Benzo weight issues

[[be...]]

Speaking of excitatory foods... does anyone know if olives or olive oil are stimulating in nature?

 

I do this diet where I take 2 tablespoons of oil on an empty stomach (actually just one hour away from any food or drink), then wait another hour after taking it before I eat or drink again. It has always worked for me. And it has always been that if I take the oil later in the day, I have trouble sleeping.

 

I just started the diet again a couple of days ago and like an idiot took a tablespoon at 4pm. I wasn't up all night like with caffeine, but I was wondering if olives are stimulants of some kind and I just don't know it. Can't find much online.

 

Maybe I can't do the diet with this whole benzo thing going on.

[[Pr...]]

I've never heard of any weirdness regarding olive oil but it's common for people to develop intolerances during w/d that resolve on their own. A food intolerance can cause rapid heartbeat etc. Also, any reduction in calories during w/d can be bad news. It certainly is for me.

[[be...]]

I feel like having a party.

If my body is not playing tricks on me, I believe I am having actual PMS symptoms.

The xanax caused my cycle to go haywire when I was on it, and since I've been off- I have no cycle at all. No nothing. This is my third month since the last pill I took- and this is my major side effect, aside from the weight gain. So, I would feel as if I were really on the road to being healed if my menstrual cycle would be restored.

 

As far as the weight, part of the PMS feeling is like a doubling of the already swollen feeling I have every day. Yes, it is showing up on the scale.

I started my never-fail diet last week and I dropped two pounds, but now it's back. I hope, I pray, it's just because I'm about to be restored...

[[Su...]]

So happy for you...kind of weird to be celebrating having a period, but I get it...I just want my hormones to go back to normal!

 

I've gained 3 lbs. Don't have a clue why, I'm doing nothing different except I got off the trazodone and cut my dose of Seroquel in half...everyone says these drugs cause weight gain, yet I get off of them and gain weight...go figure!

 

I did go out tonight and buy myself some new summer clothes...I can not wait until I lose weight to feel good about myself again, so as much as I hated the size I had to buy, i got some really cute stuff and plan on strutting my stuff in them!   

[[be...]]

That's cute, Sunny.

 

It got really warm where I am. It's supposed to be warm today too and then it goes back to the 60's with clouds for a while. Time is running out. It was actually hot yesterday so I pulled out my 'fat' shorts- OMG. I got them on, but, ew. Wore the lightweight sweats instead...

If there's no change at the end of this week, I have no choice but to buy stuff.

 

BTW, Sunny- congrats on all those cuts- wow! Is that fast? If it is, we all know by now that there's an adjustment period for everything. That weight could be another water issue, too. I've been reading tons of stuff about the importance of being hydrated for healing that has to do with the brain. I take water everywhere now. Anything to expedite this process. And I think I feel better for it.

[[Su...]]

I probably went a little fast on the Trazodone, but the Seroquel I've been going super slow with. I make the mistake of thinking that because the medicine isn't helping me anymore, that I need to get off of it as soon as possible...how much pain that has caused me! Hence the 10 week taper off of 4 mgs of Klonopin this past summer! ouch!!!

 

I am going to let my body have a break for a few weeks before I stop the last bit of Seroquel...It's been a bit rough the past week or so.

 

I lost 1 1/2 lbs. I seem to lose and gain the same stupid 3 lbs constantly...One step forward, 2 back...sounds familiar...a lot like benzo withdrawal!

[[ja...]]

I gained about forty lbs. In a year while I was on tranzene, I had an endless pit in my stomach!!!! I have been off for 78 days and have lost 25 pounds by eating right and exercise. I have an endless amount of energy now!!!

[[Su...]]

I gained about forty lbs. In a year while I was on tranzene, I had an endless pit in my stomach!!!! I have been off for 78 days and have lost 25 pounds by eating right and exercise. I have an endless amount of energy now!!!

 

That's amazing...are you having any w/d sxs at all?  What is Tranzene?

[[be...]]

wow, jamescro. I gained a few on the pills and a few more when I stopped them. Haven't lost anything yet and am trying. The weight is the last of my benzo issues. Can't get it to budge yet- although it will go up very easily, it doesn't come off at all.

[[be...]]

Tranxene is another benzo.

 

Well, I was sick yesterday and my weight this morning was under 150 pounds for the first time since I got off the xanax. Actually, I did the 'diet' I'm doing now for a week and I went to 149 for 2 days and 148 for 2 days in February. That was it.

