Hi everyone! So it's been awhile since I've posted. I took the advice of a very sweet poster and stopped focusing on losing weight and started focusing more on my health.
So I had cardiac arrest back in Feb of 2017 and it's been a long journey for me. We thought there was something just wrong with my heart. But it turns out, I have three autoimmune diseases. Antiphospholipid antibody syndrome (which is an autoimmune disease that attack my blood making it more prone to clot), hashimotos thyroiditis (which is an autoimmune condition that attacks the thyroid) and Systemic Lupus (which is an autoimmune disease that attacks the tissues internally and externally).
So holy crap guys! My battle with weight WAS being deterred because of my body. I wasn't crazy. It seemed like every time I lost weight, I ended up sick or in the hospital (with back in Feb being the worst of it). Doctors back then acted like it was in my head and psychosomatic. While I am SO thankful I have been diagnosed and know what is wrong with me now, it is still frustrating to hear that I'll never be able to lose weight the natural way. Exercise triggers Lupus flares, losing weight triggers my Lupus flares, it's hard to lose weight because of my thyroid being attacked, and I can only take hormone therapy as a last resort due to my blood clotting disorder. Weight loss pills were out of the question too because I have a fast heart rate. I was being told that all of these things were working against each other and working against me.
So long story short, now that I am in better health and on the right Lupus medication, I am having Vertical Sleeve Gastrectomy on October 9th this year. I'm praying that insurance (which requires that I have 12 months of attempted weight loss (HAH that's easy)) approves it since they have already said they will cover the surgery 100% due to my comorbidities like high blood pressure and insulin resistance.
Because of my high BMI (51.7) I am 4' 9" and they clocked me in at 243 pounds (meaning I've gained 47 pounds in a year!) I need to be on the liver shrinking diet for a month.
Ya'll!!! This diet is something else. I have to replace two meals a day with a high protein, low sugar, low carb protein shake. And one meal can a 3 oz of a lean meat with two servings of a non starchy vegetable. I can have two snacks a day either a high protein low fat snack (low fat string cheese, 1/2 cup low fat cottage cheese, boiled egg) or 1/2 cup of non starchy vegetable. So I'm eating around 600-700 calories a day and feeling tired and grumpy and fatigued and I want FOOD. Like, healthy food is fine. I just want FOOD. I'm only on day 2... so if anyone has any tips or advice on the liver shrinking diet, that would be great.
If anyone has any tips about having gastric surgery and having an autoimmune or other chronic illness, that would be great too.
If anyone just has general tips about having WLS or VSG, I would really appreciate them. I'm scared and happy and anxious and all of the feelings. I am excited to lose weight finally and happy I have a team of doctors looking out for me and trying to get my weight down, but really nervous too.
I'm a fellow Hashi's sufferer. I don't have the other conditions and haven't had WLS. So I can only offer you some general tips on what I've learned about having an autoimmune disease like Hashi's. The #1 thing that has helped me has been to modify WHAT I eat, not how much I eat. And it's been a journey- 9 years of undiagnosed Hashis with steady weight gain and all the associated side-effects of the disease, and 9 years of journeying towards better health (culminating in a serious health crisis last year that resulted in the final tweaks that have really helped me). You may already be doing this but: you have to cut the crap out of your diet. No more processed foods. None. Zilch. And NO alcohol. Garbage into our bodies - for people with autoimmune diseases- results in flares, more symptoms, and in many cases more autoimmune diseases (most people who get one AI disease end up getting another). Get allergy tested and I strongly recommend you do the anti-inflammatory protocol for a while to determine if you have any sensitivities/allergies that blood or skin tests don't pick up because if you are allergic to anything you are exposed to, the antibodies your body produces to fight those allergies will also attack the areas you have disease, such as your thyroid. Bear in mind you can have an allergy- even a serious allergy- to something you're exposed to often and not know it. I had a 4/4 allergy to corn and had no idea- I was eating it daily in some form (and corn is nearly as ubiquitous in the American diet as wheat is). Imagine how much inflammation that was causing! Once you know what you can and cannot eat safely, adopt a whole-foods approach to eating whether it be the anti-inflammatory diet, Whole 30, Primal Blueprint, Paleo, Mediterranean diet. Additionally, you should look at good quality supplements. In a study I read, every single person with ANY autoimmune disease is low on Vitamin D. Every one of them. You should be striving to have a blood level of 70 of vit D. But on the topic of supplements, check what the ingredients are. For example, I had no idea that nearly all vitamin C is derived from corn, as one example. I have to specifically seek out a corn-free vitamin C (mine is made from tapioca).
Wow, what great advice!! I have already cut the junk out of my diet. But I never thought to do an allergy test, but it makes SO much sense. I KNOW I'm allergic to pineapple & kiwi. So I am sure there are others I'm not really familiar with. What a great idea. Sorry, I'm a little thrown because it totally makes sense. I know I've had my Vitamin D checked and last time it was with recommended levels, but I am still taking a multivitamin daily to keep them up. I'm going to have to have a chat with my PCP and Rheum about this. Thank you!
Wow, what great advice!! I have already cut the junk out of my diet. But I never thought to do an allergy test, but it makes SO much sense. I KNOW I'm allergic to pineapple & kiwi. So I am sure there are others I'm not really familiar with. What a great idea. Sorry, I'm a little thrown because it totally makes sense. I know I've had my Vitamin D checked and last time it was with recommended levels, but I am still taking a multivitamin daily to keep them up. I'm going to have to have a chat with my PCP and Rheum about this. Thank you!
A lot of it seems obvious once you know, yes. But I'm still learning and all of this I have learned since making a Naturopathic doctor my primary care physician. I'm not against western medicine, it's just that docs that are trained for western medicine are more about treating symptoms. Naturopathic doctors are more about finding out WHY you're sick in the first place, and treating the root cause, and when it comes to autoimmune diseases that is so important. Even if they can't reverse the disease they can sometimes put it into remission or at least seriously alleviate symptoms if they can find what is causing your inflammation and allergies in the first place. Even so, it's been a journey. We identified right away that I had Hashi's (which my old doc wouldn't even test my thyroid, let alone test for the antibodies) and a dairy allergy. But it was only last year when I got horribly ill with gastritis and saw specialists, had tons of tests done, etc. that we discovered (through blood tests) that I was also seriously allergic to corn and somewhat allergic to garlic, and that I'm allergic to all three types of dust mites. And (through an elimination diet) that I had also developed serious sensitivities to histamine and salicylates. That took my diet down to 3 foods - seriously- for a while. A year later I'm up to about 40 safe foods. But my health is getting better every day. I also use a HEPA filter in our bedroom to reduce airborne allergens.
I wish you luck and hope you're able to find your triggers and put your diseases into remission!
What a wild year - Gastric Sleeve Soon
Thank you!
