ANDRE'S REVENGE DAY 63- Why I've Gained 10 Pounds

[Bunny Berry]

So, there has been this topic looming out there that I've been embarrassed to talk about, but feel like I needed to address. I've gained 10 pounds back during this challenge. I have been sleep eating while taking Ambien. I finally figured out that I was eating junk food in my sleep, and asked my psychiatrist about it. He confirmed that Ambien can make you have episodes of amnesia and that people sleep eat, sleep walk, and even sleep DRIVE!

So, I'm off the Ambien. And hoping the pounds will start going bye bye again any day now.

Also, I gave myself kind of a bad haircut today. Feel free to point and laugh.

CHAT FU TONIGHT @ 10PM EST. Party Chat...come as you are.

HOW IS YOUR DAY 63 GOING? Any big plans for the weekend?

Love,
Bunny

[Debbie]

Bunny, love you any size, just love you for you.
all good wishes and prayers for your bro.
you are the best sister.. ever.. bar none.
love deb

[Christine]

lol!! I love the exorcism idea hahaha! Nice. ;) And I'm sure it will go well, you're in my thoughts. :)

[Sheila Murrey]

Ambien can for sure cause folks to do the things you describe Ms. Bunny. I'm a mess. Sick all week. Got a job Monday and had the "wonderful" experience of starting it sick. Not sure if it's detox from gluten or what but I've definitely had an upper respiratory infection since last Sunday night. At first I thought, oh no, this is just emotional of maybe not wanting to go back to work (well yes it crossed my mind), but then noooo Monday was like a freight train hit me, sore throat, mild headache, fever, chills, aches. By Tuesday the throat was better but still felt swollen and coughing commenced. Still coughing Friday evening. I'm totally continuing my raw foods however, I had to about choke down my salad yesterday. And we ate sashimi (sushi - the rice) last night so that I could have the wonderful wasabi. I was soo hoping that would fix me up. Nah!

My cold remedy totally natural has been, fresh grapefruit juice squeezed, with dropper full of Olive Leaf extract, and dropper full of echinacea, drink that down every 3-5 hours. Every couple hours I put a drop or two of pure P37 Oreganol under my tongue. Hate the taste but drink a glass of water within 30 seconds to wash it down. I also found Halls Natural cough drops. Anyone else have ideas? I must get over this during the weekend. I hate to go back to work next week coughing so bad I about wet my pants. I have been coughing up yellow phlegm, else I'd think this is all just detox (as my hubby keeps telling me it is). And I'm way too into the raw 65+ days or so for me since I started prior to the challenge so it's hard for me to believe this is detox symptoms. But I'm open to opinions on that.

Thank you and bless you Ms. Bunny for your openness and sharing your struggles and trials with us too.
love
sheila

[Sheila Murrey]

p.s. a friend of mine's grown daughter took Ambien and got up middle of the night one night, drove her car in her PJ's with her house slippers on, ran a stop sign and hit someone so yes, it happens. The cops even had a hard time waking her up to figure out what the heck had happened! My girlfriend was horrified! Luckily all parties involved were not injured in the accident.

sheila

[Deb]

your haircut looks very cute...and now you're off the Ambien you'll see wonderful results.

Peace and blessings to you....thanks for all you do.

[Bunny Berry]

Okay, that just made me cry. THANK YOU, BEE!

Bee said:

Bunny -- There is no such thing as a bad haircut in my world. Creativity and the freedom to experiment shows up in the funniest ways. I wish so much for you to see that you are a radiant, talented, radically honest, joy filled, beautiful person. I say celebrate the new look! Get creative! It will grow out, but it, like your life, can be a work of he-ART if you choose to see yourself that way!! And Girl, I'm glad you got off the Ambien. That stuff is scarier than Hitchcock movies! Let the Raw FU friends have a wall of suggestions of how to calm the brain, rest the emotions so that you can find sleep on your own again. There are ways! And we are all here for you Super Bunny. ANd yes, I think people who take risks and give themselves haircuts that are actually gateways to freedom to be creative are Super Heros. And hey, you drink green smoothies, so that puts you in a whole other Super Hero status. Be kind to yourself sweetheart. See you at the chat in an hour! And I'll be fingerpainting... orange and blue swirly spikey and fun hairdos and inventing new veggies with my fingerpaints in your honor.. all the while reading the chats. Can't thank you enough for creating Raw Fu. You are the wind beneath my wings. To the world you may be just one person, but to one person, you just might be the world. Blessings to you Bun Bun.

