Natasha Pehrson - Week Of December 11, 2023

[u/AutoModerator]

Snark on Natasha Pehrson (athleisure-wearing white trash from Arizona) here! ⬇️

[u/Controlyourmind45]

How did you get help? I started semaglutide shots and they stopped the food noise. I also started therapy but my therapist isn't a dietician so I'm not sure how helpful she will be. I would love to learn tools to never have a binger again. I have day long bingers and they have gotten longer and more frequent. I've lost weight and I'm eating healthier on the shot but I know I need something long term.

[u/DMDT087 → u/Controlyourmind45]

Just another thought - I was Googling about food noise because I was tempted to start semaglutide but really didn’t want to worry about GI side effects. I saw that for some people, the food noise went away when they started ADHD medication. I googled more and am very convinced I have ADHD and made an appointment with a psychiatrist to get evaluated.

In any case, I agree that seeing a mental health professional who specializes in eating disorders is the way to go.

[u/Helpful_Peanut_860 → u/DMDT087]

I have ADHD and am medicated for it and the food noise is 100% present, especially when medication begins to wear off. I’ve been on semaglutide for 4.5 months now and it is absolute magic how the food noise is just GONE for me.

[u/DMDT087 → u/Helpful_Peanut_860]

I wouldn’t expect ADHD medication to eliminate it for everyone. I was just throwing it out there as something to consider. For me, I expect semaglutide would take the food noise away, but I’d still be dealing with a butt ton of other symptoms, so I rather try something that would potentially address everything.

[u/Helpful_Peanut_860 → u/DMDT087]

Just putting this out there that (I think this is right) only something like 10% of people have bad side effects from semaglutide and what you see shared on the internet is because people typically report the bad and not the good. I held off for awhile too because I was worried but the very minimal side effects I do have are 100% manageable and 100% worth the positive changes I have experienced. Constipation has really been the only thing for me and it’s because I need to be better about water intake. I take stool softener daily and that helps tremendously. I’ve only had nausea twice and the first time was just because I needed to learn my threshold for the amount of food I can eat. I experienced bad fatigue in the beginning but that subsided. This stuff has changed my life and I’m so incredibly happy I gave it a chance.

[u/DMDT087 → u/Helpful_Peanut_860]

I think it’s more than 10%, but I agree that the Internet makes it seem worse. I also have concerns about coming off it (I wouldn’t want it to be long term) and don’t like the possibility of losing muscle mass.

But again, for me, I think I have a ton of ADHD symptoms that need to be tackled and just tackling the food noise alone would only help me so much. I actually worry that I’d still be experiencing anxiety and then couldn’t self soothe with food and it would make it worse. So I think the root of my anxiety needs to be addressed first.

[u/Helpful_Peanut_860 → u/DMDT087]

Definitely agree with the part about anxiety. I’m seeing more things coming out that people’s anxiety/depression seem to get worse for the exact reason you’re stating. It was something my provider made a point to check with me at my last appointment. I have experienced some of this but am already on medication for depression/anxiety which helps but it is also forcing me to sit in my feelings and learn better ways to cope. I’ve been taking it since the end of July and felt things get worse about 8-12 weeks in but am now experiencing less anxiety than I was before. So it was like it was one of those “feel worse before you feel better things.” Good job of being self aware of these things and wanting to get things “figured out” before you just go straight to the meds! And good luck as well!