Hi guys, do you think this plan will work for me despite the tonnes of medication I'm on for arthritis and chronic back pain?

[bikerchick39]

I'm on amitriptyline, tramadol, celecoxib, regular paracetomol, hydroxychloroquine, and methotrexate.

[GRUMPYA]

Amitryptyline causes weight gain so i would suggest you keep a totally honest food diary counting fruit veg everything. Weigh everything. Aim to maintain your weight. This will give you an idea how many calories you need to stay the same. It may be already quite low but if it is over 1500 calories a day you can cut 500 calories off this total. This should equate to 1lb a week. Don't go below 1000 calories and don't cut out all carbs as this will affect your drugs and may give nasty side effects. If you need less than 1500 calories a day you could try being a little more active and cutting back a little but you might have to settle for maintaining until you can come off the amitryptyline when your doctor is happy with that. At least you won't be any heavier then than you are now.

Sorry if that sounds a bit negative but it is realistic and by learning to maintain if you cannot lose then you will be ready when the drugs do change and you might be lucky and find that you need 1800 to maintain or even more and can cut back quite easily. Good luck and let us know how it goes