This is your weblog

Please add your stories of interest about weight loss here.

I am interested to hear what you have found works and what does not work, or any theories about weight loss that you might have.

Michael Anchors, MD, PhD

Thank you for Lesson Six

Like almost everyone here I have had a lifelong up and down battle with my weight. Most recently about a year ago I went on a medically-managed VLCD (all liquid, high protein, low carb, low fat) run by a hospital here in Houston and lost 97 pounds. I started doing hot yoga twice a week. Felt very very good. I kept it off for about six months, but then my son got very sick and I fell back into old eating habits (he's ok now). I have gained 20 lbs back now and have been struggling to regain control of my eating. I started phen-pro yesterday (half of the 37.5 phentermine tablets for the first six days and 20 mg generic Prozac). So here's a prayer to the weight loss gods! I hope to get back to 150 by summer's end.

But what I really came here to say is that in accordance with Lesson Six, I am greatly enjoying reading all of your posts - including what some have found to be sarcastic, judgmental or presumptuous repsonses. You are so REAL, funny and sharp-witted. Your life-saving factual information about weight loss is just the initial draw. Reading your posts make me feel like I have just had a long lunch with a kind and well-intentioned, if sometimes overly blunt friend. Even your superiority about life in Europe (where I lived for 2 years and gained 50 pounds) I find humorous. I get your point about how the they tend to eat ON AVERAGE. But you can gain weight anywhere if you try hard enough and eat enough croissants! The point is I find all of your musings on life to be thought-provoking and charming.

Ahhhh....people! Yes they ARE what life is about. Glad you are among them.  |   Email This Article

For Dr. Anchor-I am new and I have a question.

I had Gastric Bypass Surgery in 2000 in Texas. I have been extremely successful until 2 years ago I started to notice that I felt hungry ALL the time. I had moved to San Francisco, CA. I saw a gastric specialist regarding a procedure called a Stomaphyx.
After having an upper GI it was determined that the opening from my pouch to my small intestine was enlarged so the food I ate went straight through my stomach and filled into the small intestine making it rare that I ever felt full, as a result I put 30 pounds on before I knew it. The good thing was that my pouch was still very small and did not look as though it was stretched or enlarged at all. In actuality, the Stomaphyx procedure ended up being the perfect fix for my problem. After the surgey, I lost about 5 pounds and that is it. Although I have not continued to gain (thank God) I could not lose the weight.
My Internist in Dallas prescribed me Phentermine and I lost 10lbs, I was thrilled!! Slowly I have noticed that the Phentermine has lost its effectiveness and have regained 10 lbs. but I do tend to eat more often without it so I have remained on it. As it happens, I also have clinical depression and have always been on one or another antidepressant which presently happens to be Pristiq 100mg (1 daily), in addition to Synthroid .2 mg (1 daily), Enablex 7.5 mg (1 daily), Vitamin D 50,000 IU (1 weekly), Vinate PN (1 daily) and Menostar 14mcg patches (1 weekly).
I am 48 years old, 5'7" and weigh 198lbs.
I am going to Dallas next week for an appointmet with my Internist to discuss with him your weightloss protocol. I have ordered 5-HTP just in case it is suggested that I add that to my daily regimine. What would be your suggestion for an adjustment in my medication to utilize the weightloss benefits?  |   Email This Article

6 weeks on program

I am almost at my 6 week mark on Dr. Anchors Program. I have lost 14 lbs and have changed a lot of eating habits. I am a wife and mother of 4 and after reading Dr. Anchors Book Life Between Meals, I have learned that bad food habits can be changed for the health of my family. One thing that has helped is I am no longer overcooking at meals. I used to think I had to cook more so everybody could get full. I now cook just enough for everyone to have one serving and everyone is satisfied, and if not I give them a piece of fruit. It really works! I no longer have a fridge of wasted leftovers. The other habit that has changed in my house is that if you get bored, don't eat. Find something to do. It is so TRUE. For my kids and my self eating and watching TV was a horrible habit. We no longer do it. I am happy with my results and my new outlook on eating. I keep the book in my purse and use it as a resourse and share it with my friends and family. I look forward to my follow up appointment to see my success.  |   Email This Article

Hoovering around 185lbs

I had taken phen-fen back in 1997 and lost 15lbs in 3 weeks. Just in time to leave for basic training the 4th week. I have always struggled with my weight since I was about 12 yo. I was born prematurely at 1lb 7oz so I was always being over-fed to cause weight gain. Once the weight started to stick, it stayed. Now I am 32 yo and still fighting the weight. I am no longer in the service and have ulcerative colitis and IBS-C (which is the more dominant disease), I suffer from severe constipation and have always thought that my digestive issues are related to my premature birth.

