vinesqueen

Ok, I saw a new local Endocrinologist yesterday, mainly because I needed some local support, someone to locally help me interpret lab results and the like. I also wanted to see if he could help me come up with an action plan so I don't end up in the ER any more because I crash so Low. Well, he ordered yet more UFC tests because he didn't believe the other test results :eek: because they are too high, and I don't really "look Cushing's." Cushing's is a biomedical condition. No one says you don't have high bloodpressure because you don't "look like you have high-blood-pressure..." And no plan of action to keep me out of the ER either... ANYWAY... He decided that I need to lose weight (ya' think???:faint:) So, he wants me to do the Mediterranean Diet. I suppose that would be ok, but it seems to be very high in Carbs, which as a bandster, I have problems with on several levels, not the least being difficulty eating them :hungry:. But it calls for drinking wine, but I don't drink wine :clap2:, especially red wine, I just have never been able to develope the taste for it. But I thought I'd share, since it sure gave me a laugh. Ok, so yesterday it was more hysterical laughter, but laughter still...

Ok, I saw a new local Endocrinologist yesterday, mainly because I needed some local support, someone to locally help me interpret lab results and the like. I also wanted to see if he could help me come up with an action plan so I don't end up in the ER any more because I crash so Low. Well, he ordered yet more UFC tests because he didn't believe the other test results because they are too high, and I don't really "look Cushing's." Cushing's is a biomedical condition. No one says you don't have high bloodpressure because you don't "look like you have high-blood-pressure..." And no plan of action to keep me out of the ER either... ANYWAY... He decided that I need to lose weight (ya' think???:faint:) So, he wants me to do the Mediterranean Diet. I suppose that would be ok, but it seems to be very high in Carbs, which as a bandster, I have problems with on several levels, not the least being difficulty eating them :hungry:. But it calls for drinking wine, but I don't drink wine :clap2:, especially red wine, I just have never been able to develope the taste for it. But I thought I'd share, since it sure gave me a laugh. Ok, so yesterday it was more hysterical laughter, but laughter still...

Hey MoM. I have found that being banded had helped my edema problems, but they don't sound as bad as what you are experienceing. I'll have to research the headaches you are talking about, as per your other headache thread. I was dx with Cushing's after being banded. Nothing I did with my band helped me lose weight, but because I wasn't willing to give up, they found out what is really wrong with me. Never surrender! Never give up! This will probably be beyond Dr.C's excertese. Are you seeing an Endo for this, or is this strictly an neruo thing? Has it thrown your hormone system out of wack?

Hmmm, very interesting. I have many of these headache symptoms. But I also have Intermitent (aka cyclical) Cushing's, most likey caused by the tumor in my Pit. I'll be sure to research this more, and bring it to the attention of my Cushing's board.

ooooh yeah, folks that don't understand the search function so we have 18 bazillion threads on the same subject. Folks who complain that they've only lost 80 pounds in 4 weeks and can't figure out why they aren't lossing faster... I've killed probably more than my fair share of threads. DeLara says it's because no-one can figure out just what the hell I'm talking about. She's afraid of me ((((DeLarla)))) But the threads I don't read are usually the ones that folks are rightfully proud of what they have accomplished. Too painful I guess. No, that's not truthful, I know they are too painful, so I just don't go there. I hate that I can't be more supportive of them and their successes.... stupid brain tumor.

Well, at least you don't have my DH's MIL...

Yup, I have to agree with Kathy! You are a bit too tight, it sounds like.

Wow, You've done so well without any fill! Well done! It's likely that you will only need a small fill. Since you did so well without a fill for so long, it's a good bet that you will only need a small fill. Not everyone who is properly restricted has to have microbites. The band is not about being restricted, it is about losing weight. It's not about surgically induced bulimia.

These are great! I get the "shouldn't you have lost more weight by now" too :alien

I'm High again I just mowed the front yard and weeded part of my rock garden and watered the rock garden and cleaned the rust off the 3 different types of hoes and cleaned the rust off the spade and the fork and cleaned the fern and mulched two flower beds and watered the lilacs... and two days ago a trip up from the basement needed a rest in-between all last week I was weak and tired, could hardly do anything but sleep I still don't feel "strong" like I will later in the week if only I didn't have theses lows, can you imagine how much I could get accomplished? World domination!

