Obesity

Part 1 of 2 Living with a chronic illness feels like our bodies are holding us to ransom. We get no rewards for our attempts to function like a “normal” person.

We struggle with the everyday things that most people take for granted.

Managing life with a chronic illness(s) is exhausting. We experience multiple layers of fatigue. It’s important to note that fatigue is different from feeling tired.

There are 3 different types of fatigue

Transient fatigue is acute fatigue brought on by extreme sleep restriction or extended hours awake within 1 or 2 days.

Cumulative fatigue is fatigue brought on by repeated mild sleep restriction or extended hours awake across a series of days.

Circadian fatigue refers to the reduced performance during nighttime hours, particularly during an individual’s “window of circadian low” (WOCL) (typically between 2:00 a.m. and 05:59 a.m.).

Fatigue is categorised as either physical or mental.

Common symptoms associated with fatigue can include:

aching muscles

apathy and a lack of motivation

daytime drowsiness

difficulty concentrating or learning new tasks

gastrointestinal problems

headache

irritability

slowed response time

vision problems

The difference between tiredness and fatigue is more substantial than you may first realise. Tiredness is the way we feel when we don’t get enough sleep. Fatigue is a daily lack of energy that can’t be solved through greater sleep alone. Fatigue, therefore, is caused by more than just our sleeping pattern or daily activities.

Most of the time fatigue can be attributed to one or more lifestyle issues, such as poor sleep habits or lack of exercise. Fatigue can be caused by a medicine or linked to depression. Sometimes fatigue is a symptom of an illness that needs treatment.

If you feel you’re suffering from fatigue, which is an overwhelming tiredness that isn’t relieved by rest and sleep, you may have an underlying medical condition. It’s important to consult your GP for advice.

Prepare yourself not be taken seriously. It could take a few appointments and more than one doctor to be heard.

In my case, the first GP dismissed my concerns. I was there about something else. After she dealt with that issue, I told her my concern about my tiredness levels and not feeling refreshed after a good night’s sleep. Ignoring me she thrust the prescription slip into my hand. Giving me the “it’s time to leave” look.

I wasn’t at all prepared for her reaction. I left feeling like none of the doctors at the surgery would take my concerns seriously. I decided to see another GP and if they didn’t listen or help me. I would try every doctor at the practice until one of them was willing to act on my symptoms. Luckily for me, the second doctor I saw listened. A diagnosis of Myalgic encephalomyelitis or chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS) took about a year. Once diagnosed I felt momentary relief. Finally, there was medical proof I was unwell. I wasn’t going mad, it wasn’t all in my head. I had a physical problem.

https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/chronic-fatigue-syndrome-cfs/

Layers of fatigue – Mille-Feuille of tiredness

This isn’t a medical term ( Miller-Feuille is French, meaning; 1000 sheets or layers) It’s something I created to help healthy people understand fatigue is much more than just tiredness. An early night and a long lie at the weekend simply won’t fix us.

Different layers of fatigue

Layer 1

Fatigue caused by chronic condition(s) Exhaustion that doesn’t let up might be a sign of:

Adrenal insufficiency

Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS)

Anemia

Anxiety disorders

Cancer

Chronic fatigue syndrome

Chronic infection or inflammation

Chronic kidney disease

COPD

Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19)

Depression (major depressive disorder) or other mood disorders

Diabetes

Fibromyalgia

Grief

Heart disease

Heart failure

Hepatitis A

Hepatitis B

Hepatitis C

HIV/AIDS

Hyperthyroidism (overactive thyroid)

Hypothyroidism (underactive thyroid)

Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD)

Liver disease

Low vitamin D

Lupus

Mononucleosis

Multiple sclerosis

Obesity

Parkinson’s disease

Physical or emotional abuse

Polymyalgia rheumatica

Pregnancy

Rheumatoid arthritis

Sleep apnea

Stress

Traumatic brain injury

Layer 2

Fatigue caused by medication. If you take time to read the patient leaflet inside the box you will find an extensive list of side effects. Fatigue is a common side effect of many drugs. Especially the types chronic illness sufferers take. Additional fatigue is the las

Hi Friends,

My very first The Mighty story was published yesterday -- I am feeling so thankful, and also v nervous. This is the first time I have shared about my eating disorder so publicly and I am a little anxious about negative ramifications, especially with the huge stigma around eating disorders. As healthcare providers, we are often conditioned not to share things about our own health journeys, especially mental health journeys.

That said, one of our directors emailed the story out to the entire department! So now everyone I work with knows. While I really hope it can help foster much needed change for patients (and get more people to advocate against the new AAP obesity guidelines) it is also so so nerve-wracking.

