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Gravedigging this, as I was prescribed Contrave today for weight loss program I'll be starting it appears in about two weeks. Today was initial consult. For the first time in my life, under Dr. supervision instead of my own way, which is white-knuckling it (sheer willpower and animal drive to succeed). That latter way probably won't work anymore, I figure, and I regress after a few years.
Buddy of mine was on Wellbutrin in '14, and sometimes goes back on it (turns out) per his shrink. He's a nervous type, a literal genius, as if nature blesses some big-brains with incredible processing-power but takes something back, too: they are usually high-strung people. My pal is definitely that, and a great human being (what I call "Lawful Good alignment", too).
(Consumer Reports): "Contrave is actually two older drugs, combined: the antidepressant bupropion (Wellbutrin and generic), and the addiction-treatment drug, naltrexone (ReVia and generic). We took a closer look at Contrave because as part of our Consumer Reports Best Buy Drugs program, we routinely review the safety and efficacy of weight-loss drugs, and wanted to check how well Contrave measured up on both of those—or didn't."
So that pal thinned out on Wellbutrin, an interesting side effect. He's usually a somewhat-chubby Irishman (like me, by genetics not citizenship) but got hard and lean on that stuff, in addition to the mood-stabilizing. He worked out hard, though, along-with, which is key. He just wasn't hungry much and it didn't bother him. When you're suffering paralyzing depression, as he did when the wife took off, have to fill the time some way or go stir-crazy.
These days he's fat and happy again, a more-normal state of affairs. Hell, I'm fat and happy too! But there must be a compromise: lean and happy. That's what I'm hoping for, on a supervised program. We shall see, I have literally taken Step 1.
Hope it panned out for OP.
Firstly, good on you for making that decision to commit full time to weight loss. I was fat and happy too. I never truly tie happiness with weight. But for health reasons I needed to be lean as well. I am always suspect of drugs as the solution as they don't really address the mental component of weight loss. Sure, they suppress chemical signals, fat absorption, etc., but they almost never modify the behavior, which is important when you're drug free (which you'd like to be as soon as possible, as these drugs are powerful). Behavior modification is really important here. You have to figure out why you regress after going on the weight loss carousel. Willpower is great, but you have to really do some soul searching as to your eating habits, your mood. BTW I am a big supporter of people who do things on their own. You don't need pay for a weight loss program and you can get lots of support for free. I feel that you can do this on your own, but again, it's going to involve you really doing some introspection here, then you can address the physical aspect of cutting calories and working out, etc. Too often people approach dieting in a bullish manner ("I'm going to work out seven days per week and only eat 1400 calories per day!!") Then they fizzle out. You need to find a plan that meets your personal needs and that aligns itself with how you naturally eat. If you naturally tend to gravitate towards higher fat and meat, then perhaps a low carb diet is good for you. If you tend to be a moderate eater, deriving your calories from various sources, then maybe a moderate fat, moderate carb plan is for you. If you tend to be primarily a grain eater, not heavy into lots of meat, then maybe a higher carb diet is for you. there's many different plans out there to help you achieve your goals and ALL will result in weight loss. Where weight loss fails is when you try to fit a square peg in a circle, meaning you try a diet that you innately don't like but do it because of promised weight loss. Good luck with whatever you do. I lost 70 lbs through diet modification and exercise. I don't follow a specific weight loss plan - I just downloaded a fitness app to get a calorie budget and planned my meals from there based on my specific eating habits. I am a binge eater. I am also a sugar holic. Both of these cons needed to be addressed in my diet somehow. Elimination triggers the bingeing, so I try not to eliminate. The "training" I've done with my body is accepting eating less, not doing without.
Firstly, good on you for making that decision to commit full time to weight loss. I was fat and happy too. I never truly tie happiness with weight. But for health reasons I needed to be lean as well. I am always suspect of drugs as the solution as they don't really address the mental component of weight loss. Sure, they suppress chemical signals, fat absorption, etc., but they almost never modify the behavior, which is important when you're drug free (which you'd like to be as soon as possible, as these drugs are powerful). Behavior modification is really important here.
