Last night I skipped reconstituting my reta. When the time came to do it, I was already set to go to sleep, my bac water had been sitting in the fridge and was cold, and the reta came directly out of the freezer. My memory is that I came across something saying both should be at room temperature during reconstitution, otherwise problems can arise? Once again, gelling is the thing I keep worrying about.
I really appreciate the reply you gave me — it was both kind and motivating. I'm ready to keep an eye out for anhedonia. I keep going back and forth on whether to start an anti depressant again, but certain side effects bother me so much that being off it for the past 6 months has felt like a relief. Before that I spent 10 years on sertraline. The brainfog it caused was awful, and it also made waking up and feeling clear headed much harder — I only realized it had been causing that once I stopped and it vanished completely. On top of that, reaching orgasm was more difficult, which is frustrating. Still, a low dose for a while might be the better route. I haven't made up my mind yet.Vriende said:
Yes, this concerns me as well — that amount, and at such speed. All the more so given that later in your message you mention fatigue and that you have gone 2 weeks without training.amosmylove said:
This started as a brain dump and turned into word vomit. I'm feeling very mentally fragile right now. Is there a women's forum on here? I didn't see one. Anyway, consider that a warning — if you don't have patience for someone in a mental slump, skip this post.
The main thing I want to ask about is titration and being close to goal weight.
I keep running into conflicting advice and evidence about how fast to lose and about possible muscle loss.
32-year-old female, 5'7", athletic build
SW 207 CW 177 GW 145-155
I've been on 7.5 mg tirz weekly since the start of April.
In 14 weeks I've dropped 15% of my body weight, 30lbs, averaging 2.1 pounds weekly, which looks like it sits near the top of what's regarded as okay/safe for weight loss. So far no sagging skin, which is something I want to steer clear of since I have hEDS, meaning defective collagen, which means poor skin healing along with other problems.
Another worry is losing muscle instead of fat. For the past 2 weeks I haven't worked out at all. I'm not hungry enough to consume enough protein to prevent muscle loss, and the energy drain I've been attributing to tirz is still a nuisance. The fatigue has gotten better since a week ago, but I can't tell whether it's still bad from tirz or just my usual constant fatigue, which comes in varying waves but is always there because of autoimmune issues and poor sleep/a busy life. When I do eat, I eat well. Chicken, salmon, veggies, beef.
Anyway, for the last 20-30 lbs, everything I read from others says this is the hardest weight to lose for them right before their goal weight. I'm not sure if my total weight loss goal being less than 60lbs affects that (versus is the 100s) or if it's going to come off but eat up my muscles while it does.
Should I lower my dose so I don't lose as quickly, for the sake of nutrition/energy/muscle loss prevention/skin tightness, or keep it the same and potentially increase to 10mg hoping to get off the last stubborn 25ish pounds? I'm thinking it will be stubborn because in the last 3 weeks I've only lost 3.5 pounds, which is making me think I should increase my dose since I've been at 7.5 mg for the last 7 weeks.
I won't dance around it, I desperately want to lose the weight as fast as possible, but I'm trying to temper that desire with reality and what's actually best for my body versus appeasing my stupidly vain mind. It's a hard line for me as my mental health regarding my appearance is utter trash, to be frank.
Half of me (the adhd half) thinks this way: up my dose to 10mg now then 12.5 asap, screw my muscles and skin, I can wear turtlenecks forever and since I've always been over-muscular for a female, being 'dainty' sounds great even if I'm skin and bone.
The other half (the one who wants to be a good mom) is trying to be rooted in consciously choosing what is best for me long term and ignoring what I 'want'.
I can anticipate what the advice will be here. Titrate down or stay at 7.5, force myself to eat a steady amount of nutrient dense/high protein food and plenty of water. Get better sleep. Work out. Go to therapy to better accept myself. I'm just struggling with all of that.
Anyone in a similar spot or has been?
I just want to be more attractive. My husband doesn't care as he is happy with me, so really I'm just trying to be happy with myself for myself.
LOL it's so pathetically stupid!
I've loved myself/been content being bigger than I currently am in years past but I've taken a mental health dive regarding my self esteem as it seems I'll never be what I wish to be.
It's funny. I see normal people or overweight people, or people that are objectively less attractive, and think they are wonderful/beautiful/just right the way they are but I see myself and think 'yuck'.
I guess this has turned into a pity party.
Any ladies here struggled with their bodies changing and adjusting your mentality to be fine with yourself?
No one who knows me besides my husband would have any clue I care at all about these things. I present as an accomplished, productive, confident, arguably attractive, sweet woman and excellent mother to all I know in real life. In my brain I am vicious to myself, never good enough.
I will say I'm extremely careful about not being negative in front of my kids. They have great self esteem and confidence in themselves because I've gone above and beyond to break the cycle of self esteem issues I've inherited from my mother, who is slender and lovely even at 60 but complained about being overweight my whole life. She's 5'8" and 130 lbs
My sincere hope is that you will put your physical and mental health first, so that you can be present for yourself and your family over the long haul.
I would urge caution before rushing toward suggestions that involve stimulants, ephedra, Anavar, steroids, and similar substances.