What are your thoughts on this. Would you trust your physician less if you knew they had their own health struggles? Or does it make them more human?

Here is the story if you want to read it :)

themighty.com/topic/eating-disorders/aap-childhood-obesity-g...

<3 danielle="" #Advocacy #EatingDisorderRecovery #Beingbrave #healthcareprovidor #MightyTogether

Note: my post is negative. I don’t want to trigger anyone so if you’re going read it, stop if you are uncomfortable.

My anxiety has been steady. My depression is taking over and at this very moment I just want to take a deep breath and let it.

My husband took a photo of me tonight. I don’t know what he was taking exactly but he sent it to me and all I can see is this hideous fat blob.

All my life weight is the one thing that has been in control. Doesn’t matter if I was 5 or if I’m 45, I am never going to escape this.

I am not my heaviest but I’m 140 pounds more than I thought I’d be. I spent thousands of dollars over the decades and countless hours exercising and watching my food. The weight always came back. However, even when I lost the weight, I never felt like I had succeeded. I was still called names. I was told how ugly I was and how fat I was.

I broke a chair. I broke a toilet. Do you know how humiliating that is? I can’t find clothes that fit. They’re either too big or too small. I can’t sit comfortably on a flight.

In November I was laid off permanently from my job because my boss had to accept she didn’t know what she was doing and had to close. I did start a new job a week later. However I have tremors ALL the time and they get worse when I think of work.

Each morning I get up, get dressed, and hide my true feelings to make others feel okay.

I am not okay.

I turned 45 last Friday. It’s the first birthday I didn’t care about except that when the universe is kind enough to say my time is up, I’d be happy.

Mirrors show me how hideous I am and so do photos. Aren’t our physical selves a reflection of our true inner selves?

I’m sorry. I needed to speak.

#CheckInWithMe
#MajorDepressiveDisorder
#Obesity
#Selfesteem
#sad

Part 1 of 2 ADHD in women is an extremely common condition. More than 10 percent of American women have ADHD, which is a disorder of the central nervous system. Women with ADHD also tend to have more difficulty concentrating on three-D projects, such as writing and reading. While researchers are not exactly sure why this occurs, most believe it has to do with changes in neurotransmitters known as dopamine and norepinephrine. Dopamine and norepinephrine are substances that allow nerves to communicate with each other.

Common Symptoms of ADHD in Women:

Lack of concentration

Hyperactivity

Distractibility

Impulsiveness

The lack of focus and hyperactivity is considered “comorbid” with ADHD, which means they are both symptoms of the disorder itself. However, there are some instances where women are treated separately from their co-occurring conditions. For instance, children with ADHD that also have Asperger’s syndrome or a co-occurring disorder such as obesity, depression, alcohol abuse or drug addiction may need to receive separate treatment. In these cases, the medications used to treat the child with ADHD will likely be used in conjunction with therapy and behavioral modification techniques.

Women with ADHD have certain characteristics that are unique to the disorder:

Women are much more likely than men to exhibit symptoms of both hyperactivity-impulsivity and ADHD combined with depression or other mood disorders.

Women tend to be more emotionally intense and are much more prone to mood swings than men.

Women with ADHD also report more frequent sleep issues than men.

They also may experience higher levels of anxiety and depression and are more likely to engage in risky behaviors.

There are four criteria for diagnosing Women with ADHD:

The first is that symptoms must interfere with life and/or academic functioning.

The second is that females must be seen by a specialist such as a psychiatrist or child psychologist or a nurse practitioner.

The third criterion is that the specialist must determine that inattentive type ADHD is present.

The fourth criteria requires that the female must have been treated with psychostimulants for at least six months before she can be diagnosed with ADHD.

Girls with hyperactivity disorder have been less well studied than ADHD in boys. There are a number of theories about the gender differences in ADHD but no hard facts. Researchers believe that girls are affected more by biological factors than boys and that boys are more likely to be treated with prescription medications rather than behavioral therapies. It is believed that girls are less likely than boys to engage in risky behavior and that genetic factors are responsible for the symptoms of hyperactivity disorder in boys and girls alike.

Boys and girls respond differently to treatment regimens. Boys typically respond to positive parenting and positive reinforcement treatments. Girls generally respond to dietary changes and medication.

ADHD Treatments:

Diet and Exercise have consistently shown to be effective treatments for women with ADHD. However, one important factor that must be considered in treatment is that the women with ADHD are normally pregnant or nursing and are in a state of low nutritional condition. This can affect the results of the treatment. Women with ADHD may respond to treatment initially but once their babies arrive they may not be receptive to medication. The bottom line is that diet and exercise need to be part of an overall treatment program for women with ADHD.

