vinesqueen

It might not be your thyroid. But keep pressing for answers. Ask to have your cortisol level checked. Ask for three UFCs to be run. In my experience Endos seem to be pretty closed minded. The first one told me there was no way I had Cushing's because it was too rare. Funny, but there is no way to diagnose diseases by the way someone "looks." You can't diagnose high blood pressure or diabetis by the way someone looks. ...

ok, I'm not sure what that means, but Dr. L was pretty exceited about it. My CSS went really well, and I'm going to guess that we got the numbers that I needed. Teusday was sure stressful enough that I'm sure I generated enough cortisol to get kicked off half a dozen sports teams! Dr. L called while I was driving back from Portland yesterday evening, and he said he's got enough to take my case to the Tumor board. He said that I will probably be surprised at how fast the next few weeks will move, and that I shouldn't have any difficulty getting aproval. I crashed sometime around 1:30 am last night, and I while I've only been up for a few hours, I'm heading back that way for a nap. Monday I will have a full MRI and MRV. The neuro thinks that one of those will show why the headaches and the intercrainial noise, but Dr. L is convinced that my headaches are caused by the Cushing's and will be resolved once the tumor is gone. I can only hope! Anyway, I'm trying to figure out where I'm going to move my journal to. I'll change my sig once I have a new home for it. I really do appricate everyone's well wishes and positive thoughts. They mean so much to me, and I gain strength and courage from them. Thank you all.

oh yes, I did become completely obsessed about weight loss, and why I wasn't losing weight. Before I was diagnosed with Cushing's I think I drove everybody crazy with my obsessing over food and calories both in and out. (an you will be releaved to know that tooth paste does not contain stignificant numbers of calories to affect your count, even when you are less than 700 a day, just so you know) Obsessing about anything is not good. I know, I obsess.

Hmm, that is a very good question. Intitivly, I would think that if you are no longer MO then your surgeon would not convert you to a different type of WLS. I'm sure that it would not be covered by insurance companies, since you are no longer MO.

a perenial favorite of mine! Thanks so much, I really needed it!

Right, I'm back from Portland, have you gotten the shingles nailed down yet???

Medical Breakthrough -- Obese from Secret Disease hair growth, severe acne, depression and stopped menstruating. But it took five years before she found a doctor who recognized the symptoms of this mystery disease. "I felt validation because I had friends and family that didn't believe me. They're just thinking, 'Oh, you're sneaking Oreos at night,'" she says. <o></o>

Right Now!!!!

Third time's a charm? I got the call from the surgeon this morning at about 10:00, wanting to know if I'm free for surgery at 6:30 am on Wednesday. Looks like I'm definately getting my CSS this time. I'll be heading down to OHSU tomorrow to get my Picc line and to start the whole testing process ... AGAIN I'm ready, I'm HIGH like freaker/tweaker High earlier. So, here's to me getting those HIGH NUMBERS I need!!!!!

All you can do is stand by her. Don't trash talk him, don't bad mouth him, don't do it. I know you think this guy is a real loser, but honestly all you can do is be there for her.

Jan, you might have more luck on Obesity help. This board is devoted to the Lap band, and most folks are pretty devoted to this particular WLS. http://www.obesityhelp.com/forums/VSG/ is the link for the OH board devoted to the VSG. Can't tell you anything more than that. Good luck with your search and research.

Happy birthday JQ! May the cities in your wake, burn like candles on your cake!

I bet you did dent! Get some arnica and some ice packs. I fell down a flight of stairs once... bounced down them and the bruses lasted months. (((hugs)))) ouch ouch ouch. Get thee to a chiropractor too. You prolly whacked your spine out of alignment too. ow ow ow Now, go nail some roofing shingles to those stairs. Right now. Or make someone else do it. Right now. Right now.

Here's a card I drew for a house warming gift for my DH's boss. Thanks for fixing the size for me Carline! without her skill, this drawing was 12 feel wide!

You've already lost 17 kg, 37 pound in 3 month! Woot! Way to go, you are already spot-on in the game. Sorry hon, but you are gonna have to figure out how to tell your mom to back off, or just learn to ignore her. Not easy.

Right, Brenda, have you been to your regular doctor about this? If you have been even modestly following the banded lifestyle, and getting less than 1,500 calories you should be seeing some weight loss. I fully understand your frustration. I lost nothing. I mean nothing for the longest time. I might lose one pound a month. And that was a big maybe. So I went to my doctor, and another doctor, and another one, rejecting a diagnosis of "metabolic X syndrome" I found the real cause of my non-weight loss: Cushing's. Now, I'm not saying that you have Cushing's. But I am saying that you need to get to your regular doctor and find out why you are not losing weight.

Excellent progress Delia. I rthink that in the long run, it is only you who count. No one else has to or gets to live in your body. I think that if you have lost enough inches to be in a size 14 loose, then WOOT! Congrats Debbie06, you are a Rabbit, not a Turtle! I understand yur concern about being too filled and not feel properly restricted. One thing to keep in mind that it isn't about restriction; it is about losing weight. At 76 pounds gone in 5 months that's pretty spectaucular. I know that a lot of bansters feel that they should be so restriced that they should only be able to measure their meals by tablespoons as opposed to cups. (or half cups, you know where I"m going. ) I know that sometimes we get a whapred sense of what a true portion size is. Partly because many of us used to eat the portions that restaurants serve (sometimes as many as 4 serings in one meal! ) and think that is normal, then switch to a bandster tinsy serving, and think that's a normal serving. Please try to not worry so much Debbie, ok? Those are some great NSVs Fedixon! I'm going to tell you the same thing I tell everyone else, track those NSVs! I think everyone needs to track their NSVs, but I think it is even more important for Turtles to track.