These are not trivial things to try out lightly, and they can carry serious health consequences.
One more thing to keep in mind — when someone answers fast, often, and with great certainty, that alone does not make them the best guide. Lately this forum has seen many men arrive from bodybuilding/steroid boards, and some of them frame weight loss through a “faster, leaner, harder no matter the cost” lens.
That may suit what they are after, but your post sounds like someone juggling health, energy, motherhood, appearance, and mental well-being all at the same time.
Before you act on advice that could strongly impact your health, sleep, anxiety, and muscle mass, I would suggest reading through older threads here from people who handled the last 20–30 lb more slowly and in a way they could sustain. A pattern tends to show up: those who end up happiest long term usually protect muscle, keep nutrition up, strength train, and refuse to turn the whole thing into punishment.
Losing 30 lbs in 14 weeks is, in my view, already a very substantial rate. If the scale has stalled a bit lately, that does not mean you are failing or that you must escalate hard.
What stands out to me is how much compassion you show everyone but yourself. You call other people beautiful and worthy exactly as they are, yet you talk to yourself with a harshness you would almost certainly never aim at another woman.
You do not come across as pathetic or weak. You come across as worn out, stretched thin, and emotionally raw while trying extremely hard to “get this right.” The fact that you are actively working to break unhealthy self-esteem patterns for your kids says a great deal about you, in a good way.
I would simply hate for you to make fear-driven choices in a low moment that damage your health down the road. Also, as you begin reta, you can find posts here on the forum noting that people may get fatigue and anhedonia from it too — so take it slow.
Best wishes, and stay healthy.
For people in recent generations, I'd say SSRIs come about as close to being miracle* drugs as GLP-1 medications do.amosmylove said:
I really appreciate the reply you gave me — it was both kind and motivating. I'm ready to keep an eye out for anhedonia. I keep going back and forth on whether to start an anti depressant again, but certain side effects bother me so much that being off it for the past 6 months has felt like a relief. Before that I spent 10 years on sertraline. The brainfog it caused was awful, and it also made waking up and feeling clear headed much harder — I only realized it had been causing that once I stopped and it vanished completely. On top of that, reaching orgasm was more difficult, which is frustrating. Still, a low dose for a while might be the better route. I haven't made up my mind yet.Vriende said:
Yes, this concerns me as well — that amount, and at such speed. All the more so given that later in your message you mention fatigue and that you have gone 2 weeks without training.amosmylove said:
This started as a brain dump and turned into word vomit. I'm feeling very mentally fragile right now. Is there a women's forum on here? I didn't see one. Anyway, consider that a warning — if you don't have patience for someone in a mental slump, skip this post.
The main thing I want to ask about is titration and being close to goal weight.
I keep running into conflicting advice and evidence about how fast to lose and about possible muscle loss.
32-year-old female, 5'7", athletic build
SW 207 CW 177 GW 145-155
I've been on 7.5 mg tirz weekly since the start of April.
In 14 weeks I've dropped 15% of my body weight, 30lbs, averaging 2.1 pounds weekly, which looks like it sits near the top of what's regarded as okay/safe for weight loss. So far no sagging skin, which is something I want to steer clear of since I have hEDS, meaning defective collagen, which means poor skin healing along with other problems.
Another worry is losing muscle instead of fat. For the past 2 weeks I haven't worked out at all. I'm not hungry enough to consume enough protein to prevent muscle loss, and the energy drain I've been attributing to tirz is still a nuisance. The fatigue has gotten better since a week ago, but I can't tell whether it's still bad from tirz or just my usual constant fatigue, which comes in varying waves but is always there because of autoimmune issues and poor sleep/a busy life. When I do eat, I eat well. Chicken, salmon, veggies, beef.
Anyway, for the last 20-30 lbs, everything I read from others says this is the hardest weight to lose for them right before their goal weight. I'm not sure if my total weight loss goal being less than 60lbs affects that (versus is the 100s) or if it's going to come off but eat up my muscles while it does.
Should I lower my dose so I don't lose as quickly, for the sake of nutrition/energy/muscle loss prevention/skin tightness, or keep it the same and potentially increase to 10mg hoping to get off the last stubborn 25ish pounds? I'm thinking it will be stubborn because in the last 3 weeks I've only lost 3.5 pounds, which is making me think I should increase my dose since I've been at 7.5 mg for the last 7 weeks.
I won't dance around it, I desperately want to lose the weight as fast as possible, but I'm trying to temper that desire with reality and what's actually best for my body versus appeasing my stupidly vain mind. It's a hard line for me as my mental health regarding my appearance is utter trash, to be frank.
Half of me (the adhd half) thinks this way: up my dose to 10mg now then 12.5 asap, screw my muscles and skin, I can wear turtlenecks forever and since I've always been over-muscular for a female, being 'dainty' sounds great even if I'm skin and bone.
The other half (the one who wants to be a good mom) is trying to be rooted in consciously choosing what is best for me long term and ignoring what I 'want'.