[Rosa]

Hi Shelia;

When I feel under the weather, this is what works for me: Using my juice extractor I juice 4 carrots, 1 orange, 2 cloves of garlic and 1/2 to 1 inch of ginger (you can also juice some onion). Bottoms up girl. I will make myself garlic and ginger tea. I only do liquids when I am not up to "snuff" so this allows the body to heal itself. No digesting involved with liquids.

Sheila Murrey said:

Ambien can for sure cause folks to do the things you describe Ms. Bunny. I'm a mess. Sick all week. Got a job Monday and had the "wonderful" experience of starting it sick. Not sure if it's detox from gluten or what but I've definitely had an upper respiratory infection since last Sunday night. At first I thought, oh no, this is just emotional of maybe not wanting to go back to work (well yes it crossed my mind), but then noooo Monday was like a freight train hit me, sore throat, mild headache, fever, chills, aches. By Tuesday the throat was better but still felt swollen and coughing commenced. Still coughing Friday evening. I'm totally continuing my raw foods however, I had to about choke down my salad yesterday. And we ate sashimi (sushi - the rice) last night so that I could have the wonderful wasabi. I was soo hoping that would fix me up. Nah!

My cold remedy totally natural has been, fresh grapefruit juice squeezed, with dropper full of Olive Leaf extract, and dropper full of echinacea, drink that down every 3-5 hours. Every couple hours I put a drop or two of pure P37 Oreganol under my tongue. Hate the taste but drink a glass of water within 30 seconds to wash it down. I also found Halls Natural cough drops. Anyone else have ideas? I must get over this during the weekend. I hate to go back to work next week coughing so bad I about wet my pants. I have been coughing up yellow phlegm, else I'd think this is all just detox (as my hubby keeps telling me it is). And I'm way too into the raw 65+ days or so for me since I started prior to the challenge so it's hard for me to believe this is detox symptoms. But I'm open to opinions on that.

Thank you and bless you Ms. Bunny for your openness and sharing your struggles and trials with us too.
love
sheila

[Erin]

Bunny, as usual, you make me feel like laughing and crying all at once! I am praying for your brother and sending you all the long-distance vibes I can muster. Thoughts will be with you and your beautiful family all weekend long. One question I would have for you is have you exhausted behavioral medicine techniques for your insomnia? I'm thinking along the lines of clinical hypnosis or biofeedback. Neither is a quick fix, however, over time you may be able to lower your baseline state of arousal and find that it aids in sleep. Just a thought!

[Ilene]

Can't join you guys for the chat...going night, night, but...glad to hear you are off Ambien...it's bad stuff. Try herbal teas to help induce sleepiness. At least you didn't do weird things like drive to a bar and party with people you didn't even know...etc. I have read crazy stories!! Hang in there. Be Here Now, breatheeeee.
-Ilene

[Lauren]

Hi Bunny,

First of all, your hair is adorable, love it!! You look fabulous as always.

I took Lunesta when I was on steriods in November.. let me tell you.. I only took it for one night because my husband said I got up and started screaming and walking around the room like a looney tune! I didn't remember any of it in the morning..lol..So that was the last time I took any sleep meds. I don't have problems sleeping now anyway.

I hope everything works out with your brother, like I said before, my mother is an alcholic so I feel your pain!

Get a good night sleep!!!! :)

[Cindy]

I know of others who have slept-ate while using Ambien. I'm glad you have put it away now. No doubt all the stress you've been under has contributed to your turning to medications ...

Myself? I posted on how I gained weight this challenge also. I stopped taking the workout energy drinks and tablets such as HydroxyCut Hard Core and I also stopped drinking coffee. This caused a chain reaction of feeling too lethargic, depressed, etc to workout while I also turned to emo eating.

That was deadly. I, too, gained ten pounds.

It was only by hitting my meetings that I eventually got enough of a corner pulled on it to actually start a juice fast/feast. (part fast part feast depending on how much money I've got that day:-))

I'm glad you're coming forward and going public, sincerely wish you all the luck in the world. I'm not out of the woods myself: I lost a little weight so far but haven't resumed my entire workout strategy and also? When you're an emo eater or food addict like me, fasting is merely a temporary reprieve.

I'm still going to have to learn how to eat.

[Rayme]

I started taking Ambien in June of 2007, discovered the raw food lifestyle in October of 2007 and it took me almost 8 months of being 70% raw and 3 days at 100% raw before I didn't need the Ambien anymore. I was thrilled. Don't get me wrong, if you want to be drugged, Ambien is the way to go, but I'm glad that I got my sleep back. What does the Food Matters video say about healing addiction, I forgot, can someone remind me? I hope your brother gets into rehab.