I don't follow a specific weight loss plan - I just downloaded a fitness app to get a calorie budget and planned my meals from there based on my specific eating habits. I am a binge eater. I am also a sugar holic. Both of these cons needed to be addressed in my diet somehow. Elimination triggers the bingeing, so I try not to eliminate. The "training" I've done with my body is accepting eating less, not doing without.
I'd be suspicious of drugs, too. Oh wait: I am. I've seldom been on any, other than asthma meds (light doses) that I strongly suspect are due to being overweight vs. actually having "asthma", but this remains to be seen.
That-said, I'll try the Contrave as a Step 1. My new Dr. does not appear to be a quack. That does not excuse proper diet and exercise, too, of course. You don't know me but at one time I was Top-10% half marathoner (OK, only a half dozen, but it was still work and an accomplishment). Times change, my work is greatly more sedentary. I know all about white-knuckle/brute force weight loss. Men, in particular, can do this (not that there aren't hard-core exercise junky totally focused women, too, but seems less-common).
I don't want to white knuckle this, it becomes my *mission* in life. Seriously: run, food shop, food prep, count the calories, blog the hell out of it, go to bed, work, repeat cycle. I don't know if I can live like that again, the life of an athlete. Oh, I might, but jeez: that was a helluva lot less money and responsibility ago (career-wise). Now, I own the outcomes for multi million dollar projects and motivating others/negotiating settlements is 90% of my work day. I may need something more...compact. A system, that is. With some no-nos and land mines.
I am curious what the Dr. will put me on, diet-wise. Probably low carb to start, which may mean protein shakes, on which I btw lost more than 50 lbs fourteen years ago (see above). We shall see. It needs to be balanced, lifetime, not super radical, and (see "lifetime") maintainable with reasonable effort. Not white-knuckle deprivation.
Should be interesting. I think I'll blog it elsewhere. I think C-D has such a thing, which I may use or I'll keep it offline: tbd.
Lastly, yes: totally agree one can download an app (got it, I work with a half-dozen other apps daily), get a watch (yep, got a Garmin Fenix 5 which counts everything I do, pretty much), and start ruthlessly portioning and counting the calories out via distance and other other exercise.
I think I am somewhat neurotic, and if the Contrave takes the edge off that, I can do the previous *without* the grazing and over-portioning that are my culprits. But who knows: might face up to that one of these days, too. Call that "root cause analysis," perhaps.
We shall see. Great comments, did enjoy them, will consider the quoted carefully.
I'd be suspicious of drugs, too. Oh wait: I am. I've seldom been on any, other than asthma meds (light doses) that I strongly suspect are due to being overweight vs. actually having "asthma", but this remains to be seen.
That-said, I'll try the Contrave as a Step 1. My new Dr. does not appear to be a quack. That does not excuse proper diet and exercise, too, of course. You don't know me but at one time I was Top-10% half marathoner (OK, only a half dozen, but it was still work and an accomplishment). Times change, my work is greatly more sedentary. I know all about white-knuckle/brute force weight loss. Men, in particular, can do this (not that there aren't hard-core exercise junky totally focused women, too, but seems less-common).
I don't want to white knuckle this, it becomes my *mission* in life. Seriously: run, food shop, food prep, count the calories, blog the hell out of it, go to bed, work, repeat cycle. I don't know if I can live like that again, the life of an athlete. Oh, I might, but jeez: that was a helluva lot less money and responsibility ago (career-wise). Now, I own the outcomes for multi million dollar projects and motivating others/negotiating settlements is 90% of my work day. I may need something more...compact. A system, that is. With some no-nos and land mines.
I am curious what the Dr. will put me on, diet-wise. Probably low carb to start, which may mean protein shakes, on which I btw lost more than 50 lbs fourteen years ago (see above). We shall see. It needs to be balanced, lifetime, not super radical, and (see "lifetime") maintainable with reasonable effort. Not white-knuckle deprivation.
Should be interesting. I think I'll blog it elsewhere. I think C-D has such a thing, which I may use or I'll keep it offline: tbd.
