REALLY?!?!

Yes, I know I am being a slacker.

I just had to come on over to my blog and share with the world the biggest irony of my.entire.life.

Holy $%&*.

If you've been reading, you know that I...like every other bride that ever had to don a beautiful white gown, have been working out like crazy and trying to look my absolute best on the big day. It was going great for awhile. I love the feeling of being sore and watching the extra jiggle evaporate....and then, I got stuck. I stopped losing. I even thought I was gaining weight. And not in the "muscle weighs more than fat" kinda way. Oh no, people. Like actually looking worse that I did before I started working out.

I could not figure it out. I am freaking out because of it. I eat the same as always, I exercise much more than I used to...so the only question I really had was W.T.F?!

I was just checking my email tonight, when Yahoo! decided to pop up one of those annoying blurbs that you just have to click on. The title? Are your everyday medications making you gain weight?

.............................................side note.......................................................
I have suffered from terrible and crippling allergies my entire life. I have been on every medication known to man: Clariton, Allegra, Flonase, Zyrtec, allergy shots, nedi pots, saline rinses. Nothing works. Most of them made me sick. Like stomach flu sick. Yuck. As sad as it was, I would rather have been a snotty mess than a puking mess, so I always went off of them. Throughout my life in good old Colorado, I have gotten quite good and being miserable. People often ask me if I am okay because I look like I have some terrible flu bug. Its really cute, let me tell you. But I had no options. In fact, I almost got fired from a job where I had a psycho boss because I sounded like I had a stuffy nose and I sniffled sometimes. Uhm. Yeah. Quit that job rather quickly. I'm sorry...I totally love feeling like this, but I will stop just because my stuffy nose annoys you. UGH! 

In the last year, my allergies have been worse than ever. I don't know why. Although I am good at walking around hiding my misery most the time, I could not do it anymore. I went for the big guns. I bought a bottle of Benadryl. And while it helps sometimes, I usually have to dope myself up pretty good to get the desired effect. For the last 6 months or so, I have been taking 2 Benadryl every morning. Yes. On Josh and I's vacation to New Mexico last year, there were several days that I took 4 doses. It sounds terrible, but that's how bad the suffering is. I have been walking around in a zombie like stupor for 6 months. Not good when you're planning a wedding, by the way.
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Side note over.

Back to where I was: one of these medications that can cause you to gain significant amounts of weight: Benadryl. My mouth fell open. I immediately began clicking and researching and reading and reading and reading some more. I could not believe what my eyes were seeing. Countless women going through the same thing. Mothers infuriated because their poor children with allergies outweigh their classmates by 50 or more pounds. And doctors do not feel the need to point out this side effect! I know I sure never got that little forewarning.

From what I understand, anthistimines, which are supposed to block allergens from bugging you also slow down your metabolism. (Totally makes sense: Benadryl makes almost everyone groggy and super tired.) It also causes water retention and increased hunger. And This may be completely TMI but for the last 6 months I have felt like I was PMSing constantly. At least, in that realm. I thought it was a wonky side effect left over from my brief visit with the EVIL Nuvaring. Nope.

The one thing that makes my everyday life a little more bearable is making me fat. Sweet. Thanks for that, irony gods! Really appreciate it. Uhm...no, not even a little bit. I have been busting my butt for about 4 months working out hard enough that the really hard workouts I am doing are a breeze now. I even restricted my caloric intake to a scary 1400 per day. Given the Benadryl causes increased hunger, that's been really hard. I know 1400 calories is enough to not starve to death, but I have felt starving for 6 months.

I really do not know what to do about this. Go to the allergist I guess. I am going to kick the Benadryl for a week and see what happens. I am sure I will be a miserable sneezy wreck, but at least I will be skinny damn it. I'll let you know what happens.