talking it out

[Guest guest]

Hi everyone,

I guess I just need to "vent". I've been having health issues for the past few months and just got a diagnosis today of Sheehan's Syndrome. This means that I will have to take steroids the rest of my life because my pituitary was damaged during childbirth when my blood pressure bottomed out and now it doesn't regulate my adrenal glands like it should so I don't produce enough cortisol. It can lead to life-threatening conditions, so the hydrocortisol is a life-saver for me. I've been taking it for a week and cannot even begin to describe what a change it's made in the way I feel.

Anyway...all that to get to what I need to vent about. LOL I was talking on the phone to my mom about it tonight and she mentioned that I'll gain weight on steroids. I told her I know that, but being able to function now is worth way more than being slim. She mentioned how hard I worked on WW to lose 60 pounds and told me that I had looked good. I have gained 20 pounds while not feeling well simply because I had hardly enough energy to get out of bed to go to work, let alone exercise. And I'd totally gotten disgusted with dieting and just don't believe that it works in the long run anyway. I've been working on IE and think I've done rather well, but apparently I've disappointed her since I am no longer as as thin as I was.

I guess it just irritated me that she seems to think that being thin is more important than me being healthy. If I don't take the hydrocortisol it could lead to an adrenal crisis which really would not be a good thing. It just reinforces to me what a priority our culture puts on thinness.

Rhonda