked for help on losing weight. I am going to send you a private message an idea. I don't know if it will work for you - but take a look at it.

I am sending you mental hugs.
L.

V.,

Whole foods. It's hard, but do as many, if not totally, whole foods as you can. Ditch anything processed. There are several sites (don't have them online here) that help with symptoms and how to deal with them (some symptoms are individual).

Lose the Fast food scene: McD's, Wendy's anything that isn't 'good for you' is really BAD for fibro.

Once you ditch the foods, I think you will find your other problems lessen a bit. My headaches went away.

Consider having your feet analyzed for inserts. If you need them - BUY them. You will feel wonders within a month, if not sooner. My legs no longer ache - and that is a weight off your mind when you are tired and aching elsewhere.

Good luck, any ?'s email,
M.

are you on any meds to help with depression? this might help a little bit too. try adding a few extra steps each day.. i'm doing just a little more each day.. and it's working.. i'm now taking the dog for a walk every morning after the kids leave for school.. i started with walking a block.. then around the block .. now i go two blocks.. and i feel good.. i promised never to miss a day of walking.. the dog is happy and so am i. this morning was the first day i didn't really want to walk.. just not up to it.. but i did it any way.. i promised myself i wouldn't miss a day unless it was an ice storm.. and it wasn't .. so i went and felt great afterwards.. i seem to have more energy..so start out slowly.. add a few steps.. you'll see you'll feel good.. or try some yoga.. it's less stress on the body.. and it feels good..

I am sorry to hear what you are going through. Have you tried doing a gluten free diet? I have read of a lot for people have been misdiagnosed with migraines, IBS, fibromyalgia,depression, and more, when really their bodies were reacting to the gluten in their diet.

My son is one of them. He was diagnosed with IBS and migraines at the age of 5 and 7, respectively. And he was always very weepy. I respect my doctors and respect medicine, but I knew the doctors were missing the mark. Something was not adding up with my son. And none of us could figure it out. That's when I decided I needed to take things into my own hands. I decided to start eliminating foods from his diet to see if anything happened.

Gluten was the first food I eliminted because of all the damage and misdiagnoses I have been reading about. Two days after I removed it from his diet, he was feeling better! I was able to remove all the medications from his life (which he had been taking for 4 years!) and manage his symptoms through his diet. As long as gluten is out of his life, he is 95% better! Stomach problems gone. Migraines gone. Weepiness primarily gone.

As a side note, I nurse my baby girl and have to be off dairy and gluten for her, and I lost a ton of weight! The lifesyle change is an adjustment, but worth it when you see the results.

As for the weight loss...take baby steps. Literaly. Start by walking a short distance...maybe just your driveway. (Only you know what you can handle, so start there.) Do that for a few days. Then add a little distance on to that, maybe to your neighbors mailbox. Do that for a few more days. And continue that way, mailbox by mailbox. Before you know it, you'll be a few houses away from your own!

Doing it this way, will allow you to build strength and allow your body to grow accostumed to walking everyday. Exercise is great for depression, great for the soul. If you have a bad day and can't walk, that's okay. Just pick up again the next day! Don't view this as needing to lose weight NOW. Just make it a lifestyle change and it will happen over the long haul. Just remember to eat healthy always! That will help tremendously!

My brother is running a half marathon with his girl friend on Columbus Day Weekend. When I spoke to him I asked in awe, "How can you do that?!" He said he start by walking! Eventually, he increased it to running for 1 minute and walking for 3 minutes. Then running for 1 and walking for 2 minutes. He took baby steps. And now he is about to run a 13 mile marathon!!!!

You can do this V.! Baby steps! Be proud of yourself. Be proud of your baby steps and always look forward.

So do me a little favor...will you get up right now and take a short walk? Even if it is just in your house. Go take your first step.

Have fun on your journey!!! I will be thinking of you! I hope this helps. Good luck!

Stop reading... GO WALK! :)

J.

Dear V., I will pray that you find a way. I know there is a medication for your condition. Don't know if there is a natural way to deal with it. Maybe pain management. Trust in the Lord..... Grandma Mary

Celiac Disease. I just went through THE SAME THING! I gained 15 lbs doing weight watchers. The pain! Oh the pain. I couldnt go up and down the stairs the joint pain was so bad. I am now on a Gluten Free diet. Its tough and daunting but things are so much better. When I "slip" I really pay for it. I see now how much I was suffering.
Now. My blood work came back negative but my Upper Endoscopy came back positive. My sisters blood work came back negative too and choose to go Gluten Free (Celiac is Hereditary) and had the same problems with the same results.
Even if you dont have Celiac a lot of people are Gluten Sensitive. Its in EVERYTHING! Its not natural and shouldnt be in our food so our body rejects it.
Trust me. I have a Hypo Thyroid and that is also a sign.
If you live in the Summit/Berkeley Heights are let me know and I can send you to my Gasteroentologist. He is wonderful! Trust me. I cant believe how much it has helped me and my family. Hang in there.

If you want to find more you can google but Elizabeth Hasselbeck has a book called the G Free Diet. Read the forward and the first few chapters. It helps explain it on a more personal level.