As for my weight I believe the over-feeding and lack of proper digestion and elimination have aided in keeping overweight. After finding this site by chance in 2008 I was elated to know that something similar to phen-fen existed. I have taken phentermine off and on since 1998 with varied results, but phen-zoloft has been my saving grace. I was already taking an antidepressant for anxiety and depression, and phentermine for weightloss, but they were not compatible since the antidepressant was not an SSRI. My doctor agreed to change my antidepressant and I started the phen 37.5mg + zoloft 50mg on Oct 31, 2009(wgt 200lbs @ 5ft 5in). By Jan 2010 I hit my halfway mark of 185lbs. One thing I noticed about my meds is that I started to urinate more often or have the urge to urinate when I really didn't have too. This was new for me and caused issues with sleeping (I also take 50mg of Trazadone for sleep), because I feared I would urinate on myself. Since this was a new issue for me I started to research my meds and found that one side effect of Zoloft was excessive urination, I informed my doctor of this and we agreed that I should cut my dose in half and see what happens. The issue went away, but I have not lost a pound since I changed my dose of Zoloft! I am hoovering around 189 and 185lbs. As of today I weigh 184.8lbs. My goal weight is 170lbs, this is a comfortable weight for me and do to my physical make-up this weight looks good on me. Family and friends have commented on my weightloss and I have shared this site as well as Dr. Paul Rivas' book with several people. This is a great discovery for me, but I am getting anxious with this plateu, I was hoping that the Trazadone would help offset the fact that I could not take the full 50mg of Zoloft, but it does not and I can't take it any earlier because I will fall asleep....does anybody have an idea of what my next step should be? I tried adding 5 HTP but saw no change. I am not allowed to purchase phentermine in larger doses, 30 pills at 37.5mg per mo, no deviations. So now I am looking for my next step...please advise.  |   Email This Article

2 Months

Well, after a horrible sinus infection and being taken off the full 37.5mg of Phen I have managed to gain 3 pounds back. When I had the sinus infection my Dr. told me to take psudofed for the congestion and that I couldn't mix the phen with it. She also gave me a steroid shot and warned me it would increase my hunger, it did.

I didn't make horrible choices, or stray to far from the lessons, but just adding in the extra calories and the lack of energy added on the pounds.

She cut my daily dose of Phen down to 1/2 a tab of the 37.5 since I started having HORRIBLE panic attacks. I have added in the 5HTP in hopes that it will help, but I haven't done it long enough to see it kick in.

I don't want to get discouraged and give up, so I will keep pushing along.

I have lost over 20lbs even w/ the 3 pound gain and my friends and family can see it. I can too, my clothes fit better and I can even get into sizes that I couldn't 2 months ago.

I hope the next 2 months prove just as well.  |   Email This Article

cymbalta and weight gain

I'm in the process of getting off Cymbalta 60mg, by taking 30mg for a week, then 30mg every other day for a week and then stop. My doctor also prescribed phentermine 15mg to help with the appetite, Is it safe to go to Prozac right after I stop cymbalta?. I have not lost one single pound on the phentermine. I've gained 60 lbs over the last year on Cymbalta( I was taking Cymbalta for depression) will the prozac help with it too.  |   Email This Article

Update at about 10 weeks now...

So I last week I added a tablet of 5-HTP as you recommended in your book. It seems to have helped. So in the AM I take a 5-HTP and L-Carnitine. No, you never said anything about the L-Carnitine. But I used to take it and it gave me energy so I happened to run across it again when I was buying the 5-HTP so I grabbed a bottle. (It comes in a cough syrup type format). Then around noon I take my phen-pro and it worked great in returning the effects, or rather eliminating any possible hunger. I actually lost 5 pounds last week, I have energy, and I’m not hungry.

Since I could not find the erythromycin cream at any pharmacy I tried a high-end OTC brand by Vichy. It is working super… My face has cleared up by at least 50% since last Wednesday.

I have 2 new side-effects:

#1: Completely no hunger and no appetite. I accidently forgot to eat and I got really light headed, dizzy, and nauseous. I was happy and excited about this. Is that wrong ?

#2: I went on 3 dates this weekend. Being healthier means more men are attracted to me again. This is good because I have even more friends to eat with and those friends always pick up the tab. Plus I get to be feminine and dainty and let them eat most the food; which is kind of fun and self-rewarding. But I spent each Friday, Saturday, and Sunday with different guys on different dates. So I am really exhausted today. Plus one brought me chocolates. I told him thanks, but next time stick to flowers. Now they all want to hang out again next weekend and I just don’t know which one to choose. Maybe I need to propose we all go to dinner all together and spare a little male competition. Ha Ha Ha! Plus, I am so mean, instead of driving I asked each of them if they wanted to walk across the bridge to Georgetown for dinner instead of driving. It helps me weed out the lazy men who will not be conducive to my active-Euro lifestyle.  |   Email This Article

Day 1

This is my first day on phen pro. My dr already had me on the pro for stress. I told her yesterday I wanted to start taking the weight loss drug and she called it in. My BMI is greater than 40 and I am only 28 years old. I have 3 small children and want to shed this weight so I can live longer for them.

I weighed at the dr on Tues and then again today and just changing the time of night I was eating has resulted in a 5.5 pound loss. I hope that the phen pro adds to that and I can get back to a normal BMI by next fall.

This morning I feel great. I am not hungry but know I really should eat something. I am drinking lots of water and have tons of energy. I only took 1/2 of a 37.5 and 10mg of pro. I think I will take the other 1/2 at 1pm and see how that works.  |   Email This Article

should I increase phentermine?

I have been on Dr. anchor's protocol for eight weeks and I have just passed the 30 lb loss mark. I have had phentermine prescribed to me about 10 year ago and I am experiencing the same "tolerance" problem that I had at that time -- can I increase the 37.5 mg dose? is there any other way to "jump start" the phentermine effectiveness? I have only lost 1 lb this past week and I feel that I am beginning to struggle again with my appetite. The six commandments are on my fridge and I have to say that I think the "simple" command is a compelling and powerful way to stay on track.  |   Email This Article

Just 6 weeks -

Tomorrow will be six weeks for me, and although i have lost 17 pounds (which i am thrilled about) i have found that the last week or so, have been a bit harder for me - wondering if a higher dose of the phen would help - if my body has gotten used to it, and it's not as effective -?  |   Email This Article