Another update - Enjoying summer and feeling really happy! :)

Okay, so it's August 7th and I thought I'd give another update since it's been a while. I am doing great! I am thoroughly enjoying the summer! The kids and I have been busy doing so many fun things. We've spent a lot of time in the pool (we're in there at least 3 times a week, if not more). We've also been going to a lot of places, such as, my parents' house, Legoland, Santa Ana Zoo, Long Beach Aquarium, the beach, camping, parks, etc. I've also been spending time with my close friends and family. The kids and I are having so much fun and I know that we'll all be sad when summer is over! The kids' school starts on Sept. 7th, so we have 4 1/2 weeks left of fun. We have another camping trip coming up at the end of this month, which I am really looking forward to! It is tent camping at Crystal Cove (beach camping). I can't wait!! :D

So, last week, I decided to make a photo album on Facebook composed of pictures of myself from when I was skinny. I was thinking that those pictures might inspire/motivate me to lose this weight, but instead, they caused me to reaccess my weightloss goals. In those pictures, I was anywhere between 113-125 lbs and honestly, I looked sickly/unhealthy in a lot of them. Right now, I'm at 173 lbs, so I'm thinking that a good goal for me is 145 lbs (not too skinny and not extra unneeded weight). I a still sticking to my workout plan. I workout every other day on the Wii Gold's Gym Dance Workout. I also swim at least 3-4 days a week, if not more. I am eating mostly vegetarian. I don't cook with meat. The only times I eat meat are when I eat out or bring home food and then it's only chicken or turkey; no red meat!

Spiritually, I am doing very well! I started going back to church about two weeks ago and I feel closer to God than ever! I'm also planning to start thoroughly studying the Bible and I've being doing a lot of reading on Creationism vs. The Evolution Theory. I've read a lot of things that have opened up my eyes and just totally make sense to me! And spiritually, I am growing and thoroughly enjoying it! I'm already seeing the Lord work in my life. It's amazing and exciting!

I guess that's it for now!

Checking in! Doing great!! :D

So, I thought I'd give a little update. It's been 20 days since I stopped the Zoloft and I am happy to report that I am feeling great! The first week or so was rough. I had nausea and brain zaps everyday, but after I started taking Omega 3 Fish Oil tablets, the nausea and brain zaps went away!! As far as my emotions go, I am experiencing a wide range of emotions. I am honestly much happier these days, the happiest I have ever been, actually! I laugh a lot now. I am also very confident and happy. I do experience irritability at times, like during my period and also if I wait too long to eat. I also experience irritability when I am really tired. But I think all of those things are normal. The emotions I haven't experienced are depression and sadness, but I am very happy about that! I have experienced a little anxiety, which happened this morning, after waking up from a nightmare! I've had nightmares almost every night lately, which is highly disturbing. Some of them involve things that haven't happened, but are fears of mine and some of them involve things that have happened in the past. They are all disturbing. I am hoping that the nightmares go away after a while because I don't like feeling disturbed!

As far as my weight goes, I am down one lb as of this morning. I am at 172 lbs. I think I am losing weight because I have been peeing a lot lately and I know for sure it isn't an infection. I pee large amounts and there is no pain. I've also been sweating more. So, I have a feeling I am losing water weight. I've started exercising again. I'm working out three times a week using the Wii Gold's Gym Dance Workout. I've also been swimming several times a week. I am also on a mainly vegetarian diet. I eat chicken or turkey sometimes when I am out, but I don't cook with meat. I'm also eating smaller portions lately and I tend to get grossed out by sweets. I still eat ice cream and candy sometimes, but I can't eat too much of it because I get grossed out.

I also want to say that I feel so blessed with all of the wonderful friends and family in my life (including my husband, of course). They have all been so supportive and loving and I just appreciate all of them so much!! I'm also able to be there for some of them that are going through or have been through similar situations. I love all of you guys, you know who you are! <3

Also, I am taking a bunch of vitamins that seem to be helping. Along with the Fish Oil, I am taking Vitamin E, Mega B, Calcium/magnesium/zinc/D, Biotin, Acidopholis, and gummy multi-vitamins. Also, my parents are bringing me some Liver and Kidney Cleanse pills, which will help clean out my liver, after being on the meds for 3 1/2 years.

Well, I guess that's it for now. I will be back soon for another update. :)

Day 4 without Zoloft.

So, today is my 4th day off of Zoloft and I am feeling icky. I am somewhat nauseas, but it isn't just in my stomach. I feel nauseas throughout my entire body, if that makes any sense. The nausea isn't bad enough for me to throw up, but just enough to make me feel ill. I also have electric shock type sensations running throughout my body, which is what is causing the nausea. It's like a buzzing sensation. I was also getting chills last night, despite the fact that the weather has been hot lately! I've read a lot about Zoloft withdrawals, so I knew this wasn't going to be easy. It is worth it though to get this stuff out of my system.

My weight, as of today.

So, as of today, I am 173 lbs. My plan is to keep exercising three times a week. I'm on a vegetarian diet. I will occasionally eat chicken if we go out to eat, but I don't cook with meat at home. I will get back to exercising maybe tomorrow. I stopped for about a week or so due to being sick with this summer cold. I'm planning to keep tabs of my progress in here.