Dietary interventions have particularly shown success in controlling obesity. Women with ADHD and obesity have a greater risk of developing conditions such as diabetes, high blood pressure, heart disease, stroke, and certain types of cancer. Impacts of ADHD on women varies by factors such as the level of body fat and activity, but all women with ADHD are at increased risk of becoming obese. Thus, diet and exercise must be a central component of treatment.

A well-controlled trial by Bahnsman et al. found that women with ADHD had a greater fat mass and a higher fat mass index than women without ADHD. Women with ADHD also had more significant reductions in their BMI than women without ADHD. These findings are important, especially since the typical treatment protocol for both genders, dietary control, has not been proven to reduce obesity in a meaningful way. This study is important because it adds another possible mechanism through which the hyperactivity-impulsivity factor may interfere with diet and exercise. This brings us to the second point made above: women with ADHD may be more sensitive to diet and exercise than women without ADHD.

The third important point is that women with ADHD are likely to be over-sensitive to diet

Part 2 of 2 and exercise. This means that the symptoms they exhibit are actually worsened by diet and exercise. Women with comorbid ADHD are also likely to report greater symptoms of over-sensitivity to diet and exercise. So, in addition to the potentially serious weight gain associated with ADHD, women with comorbid ADHD may be at even greater risk for obesity and other common diseases like osteoporosis, high cholesterol, hypertension, diabetes, and other systemic disorders. Exercise can help significantly in many of these conditions. It is especially important in women with ADHD because of their greater susceptibility to depression and lower self-esteem due to their dysfunctional relationships with diet and exercise, which can make them more receptive to diet and exercise-related challenges.

It’s still not completely understood how diet and exercise affect obesity. Comorbid ADHD subjects who were given a special diet were found to have less body fat and increased muscle mass, but researchers are still uncertain whether diet and exercise are linked to obesity in general. Interestingly, women with ADHD had greater muscle mass and a lower percentage of body fat than did women without ADHD. Perhaps the extra calories from the exercise boosted the metabolism and produced additional hormones that helped suppress appetite. Either way, it is clear that diet and exercise in addition to medications for treating ADHD are important to both women with ADHD and those at risk for obesity.

There are certain times of life when diet and exercise may be particularly important to women with ADHD. The hormone fluctuations during pregnancy and adolescence can have an effect on child development and on symptoms of ADHD. As women enter their later years, they may be especially concerned about their weight and what can lead to obesity. Exercise also helps with depression and other emotional symptoms, which can be symptoms of ADHD as well. And while many women with ADHD tend to be overweight, most do not become obese or suffer from chronic obesity.

One area where research is particularly unclear is how diet and exercise relate to ADHD in women. Some experts think that women with ADHD are just as prone to developing obesity as women without, but there is no consensus on this. One reason for the disagreement is that there is no definitive test for ADHD. While some measures such as blood pressure and cholesterol levels seem to be able to predict obesity, no blood test has been developed that shows whether or not eating patterns will contribute to or worsen a woman’s symptoms of ADHD.

Another area of confusion relates to whether diet and exercise can help control behavior or just act as a mild form of antidepressant. As noted above, there are many studies that suggest the latter, but those studies do not show that diet and exercise alone can help control behavior. In fact, those studies do not even control for the ADHD condition itself. The only way to control diet and exercise is by using a behavioral scale in addition to using the measure of behavior alone. The results may not always be the same for women with ADHD and those without, but the overall picture is that diet and exercise can help control some of the more common ADHD symptoms such as delayed discounting, impulse control problems and poor impulse functioning. If diet and exercise alone cannot control symptoms, then ADHD homeopathic remedies may be an ideal alternative.

Women with ADHD may respond to one or more of the following treatments. They could be given antidepressant medications, which are usually the first line of treatment because they are effective in treating both inattentive and hyperactive types. Antipsychotic medications can also help with symptoms of inattentive ADHD in females. Some believe that Risperdal (Latent-Rise) is effective in treating both subtypes of ADHD in females. In addition, a new type of dietary supplement called ADHD Friendly has been used for some time with positive results.

In Conclusion:

Researchers continue to study the symptoms, causes, and treatments of ADHD in women. Although they have several symptoms, they seem to differ from males. There are still many unanswered questions about ADHD, including the exact cause. However, there are several reasons that seem to be more prevalent in females than in males. Women seem to be at a higher risk for suffering from hyperactivity/ distractibility, but researchers are not quite sure how this difference came about.

If you would like some further guidance and support on managing your ADHD, then you should contact your local experienced ADHD specialist for an in-depth ADHD assessment to improve your understanding of the disorder and to know what treatment method is fit for you or them.

