Stall and Adipex

[reading mom 85]

I haven't been one to post much about stalls. I knew it would be a common part of my progress. I have been a slow loser all along. It took me about 3 months to lose my first 20 lbs post op and my average when I was losing was about a 5 lbs loss a month. But here I am over a year out, 80 lbs down, (including some loss pre op) but I have been stalled since May. I had a check up with my surgeon yesterday. He put me on Adipex for a short time to get my weight moving down again. Has anyone taken Adipex post op? I would love to hear about your experiences. I have really increased my exercise this summer and I did relate that the more I exercise the hungrier I feel. I have never taken diet pills of any kind. I feel frustrated because I never wanted to take pills and I felt the sleeve was a healthier option for me, but here I am getting ready to take them anyway. I will share how it goes for me. I know we all fear weight regain and not reaching our goal weight. I wonder if anybody else has had their doctor bring up diet pills after surgery? I would love to hear your thoughts and experiences.

[able2cope 193]

I've only lost 7lbs since Christmas, so understand your frustration at the stall. Can't say I've heard of Adipex - but good luck with it. Hope it goes well for you.

[Teri Barowsky Hooper 22]

Don't feel discouraged. You are not alone. I had a basal cell carcinoma removed from my foot about 3 months ago. I had to have a 2nd extraction at the same spot to make sure we got it all. That meant that for almost 4 months I could not exercise. Walking was very painful most of the time and waiting for the scab to fall off took forever. In that time, I gained 10 pounds back. While I was laid up, I got lazy. I felt sorry for myself because of the pain and did not make good choices. Very frustrated!!!! I am back to exercising this week and back to keeping track of every morsel that goes into my mouth. It bothers me that after going through the sleeve operation, that the weight has not come off like expected. I am currently down 43 pounds. Before my recent gain I only got down 53 pounds total. My pain management doctor (I have fibromyalgia) told me the medication I am on for my fibro makes it almost impossible to lose weight so that fact that I have lost any is a miracle. When I talked to my sleeve doctor about my medication he didn't say much. I don't know what to believe at this point. Keep us posted on the adipex.

[Jersrose43 837]

I took adipex pre surgery and I HATED it

I will never do it again

It is speed. It works temporarily. Pre surgery I used it to lose ten pounds and it made me very jittery all day, I could conquer the world and I definitely had to remind myself to eat

But as soon as I came off it I gained it all right back.

I am surprised your surgeon gave you these

[NolansNana 210]

I am surprised too! I took them a few years back.. Gained all the weight back plus some. Its a very dangerous drug. You should be cautious of it.

[AnnetteT 77]

There are several threads posted about phentermine...I believe that's the same drug. You may want to take a look at those. Quite a few people discussed there experience with it. My doctor put me on it a few months ago and I stopped taking it after the first month. My hair started falling out in clumps. It scared me to death! Good luck...I hope you have better results.

[reading mom 85]

Thanks for the replies. I did take a half dose this morning. I have not felt jittery or nervous at all. I have not felt hungry at all. I think I will take a half dose for a week. See what happens. Not take it a week and see what happens. This is supposed to be a short term solution to see if we can get the scale moving again. But I'm not interested in setting myself up for regain and as I do more reading it seems less appealing all the time.

[Kindle 8,667]

You never mentioned anything about your diet. What are you eating? How about changing your diet? Maybe you need more Protein, more Water, more carbs /less carbs, more fat/less fat. More veggies, more fruit, more Fiber? Try eating different things. Mix up your Protein sources. What is your Water intake? What Vitamin supplements are you taking? Probiotics? Are you getting regular bloodwork, including full Vitamin assays? Changing how you eat seems to be the more logical answer since whatever you are currently doing isn't working for you.

I think your doctor is incredibly irresponsible by putting you on drugs. Is he just trying to up his stats or what? Starving your body by eating less because some drug is making you less hungry is only going to fu.. K up your metabolism and cause you to rebound and gain it all back once you start eating "normal" again. If drugs like this actually worked we wouldn't need WLS.