 

I've decreased the exercise, have been diligent with the diet and even though I know the weight was down because I didn't feel good and didn't really eat- I am hoping the motivation I feel at seeing those numbers again will help me to really limit the food.

 

I think I am finally in a place where the pill effects are gone. I really do. I could be wrong of course. I probably am, but time will tell for sure.

 

 

[[be...]]

I've been eating too much to lose weight. I see that now. I haven't been eating a lot by any stretch-- but in order to get rid of this weight, some starvation is necessary.

 

When I am thin already, I can eat the way I am now and maintain. But I'm taking in too many calories to lose. It's horrible, but true. I have to stay right at 1200 a day whether I exercise or not. And mild exercise is best for losing. This I know from experience.

 

This is very depressing news to me, but being sick proved it. The scale went down. So, I have to find a way to deal with the loss of food. Emotionally, it definitely feels sad or something, but I think I'm far enough away from the meds to go for it. If I were still coping with all of that, I probably couldn't give up the food. But I'm okay enough to try. I've been trying. It's really hard to be hungry, but I can't face the hot weather like this. I just can't.

[[Pr...]]

Benzochubby,

 

I know how you feel. Honest, I do. I feel absolutely bloated. But I think you're doing yourself a disservice by restricting calories in that way. Your brain needs the fuel to heal itself. I am 5 months off and I dieted for a week and gained two pounds. Believe me, it's still the meds, regardless of what you think. Sunny is in the same boat, as are many others in here. Bear in mind too that carbohydrates are the primary substrate of the brain, and that low blood sugar levels are connected with low levels of GABA, even in perfectly healthy people. For those of us with damaged GABA receptors, well that spells even more trouble.

 

There's a saying on these boards that benzos have made all of us either skinny or fat, and we all hate it. I have to be at my graduation in a week and I dread finding a dress to wear. It's humiliating. But I'm trying to adopt this saying - everything is as it must be. It took 5 months but I can now go 4-5 hours between meals instead of 2-3 without getting sick. Everything heals itself in due course.

 

Be well

Leah

[[Su...]]

It's hard for me...I already cut down to 1200 calories and exercise and the scale doesn't budge! 

 

 

[[be...]]

Thanks for that message, Leah. After two solid weeks of restriction (more?), I can tell you that it doesn't work. Now I'm just hungry AND mad. So, Sunny... I don't think there's anything we can do. I mean, I'm going to try to watch what I eat, but I won't deprive myself anymore. I'm tired of fighting with my own body and I don't want to hurt myself any more than I am already from the pills.

 

That's it. I've tried everything.

I have no idea how I am going to bear the summer heat this heavy, but I really don't have a choice. I'm off the pills now for as long a period of time that I was on them- a little less than four months. It doesn't seem likely that the meds are the reason- but there is no other reason I can think of.

[[Su...]]

So is this weight gain and inability to lose it your only symptom from stopping the benzos?  I keep hoping that because I suffer a lot with intense nervousness and insomnia that when it's over I will start being able to lose weight.  Actually, this week I've lost 4 lbs w/out even trying...I've had a bad week of severe pain from the car accident and I have been so distracted by it that I don't even notice w/d sxs anymore....hate the pain, but love the break from feeling ridiculously anxious all the time. Not sure why I've lost 4 lbs, but I'll take it any way I can get it.

[[be...]]

I had many different side effects, from being on them and being off them. The only ones left are an intense sensitivity to caffeine, a tendency toward dehydration and of course, I'm left with the weight gain. My appetite is normal again for a while now which is nice, but for some reason my body is just really resisting the weight loss.

 

So, I give up. I still watch what I eat and all, but no more starvation. I feel better. I'm really miserable and embarrassed to be seen, but I have to deal with it. I don't have a choice.

 

Sorry about your pain, Sunny. But 4 pounds loss must make you feel good in other ways...

[[Su...]]

Pain stinks, but getting on the scale and seeing the loss of lbs brought a smile to my face...however I don't feel any different in my clothes..I think it will take about 6 more for me to notice it.

 

 

[[Mi...]]

My weight gain was from Hydroxizine & Desipramine. I gained 20lbs (I'm 5'2") in a matter of 4 or 5 months, because it made me an emotional eater. I switched meds, & I lost 25lbs in 2 or 3 months (Im now 104).

 

I am on Wellbitrin (300mg), which I believe helped in the process.