Lastly, yes: totally agree one can download an app (got it, I work with a half-dozen other apps daily), get a watch (yep, got a Garmin Fenix 5 which counts everything I do, pretty much), and start ruthlessly portioning and counting the calories out via distance and other other exercise.
I think I am somewhat neurotic, and if the Contrave takes the edge off that, I can do the previous *without* the grazing and over-portioning that are my culprits. But who knows: might face up to that one of these days, too. Call that "root cause analysis," perhaps.
We shall see. Great comments, did enjoy them, will consider the quoted carefully.
Blondebaerde, I'd like to give you a more in-depth response, and I shall later.
WOW. Long story short, I've been on it a month and I've lost 9 pounds! It IMMEDIATELY worked for me. After one day of it, I immediately noticed that the edge was off my appetite, that I wasn't reaching for food nervously or eating subconsciously (for instance, eating past the point of feeling full just because it was in front of me, or snacking after dinner).
How are the side effects... I have heard bad things.
Last summer I tried Belviq. That also worked like mad. I felt like I could forget to eat and I didn't have that voice in my head constantly screaming at me to have candy. I could take it or leave it. I rarely considered binging and was much more calm. Also, man the sleep was great.
That being said, it had some terrible side effects. Every time I took it I felt like a car drove over me for the first couple of days. Head cold, trouble seeing, headache, just horrible. Though it would wear off. What didn't wear off was my inability to remember things. I had to take extreme steps to insure I had my car keys with me as I was so forgetful. Work suffered too.
But I finally had to put it aside for good because the first time I was on it for 12 weeks, when I got off I got heart palpitations. Since I was also premenopausal I thought well maybe it isn't the drug. But the second time I got off it the same thing happened. It also seemed to increase my blood calcium each time. So, I just could no longer continue.
I had a prescription for Phentermine so I took that for 2 weeks just go get me rolling and it is obvious it is not as effective as the Belviq.
I think diet drugs are helpful because you have no "will power" during the diet and can focus that on when you go off.
I'd be suspicious of drugs, too. Oh wait: I am. I've seldom been on any, other than asthma meds (light doses) that I strongly suspect are due to being overweight vs. actually having "asthma", but this remains to be seen.
That-said, I'll try the Contrave as a Step 1. My new Dr. does not appear to be a quack. That does not excuse proper diet and exercise, too, of course. You don't know me but at one time I was Top-10% half marathoner (OK, only a half dozen, but it was still work and an accomplishment). Times change, my work is greatly more sedentary. I know all about white-knuckle/brute force weight loss. Men, in particular, can do this (not that there aren't hard-core exercise junky totally focused women, too, but seems less-common).
I don't want to white knuckle this, it becomes my *mission* in life. Seriously: run, food shop, food prep, count the calories, blog the hell out of it, go to bed, work, repeat cycle. I don't know if I can live like that again, the life of an athlete. Oh, I might, but jeez: that was a helluva lot less money and responsibility ago (career-wise). Now, I own the outcomes for multi million dollar projects and motivating others/negotiating settlements is 90% of my work day. I may need something more...compact. A system, that is. With some no-nos and land mines.
I am curious what the Dr. will put me on, diet-wise. Probably low carb to start, which may mean protein shakes, on which I btw lost more than 50 lbs fourteen years ago (see above). We shall see. It needs to be balanced, lifetime, not super radical, and (see "lifetime") maintainable with reasonable effort. Not white-knuckle deprivation.
Should be interesting. I think I'll blog it elsewhere. I think C-D has such a thing, which I may use or I'll keep it offline: tbd.
Lastly, yes: totally agree one can download an app (got it, I work with a half-dozen other apps daily), get a watch (yep, got a Garmin Fenix 5 which counts everything I do, pretty much), and start ruthlessly portioning and counting the calories out via distance and other other exercise.
I think I am somewhat neurotic, and if the Contrave takes the edge off that, I can do the previous *without* the grazing and over-portioning that are my culprits. But who knows: might face up to that one of these days, too. Call that "root cause analysis," perhaps.
We shall see. Great comments, did enjoy them, will consider the quoted carefully.
