Need a butt kickin'!!

Dont be so hard on yourself.  What I did was reprogrammed my brain..lol. I decided back on January 18, 2016 that I was going to stick to the low carb..high protein because that was going to be my life after surgery..and if I couldnt do it now..I couldnt do it after I have my surgery (which is May 24, 2016) The last time I was weighed was March 3rd and I had dropped 30 pounds!!!!  If I can do it...anyone can!   Good luck to you and you can do it!!!! :)

Hi Helen,

I remember you finding out that you have sleep apnea.  Hope you have started cpap treatment or will soon.  It can take a while to get that working smoothly but it is worth the effort.

Anxiety is a huge problem in my family.  It sounds like it is truly interfering with your life.  So I hope you don't mind if I share some of the things that have worked for people in my family.

Some non-pharmaceutical ways that have been conclusively shown to help are cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) that includes mindfulness work, and meditation (including guided visualizations).  For CBT/mindfulness, you would of course need to see a mental health professional (counselor/therapist/psychologist) who is well trained in that.  For meditation and guided visualizations, there are wonderful ones available through iTunes and for free on the internet. You can download them to a smartphone or to your computer and transfer to any iPod/mp3 player, etc.  That makes it easy to listen as you fall asleep, or for a quick meditation before/while you eat, etc.  Even just teaching yourself to take a few deep, calming breaths when you start hearing 

I'm not one to "go straight to medication," but when anxiety is out of control, there are a number of antidepressants that can work wonders.   Your regular GP can help you decide if that's a good option for you -- you do not need to go to a specialist.  Some that have been lifesavers in my family are Effexor, Lexapro, Cymbalta, and Celexa, and Buproprion.  Most or all are available as inexpensive generics now. It usually takes a few weeks for any side effects (e.g. dry mouth) to wear off and for the medicine to start being effective.  The critical thing to know is that if you do start one and decide to go off of it, you must let your GP know, and wean off slowly.

Hang in there!  While this process of getting approved for surgery seems like it is full of obstacles, in truth these are opportunities to take better care of yourself in general.