I can anticipate what the advice will be here. Titrate down or stay at 7.5, force myself to eat a steady amount of nutrient dense/high protein food and plenty of water. Get better sleep. Work out. Go to therapy to better accept myself. I'm just struggling with all of that.
Anyone in a similar spot or has been?
I just want to be more attractive. My husband doesn't care as he is happy with me, so really I'm just trying to be happy with myself for myself.
LOL it's so pathetically stupid!
I've loved myself/been content being bigger than I currently am in years past but I've taken a mental health dive regarding my self esteem as it seems I'll never be what I wish to be.
It's funny. I see normal people or overweight people, or people that are objectively less attractive, and think they are wonderful/beautiful/just right the way they are but I see myself and think 'yuck'.
I guess this has turned into a pity party.
Any ladies here struggled with their bodies changing and adjusting your mentality to be fine with yourself?
No one who knows me besides my husband would have any clue I care at all about these things. I present as an accomplished, productive, confident, arguably attractive, sweet woman and excellent mother to all I know in real life. In my brain I am vicious to myself, never good enough.
I will say I'm extremely careful about not being negative in front of my kids. They have great self esteem and confidence in themselves because I've gone above and beyond to break the cycle of self esteem issues I've inherited from my mother, who is slender and lovely even at 60 but complained about being overweight my whole life. She's 5'8" and 130 lbs
My sincere hope is that you will put your physical and mental health first, so that you can be present for yourself and your family over the long haul.
I would urge caution before rushing toward suggestions that involve stimulants, ephedra, Anavar, steroids, and similar substances.
These are not trivial things to try out lightly, and they can carry serious health consequences.
One more thing to keep in mind — when someone answers fast, often, and with great certainty, that alone does not make them the best guide. Lately this forum has seen many men arrive from bodybuilding/steroid boards, and some of them frame weight loss through a “faster, leaner, harder no matter the cost” lens.
That may suit what they are after, but your post sounds like someone juggling health, energy, motherhood, appearance, and mental well-being all at the same time.
Before you act on advice that could strongly impact your health, sleep, anxiety, and muscle mass, I would suggest reading through older threads here from people who handled the last 20–30 lb more slowly and in a way they could sustain. A pattern tends to show up: those who end up happiest long term usually protect muscle, keep nutrition up, strength train, and refuse to turn the whole thing into punishment.
Losing 30 lbs in 14 weeks is, in my view, already a very substantial rate. If the scale has stalled a bit lately, that does not mean you are failing or that you must escalate hard.
What stands out to me is how much compassion you show everyone but yourself. You call other people beautiful and worthy exactly as they are, yet you talk to yourself with a harshness you would almost certainly never aim at another woman.
You do not come across as pathetic or weak. You come across as worn out, stretched thin, and emotionally raw while trying extremely hard to “get this right.” The fact that you are actively working to break unhealthy self-esteem patterns for your kids says a great deal about you, in a good way.
I would simply hate for you to make fear-driven choices in a low moment that damage your health down the road. Also, as you begin reta, you can find posts here on the forum noting that people may get fatigue and anhedonia from it too — so take it slow.
Best wishes, and stay healthy.
My Reta dose has never been at a set time — just sometime during the day. So far the sleep problem hasn't hit me, though honestly my sleep troubles are worse than my weight problem, which really says a lot. That said, the past 2 days my sleep has been slightly improved. If I had to take a guess, I'd chalk it up to me being a Varrior now. And if that's the reason, could a similar thing be going on in your case? You mentioned CNS problems before, one of them being difficulty reaching orgasm. When my Canadian diabetic doctor put me on amitriptyline for neuropathy, I ran into the same kind of trouble. And my sleep, or the lack of it, became most noticeable after the diabetic neuropathy.
Orgasms were never a problem for me until an SSRI was prescribed. These days I'm not on the SSRI anymore, and thankfully that whole area is functioning normally again. Even so, it was never off the table completely — it just required more work lol. As for sleep, it's been less than ideal for as long as I can remember, going all the way back to childhood. Falling asleep has always been a fight. Once I'm out, staying asleep is usually fine and not something I deal with. I'm also my own worst enemy, because my phone distracts me and then I tell myself I 'can't fall asleep' — when realistically I probably would have if I'd never grabbed it after getting into bed. Generally speaking, though, it takes me a couple of hours to drift off when there are no distractions. My husband is out in 3-5 minutes, and honestly I kind of hate him for that. I wish it worked like a lightswitch! Mornings are another battle — getting up is really hard for me too.
Are we twins?
Fine, mirror twin it is.
Ah, that hits one of my pet peeves. I'm glad you're off it. Truly glad.
Huh! Now that I think about it, yeah, that's been a problem for me as well. Strange how these things slip your mind over time. All I recall is sleeping 26 hours straight, then waking up convinced only two hours had passed. That one was from pure exhaustion. The other time was the first and only occasion I took a puff or two of some druggy cigarette. I snapped awake believing I'd only napped a minute, only to discover 30 hours had gone by.
A big chunk of my work has involved coaching people on sleep hygiene, and it genuinely pays off. I'm not a naturally good sleeper and never will be, but once I nailed down the fundamentals, things improved significantly.