If drugs provide some aid in your weight loss journey, then that's great. I view drugs as tools in a toolbox. As long as they're just aids that you can wean yourself off of easily, of course. Since you've been on weight loss ride a few times, by now, you probably know what works for you and what doesn't. Deprivation - starvation dieting - absolutely doesn't work, and that is the same for me. I don't do well with elimination of food groups or overly restricted eating plans. I like to keep things simple, even if we both know it's anything but simple. To me, simple means eating a variety of things and eating less of them. The ONE thing I can say that I achieved is training my body to understand the concept of moderation. Because I have done that, I no longer feel deprived. My *mindset* has changed, and is what has made the loss longlasting. I wish you the best, it isn't easy.
First of all, the effect seemed to level off and eventually just dissipate with me - and pretty quickly, like after about a month. Secondly, the cost was insane. The first prescription, I had a coupon so while it was pretty expensive, I justified it. But when I went to pick up the second prescription, it was around $300. For one month. For something that had lost quite a bit of effectiveness by then anyway. So I said no thanks.
I am now on the 2030 diet plan and so far so good. I need a clear cut structure written down that I can check off and feel guilty about deviating from! LOL
It's also a much better time in my life than a year or so ago. I didn't share this earlier, but I was so incredibly stressed out due to my dad's terminal illness and him in and out of the hospital and my mom with increasing dementia - and then yep, my dad died and I "inherited" my mom - and their complex estate to sort through. It was just not a good time for me to add more stress to my life by trying to lose 35 pounds!!!! It was all I could do not to GAIN 35 MORE pounds!
But last spring I went to some grief counseling and gained a lot of introspection - and it also helped me prioritize better. I feel much more in control of my life and my emotions - and what I put in my mouth. I find that I stress eat and I also eat to make myself "feel better" when I'm stressed. So in that sense the small amount of Wellbutrin in the Contrave was probably helpful, but like I said, it seemed to lose it's edge within a month or so, and then WHAM - "That will be $300 please." Err, no.
But maybe it will work for you - I hope so. Good luck!
Last edited by KathrynAragon; 02-06-2018 at 09:53 PM..
First of all, the effect seemed to level off and eventually just dissipate with me - and pretty quickly, like after about a month. Secondly, the cost was insane. !
That is too bad. One thing I am doing, so this might work... is trying to diet in small temporary bouts -- such as 13 to 16 weeks. So this might assist.
I am disappointed though, I tried Phentermine and got little results. When it worked very well for me as a 20 year old.
Neither Qsymia, nor Cotrave, are covered by my insurance. Mine is a major provider, starts with an A, I do not wish to throw them under the bus because "they say" darn few providers cover these drugs.
I get that "drugs to lose weight" is highly controversial with any particular crowd, here included. I myself am a bit skeptical, and I'm now on one ("starter dose," building up to to full, completed Week 1 of 2 prior to full aka Normal dose). I must admit, I'm more curious than anything.
Note that during "starter dose," for me it doesn't really work so far for apatite suppression. Per the FAQ, it's not supposed to, they're just building up the dose. I'm white-knuckling the low-carb diet issued to me, on Dr's orders. That's brutal but do-able, I've been there before as mentioned earlier. On that, and beaucoup exercise, I have in fact found great success in decades past.
But that's no way to live. Craving. Feeling like a fiend, staring at a loaf of bread. I jest, only slightly. This is an extreme phase for awhile, another few weeks I suppose, which I can handle. After that, cracks appear in the willpower. I'm a man, not a cyborg.
But frankly, if...and it'a s big if...those Qsymia (in my case) pills, full dose, suddenly work and make me not-hungry, after Week 2? Hell, it's just become a dawdle! A minor miracle! I'll go on any diet any doctor wants, because I'm not all that hungry again. Food at that point is no longer life's reason, it's only a step on the journey.
And then longer term, well: that's the very important question. These things aren't super-expensive per month, it's just another bill to me, but that's not the case for some people. I get that. Can I be on one of these meds for ten years without growing a second head or (less tongue in check) becoming ill from some sort of long-term side effect no one knows about?
TBD, all. This is a *chronic* condition. Why I, and millions of others, have it is just too bad I guess.
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