If I'm in a phase (lasting weeks) where I can barely get out of bed and stop caring about everything, the only thing that works is taking caffeine again. SSRIs and SNRIs just made me sleep for abnormal amounts of time, and slowed down my general thinking and memory.

Another good thing about tea and coffee is that it's so normal. Even if you are consciously self-medicating, it's with something that 90% of the population consume on a daily basis. Unlike with medication, you aren't constantly subconsciously reinforcing the idea that you are a 'sick' person.

When diagnosed with PCOS, the first thing the doctors and nurses will tell you is to lose weight. They really do encourage a BMI at the low end of the healthy range since it drastically cuts the increased rate of diabetes and heart disease.

After a decade of trying various SSRIs and SNRIs, I discovered that caffeine improved my mood and motivation more than any of them - with minimal side effects. I hate coffee, but I'll have 5 -6 cups of strong tea a day.

Lots of skinny people have been raped during childhood, so I'm not sure why it's relevant here. Not every bad childhood leads to obesity, so that's completely off topic and emotionally manipulative.

I said I DID gain 30lb (several times in this thread) then lost it (again, on those same meds) by counting calories. As I said, increased appetite doesn't mean you actually need to eat more. You adjust your behaviour to reduce the side effects.

"Saying "Well, I have xxx and I'm not fat" is a form of fat-shaming. You're not helping anyone by doing/saying that."

"no no no, you have so much skinny privilege it is LITERALLY Sickening. The best advice for you is to stop because you cannot discern your privilege from the problem."

I meant that it's like saying "I'm not naturally good at maths, so why should I make more of an effort than people who are gifted?"

I managed to lose 30lb while on both birth control and antidepressants. Yes, they DO increase your appetite, but that doesn't mean you have to actually eat more. I kept a food diary and stuck to 1,200 every day. I drank caffeine when I felt hungry and had no health problems as a result.

For the vast majority of people, calorie counting works. Most people just can't be bothered weighing and measuring their food, tracking calories and changing their habits. As one of the other commenters stated, "Why should I bother? It's not my fault I'm over weight."

It only takes a few minutes out of your day, yet it improves both your health and quality of life. Why do you brush your teeth twice a day and floss?

MFP adjusts the individual's daily food intake goal based on their activity levels. So if you entered all your exercise etc. it would maybe give you an extra 800 calories that day (for example).

" If that was the case, Jenny Craig, Weight Watchers, South Beach (etc) diets would be obsolete."

Myfitnesspal.com Literally hundreds of people there (no doubt with various forms of PCOS) have managed to lose weight through dieting and exercise. Search PCOS on the 'Success Stories' forum.

So what if a friend or family member was very underweight, to the point where they obviously had an eating disorder? Should family and close friends not intervene, since diet is the individual's own concern?

"it is really REALLY fucking unpleasant to walk around eating 1200 calories a day."

"Less inherently prone to hate fat people? (Oh wait, you can control that.)"

If you go on myfitnesspal.com there are plenty of support groups/forums for people with PCOS or thyroid disorders. I just find it frustrating when people treat it as an excuse, in the tone of 'Why bother? I'm incapable of losing the weight due to this condition.'

Any sort of criticism leads to a period of hurt feelings though. For example, if a lecturer thinks I wrote a shitty essay, they'd need to be blunt. How would I improve otherwise?