 

But a few years ago, before I was on ADs, my weight would NOT budge, no matter how much I beat myself up at the gym 3-5 x a week. Got on an AD & I lost weight within the first week. My psychiatrist told me I was holding on to stress weight. So when the stress levels dropped, so did the numbers on the scale.

 

So if you are still stressing out or anxious (after getting off the meds) I would talk a psychiatrist about it. Do not go to a family practitioner - they don't know near as much about mood disorders OR these medications/side effects. See if he/she believes it may be stress induced.

 

But don't go, just because you want to lose weight. See if things are tied to it.

 

I'd also recommend a personal trainer. They can be expensive, but they will evaluate your situation & help you reach your goals. After all... exercise is also good for relieving stress.

 

Good luck!

[[Mi...]]

ALSO (after reading the past few posts):

 

Starvation will make you GAIN weight, not lose! When your body goes into starvation mode, ANY food you intake will be stored as fat, ALL OF IT! Because your body doesn't know when it will be fed again, so it stores fat to feed off of later. It's a safety mechanism.

 

You won't lose the weight you want without exercise. A "light exercise" does nothing for you (weight loss-wise). Getting in a GOOD workout a couple times a week will make a difference. AGAIN, I recommend a personal trainer who will push you - safely. You may think you are gaining weight from it... but it's muscle. Muscle weighs more than fat. 1lb of fat is 3 times the size of 1lb of muscle. So at that point, you can't go off what your scale says. Have measurements taken. It took me a long time to forget about the number on the scale  (because women are driven by the number)... but the real results are in your measurements. The scale may go up, but your measurements go down.

 

1lb of muscle = O

1lb of fat =      O

 

My trainer is in the Marines... he pushes me. I HATED IT at first. But now I love it. I went from (in a few months) 25% body fat, to 10%. Now they actually want me to GAIN 2%!!!

 

My point: Be healthy about your weight loss. Don't starve yourself, eat right, ask a trainer for exercise tips (it's free).

 

Much love!

[[Su...]]

Hi Miss Sass....how long have you been off benzos? 

[[be...]]

1200 calories a day does not trigger 'starvation mode.'

[[Su...]]

Here's the thing benzochubby...unless you are living what we are living, people just can't understand. I have been a very fit and active and thin person my whole life, and then BAM benzo w/d and I can't lose a single solitary pound???  The rules of less calories in, more exercise=weight loss, just don't apply right now.  If I wasn't living it myself  I wouldn't believe it either probably. I don't need people to "believe me" or understand anymore...I know what's true and I know what I'm going through, that's all that matters anymore.

[[be...]]

Well said.

That's why I feel so good when people who post here do understand. I feel I am not crazy. I've been having a good few days of surrender. I put the scale in the closet and am just going with it. I know this feeling probably won't last but it is nice to have some peace for once.

 

I'm actually wondering that if the weight came suddenly and out of nowhere, then maybe it might leave in the same way- although maybe not quite so suddenly. In other words, my body will let go when it's ready and everything will be normal eventually. 

 

I looked through my old food journals and my eating is the same. Probably less, now. So I have black and white evidence for myself. I give up, you know? Just hoping for better things...

 

[[Su...]]

I think I've told you before that a friend from another forum told me she had the exact problem that I do now and that at 10 months off it just started coming off..she didn't change a thing, she had already been watching what she ate and exericising, it's like it just took that long for the brain to get it.  So I think at least for myself, more healing needs to take place.

 

What other choice do we have? Self-loathing, dieting, exercising like a crazy person isn't getting me anywhere. So I'm eating healthy, exercising, and trying to accept myself for who I am and how I look today at this moment. It could be so much worse...so we'll see at in 2 months...

[[be...]]

It's weird- I got all teary reading your last post. I have so much bottled up frustration about this. It makes me feel really sad. In a way, my body- not that I mean to talk about it like it's apart from me, in a dissociative way, but- I feel bad for 'it'. I just feel so bad for hurting myself so deeply with the medication. So deeply, that all these months later, those few pills continue to affect and disturb my body to an extreme.

 

Bodies need food and extra weight to heal and I know that. I wish I weren't so vain. I wish I could feel like, "okay- here- eat. Take what you need and feel better." Here my body is hurt and trying to recover and I'm making it all the more difficult. At least I was. The last few days have been okay. I've been relaxed about food, thank God. I hope it stays.

 

Thanks, Sunny, for the words of wisdom...