Posts by pickleberry

I think it depends a lot on how energetic your instructor or you are. I think it's probably equivalent to aerobics if you're looking for an activity in the database.

Another Mirena-lover here. I can't have estrogen-containing BC either. I've had my mirena for nearly a year and a half, and I'll echo what most other people here are saying: insertion sucked, but it was over quickly. I've never had children or been pregnant either, and it still wasn't so awful. I spotted for several weeks afterwards, but then my periods pretty much stopped. Now I get them sometimes, but they're extremely light. My acne did get worse, but I think that had more to do with getting off of my regular BC pills that I was on before than anything to do with the mirena.

Another thing about the mini-pills - they're much, much less effective than the IUD or regular birth control. They're mostly recommended to nursing moms.

I mix vanilla yogurt and fruit in, after it's cooked.

You should not drink alcohol for at least 36 hours before getting your blood drawn for lipid testing, as it can cause a transient elevation. To see what your "real" levels are, you need to give your body a few days without alcohol to get back to its normal baseline.

My weight has been fluctuating a lot this past week, it keeps bouncing from 153-156 from day to day. Tuesday morning it was 153, so that's what I'm using for my weigh in. I forgot to step on the scale Wednesday morning and earlier today. I know that I lose it really slow, because I refuse to diet. I could not survive on 1200 calories per day. I usually hit that by the end of lunch.

I did try a zumba class with some friends last week, and it was a lot of fun! I think I'll try to do it more often. If all exercise was that fun, I wouldn't grumble about going to the gym.

If it's gotten this bad, I'd go back to a doctor if you haven't already, and go to one other than the one who performed your surgery, or who recommended you for it. Your gall bladder and the bile it stores shouldn't have anything to do with your having problems with digesting fibrous things, as I understand it.

What a load of crap. 

That about sums up my feeling on that statement.

I second the flavored seltzer water. I like the poland springs brand ones, especially the orange. If you're feeling really daring, you can add a splash of cranberry juice for some more flavor  and a bit of color.

It's all the "fun" foods that are the worst for reflux. They relax the muscle at the end of your esophagus that normally prevents stomach contents from re-entering the esophagus.

Chocolate, coffee, caffeine, peppermint, alcohol, citrus and other acidic foods, onion, and garlic. Smoking also makes it worse.

It's also important to not eat within 3 hours before laying down if you have problems with reflux.

Even though there are other medications available over the counter, you should really go see your doctor, as a change like this can be a sign of some other problem, and even though they're now available over the counter (at least in the US), they can have some pretty serious drug-drug interactions if you're taking any other medication.

Maalox and tums are antacids that neutralize already existing acid in your stomach, but they do nothing to decrease the amount produced. H2 blockers (zantac, pepcid) are available over the counter, as is one proton-pump inhibitor (prilosec OTC). These both decrease the amount of acid produced by different mechanisms. 

I was on it twice too, once as a teenager - it cleared up my acne then, and I didn't have the dizziness. I was put on it again in september, but I had a lot of dizziness, and then an allergic reaction, so obviously that stopped. None of the other antibiotics worked this time either, so I'm on accutane now.

I'll join in too. I've been using this site on and off for about a year and a half (I think), but I've never joined one of these groups. I'm in the same boat as you, salazar. I can't seem to get re-started after the holidays. I started at 168, and was down to 153 before thanksgiving, but it's crept back up to 156-157ish (on a good day).

5'8"

CW 156-157

GW 145-ish, but I'd be happy to just see the other side of 150.

The mirena IUD does release some progestin, but the amount of hormones in it is really small compared to what goes into your body with a regular BCP. I can't take ordinary hormonal contraception because it really exacerbates my migraines, but my migraines have become much less frequent since switching to mirena. Paraguard is the IUD that is non-hormonal.

I haven't had a problem losing weight, but I only needed to lose a little bit. My main complaint is that my acne came back full force after stopping my BCPs. I think that has more to do with stopping the hormones from that than anything specific to Mirena. I'm also 25, so you can imagine how frustrating it is. I've had my mirena for a bit over a year now, and I really like it. My periods are very light and infrequent, though I did spot constantly for a few months after the insertion.

In reference to your weight, you're not that overweight and I have a friend who is overweight who got hers a little before me. She likes hers too, and has had no problems with it, either in terms of effectiveness or side effects (at least as far as I know).

Good luck making a decision!

Original Post by resmdp:

Original Post by amethystgirl:

Any chance your trips to the bathroom haven't been as frequent in the past few days? Sometimes a change in fiber can do that.

Yeah not as many times. More Fiber=Constipation ???

If you're not drinking enough water, yes. However, flax sees can act as a bit of a laxative for some people at high doses, but I doubt 2 T would be enough.

Oooh, I want to add to the list!

"Toxins." This includes any reference to colon cleansing, fasting, or their existence in processed food.

The problem with eating raw eggs or egg whites is that they may contain salmonella or other food-borne pathogens that can give you some pretty nasty stomach problems. To get around this problem, I believe you can buy cartons of pasteurized eggwhites, like Eggbeaters (you'd have to check the carton to make sure). These have been heated or otherwise treated to kill bacteria.