I'm High again I just mowed the front yard and weeded part of my rock garden and watered the rock garden and cleaned the rust off the 3 different types of hoes and cleaned the rust off the spade and the fork and cleaned the fern and mulched two flower beds and watered the lilacs... and two days ago a trip up from the basement needed a rest in-between all last week I was weak and tired, could hardly do anything but sleep I still don't feel "strong" like I will later in the week if only I didn't have theses lows, can you imagine how much I could get accomplished? World domination!

Well, this weekend I spent with my mother-in-law, while she took care of some things for her best friend who recently died after a protracted illness. Every year, my MIL and her friend went to this charity high-tea out in Kelso, WA. The two charities support families in need, one is a family homless shelter and the other provides new school supplies to kids in need. The weather was lovely, but since we are having one of the dryest summers on record (the next dry one was in 1960) It's been a lovely summer, but man I miss the rain! Anyway, we went to the second sitting for the tea, which is the one that they always went too. I know it was hard for my MIL, especially since she brought several tea things to give to the Tea Lady. We had several things that she needed to do. The next day we were going to go to their church, but we didn't sleep well, so we didn't go. She'd neglected to tell me that that was part of the plan, so I wasn't prepaired. Pagans don't really attend church...my in-laws are Lutherens, but I've never been to a Lutherin service. Oh well. I didn't pack any "church" clothes... So, we slept in, and went to breakfast at this cute little plance, with ginormous portions. Since I'm unfilled I had heavenly french toast! ok, I had 1/2 piece of french toast and some baccon, but man, have I missed french toast :hungry:! We met the friend's son and his family for breakfast. It was pretty funny, I thought we were going to be eating with Church ladies, but my MIL headed straight for the table with the tough burly biker-looking dude sitting by himself. Massive tattoos on his biceps framed by his black tee-shirt, in the wife-beater style... :mad: Not the usual "type" of person my in-laws associate with! Nothing "proper" about him, but he was the nicest guy. I took pitty on their 11 year-old grandson. The poor kid had to try to entertain himself quietly with a spoon and paper-napkin. I gave him my PDA to play with. I just couldn't sit there and let that kid be miserable... I know how it was with my son... Ah yes, I made a friend right then! We spent a good chunk of the afternoon going to boxes and bags of the Friends things. Looking through the remains of a long life. The life of a stranger.

Well, this weekend I spent with my mother-in-law, while she took care of some things for her best friend who recently died after a protracted illness. Every year, my MIL and her friend went to this charity high-tea out in Kelso, WA. The two charities support families in need, one is a family homless shelter and the other provides new school supplies to kids in need. The weather was lovely, but since we are having one of the dryest summers on record (the next dry one was in 1960) It's been a lovely summer, but man I miss the rain! Anyway, we went to the second sitting for the tea, which is the one that they always went too. I know it was hard for my MIL, especially since she brought several tea things to give to the Tea Lady. We had several things that she needed to do. The next day we were going to go to their church, but we didn't sleep well, so we didn't go. She'd neglected to tell me that that was part of the plan, so I wasn't prepaired. Pagans don't really attend church...my in-laws are Lutherens, but I've never been to a Lutherin service. Oh well. I didn't pack any "church" clothes... So, we slept in, and went to breakfast at this cute little plance, with ginormous portions. Since I'm unfilled I had heavenly french toast! ok, I had 1/2 piece of french toast and some baccon, but man, have I missed french toast :hungry:! We met the friend's son and his family for breakfast. It was pretty funny, I thought we were going to be eating with Church ladies, but my MIL headed straight for the table with the tough burly biker-looking dude sitting by himself. Massive tattoos on his biceps framed by his black tee-shirt, in the wife-beater style... :laser: Not the usual "type" of person my in-laws associate with! Nothing "proper" about him, but he was the nicest guy. I took pitty on their 11 year-old grandson. The poor kid had to try to entertain himself quietly with a spoon and paper-napkin. I gave him my PDA to play with. I just couldn't sit there and let that kid be miserable... I know how it was with my son... Ah yes, I made a friend right then! We spent a good chunk of the afternoon going to boxes and bags of the Friends things. Looking through the remains of a long life. The life of a stranger.

