Help!

[may21]

I don't even know if this is the proper place to post or not. I had a total hysterectomy in April, 2006 and take Premarin 1.25mg daily. I have been really struggling with my weight and appetite and cravings. I have tried every diet under the sun, can't take diet pills because of the caffeine/green tea, etc (and finally cut out caffeine drinks altogether). I have tried to cut out sodium and sugar (neither works for very long) and I just feel like I might as well live with this. I would like to think there is a supplement, eating plan, etc out there somewhere that someone with IC has tried and had success with. If you have, please let me know. I have been reading about Detoxatrim but the ingredients are somewhat scary. Whenever I talk about something new to try, my husband just laughs, which just hurts me so much. I must confess, I love food and I get so frustrated and feel like such a failure whenever I eat anything, diet food or not. Thanks in advance for whoever reads this and thanks for letting me vent. Any help or suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

[tigger_gal]

have you looked in the IC hand book, there is a diet in there for our ic.
I too am struggling with the weight issue. More so since my hystrectomy a year ago.

[sami4]

Estrogen is the hormone of weight loss, progesterone is the hormone of weight gain and cravings. The estrogen is not causing you to eat more or preventing weight loss.
Stress, adrenal hormone crash, emotional upsets can all cause more cortisol to be released which in turn causes desire to eat and put on weight.
I would suggest that you take a looke at the new Dr. OZ book, You on a Diet, which discusses this in depth. Also I think Dr. Phil makes a good point when he says that you dont buy what you dont want to eat, and you need to keep a food diary of when and what you eat and how you were feeling at the time; bored, anxious, depressed and so on. That way once you get wise to your over eating triggers, you can substitute other behaviors or healthier behaviors. Almost any diet can be adapted to IC diet by substituting certain foods such a strawberries for blueberries and so on. Sounds to me like maybe stress is paying a part in this, you might want to check it out?
Dr. OZ makes a point of saying the type of food you crave is a clue to your emotional state; crunchy, chewy foods such as chips you may be feeling angry or victumized, soft creamy foods mean you crave nuturing and so on.
Interesting......
Hugs,
Sammie