Edited August 8, 2014 by Kindle

[reading mom 85]

Morning I have a Protein shake with benefiber and coffee

lunch Usually half a hamburger patty or half chicken breast or salmon leftovers from the night before

snack sugar free Jello with 2 Tbs plain greek yogurt or string cheese or strawberries or for a treat a graham cracker with pnut butter

dinner 2- 3 oz meat 1/4 cup veggies of some sort occasionally stir fry over dreamfields Pasta occasionally eat out with friends

snack cheese or sugar free popsicle

My typical calorie count on myfittnesspal is between 900-1100 cal

The first 2 weeks of july I drank shakes and no food lost nothing. Second 2 weeks went lo carb and kept carbs under 30 a day. I lost one stinking lb. I'm just frustrated and it did feel good not to be hungry today. It felt like it did last summer when my sleeve was new.

In terms of exercise I am switching from 5 days a week 1hr workouts to 5 days 1 1/2 hr workouts and upping the intensity.

[playlikeworldchamps 595]

It's phentermine. It's been around forever and a safe drug for the most part but can only be used temporarily and can make you jittery.

One thing about more exercise. Yes it does make you hungrier when you do a lot. That's normal. You may need to eat more not less when you exercise harder. Sometimes we stall because caloric intake too low.

Also as for diet I notice if I keep sugar grams under 25g the weight can fly off. Of course I can't always keep so low because sugar seems to be everywhere but I can usually keep it under 40g and it makes a big difference. I also lean towards the high fat low sugar eating. Not low carb overall (I eat Beans and nuts that increase carbs up there) but my diet is about 40-50% fat! Mostly good fats in real food like nuts and cheese and the like but the higher fat diet works for me. You may want to change up yours. When I eat fat I have plenty of calories to support vigorous exercise too.

[Kindle 8,667]

It looks like you are good with the Protein, but I see very little veggies, fruit, whole grains or Fiber. What about Vitamin supplements? What about Water? Seems like when you lowered your food or carbs it did no good. Not sure how eating less being on phentermine is going to help, either. How about upping your calories by adding more healthy, balanced meal items? I try and get 3-4 servings of fruits and veggies everyday. I drink V8 a couple times/week if I feel I'm falling short. I eat plenty of "good fats" and take a whole food based Multivitamin with enzymes and Probiotics. You never know what micronutrients you may be lacking from being on such a protein-heavy diet for so long.

Not trying to preach, just trying "different" suggestions for a more long term solution than just an appetite suppressant. BTW, have you had your thyroid checked?

[Jersrose43 837]

What is that plan -- 5:2?? Dunno. Where some folks find going back to liquid or fasting couple days then eating balanced kind of kick starts the metabolism agAin?

[LaChasida 10]

My endocrinologist prescribed phentermine after I had thyroid cancer and the thyroidectomy left me with a skyrocketing weight problem.

It helps control appetite, and makes it easier to resist temptation without the jitters is caffeine-based appetite suppressants.

(But it's no miracle weight loss bullet.)

[VSGAnn2014 12,992]

I'm not going to mince words.

Someone should cold cock your surgeon for giving you phentermine after giving you a VSG.

Regardless of how much you're eating, what kinds of foods you're eating, and how much you're exercising -- all that appetite suppressants do is to temporarily check your appetite. The longer you take them, the less well they work. You can't take them very long (they are tough on your heart), and the minute you stop taking them your appetite roars back bigger than ever.

You say you have never taken "pills" before? Well, get ready to experience why those of us who have taken "pills" won't ever take them again. They will make you fatter than you've ever been.

If, as you say, you "really increased your exercise this summer" than you have built and added muscle to your body. That alone could explain no weight loss since May.

And since changing up your exercise program, you probably need more / different nutrients and foods than you did pre-exercising. Yours is a nutritional challenge. Find a competent nutritionist.

And fire that idiot who operated on you. I cannot believe what he is doing to you.

[Jersrose43 837]

@vsgann-- amen