Hiya wonderfully helpful bods!
I'm HOPING you might be able to offer me some advice...
I've spent the past year+ stuck in bed with symptoms of both hyperthyroidism and what I'm 99.99% certain is a problem with my gallbladder (I know I've got gallstones - that's what happens when you follow a low-fat/high-carb diet for decades!).
There's a third issue, which is making it IMPOSSIBLE for me to get help with the other 2 - I'm severely autistic (Asperger's - and my communication and interpersonal skills are ZERO!).
I've been denied help on the NHS because I REFUSE to go back to eating a LFHC diet again (I lost 22.5st eating LCHF and also got shot of my type 2 diabetes and a LOT of my PCOS symptoms).
The standard hypothesis for how gallstones form is, frankly, a load of cow-plop, and I'm at loggerheads with the NHS over this.
Conventional wisdom says: - gallstones form because the sufferer is eating a diet containing too much saturated fat and cholesterol. Conventional wisdom solution: - tell patient to consume a (very) low-fat diet.
Sarah's wisdom says: - gallstones form because the sufferer eats a very low-fat diet, which means the gallbladder isn't being utilised and the bile calcifies. Solution: - have patient eat a very high-fat diet and initialise methods to dissolve stones should problems occur.
I see it like this: - the stream of bile is like a river, if a river is constantly flowing, it doesn't silt up; however, if it's dammed, or the flow is otherwise restricted, then sediment begins to form. Therefore, if the patient is told to eat very low fat, the problem is simply going to be exacerbated.
In short, current dietary advice (LFHC) actually CAUSES gallstones (amongst myriad other problems!).
I'm not alone; there are several eminent physicians who agree with this, and all have been active proponents of eating a LCHF diet, not just for gallstones, but for umpteen other health issues (diabetes, CHD, stroke, obesity - you name it...).
This is just one: - http://www.dietdocto...es-and-low-carb (posting that link because I read his blog daily)
Now, I believe that a stone has become lodged in the common bile duct and, when I eat my usual HF diet, the bile can't flow back into the gallbladder, so it's diverted to the kidneys and excreted. The usual nature of my diet is now making me very sick, and I pass out after a meal containing more than around 50g fat, which was pretty middling for the 'old' me.
Now, couple this with a hyperactive thyroid (again, I believe caused by the NHS (when I was a blimp, I was sent to a dietician who had me drink Alpro (soy milk) and eat soy products instead of dairy. Back then, of course, I was ignorant of the dangers of consuming any quantity of unfermented soy and, although I can't say categorically that the soy caused my thyroid issues, I'd bet a large proportion of my bank account (about £2!) it did (or was a major contributing factor, at least...).
Now, I'm sure my learned friends here are all too aware of the symptoms of hyperthyroidism and the worst are the constant fatigue, lethargy, hunger, nausea, and what it's done to my honed and toned bod! My belly is constantly swollen because everything passes through so fast! I'm also suffering curvature of the spine, and I can't cope with the heat (16/17 (61/63) is my ABSOLUTE MAX!
Oh I'm suffering alopecia, too...
I'm stuck in bed all day and, for that reason, I try VERY hard not to push my carbs above 50g/day.
DMAA helps a little, but I don't have much of it (can I even mention that I use it here...?!) and I'm loathe to use too much at once; I'm not keen on taking too much caffeine, because I crash badly on it (and it exacerbates the shakes I've got anyway) and the only racetam I've tried (prami) I didn't get on with at all! I've also tried silbutramine but I don't recall it doing much for me.
If I didn't have the gallbladder issue to cope with, on top of the thyroid, then I could eat my usual HF diet and the hunger and fatigue might not be as bad. As it is, they are, and I've been robbed of the ability to do ANYTHING - even listening to the radio requires more energy than I have these days - it's like I'm lying here waiting to die!
I've NOBODY to help me fight my corner, and the NHS won't help until I start eating a "sensible, healthy, low-fat diet" - it's even in my notes!
My parents won't support me, because I'm "basing" my life on "some rubbish" I "found on the Internet" - they seem to have conveniently forgotten that that "rubbish" lost me 315lb! Apparently it's "High time" I started "conforming and listening to those who know more" than I do (I do - that's why I read LC blogs!) "she's spent 5 years at med school, you haven't, how can you POSSIBLY say you know more than she does - and I don't understand HOW you can say you know more than the consultant" (I didn't. I just said that he was wrong about dietary fat being the cause of gallstones) "We don't eat like you do, and we're not lying in bed all day - we're perfectly healthy!" ("Perfectly healthy" is relative; my father's on 80mg Lipitor, a PPI, antihypertensives, antibiotics and a strong antacid (he's got an ulcer - and they won't believe me when I tell them duodenal ulcers are caused by too LITTLE HCl, NOT TOO MUCH!))
So what do I do...?! I'm certainly NOT going back to LFHC - am I REALLY destined to be stuck here FOREVER...?! If I wasn't on benefits, I'd have sought out private treatment by now - but I am, so I can't afford it! To advocate LC on the NHS is tantamount to TREASON!
I feel I'm looking down the barrel of a gun - I REALLY can't cope with being stuck in this bed much longer! I can't get any support because there isn't any (I did find an advocacy agency, but they refused to support me unless I took my GP's advice and went back to eating LFHC).
I don't even know WHY I'm posting here - I guess I thought SOMEBODY might be able to understand...
Healthcare is a basic human right. Why should I be denied access to it just because I KNOW what I'm being told to do is WRONG, and not only wrong, but will cause me further problems...?!
All I want is a LIFE... Is that asking TOO MUCH...?'
Thank you for at least reading...
Sarah X❤X
P.S. if I've posts in the wrong place, I apologise, but I'm not very good at fora (I usually end up being blocked or banned within a week!)