Yup, bread and all! Shear bliss! yeah, the nausia has been bad, phengren wasn't cutting it so a day or too I take something stronger

CPAP machines will take an extra fitting so they can add extra O2 to your supply. My machine also has the option where they can give me my breathing treatments in my sleep, so they ddidn' have to wake me up every few hours to keep me breathing.

I know that lots of people are convinced that weight loss is about calories in/out and I know that that holds true for the majority of people. But I have to wonder about us Cushies. I don't think that it is a matter that we have a really slow metabolism. But the thing is, it doesn't matter how much I eat or don't eat. The calorie in/out would hold true if I gained massive amounts of weight on 1200-1500, when I couldn't lose on 1200, 1000, 800 or less than 700 calories. (I did gain 10 pounds in a week at 1000 calories, but that was one week.) It is entiely possible that my weight gain/loss has been only water, which is fine on one level because it lessens my edema problems. But not fine for why I had WLS. If my metabolism was truely that slow, I wouldn't metabolize medications as fast as I do, and I would gain constantly. But as for low calories, I just don't see how other people can function on sub 700 long term. I will give you that it is entirely prorbable that I entered into a deep Low during the month I was too restricted. But I think the lowered calorie intake made the Low worse.

I know that lots of people are convinced that weight loss is about calories in/out and I know that that holds true for the majority of people. But I have to wonder about us Cushies. I don't think that it is a matter that we have a really slow metabolism. But the thing is, it doesn't matter how much I eat or don't eat. The calorie in/out would hold true if I gained massive amounts of weight on 1200-1500, when I couldn't lose on 1200, 1000, 800 or less than 700 calories. (I did gain 10 pounds in a week at 1000 calories, but that was one week.) It is entiely possible that my weight gain/loss has been only water, which is fine on one level because it lessens my edema problems. But not fine for why I had WLS. If my metabolism was truely that slow, I wouldn't metabolize medications as fast as I do, and I would gain constantly. But as for low calories, I just don't see how other people can function on sub 700 long term. I will give you that it is entirely prorbable that I entered into a deep Low during the month I was too restricted. But I think the lowered calorie intake made the Low worse.

Hey Puddin! I've been thinking about this post since I first read it. And on the surfice, it seems sound. But the thing is, it doesn't matter how much I eat or don't eat. The calorie in/out would hold true if I gained massive amounts of weight on 1200-1500, when I couldn't lose on 1200, 1000, 800 or less than 700 calories. (I did gain 10 pounds in a week at 1000 calories, but that was one week.) It is entiely possible that my weight gain/loss has been only Water, which is fine on one level because it lessens my edema problems. But not fine for why I had WLS. If my metabolism was truely that slow, I wouldn't metabolize medications as fast as I do, and I would gain constantly. But as for low calories, I just don't see how other people can function on sub 700 long term. I will give you that it is entirely prorbable that I entered into a deep Low during the month I was too restricted. But I think the lowered calorie intake made the Low worse.

well, I thought I'd give an update on being among the unfilled... My weight hasn't budged, but I'm not sure if I'm surprised or not. It sure has helped with the nausia, and days when I get the dry heaves I'm not quite so worried about my band. I had a 6" subway club sandwich for lunch the other day. Oh it was wonderful! I haven't given in to the call of the cinnabon! Not yet, and I'm avoiding being anywhere near where I could find one. I figure better safe than sorry.

Hey Shelly! It was an AHA! for me when you said that you originally didn't have restriction until you were at 3.4, but at 2 was too, TOO much after an unfil. We know from the reports of countless bandsters that after they have been unfilled, they require much less fill, in fact many cannot tollerate near what they had had before. Just so you know, 2 ccs in my band choke me off too. I think it is a good idea to get checked for the hernia too. Hugs!

Meyour is apperently a non-native English speaker, so please take this into account. And as for his remark about his chicken and apple remark, that was obviously a JOKE. Maybe apperently not a very funny joke, but a joke all the same. Tonsils coming out don't cure sleep apnea for everyone, it works only in some cases. Poeple with severe edema can infact have so much Water that their skin splits open in weak spots. They can indeed lose 80 pounds in 5 weeks of water, if they have it that bad. I've had edema in my feet and hands (whole body really) that my toes were losing curculation and my skin graft on my leg was starting to lose integrity and was starting to split and weep. I spent a week on a CPAP machine 24/7 after I have a collapsed lung. They didn't want to intibate me so they used a CPAP.

