Health and Fitness, March, 2019

[Harriet]

LadyM, about avocados - on most any whole-plant way of eating, avocados are on the menu like other plants. Dr. Ornish (and also Dr. Esselsten) programs are specifically to reverse vascular disease, so they ask their patients to avoid them. It turns out that heart patients or those at risk of stroke, etc., reverse their diseases better without them, possibly because an avocado has about the most fat of any plant food. Esselstyn says he's fine with people eating avocados if they don't have heart disease.

Your Dr was probably more excited about Ornish than other plant-based programs because it's one for which he could help you get free classes. Insurance companies follow Medicare and Medicare is only going to pay for programs with long history of keeping patients from needing surgeries, and are set up with education, designed to teach within hospital systems with doctors sometimes interested and involved. So far, they only pay for Ornish and the very similar Pritikin Heart, which is smaller with fewer locations. Ornish offers meditation classes, too, and small groups for talking, so doctors are hopeful that patients will find value. The majority of people don't need hospital programs, of course, but they are positive helps. Programs aren't the police anyway.

[Nancy]

I got 30 min. On stat bike done today. Did snow removal also.

[Ramblinrose]

Day 7: down .2 lbs did over 11,000 steps. Stayed on my eating plan

Had plenty of energy yesterday which was great. These past nine months have need really tough on me and I was beginning to wonder if I’d ever get back to the old me. Now with fingers crossed I have hope.

My stomach seems to be happy with the way I’m eating and my energy level is much better.

[Nancy]

I did snow removal, and garden prep moved tools and stuff and did 30 min. On stat bike for my exercise today.
Mon. I shopped at 3 stores, went out to the garden area a nurmber of times in the morning, noonish, and before dinner. I did 20 min. On the stat bike. Moved some lumber also.

[Twins' Mom]

So I realized this week that I seem to feel hungry all the time. Sure enough, the meds that I am taking increase hunger:

These drugs tend to cause elevated insulin levels in the blood (hyperinsulinemia) and increased appetite, leading to weight gain.

So I need to be doubly vigilant to eat well, and if I must have frequent snacks I need to make the most of them.

[cats]

twin mom What med are you taking? when I was taking Lantus and now generic Bassaglar I was always hungry, my doctor prescribe Victoza to help curb my appetite which works, right now I am taking Saxendra which is the same as Victoza because it goes higher than Victoza does. but the same

[Twins' Mom]

I am taking carbazapine for trigeminal neuralgia, cats. It’s also prescribed for seizures. I’ve taken it For about a year but I’ve had to increase my doseage by four to get this better controlled.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/m/pubmed/2070366/

I haven’t been as hungry today. I’d like to try too decrease the dose actually, now that I’m good.

[Nancy]

I have done 30 min. On the stat bike.

[Harmony]

Twins, I was taking carbazapine for years and years. Yes about the appetite and weight gain. Worse symptom for me was my white blood count used to go way down. It would take me a while to get over a simple cold.

New one came out, oxcarbazapine, which is the same along with an oxygen molecule, and doesn't drop a person's white blood count. But it messes with a person's sodium, so mine runs dangerously low and causes me to be hungry and wanting salty things a lot. Both of them cause me to be sleepy. I think the carbazapine was worse for that.

Would be nice if neither of us are on these drugs. For me, it keeps me from having seizures. So it's more than worth the side effects. If it stops or lessens your pain, I guess you might say the same thing.

[Nancy]

I walked the dog today.