According to this weight chart , at 5'10" with a small frame, I am supposed to weigh between 132-145 lbs. So, my goal is 135 lbs.

YES....no more Zoloft!!!!!!!!!!!!! :D

I just got back from my appt with Dr. Shah (my psychiatrist) and as of today, I am officially off of Zoloft!!!!!!!!!!!!! WOO HOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I am SOOOOOO happy!!! Hopefully I will be able to start losing weight soon! My doctor said that I should start seeing results in about a month! I am hoping that I won't have any crazy withdrawals. I haven't had any problems so far, so hopefully that trend will continue.

The irritability is gone! :D

I'm happy to report that I didn't have any irritability at all today. So, I think I just needed to catch up on sleep and recover from Saturday ( the U2 concert). I slept in until 10am yesterday and 9am today and I felt good all day today! :)

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Having a rough time!

I've been having a rough time lately. I've been extremely irritable for the last three days and I'm not sure if it's just exhaustion from Saturday (the U2 concert. We were at Anaheim Stadium for 13 hours, on our feet for 8.5 of them), withdrawals from the meds or both. Whatever the reason, it's been affecting Thao and I feel bad! I'm not used to having emotions like this! I'm used to being extremely mellow while everything rolls off my back. But now, I am experiencing a wide range of emotions, from laughter to hyperness to irritability. The only thing I haven't experienced yet is tears or depression. Although this irritability is starting to really get to me. I really hope my emotions start leveling out soon! And the scary thing is, I probably have a good 2-3 more months of this. I have an appt with my psychiatrist next Wednesday and she's probably going to either lower the dosage even more or tell me to stop completely, since I am on a low dose of 25mg now. Good times! This is worth it to me though! I will be happy when I am completely off these meds!

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Laughter, oh how I've missed you!

Oh my gosh, tonight I was laughing harder than I have laughed in about 2 1/2 years (since going on the meds). Thao and I were playing with this android app on our phones called Ultimate Voice Changer and I was laughing so hard that tears were rolling down my face! I cannot tell you how alive I feel right now! It's the greatest feeling! Thank you God!

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2 more weeks!!

So, two more weeks until I go into see my psychiatrist. I'm excited because it might be the day she takes me completely off of Zoloft! I am SO ready to be done with these side effects and withdrawal symptoms! Ever since I reduced the dose to 25mg, I've had chills daily! I am ALWAYS cold! It's the worst feeling!

I don't remember if I wrote about this yet, but I have good news to report. Since lowering my dose, I have been experiencing a wider range of emotions. I laugh more now, I become hyper at times and at other times, I am irritable. I am feeling like the old me, which is nice. I was way too mellow on the drugs! Oh and something new is, I am now a morning person! I used to hate the mornings, but now I've noticed that I am very happy and even sometimes hyper in the morning, lol! My kids love it!

I will be back to write an update after my appt in two weeks! Wish me luck!

Update!

So as of yesterday, May 23rd, I am down to 25mg of Zoloft. So far, so good. I have been really moody lately (mostly irritable), but I've been on my period since Friday, so I am attributing it to that. This morning, I worked out on the Wii Fit for 30 minutes. I am going to try to get back into a regular workout routine, where I workout three times a week for at least 30 minutes. I have also changed my diet. Thao and I are now on a vegetarian diet. We've been eating this way for at least a month. I've been cooking 5-6 days a week and it's from scratch. The meals are very tasty and satisfying. The kids still eat meat at school, but at home it's vegetarian, unless we eat out. As of today, I am at 170 lbs. My goal is to be at around 135. I have an appointment with my psychiatrist in about 4 weeks so she can see how things are going and then she'll probably keep slowly reducing my dosage.

Three weeks and doing great!! :D

So, it's been three weeks since I lowered my dose of Zoloft from 100mg to 50mg and I am happy to report that I am doing great!! :) No problems whatsoever!! :D I hope this continues!! :)

As far as weight goes, I've lost 2 lbs so far. It isn't much, but it's a start! I've also started exercising three times a week. It got put on hold this week due to having the flu, but it will continue in a couple of weeks. Next week is Spring Break, so I will be too busy to exercise. :P

No on the St. John's Wart.

So, I talked to my doctor this morning and she told me not to take St. John's Wart. Since I am feeling good on the lower dose of Zoloft, I am not going to worry about anything for now. We'll just have to hope that I continue to do well.

Doing good so far!

So, it's Sunday and so far, I am doing great! I'm going to call my Dr. tomorrow to ask if I can take St. John's Wart with Zoloft. I want to have it around just in case my moods start dropping. I would just really like to get off these meds completely.

I haven't weighed myself for about a week, but I will report back when I do.

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On my way

I've started this blog to document my weight loss. So, as of March 23rd, 2001, my doctor has decided to wean me off my meds (100mg Zoloft and 2.5mg Abilify). I have gained a total of 48 lbs on antidepressants and antipsychotics and according to weight charts, I am 30 lbs overweight! So, my goal is to lose 30 lbs. Currently, I am at 173 lbs and I would like to be 145 lbs at the most.

My plan is to use loseit.com to track my calories and my exercise. I am expecting the weight to drop off since I am discontinuing the meds that have caused me to gain so much weight.