I have just been diagnosed with prediabetes. I'm 43,tipping right at the obesity level, as well as #ChronicMigraines #MentalHealth #CPTSD , as you can imagine I'm fairly well stressed out about it, and have already begun removing sugars from my diet. About a year ago or so I was at my ideal weight using a diet plan that I really loved but it was very expensive (approx. 400$ a month) when I hit my ideal, I started transitioning to thr maintenance phase, then my life and circumstances went down Hill fast, and led to me eating my stress and emotions. Im starting a medical weight loss program (tomorrow is my first appt. ) I'm honestly just scared to death because this is now the second time my weight issues have become potentially life threatening.

This motel bed is worn out from my fat body and the limited space I have on it. I sit up on the bed, and my abdomen sits over my legs, and it causes my right thigh a lot of discomfort. I can't find a position that works except leaning back and to the left, but then I have my phone too close to my eyes (and most positions I sit in, I fall into leaning forward, so the phone's too close to my eyes even then. Leaning back doesn't always help, either.

The bed I'd sunk in, and the times I've wet the bed (yes, I use bed pads, but when I've emptied my full bladder, it's not enough, plus my boyfriend only gets the cheapest bed pads and underwear, and they don't even carry my size in any brand in the stores.

Yes, I *am* trying to lose weight, but I'm limited as to what I can eat, and when I stay at the motel instead of going out, like I did today (because I'm sick), I have to rely on what my boyfriend's willing to get me. I only eat one meal a day, and a bag of chocolates as a snack. It's terrible, I know, but it's hard to find healthy snacks you don't have to refrigerate, especially if you crave sweets.

I'm getting drowsy again, so I'm going to stop here.

#Anxiety
#ocd
#obsessivecompulsivedisorder
#Depression
#panicdisorder
#hoarder
#hoarding
#ptsd
#cptsd
#disability
#abuse
#emotionalabuse
#mentalabuse
#Financialabuse
#Obesity
#BladderIncontinence
#Incontinence
#UrinaryIncontinence
#urge incontinence
#bedwetting
#overactive bladder

I have been diagnosed Bipolar 1 for years now. It's only been since 2016 that I have been having psychotic episodes. I had 6 in one year. Because of this I have a huge self esteem problem.
During my episodes I usually have tons of hallucinations and voices. They tend to be about religion, like the world is ending and stuff like that. And they are usually telling me to do inappropriate things.
Well my daughter had to go to the emergency room recently...the same emergency room where I had my episode and stayed for 2 days because they refused to admit me to the mental health unit which I was in desperate need of. ( They finally admitted me with the rehab staffs urging)
I heard the nurses whispering and talking about me and when I would look up at them they would look away when I had to leave my daughter's room.
And this isn't the first time this has happened when I have to go there. I had covid last December and it was the same thing. Whispers and looks.
I am trying to put the past behind me and focus on my recovery. The problem is my trust level. I'm going to be starting counseling again soon and it's going to be hard to talk about these things. The mental health Dr's and staff here aren't very friendly and are condescending and rude. I actually had a Dr in the psych ward stop prescribing my antidepressants because he said I didn't need them and he was being very rude to me. Took me months to get back on them.
How can I trust the professionals that are supposed to be treating me when they are rude, condescending and not very helpful?
There are not many resources here so it's not like I can just go get another Dr. I'm at a loss on what to do.
Any advice would be appreciated.

#BipolarDisorder #Psychosis #Anxiety #Obesity

I didn't make it up and out today. I set my alarm, but I just turned it off and went back to sleep because I was so sleepy. I woke up to use the bathroom earlier, as is usual, and I only had a couple of hours more to sleep to get up when I wanted to. If I wake up too close to when I want to go out, chances are, I won't be able to make myself get up. This isn't something I can afford right now. As some of you know, I need to find someone to prescribe my meds, since my psychiatrist retired, and I can't find a psychiatrist who takes Medicare. I've found out why fewer psychiatrists and doctors are taking Medicare, and you can search that for yourself, but one reason is--surprise!--money. I understand doctors need to be paid and want more money, but those of us who don't have much money need help, too. All too often, we don't get good psychiatrists and doctors. Or other resources. I am rationing my meds, but I have less than a week before I'll be out. I don't want to go to the hospital if I can avoid it, and a couple other types of places, but I might have to. I'm feeling much more anxious, and my boyfriend doesn't seem to care. That's not new, but I'm scared, and I have no one.

#Anxiety
#ocd
#obsessivecompulsivedisorder
#depression
#panicdisorder
#ptsd
#cptsd
#abuse
#emotionalabuse
#mentalabuse
#financialabuse
#mentalhealth
#mightytogether
#meds
#anxietymedication
#obesity
#thyroid
#thyroiddisease
#hypothyroidism
#medicare