Friday, March 30, 2012

On drugs

I have a lot of things that I want to blog about, and I realize I haven't blogged for a while, but I'm going to start with how I'm feeling.

I'm feeling pretty good.

This is amazing, because for at least a year I have been feeling very run down. I would mentally berate myself for falling asleep at 4:00pm while my children were jumping on me and tying my legs together. I felt more than lazy, I felt bone tired through and through. I thought it must be my fault. I thought I didn't have energy because of something I was doing or not doing. I tried altering my diet, cleansing, going on diets, and of course I work out at the gym without fail every week. Every time I would work out, I would be done for the day. I felt like I couldn't move. I also tried not working out for a little while. No change in energy. Oh and by the way, I could not lose weight.

I had some blood work done, and my thyroid was fine. Everything looked fine in fact, except for my vitamin D levels. I was put on prescription level vitamin D and told to come back in a month or so. If I'm honest, it didn't help me much. My sister-in-law mentioned that if she doesn't take vitamin B complex vitamins every day she doesn't have energy. I tried that as well. It helps a little. And I mean a little. When I went back to the doctor he suggested giving me Phentermine. It is basically an upper. (We also checked out a few of my other malfunctions. I got my first EKG and did a lung/breathing test. Both completely normal. I still need to go in for a chest x-ray, and I'm sure that will be fine too.)

The first week, my doctor told me to take only half a pill per day. So I did. OH MY GOODNESS GOLLY I had the most energy I've had in my whole life that first day! I didn't even feel like sitting down at all. I couldn't even think about the computer or anything really, except cleaning and organizing and straightening. I was on my feet all day long, and my body was a-ok at the end of the day. I also kind of felt a constant buzz in my head, but I think it's a small price to pay to feel normal in the rest of my body. I kept marveling and thinking "is this what everyone else feels like? This is amazing!" That night I fell asleep fine, but I woke up at about 3:00am for a little while. But it wasn't a big deal, I was able to go back to sleep.

I have been on this medication for a little over a week. No day has been as good as that first day, but I am down five pounds (without doing anything different diet-wise) and I don't feel the buzzing in my head anymore. I wake up once a night for a minute or so, and then I fully wake again at about 7:00am. I feel like I am taking a rooster pill. I can also get very tired still, but then I have energy sometimes too. Overall, I think it is amazing. To have any amount of energy feels so different and so good that I will gladly take the tired times.

I'm still exercising, but I have to watch it at the gym. I normally do an hour of cardio, but these pills make my heart rate naturally higher all the time. So it is easy for me to overdo it. But it is also easy for me to get into my target heart rate and stay there for an hour. Pros and cons, people.

I am also eating the way I always eat: no soda or juice, lots of water, balanced diet with a minimum amount of processed foods. I am really liking chia seeds and salads right now. Hopefully I can finally lose these 30 pounds I've been carrying around for 2 years and turn it into energy.

On a side note, I don't feel creatively inclined on this drug. I just don't even think about stories and lyrics and creative things. It is a little odd. But I'm only approved for this drug for a maximum of three months, so we will see what happens.

3 comments:

Tracy said...

sounds like a great change that you needed! I hope it continues to work for you! :)

Kristy said...

Glad it's working for you. It is nice to feel energized.

Emily Bartlett said...

good luck, i hope this is the solution for you! i've heard it's a great weight loss pill and the first day is real "dreamlike". it is addictive so make sure you taper and follow doctors orders, be safe. definitely days i need some energy too so how about you slip one in the mail to me huh? :)