Buy Dr. Joel Fuhrman's book "Eat To Live", it is an amazing book and if you are willing to follow what he says it WILL work. Good luck to you.

Many say weight loss is hard. I think it is challenging because it requires a change in mind set and determination to stay consistent and adopt some new behaviors.

I loved all of the recommendations for getting your insurance to get you a dietician or nutritionist. They may also cover some forms of non traditional treatment such as chiropractor, accupunture and/or accupressure.

My encouragement to you would be to pay close attention to the things you have done in the past and make modifications in your pattern of behavior. You didn't write what you eat, you didn't write how much you eat, and you didn't write when you eat. These three components are critical to changing your weight.

I have never seen an overweight vegetarian, have you? I am not saying become a vegetarian or a vegan but to loose weight I would change my diet to include more fruits and vegetables cooked simply without heavy creamy sauces and reduce your meat, rice, potato and pasta intake.

Portions are important if you are overeating by piling your plate up high and covering it to the rim or using a charger instead of a plate to eat from. My encouragement would be to either change the size of plate you are eating from to a smaller plate and/or eat smaller more frequent meals and healthy snacks.

Do you eat when you are alone, in the overnight hours, do you eat the entire time you are cooking and then eat dinner with the family or do you eat and then nap or go to bed for the night? It would be helpful change these patterns of behavior. Establish a cut off time between eating your last meal of the day and bedtime which has at least a two hour gap in between. This will give your food a chance to digest. After you eat trying moving around a bit, I know you hurt but the body was made to move. Try either yoga or pilates. These are no impact forms of exercise and can truly help you.

Lastly find a few partners. You will need encouragement and support as you go about taking care of yourself to bring yourself to better health. Hope this is helpful to you.

My sister has fibromyalgia and she loves to swim. The water takes pressure away from the joints and allows her full mobility. She swims laps as well as does water aerobics.

Good luck,
E.

as im sure you know there is no miracle diet or pill that will help you. Its a lifestyle change. cut down on carbs, eat broiled fish, chicken, turkey...lots and lots of vegetables (no corn, no potatos, no pastas, no white breads, no white rice)...exercise is key as im sure your doctor will tell you with your fibro...start out by walking...build up from there. exercise is excellent for depression as well...thyroid can be controlled with synthroid, no need to suffer with that hon..herniated disc..why not try some physical therapy? 99% of the time the results are excellent. I work in healthcare, i see this, results can be positive if you make a lifestyle change! good luck!

Dear V.,
God bless you and be your aid in your struggles! It's a tough one; my sister went through the same thing. The fibromyalgia is under control now; she used homeopathic methods including magnets, detoxing and mostly liver cleanses, to which she attributes most of the cure. It is not a pleasant process, but not difficult, expensive or dangerous. If this seems right for you, consult a homeopathic expert near you. I can give you the processes for the liver cleanse.
As to the weight, my sister transformed herself by going on a doctor supervised liquid diet. She blended all kinds of things for proper nutrition and variety, but by having the restriction of only liquids she did not cheat and lost a tremendous amount of weight. She still uses it for maintenance.
If you have any questions, feel free to contact me at ____@____.com
Best,
S.

Hi V.,
My prayers to you.
I know a lady who had the same problems: fibromylagia, weight... and she is doing great now. Please don't think I want to sell you anything, but honestly, what this lady used-the vitamins and such really helped her. In order not to misuse mamasource, just contact me.
I hope to hear from you. I believe she/we can help, even if with a little advice.
Take care,
L.
http://www.mykidsmyworld.com

First things first, you need to get your thyroid problems under control. Your thyroid produces hormones that control ALL of the body's functions. Depression, body aches and pains, exhaustion, feeling cold, hair loss/thinning, dry skin, difficulty breathing, irritability, weight gain or inability to lose weight, etc. These are all symptoms of an underactive thyroid. You may or may not have fibromyalgia. It could be a side effect of an underactive thyroid. At one time, I had all the symptoms of fibro, but it disappeared when my thyroid levels were brought back to normal for ME. And therein lies the hitch. What's normal for you. I'd like to say it'll be a simple solution to get your thyroid levels back to normal but there's such a wide range of normal that what's normal for you can be hyper or hypo for others. It took me years of good thyroid medical help, mediocre help, pathetic help, and refusal to help before I finally got excellent care. Unfortunately by then, the damage had been done and I had no other alternative than to have a total thyroidectomy because my thyroid was so enlarged it was suffocating me. It's this way for many women with thyroid problems...they don't get the proper medical care until it's IN YOUR FACE bad. The training doctors receive in med school is minimal. I even had endocrinologists who specialize in thyroid problems ignore the test results, the growing thyroid and nodules, misdiagnose, and prescribe incorrectly. I had one woman flat out lie to me about the size of my thyroid because she felt I was exaggerating or maybe looking for a weight loss excuse. It was an AWFUL ordeal. So be prepared you might have to go through that. Sad, but true.

