ShrinkyDink
Explorer
Hey there! Anne, writing from the desert in Southern California. Weight has been a lifelong fight. My early 30's had me over 350lbs; pregnancy came about 10 months after the surgery, yet eventually things settled and held in the 160's to 170's. Then alcohol took hold, and after that drugs. Weight climbed back across the years — and got worse still when I got sober 4 1/2 years ago, since the stimulants stopped and the depression meds started. One morning the number read 270, and my first bad routine bloodwork came back in the same stretch. For my 47th birthday last October, Reta w/cag began. In the last 6 months, 69 lbs have come off and every med is gone except the mental health ones. From a 24 pants and tight 3x shirts down to 14 pants and L/XL shirt. The face looks different to me, but the rest of the body I can't see any positive change in. The skin is very saggy, and looking "deflated" makes me self conscious. Pharmaceuticals and their mechanisms of action have fascinated me forever, and peptides are the current obsession. Reading others' experiences is the hope, especially how people handled body changes, loose skin, self esteem — plus any tips & tricks. Connecting with people matters to me: addiction recovery, social justice, animal rescue, and above all my kids.