Well, I feel like I've been put through the wringer. For a couple of weeks I was on a heck of a High. Or at least it feels that way. Sunday I was raging around for no good reason, felt like a bear someone was poking with a sharp stick. I've learned that a crash soon follows these rages, but crap! Monday I couldn't sleep and got up really early on Tuesday but felt really tired in the afternoon. I took a nap, and new a crash was eminent. Oh man, but I sure wasn't expecting the crash I had. I rarely remember having any dreams when I nap, but yesterday was way out. New I was introuble in the dream. Got freezing cold, terrible drunk feeling with the spins and everything. I woke up and dry heaved for a while, terrible itching. But the worst was having the right side of my face... melt, along with slurring speach. I had my son call Chris, and my husband. Chris had my son drive me to the ER and to not wait for my husband to get home. So my boys took me, and I waited in the ER for almost an hour to get a bed, and I waited almost 2 hours before I was able to get something to help with the nausia and the seering headache and flank pain. They did a CT of my head, and it showed no problems. All in all I spent a almost 6 hours in the ER. I placed several calls to various doctos, but no one as called me back yet. I sure wish I knew what was "urgent" and what is just bad. So, I've had three of thse in the last while. Two trips to the ER in the last four weeks. This one was worse than the last one. I've been High for the last couple of weeks, and except for the bad parts, like the rage and anxiaty and general pissiness, I prefer the Highs to the Lows. I think being High for so long made the crash all that harder because I was hit bottom so hard.

Well, I feel like I've been put through the wringer. For a couple of weeks I was on a heck of a High. Or at least it feels that way. Sunday I was raging around for no good reason, felt like a bear someone was poking with a sharp stick. I've learned that a crash soon follows these rages, but crap! Monday I couldn't sleep and got up really early on Tuesday but felt really tired in the afternoon. I took a nap, and new a crash was eminent. Oh man, but I sure wasn't expecting the crash I had. I rarely remember having any dreams when I nap, but yesterday was way out. New I was introuble in the dream. Got freezing cold, terrible drunk feeling with the spins and everything. I woke up and dry heaved for a while, terrible itching. But the worst was having the right side of my face... melt, along with slurring speach. I had my son call Chris, and my husband. Chris had my son drive me to the ER and to not wait for my husband to get home. So my boys took me, and I waited in the ER for almost an hour to get a bed, and I waited almost 2 hours before I was able to get something to help with the nausia and the seering headache and flank pain. They did a CT of my head, and it showed no problems. All in all I spent a almost 6 hours in the ER. I placed several calls to various doctos, but no one as called me back yet. I sure wish I knew what was "urgent" and what is just bad. So, I've had three of thse in the last while. Two trips to the ER in the last four weeks. This one was worse than the last one. I've been High for the last couple of weeks, and except for the bad parts, like the rage and anxiaty and general pissiness, I prefer the Highs to the Lows. I think being High for so long made the crash all that harder because I was hit bottom so hard.

