Comments on: Open for Discussion: “Namby-Pamby” Anti-Obesity Ads

By: Harriet

Harriet — Mon, 29 Oct 2007 02:08:07 +0000

Well I’m VERY late to this party, but Kate, this post is wonderful. And hilarious.

By: Dani

Dani — Sat, 27 Oct 2007 15:34:49 +0000

Shade, I don’t have a pituitary tumor, but I may have hypopituitarism – I’m low in LH, FSH, and periodically TSH. My prolactin levels seem fine, though.

I still don’t have a definitive diagnosis, btw; the above is the current best hypothesis. I’m on my fifteenth year without The Diagnosis(TM), though in the past couple years I have managed to get treated for some of the secondary crap the pituitary is causing (finally!).

Today, my entire body hurts and I am walking with a cane. (Compare my BMI project photo. Life in my body is never boring, at least. :P )

By: None Given

None Given — Fri, 26 Oct 2007 20:38:17 +0000

Metformin also lowers triglycerides. Everything it can help other than diabetes is an off-label use.

By: Shade

Shade — Fri, 26 Oct 2007 15:22:34 +0000

OK, I know I’m late to the party, and so probably no one will read this, but…just how many people here have pituitary tumors? Specifically prolactinomas? ‘Cause that last time I heard this many people talk about Dostinex and prolactin it was on the Pituitary Network boards.

Just how many of us are there? (BTW, from what I’ve read, I’ve been lucky; it only took me eight years to be properly diagnosed.)

By: Emerald

Emerald — Thu, 25 Oct 2007 21:15:47 +0000

coyote – ouch! The cycling, I mean. I adore Seattle (want to go live there someday, actually) but oh, those hills!!!

By: fillyjonk

fillyjonk — Thu, 25 Oct 2007 21:01:01 +0000

Kalesy, it’s interesting that you leapt from “parents refusing to let kids out of their sight” to “kids slogging around on the internet.” Are the parents overprotective, or are the kids just OMG lazy? If it’s the first one, what’s an anti-Google ad going to do? How will crusading against Google make parents more willing to let kids go out and play, or security people less likely to chase off skateboarders?

I’m not asking because I disagree with you — I do think kids don’t get to run around and play enough, though unlike anti-obesity crusaders, I actually think that active healthy children having fun is a good in and of itself, no matter what size said children are. I’m asking because I see you getting really close to thinking outside of the popular “fat comes from overeating and being a slug” misconception, and then getting dragged right back in. It’s worth noticing when that happens.

By: Kalesy

Kalesy — Thu, 25 Oct 2007 20:55:37 +0000

Just found this site (a link over from adage.com) and I found it insightful and witty (for the most part).

To an interesting point raised by one of the “trolls” about an increase in childhood obesity. Although i def. agree w/ the reply about the healthcare system, there is a lot to be said for the current social and environmental climate affecting kids and the obesity rate.

When I was a kid, we ran around outdoors, played on skateboards, and rode our bikes everywhere. Now, parents are afraid to let kids out of their sight in neighborhoods where they don’t know who lurks around the corner. If you get caught riding a skateboard at the local minimall, the RentACops tell you to get lost. And God forbid if anyone tries to ride a bike on an actual street anymore – people are busy! they have places to go! get off the road!

Childhood obesity is just as likely caused by kids’ slogging around on the Internet all day or playing video games. Maybe they can have an “Anti The Google” commercial……

By: Sniper

Sniper — Thu, 25 Oct 2007 20:14:08 +0000

I’ve been kind of ignoring it for a couple of years, because when I went to an endocrinologist to talk about it, she was all, “DO YOU WANT BABIES? BECAUSE IF YOU WANT BABIES, HERE COME SOME MEDS! Otherwise, yanno, fuck you very much.”

It sounds like you need to shop around for a better endocrinologist, if that’s at all possible. The first few I went to were all, “Don’t want kids? Then we won’t bother treating the symptoms that make you feel like crap”. My current doctor is very much into getting patients to feel better, even if there’s no goal (kids, weight loss…) in sight. Took me years to find her, though.

By: Lise

Lise — Thu, 25 Oct 2007 19:43:48 +0000

Coyote, I actually have a pituitary adenoma as well, which affects my prolactin levels (originally diagnosed because my periods were wacky). To be honest? I’ve been kind of ignoring it for a couple of years, because when I went to an endocrinologist to talk about it, she was all, “DO YOU WANT BABIES? BECAUSE IF YOU WANT BABIES, HERE COME SOME MEDS! Otherwise, yanno, fuck you very much.”

Now I have to wonder if that has something to do with my weight gain over the same period of time…

By: fillyjonk

fillyjonk — Thu, 25 Oct 2007 19:17:50 +0000

Well, as you might already know, coyote, Metformin isn’t actually a PCOS med — originally it was a diabetes med, but it’s also used to treat insulin resistance. So I actually think you’re being too easy on your doctors. I suspect the thought process went FAT WOMAN OMG SHE’S GOING TO GET DIABETES TREAT FIRST CHECK LATER. If they never tested your blood sugar, you shouldn’t have been on Metformin, no matter WHAT they thought you had… but if they put you on it as a “preventative,” I’m guessing it was because they were convinced from looking at you that you must be prediabetic.