Bryan says he doesn't like that he is the butt of all my blog jokes...

So today I figured I would play that role myself.

For those who know me well, it is no big surprise that I have gained a lot of weight (60 pounds to be exact) in the last 3 or 4 years. You may recall how hot I was at Malinda's wedding - I know I do! I had worked hard and had reached my ideal weight. I was determined to wear a bikini that summer (something I hadn't done since high school). Alas, although my weight was great, apparently having two kids moved too much stuff around and I never quite found a two-piece that really showed off my new figure. I did however find a really beautiful white suit in Italy. You never saw that one? Did you miss the "white suit in Italy" part? I know that Italians bare it all at the beach, but the store owner assured me it was doublelined - anyhow that's another blog entirely!! At any rate, I was looking and feeling great.

Skip to January after that summer. Again, for those who know me well, you also know that I have had bathroom issues since I was a child (3rd grade to be exact). So after suffering in silence for many years (while not understanding how others never felt like they wanted to strip naked and lay on the cold bathroom floor and die while going #2) I finally decided to tell my doctor about it. She was very understanding, telling me I had irritable bowel syndrome (which I now highly doubt was an accurate diagnosis). She put me on some medicine and I was cured!! Literally - within 2 weeks I was a normal pooper. So, the doctor gives you a diagnosis, puts you on medication, you feel better. The end, right? Not quite...

Skip to March of this year. I am lamenting to my family doctor (my new one here in Sheboygan) that I cannot get my weight under control. I explain how I have put on over 60 pounds in less than 4 years and that I had not changed my lifestyle in any great way - I still don't exercise and I still eat just about anything I want. I explained that I had tried so many diets at this point, and that my body just wasn't responding well to any of them. He really didn't do much but say the same old doctor fall-back response of "eat less and healthier, and exercise." But by the third time I was complaining to him (and with 6 months of weight data since he had been seeing me showing that I had gained yet another 5 or so pounds) he started to listen. Then he started reviewing my chart. Which is when he let me in on the A-ha moment. "Stephanie," he says, "the medication you are taking [and have been for the past few years] for IBS has side effects. One of which is weight gain (25 pounds per year for the average user)." I was stunned into total silence. Was he serious? My doctor never told me anything about weight gain. And I liked my medicine - I could finally poop right!! But, like any good patient, I went home and googled. And what did I find - you guessed it. He was totally right. Patients gained an average of 25 punds per year while taking this medication. At this point you may be thinking - problem solved, story over. But not quite.

I began discussing with Bryan what the doctor had told me. I admit that I was really pissed off that my "cure" had done this to me, but I was scared about not having it anymore - I remember "before" very well. I also talked some with my mom, who of course touted the same old, "You are way too young to be on a lifelong medication. Quit being such a hypochondriac and drink a glass of prune juice a day. You'll be fine." (Anyone who knows my mom well need not be reminded that she thinks all things are cureable by sheer willpower...) Eventually I decided that she was probably right. Even the doctor said he would help put me on a natural food program that should do the trick without any medication. Funny how my first doctor never mentioned this option!! So that is what I chose to do - go off the medication and begin to get my figure back. [As an aside, something else my first doctor never told me - coming off the medication would be pure hell. I have not nearly enough room here to list all the side effects. Suffice it to say that I am still suffering from some 3 weeks after the last dose!]

Ther is a lesson to this post: Always do your research!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I am happy to report that I have lost 7 pounds in the three weeks that I have stopped the medicine. I am pooping almost fine - at least fine enough not to want the old drug again. And I hope that this [see picture below] is a thing of the past. So there, Bryan, now I am the butt of the joke, literally!!



[Yes, it did happen in public. Yes, I was mortified. Yes, I lost all sense of pride in my body. But, it has also helped me to stay the course, withdrawal symptoms and all.]So, wish me luck!