hummingwolf

Trying to take off a shirt this morning, I very nearly gave in to the urge to attack with a pair of scissors in order to get it off. I just bought the thing within the last month or two--in a just world, it really would not be too tight now. I hate medication side effects.

The doctor visit on Monday confirmed that I have gained about 20 pounds in the year I've been taking Depakote. In the grand scheme of things this might be considered minor--I was thin to begin with, the drug has helped somewhat with the seizures & the migraines, and to the best of my knowledge my liver has not yet self-destructed (skin's no yellower than usual, anyway). But I don't know how to move my body anymore. None of its parts are where they're supposed to be. It doesn't feel like it's mine anymore.

And that was a really pretty shirt, darn it.

In other medical news, I discovered on Saturday that, in certain circumstances, I may in fact be a wee bit photosensitive. My EEGs didn't show any paroxysmal reaction to flashing light (at least the first one didn't; not sure about the second) and I've never had a problem with flashing TV images or my beloved animated icons, so when I went into a restaurant restroom where the sole source of light above the stalls was a badly flickering bulb, I didn't think anything of it... until everything began to get decidedly swirly. Did manage to do my business quickly and get back to the sink area where the lighting was better before anything genuinely nasty happened, which is good because a bathroom stall is not my preferred place to lose consciousness. Recovered within a couple minutes, which I think is a sign that Depakote really does help me since I would have felt the need to lie down if this had happened a year ago.

But I still want to be able to wear that shirt.

::sigh::

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With the visual stimulation, what I'm finding interesting right now is that I'm definitely reacting to some forms of visual stimulation (some movies and so on) but not all -- I didn't really feel much of a physical response to the strobe lights during the EEGs at all, and I suspect that they will come back looking completely normal. So I'm wondering if it's a specific type of visual stimulation that sets me off -- and the same thing might be happening to you.

Also, sympathy on the shirt issue. My own weight is jumping up and down about seven pounds weekly, which makes it impossible to select a small bunch of one size clothing for the summer....

I didn't really feel much of a physical response to the strobe lights during the EEGs at all

I didn't feel much of a response to anything during the EEGs, but they were abnormal anyway--no recorded seizures, but plenty of weird activity going on in the left temporal area.

I'm wondering if it's a specific type of visual stimulation that sets me off

Almost certainly. And duration of the stimulation could be a factor too: I didn't have any problems in that restroom until I'd been in there longer than I can remember the EEG techs flashing lights at me.

which makes it impossible to select a small bunch of one size clothing for the summer

I'm in desperate need of summer clothes anyway. It would be nice to know which size to buy!

In my case, it would be nice to know which size to take. I was hoping to squeeze my clothing needs down considerably to save space...but that doesn't work when I'm shifting between size 2 and size 6 on a nearly daily basis :(

I take Depakote too, so you're not alone.

Yeah, Depakote's quite a popular drug, it seems. Too bad everything has side effects, eh?

Hi Hum
On Lyrica I've put ~35lbs in 2 years (wah all size 10 clothes in a storage bin).
I decided I would try not to let it beat me anymore. I reviewed how I have been able to keep my size down in past years, tried one way--it didn't work and remembered ~15yrs ago I had changed my eating habits to proper food combining for my digestive system.
Quickie version is . . .
First: Nothing but fresh fruit until noon; Melons if eaten must be eaten 1st thing and no other fruit until a full half-hour after finishing the melon (they seem to have their own digestive issues).
This seems to satify the rampant hunger and is also the cleansing phase of the eating cycle)

Second: You can never eat a protein and a carbohydrate at the same meal. So either I eat a veggie sandwich (usually tomato or avacado) or a salad and chicken or some other such combination. Then for Dinner I eat the opposit of the combination I ate for Lunch (Chicken or Fish with Vegetables or a carb (like rice) with vegetables. By trading off like that I don't feel I am depriving myself of anything and my digestive system feels like it's full (which is one of the problems with Lyrica--Dan put it in perspective like "weed" causing "munchies"). Since Lyrica slows down nerve impusles it doesn't discriminate which impulses it is slowing down.

Since fresh fruit is so expensive I rely on bananas for the full feeling and other fruits for taste and satisfaction (today breakfast was a nectarine, a naval orange and a banana.) Probably an avacado sandwich as I went to the Pepperridge Farms "Day Old" outlet (they do not use vinegar, Arnold is the only other one that does not--my Mom found that out and it's helped her alot as she has so many issues similar to me). I try and limit my wheat intake so only two slices a day if that and other carb are more fun (like Jasmine Rice and Noodles/Pasta of most varieties).

The weight is no longer piling on and is slowly coming off. I'm not bloated in the belly anymore which helps my self-image and comfort level. Of course none of this may be helpful to you but there's always hope!

:::air huggs:::

Edited 2008-06-13 18:41 (UTC)

You can never eat a protein and a carbohydrate at the same meal.

Unfortunately, that won't work for me. If I eat carbohydrates without protein to offset them, I get woozy (a problem I inherited from my mother's side of the family). Thanks for the suggestions, though!

Gah

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