So before you can lose weight, you MUST get your thyroid in order. Trust me from someone who's been there and knows others who have been there too. You could starve yourself and it wouldn't make a difference. After that's in order, you will be able to lose weight. Just realize it will be more difficult for you than it is for others because of your thyroid issues. It takes longer, takes more work but it can be done. You're still going to have to deal with the same issues that other overweight people deal with also, the cravings, the control, exercising, etc. Just because your thyroid's in order that does NOT mean the pounds will melt off. I wish it did but that is not typical of people with thyroid problems.

Oh! I almost forgot, until you get your thyroid back in order, any antidepressants are not going to work either. Been there with that too. Did NOTHING for me when I took antidepressants. I've talked to psychiatrists and have seen medical shows where they acknowledge this also. Your hormone levels must be at a good level before you body is able to process the other medicine. So you must get your thyroid in order first. If the depression still remains, then you can try antidepressants and the medicine will help you only then.

It took me six years of on and off good, bad, nonexistence treatment before my doctors said, "Gee, you were right. You do still have a problem with your thyroid." So be prepared for the fight. As much as you don't have the energy, dig in deep and pull it out of yourself. Keep your eye on the prize of when you WILL have the energy and you WILL get your life back. Good luck!

My Mom HAD fibromyalgia. I know many people who had it and don't anymore. There are different ways to reach that result but the basic things you need to know is that almost all thyroid issues have mercury at the root. This needs to be removed from the body, especially the thyroid. Fat is the body's defense against toxins. All people with fibromyalgia are overly toxic. Someone mentioned with homeopathy and magnets. These help to detoxify the body but the side-effects are rather unpleasant and if the liver isn't in tip-top shape you will have toxins redepositing themselves. While I am in favor of these things rather than the use of drugs (especially Synthroid which is quite ineffective compared to natural substances), they can get pretty pricey and it takes a long time.

In addition to toxins, malnutrition is a huge issue. If your body isn't toxic and it gets all the nutrients it needs--meaning there is no problem with absorption of food in the gut--there cannot be illness.

What you can do right now is to first of all completely eliminate grains (ALL grains for now), dairy, sugar, processed food, processed meats (better yet, no meat). Increase fruits--try having unlimited amounts of fruit for breakfast. Do not mix with fat. Only fruit. No snacking limits. If you can do the same for lunch, that would be great but at least start with breakfast for now. Fruit must be raw in order to provide lots of enzymes. You will not get fat from fruit.

I'm a nutritional consultant and am currently putting together a free interview series that will be online soon. It's actually about candida but virtually everyone who has fibro has candida and also IBS (Irritable Bowel Syndrome).

I think it's high time I put my fibro protocol in writing so I'll write it up and if you'd like a copy, just email me (and be patient): ____@____.com. I'll outline what my Mom did as well as some other clients testimonials.

If you'd like to listen to the interviews, just send me an email and within the next few weeks I'll let you know when it's online.

I just read your previous post (quite old now!) about your children responding well to Nystatin. This is a candida remedy and if your children had it, they likely never picked up the good bacteria they needed from you during birth. This means you are deficient in them too and may not even be aware of it!

A woman that I am going to school with told me that she did cheerios with whatever fruit that you want. Ceasar salads, salads with chicken cut up. Basically any kind of salad. But watch your dressings. They are high in calories. She said that she did the oil and vinager. Or just buy the light dressings. She told me that by doing these things she lost 40 pounds. And she also told me that she did very little if any exercising. I have thyroid disease too and at first I lost 80 pounds by just being on the meds but then I gained it all back. I did nothing differant when I lost or gained the weight. It's hard when you have thyroid disease. But I hope that this helps and I wish you all the best and hope things work out for you. Good Luck!!!

V.,
I have a very close friend who has been suffering from Fibromyalgia for over the past 15 years that I have known her so I completely understand where you are coming from. It is a rippling effect with the depression, weight gain and the thyroid and herniated disk is just so much to deal with, my heart hurts for you. This is what I can suggest: find out from your doctor how much exercise you can do and what kind. I strongly suggest yoga and meditation for the strength building for both the body and mind. You need to direct your depression to a positive place. I am the complete opposite of the touchy feely crunchy "ohming" person, but because of my own health problems I have turned to this and it is truly something you must try. Another is acupuncture. I have done a few different types and let me tell you, if you believe and are willing to try it will do wonders for you. Swimming is a great way to get in the exercise and easy on the body. Most of all, can you partner up with a friend who will diet and exercise with you? Nothing better than going through it with a good friend for extra support. Good luck and chin up girl, you just need to be strong, think about what the end result will be and focus on that.

I have been heavy all my life and gained about 50 pounds years ago when I quit smoking. I tried all kinds of diets to lose the weight and nothing worked. Then recently I tried a gluten free diet and was amazed at how good I felt. The weight started to come off also, slowly, about a pound a week, but once I stopped eating all grain products I lost the desire for them. I used to get cravings for bread and would eat a couple of slices with nothing on it, just to have bread.
A few weeks after not eating any gluten I went out to eat and there was yummy garlic bread. I thought one slice wouldnt hurt and had only one. The next morning my feet were all swollen!!It took 3 days for them to return to normal. I have since discovered every time I eat gluten my feet swell up. Really weird, but I dont eat gluten anymore and have lost 40 of the extra 50 without starving.