Oh! We all are bloody-well boozin! (chorus from my favorite Victorian Drinking song.) One of my weird personal observations is that when I'm in a High I also want alcholic beverages. I mean, I almost crave them. I'm not now, nor have I ever been an alcholic, but I'm certianly predisposed to being one. My Greatgrandfather was, my grandfather, my dad and 3 out of my 4 sibs are alcholics. Because I've always know of my family history, and the possiblilty of being predisposed, I've always been very careful with my alcohol use. When I'm on a High, alcohol has little if any effect one me that I can feel. No Buzz for me, no tipsy feeling no nothing. As an experimnet I'm gonna see if I can find some of those personal use alcohol tester that I've been told they sell at convinence stores. When I'm in a Low, I don't have any desire to drink. I just thought this was very interesting. Drinking Alcohol May Correct Stress-Hormone Malfunction http://pn.psychiatryonline.org/cgi/content/full/36/12/20-a A new study has linked an abnormal response in stress hormones to alcoholism and proposes that for a person with alcoholism, drinking alcohol may actually "correct" the abnormality. The reward of a euphoric response to alcohol that most people experience is known to be related to the release of stress hormones. A new study suggests that people who are alcoholic may actually drink alcohol for its apparent ability to help correct a dysfunctional stress response. The study reported two significant findings: First, some patients recovering from alcoholism, even after prolonged abstinence from alcohol, continue to have a significantly suppressed stress-response system. Secondly, their systems appear to be hypersensitive to serotonin. The study is described in the May issue of Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research. According to the authors, some patients who are alcoholic respond differently from nonalcoholic patients to stressful situations that involve the brain’s serotonin system and may drink alcohol under stressful conditions in order to "correct" their brain’s response to the stress. Subjects recovering from alcoholism were given fenfluramine to cause an acute increase in serotonin activity. This was then suspected of causing increased activity in the subjects’ limbic-hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (LHPA) axis—the system of interconnected brain structures that becomes especially active in response to stress—leading to secretion of the stress hormone cortisol by the adrenal glands. "Our major finding," said researcher Robert M. Anthenelli, M.D., "was that alcoholics who had been abstinent for an average of more than four months had a twofold greater cortisol response compared with nonalcoholics following administration of fenfluramine." Anthenelli, the study’s lead author, is an associate professor of psychiatry at the University of Cincinnati College of Medicine and director of substance dependence programs at the Cincinnati Veterans Affairs Medical Center. He said the finding is surprising in that it contrasts with most other published reports indicating a blunted or unchanged stress response in patients who are alcoholic, with shorter periods of abstinence. "We also found that the stress-hormone response in recovering alcoholics did not return to baseline levels as quickly as it did in age- and race-matched nonalcoholic control subjects. In other words, it appears that some of our recovering alcoholics had difficulty turning off the fenfluramine-induced stress response." While the authors did not directly speculate on the implications of the findings, other researchers have. "It is reasonable to speculate," said Stephen Woods, M.D., professor of psychiatry and of neuroscience at the University of Cincinnati, "that there are physical consequences of this." Whether the change in the LHPA axis is the result of prior brain differences or is a consequence of former consumption of large amounts of alcohol isn’t yet known, Woods said in a press release issued by the National Institute on Alcoholism and Alcohol Abuse. "An interesting clue, however," Woods suggested, "is that the elevated cortisol response is reminiscent of what has been observed in individuals who have never before experienced alcohol, but who are considered at high risk for developing alcoholism. One possibility, therefore, is that the prolonged elevation of cortisol following fenfluramine is characteristic of certain alcoholism-prone individuals and can be observed either before they ever drink or after a prolonged period of abstinence." "We propose," said Anthenelli, "that this may represent a trait marker of alcoholism . . .that could distinguish subgroups of alcohol-dependent people or those who have a predisposition for alcoholism from people who do not." Woods thinks that the findings may suggest that the reason some people drink more alcohol and eventually become alcoholic "is that a ‘defect’ in their LHPA response to serotonin is ‘corrected’ by alcohol. If this were the case, then alcohol would have a greater degree of reward value for those individuals than for people who do not have the same ‘defect.’ " "Stress Hormone Dysregulation at Rest and After Serotonergic Stimulation Among Alcohol-Dependent Men With Extended Abstinence and Controls" can be accessed on the Web at www.alcoholism-cer.com by entering "Anthenelli" under "Author." {blacksquare} -------------------- Oregon 5-day work up 4/24 UFC 214 on 6/21 UFC 299 on 7/21 UFC 292 on 7/22 Cyclical Cushing's If it walks like a platypus, talks like a platypus, looks like a platypus, it must duck because it has a duck bill and besides, platypus are too rare around these parts.... UFCs crucial For Tyranny of the Jug Pee into the hat