Reader's Digest has a Cushing's story this issue. Misdiagnosed http://www.rd.com/content/openContent.do?contentId=29413&pageIndex=0

I can't for the life of me think why this would be "bad." You had no pain, so no problem.

Hi Sis, where in WA are you?

I think Lushings is where you drink too much... Metformin is a powerful medication, and he was right to not just prescibe it. I was prescirbed it by one doc, and I only gained weight on it. 1-2 pounds a week gain. So I quit. Oh no, no no no, not skipping meals! Of course, one of the women on my Cushing's board had a doctor tell her that she needed to go on a zero calorie diet. He told her that she would have a difficult time the first couple of week or so, but then she would get used to not eating. That should could go for months without eating. Lisa, check out the links in my signature. I know we have a few Cushies in AU so you might be able to find someone there you can talk to. Cushing's is rarely diagnoised.

Hi Lisa, man, I think I would have kicked him at the "at least you aren't gaining." I HATE that. Ok, since you haven't lost anything with your band, it's time to start looking at other possible causes. Have you had a full work-up? Have you been to see an endocrinologist? It isn't normal or reasonable to not lose weight while folowing the bandster lifestyle About 8 or 9 months into my band, and not losing, I started to demand answers. Discovered that I have a brain tumor that is preventing me from losing weight. The tumor is on my pituitary gland and has caused me to have Cushing's. Please do not let it go. Start demanding answers. I firmly believe that all Turtles should start demanding answers if we are not losing weight with the band. DEMAND answers. If one doc can't help, then it is time to move on to the next one. Keep going until you get some action. Cheers and Courage!

No, you don't want to take a bath yet. You only think you want one. You need to make sure that your are completely healed before you imerse yourself in water. That means no baths, no swimming, no deep-sea scuba diving until you are completely healed. Typically 6 weeks. You do NOT want yucky germs getting inside your body.

((((hugs)))) You need to back off the food now. You've only been banded a couple of weeks, and you should only now be eating soft foods, at the most. Please dig out that copy of your doctor's meal plan AND STICK TO IT. You could be putting your band and health at risk by eating too soon. The reason we are put on the liquids is so that our stomach does almost no processing, no churning or turning while the sutures heal. Trust me, you are not going to starve in the next couple of weeks. The reason you "gained" weight went you went back to solid foods after being on liquids is that you have put solids back into your colon. This doesn't mean you've added 10 pound of fat to your butt, but you have replaced the matter in your colon. I think just about every baby bandster freaks out when they go back onto solid foods. I know that even though I knew I woudl see the scale move in the "wrong" direction when I went on solid foods I freaked out. It's as normal as we get. And as for the difference between a filled band and an unfilled one? Well the band is not designed to work if it isn't filled. You will probably be able to eat everything you could before your banding with an unfilled band. Again, it is DESIGNED this way. In case you have to have the fill removed, or for when you reach goal and feel that you don't need a fill to help you maintain.

I've had three of these episodes now, where I'm a freaker/tweaker for 2-4 hours, but it seems longer. I just need to know that someone else experiences something similar to this, to know that I'm not alone. I become frantic, frenetic, like every molicule in my body is vibrating at double what it should be. Can't think, can't make a coherent sentence, can only shake and pace and move and tweak. The first time I was a little euphoric, but the last two times I felt out of control in a bad way. I don't doubt that If Iwas in public when this happens that I'll be arrested for public intoxication use of meth, or speed or crack. And not in a good way either. This goes way beyond being "normally" Cushie energetic. There is no way I can get anything done, it's all I can do to not start screaming or yelling. I spent over an hour walking in a circle in my kitchen. I'd get dizzy, so I'd switch and walk the other way. I ended up leaving the house and walked around my block twice, at a speed-walker pace, crying all the while, tears streaming down my face. I'm sure the neighbors were alarmed at my erratic behaviour. *I* was alarmed. When I"m in the teeth of one of these episodes I cannot hold a rational conversation. I can't even follow a simple one, not really. I repeat myself. I'll say the same thing two or three times, usually the end of the sentence I'm trying to say. I also get TERRIBLY thursty, and end up drinking a couple quarts of water in one go. Last week when this happened, I was in the middle of my 32 hour blood draw, and ended up with an ACTH of 59 and 60. Chris at least got to see how bad I was, at my very worst. I called Chris, not sure how I managed to punch the buttons since my hands were shaking so bad. She told me to start yet another UFC, do a salivary, and get a blood draw at the end of the UFC. I dont' want to test anymore! I wanted it to STOP! I don't want to have another one of those episodes EVER. But all Chris could do was tell me to test. Of course, I wouldn't have ever thought to test while I was in the middle of that. Even though it's happened three times now, it would have never occured to me to test. When I had regained my brain, after I stopped tweaking, I told my son that he was going to have to make me a drink. He was going to have to feed me rum until I stopped tweaking. I know that alcohol and Cortisol "eat" each other. I just feel like I cannot go through another one of those episodes. I just cannot face it. I know it is a danger signal to think in "black and white" concepts, but I'm just so terrified of those episodes. But what also frightens me is the thought of the crash that is bound to follow, either this afternoon or tomorrow. Where I'll lose conciousness, where I'll have "extreme weakness" with the crushing pain of the headaches and the back pain will burn my very soul.