So I saw my endocrinologist today. She was actually really nice. I was ready for her to read me the riot act. Instead she had some weight loss suggestions for me.
So I wrote out my entire story to try to figure out what’s best… so here it is- sharing it as a way to process it. Any suggestions please share them….
I’ve struggled with my weight all my life. I have had an eating disorder since I was in 4th grade. I compulsively overeat. I hide what I eat sometimes. I’m high school I became anorexic, I lost about 100lbs, and was down to 118lbs (and of course thought I was fat). After getting counseling, I maintained for about a year. I went to college in 1996 and gained a bunch of weight freshman year- like 45lbs. When I got married in 2000 I was 218 lbs. By the time I got pregnant in 2002 I was 225, I gained about 18 pounds with my pregnancy.
When my son was 2 years old I started eating better and working out so that we could do another IVF cycle with our frozen embryos. I got to 199, the cycle failed and a deep depression set in. I also had an IUD put in to stop continuous bleeding. I gained 35 pounds in 6 months, and turned to my “friend” food, as usual. In 2009 I was back up to 235. My sister was getting married so I did slim fast and got down just under 200 again. 2 months after the wedding I got a surprise – I was pregnant. I was around 235 when I delivered and stayed there from 2010 until Jan 2013. I was about to turn 35, my dad was 39 when he was diagnosed with type 2 diabetes. I felt like I needed to make a change. I knew I was facing an uphill battle, food was my comfort. I had a great deal of stress in my life including the fact that my son had been diagnosed with Aspergers, anxiety and bipolar.
I started counting calories, and started the couch to 5k. Added spin classes, and kickboxing. I went from 235 to 143 – 8 pounds from the goal I set for myself. As usual I felt fat. I ran my last 5k in November 2013. My best time just over 30 minutes. It was about this time that my husband became sick with some mystery illness. He slept all the time, he hurt all the time. And in came my best friend – carbs, sweets, food. I quickly gained weight again and was around 190something. Depressed and hating myself. In July 2015 I started beachbodys 21 day fix. I did 5 or 6 cycles and was down to the 150s. By this time, my husband had been sick for almost 2 years, he was trying to make a go of it with his own business, so that he could control his work hours etc. But we were in the process of losing our home and our car.
And so that’s where my weight loss stopped. I am currently sitting at 254/256 pounds depending on whose scale you look at. The biggest I’ve ever been. I have been diagnosed with GERD, Autonomic Nervous System Dysfunction (long story on what that means but it was affecting my heart my resting pulse was ranging between 140 up to 160), major depressive disorder treatment resistant, recurrent, anxiety, PTSD, OCD, and unspecified personality disorder. I have PCOS and am prediabetic. My fasting sugars are always over 100. In the past year my A1C has gone from 5.2, 5.4 to 5.6.
Today I met with my endocrinologist and she expressed concern about the fasting numbers, the fact that metformin made me violently sick, and that A1C numbers are creeping up. She suggested I either enter a medical weight loss program at the local hospital with diet, exercise and potentially appetite suppressants. Or to see a bariatric surgeon. She is going to refer me to both places and wants me to make a decision.
I’m torn. Do I try it on my own again? Do I do the medical program (my husband says his concern when I leave the program I will go back to old habits- and he’s not wrong), or do I go for the surgery?
I’m scared about all the options. I have failed every time I did it on my own. But the surgery is a huge deal. And is this really the time to do this- when I’m going through so much psychologically? Or is this the best time- will it aid in my recovery? I plan on talking to my counselor about it all, but of course I will overthink this to death until then.
What to do….
The Things We Hide Inside 