Oh! We all are bloody-well boozin! (chorus from my favorite Victorian Drinking song.) One of my weird personal observations is that when I'm in a High I also want alcholic beverages. I mean, I almost crave them. I'm not now, nor have I ever been an alcholic, but I'm certianly predisposed to being one. My Greatgrandfather was, my grandfather, my dad and 3 out of my 4 sibs are alcholics. Because I've always know of my family history, and the possiblilty of being predisposed, I've always been very careful with my alcohol use. When I'm on a High, alcohol has little if any effect one me that I can feel. No Buzz for me, no tipsy feeling no nothing. As an experimnet I'm gonna see if I can find some of those personal use alcohol tester that I've been told they sell at convinence stores. When I'm in a Low, I don't have any desire to drink. I just thought this was very interesting. Drinking Alcohol May Correct Stress-Hormone Malfunction http://pn.psychiatryonline.org/cgi/content/full/36/12/20-a A new study has linked an abnormal response in stress hormones to alcoholism and proposes that for a person with alcoholism, drinking alcohol may actually "correct" the abnormality. The reward of a euphoric response to alcohol that most people experience is known to be related to the release of stress hormones. A new study suggests that people who are alcoholic may actually drink alcohol for its apparent ability to help correct a dysfunctional stress response. The study reported two significant findings: First, some patients recovering from alcoholism, even after prolonged abstinence from alcohol, continue to have a significantly suppressed stress-response system. Secondly, their systems appear to be hypersensitive to serotonin. The study is described in the May issue of Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research. According to the authors, some patients who are alcoholic respond differently from nonalcoholic patients to stressful situations that involve the brain’s serotonin system and may drink alcohol under stressful conditions in order to "correct" their brain’s response to the stress. Subjects recovering from alcoholism were given fenfluramine to cause an acute increase in serotonin activity. This was then suspected of causing increased activity in the subjects’ limbic-hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (LHPA) axis—the system of interconnected brain structures that becomes especially active in response to stress—leading to secretion of the stress hormone cortisol by the adrenal glands. "Our major finding," said researcher Robert M. Anthenelli, M.D., "was that alcoholics who had been abstinent for an average of more than four months had a twofold greater cortisol response compared with nonalcoholics following administration of fenfluramine." Anthenelli, the study’s lead author, is an associate professor of psychiatry at the University of Cincinnati College of Medicine and director of substance dependence programs at the Cincinnati Veterans Affairs Medical Center. He said the finding is surprising in that it contrasts with most other published reports indicating a blunted or unchanged stress response in patients who are alcoholic, with shorter periods of abstinence. "We also found that the stress-hormone response in recovering alcoholics did not return to baseline levels as quickly as it did in age- and race-matched nonalcoholic control subjects. In other words, it appears that some of our recovering alcoholics had difficulty turning off the fenfluramine-induced stress response." While the authors did not directly speculate on the implications of the findings, other researchers have. "It is reasonable to speculate," said Stephen Woods, M.D., professor of psychiatry and of neuroscience at the University of Cincinnati, "that there are physical consequences of this." Whether the change in the LHPA axis is the result of prior brain differences or is a consequence of former consumption of large amounts of alcohol isn’t yet known, Woods said in a press release issued by the National Institute on Alcoholism and Alcohol Abuse. "An interesting clue, however," Woods suggested, "is that the elevated cortisol response is reminiscent of what has been observed in individuals who have never before experienced alcohol, but who are considered at high risk for developing alcoholism. One possibility, therefore, is that the prolonged elevation of cortisol following fenfluramine is characteristic of certain alcoholism-prone individuals and can be observed either before they ever drink or after a prolonged period of abstinence." "We propose," said Anthenelli, "that this may represent a trait marker of alcoholism . . .that could distinguish subgroups of alcohol-dependent people or those who have a predisposition for alcoholism from people who do not." Woods thinks that the findings may suggest that the reason some people drink more alcohol and eventually become alcoholic "is that a ‘defect’ in their LHPA response to serotonin is ‘corrected’ by alcohol. If this were the case, then alcohol would have a greater degree of reward value for those individuals than for people who do not have the same ‘defect.’ " "Stress Hormone Dysregulation at Rest and After Serotonergic Stimulation Among Alcohol-Dependent Men With Extended Abstinence and Controls" can be accessed on the Web at www.alcoholism-cer.com by entering "Anthenelli" under "Author." {blacksquare} -------------------- Oregon 5-day work up 4/24 UFC 214 on 6/21 UFC 299 on 7/21 UFC 292 on 7/22 Cyclical Cushing's If it walks like a platypus, talks like a platypus, looks like a platypus, it must duck because it has a duck bill and besides, platypus are too rare around these parts.... UFCs crucial For Tyranny of the Jug Pee into the hat