Phentermine - Day 2

 The morning started very, very early today. I only slept about 4.5ish hours last night. By 5 AM I was up for the day. I haven't even been able to take a nap. I definitely feel more energy than usual. My appetite control is good. I feel good physically. I did an hour on the walking pad. I did strength training again today also. Emotionally, I feel good too. The only down side, I lost less than half a pound today. I don't know why but I expected more. I have weight loss goals for this month and I am afraid I will not make those goals. Of course these are self-imposed goals. The clinic didn't set goals for me for this month. All in all it has been a good day and it's not over yet. I have therapy tomorrow. Hopefully, that will go well. 

Day 1 - Phentermine

 Today, I got up and took my first dose of Phentermine. I wasn't sure what to expect. Would I react like last time (very hyper, barely able to eat, etc) or would it do nothing for me? First of all, it did give me more energy, but I wouldn't say I was hyper. 

My appetite wasn't GONE, but it was pretty well controlled. For breakfast I had a protein shake. For lunch I made heart of palm spaghetti. I was only able to eat about half of my portion. Normally, I would eat it all. Dinner was burgers and fried potatoes. Normally I can eat half a burger. Tonight was no different. Normally, I have Quest chips with it, but I had two bites of potatoes and was full. I could've done without those two bites. By 8'clock, I was hungry so I had the rest of my heart of palm spaghetti. Now, I am done for the day. 

I walked on the walking pad for an hour tonight. Then, I did weights with Isaiah. Not a lot of weights, but it is a start. 

Overall, today was a good great day. I feel so good physically and mentally. I am so grateful to God for a good day. Hopefully tomorrow will be just as good or even better! 

ETA: It is now 3:11AM. I slept about three hours. I have been up over two hours with no more sleep in sight. I am sure it is the Phentermine. Although, I do have trouble sleeping. It isn't usually this bad. It is well worth it if this helps the weight loss, though. 

October Bariatric Appointment - Phentermine

 Today I had what has become my monthly appointment with my bariatric doctor. I met with the PA. She didn't even tell me what I had lost this month, but if my calculations were correct, I believe it was about two pounds. I have brought up the subject of weight loss drugs before several times, but the answer has always been no so I didn't bother this month. Ironically, the first thing she did when she walked in the room was recommend weight loss medication.

Together we made the decision to put me on Phentermine for six months and see if that helps. She said I could only take it for six months so hopefully it helps A LOT and QUICKLY. I am not sure why she said only six months, though. I guess it is just their policy, because I talked with the pharmacist when I picked up my prescription and she said I could take it as long as I needed to. If my bariatric doctor won't prescribe it after the six months and I still need it then I guess we will look into other options. It wasn't covered by my insurance, but thankfully the pharmacy applied a discount code so it was pretty cheap. 

I am pretty excited about this. I have taken it before. If you have been around a while, when I lost the seventy-something pounds before, it was in-part, thanks to Phentermine. I am trying to be cautiously hopeful that this will help me lose the rest of the weight I need to lose. 

Today I weighed in at 215.2...

October Weigh-Ins

 October Weigh-Ins

    4 - 215.4

    11- 217

    18 -

    25 -

Annual Eye Exam

 This morning, I had my annual eye exam. I have to go to the eye doctor twice a year, because I have glaucoma. During the winter they just check me out for my glaucoma. In late summer/fall I have a full  glasses prescription exam, too. Everything went well. My pressures were "good" (per doctor). They were 13/15. I am not sure what is normal for a person without glaucoma, but I will take it. I am getting closer to needing bifocals, but I do not need them just yet. He said the longer I can take off my glasses to read the happier I would be so I will go with that. I have spent the day dilated. I am one of the lucky few who stays dilated FOREVER. My appointment was at 8:30 this morning and here I am writing this almost 12 hours later and my eyes are still dilated. So that is it for now. I go back in March to see him again. Hopefully, nothing changes between now and then. 

Seven Month Update

 Yesterday was my seven month post-op appointment. I was dreading the appointment because I hadn't been doing my strength training. I was early so I read my book until I was called back. I got on the scale I had lost so that was good. I was prepared for the usual speech of that wasn't enough, though. That didn't happen. The appointment was with the exercise physiologist. I had only seen her one other time. She was so encouraging. She told me the amount of weight I lost was great. It was better than gaining. She said that even though I was only doing cardio, that was more than a lot of people were doing. She set there and gave me percentages and everything. She was impressed that I was going to therapy. It was just an over all breath of fresh air. Now please do not get me wrong, if I need to be fussed at then I want the correction even though correction is painful. However, when all you get is correction, and it seems they only focus on where you are weak or struggling and never praise you, you will definitely get discouraged. This was the appointment I needed to keep me going. Unfortunately, this was my last appointment with her. Unless I "need" her, my program doesn't have any more appointments with her. I will see the nutritionist in December. Those visits are normally virtual visits, but this time she will be in the local office so I will get to see her there. I am looking forward to it/not looking forward to it at the same time. Hopefully we can get some helpful insights. I go back next month to meet with the PA/NP (not sure what she is) so we will see how that goes. I found out yesterday I have lost just over 55 pounds since my first appointment with them and lost 10% of my BMI. I was happy about that! 

Struggle Day

 Today has been a struggle day. I had therapy yesterday. While there is a lot of things going on in my life outside of therapy, therapy brought up some stuff, too. I have wanted to eat all day long today. Nothing seems like enough. No distraction seems distracting enough. It has just been a struggle day. Hopefully soon, these days will be fewer and farther between, because they really take it out of me.