Discussion Board

Deb,

I take a number of drugs that can cause alopecia. Kidney disease can definitely cause a great deal of hairloss. it's related to my disease and my presciption drug use. Not auto-immune.

I wrote Jellen because she seemed to have a lot of questions. There's a lot of information out there from the internet, relatives, advertisements, etc. Of course, you should always filter this stuff with your own common sense and ultimately with your Doctor. I think Jellen can figure it out.

Consider anyone with a serious illness who is vegan and finds another who is the same. It's somewhat like winning a lottery of sorts. It makes me feel less alone.

dawna

Deb, why is there an argument here?

I have had kidney disease for 51 years. Apparently I know nothing despite having studying nephro txts for many years as well the internet, my degrees, and knowlege from doctors througout those 51 years, and knowledge from my RN mother who worked in dialysis for a very long time.

Concerning alopecia, I've seen definitions for many types of alopecia with varying causes. There is absolutely no way that all alopecia is auto-immune, yet you have described it as such in a rather careless, nonchalant way. I think it's basic definition is just hair loss, baldness, or bilateral hairloss. You don't know what caused Jellen's hair loss, nor do I. I do know it can hit you early pre-dialysis or after dialysis. If you are a type 1 autoimmune diabetic, you can develop other autoimmune diseases in other body parts. With one autoimmune disease, it's more likely you'll develop another. My understanding, however, is that kidney disease can cause hair loss apart from an autoimmune action.

This term alopecia really tripped you up. For you I should have said just the basic term hairloss.

I'm imagining why you are confronting me.......I did have hesitation joining the forum. Evolution is very active in this world. People who have serious diseases get hit upon very often. The singular reason is the need to keep these people out of the gene pool. Can't you rise above above that, considering my presence here is mainly to receive new information and support Dr. McDougall?.

Lets end this.

Wow, this thread has been active in my absence. I'm pleased to have you all responding. Let me fill in some of your questions.

I McDougalled for several years, about 6 years ago...been vegetarian/vegan/flextarian until last fall when I started ETL with dr. Fuhrman. I strongly believe in veganizm for health.

I'm a diet-contolled diabetic with metabolic syndrome. Was on blood pressure meds and diabetic meds until I lost about 50 pounds and gave up the salt.

Don't work with a dietician or nephr. due to medical insurance issues...too high deductibles...paying far too much for medical at present, anyway.

Have written dr. McDougall several times and he suggested I reduce bean consumption to no more than 1/2 cup daily and to consume a T. flaxseed per day.

Close to 400 proteinuria last year and 78 this year. Normal is below 30. Vegan diet watching excess protein has help.

None of my bloodwork puts me in Chronic Kidney Disease, but according to what I've read, anyone with proteinuria as high as mine is considered same as stage 1. Maybe I'm wrong. All I know is one day of careless overconsumption of protein and the next day the toilet is frothy. When I'm careful, not too many bubbles. I've used test sticks and they always show trace.

How seriously do I need to stick to vegan/low protein diet? I think it's fairly important. My reading shows a 5-10 year progression if I don't.

Now here's something else to consider. I did that terrible diet 2 years ago--Medifast...for 7 weeks...caused me to see bubbles covering toilet and bathroom visits every hour all night. Sent me to the doctor...who told me about the proteinuria.

I also went to see a naturopath who told me I was allergic to soy and was a 15 on a scale of 16 being celiac. Not sure if I have autoimmune issues seriously, but have given up both gluten and soy.

Other factor...age 53. Now I wonder if this gives any of you additional clues. Please p.m. me if you wish. I'd appreciate conversing with others who've been in my shoes.

Jellen, do your urine dipsticks still show a trace of protein even since following McD? Mine showed a trace of protein for years, now on McD no longer do! Whew. You are wise to keep an eye on this to prevent things from progressing. Wish I had smartened up sooner, better late than never.

Yes, trace shown when I know I overdid protein. Other days, looks like could be just under a trace.

Thanks for the reply Jellen--I figure my trace reading was due to many years of high BP. As you know diabetics tend toward kidney disease also, so again you and/or your doc definitely should be monitoring kidney function for impairment. Presumably on McD and low-protein, you will have many fewer problems. Glad your kidney function seems to be doing better--losing it is no joke. We also usually lose a small degree of KF as we age.

Yes, dr. monitors it once per year. Was due to high blood pressure. I remember taking myself off bp. meds when I started McDougalling but didn't change lots of things in my diet--salt. So basically had high blood pressure leading to kidney damage. The 7 weeks of Medifast, high protein and soy, only made things so bad that it was obvious. Dr. visit, labs, and online research helped me understand need for vegan diet, weight loss, and sodium restriction...plus exercise.

Been floundering the past several months and regained some of what I'd lost. But am back in weightloss mode again. Now watching salts and protein, carefully.

Debbie, I do believe the Medifast program hastened kidney concerns. But when I looked at the previous years' blood work it showed proteinuria at about 500, that's even higher than after that Medifast. What really alarms me is that my doctor only said to be on Lisinoprill to protect my kidneys. He didn't say why or connect it to anything else...so I continued to eat the same way and stopped taking bp. meds, as a semi-follower of dr. McD. plan.

Being mostly vegan helped, but being off meds and not knowing what hypertension/blood sugars out of control were doing to my kidneys...that makes me mad. Doctor never explained it. All he said is I don't have kidney disease. Ok. But he never explained the high proteinuria or what it meant or what caused it. I discovered all this on my own by Googling and reading this site.

I'm just glad I began to find answers and didn't just go on in my ignorance. I knew with that Medifast, that something wasn't right. Nobody needs to go to the bathroom every hour all night for weeks, producing tremendous amounts of bubbles. I just thought it was part of that diet, something that naturally happened with excessive amounts of protein and soy.

Bumping this thread up.

I'm having issues with protein excess due to issues with SAD, due to issues with food addiction, due to the fact that I've not discovered what I'm allergic to yet, that's giving me a huge rash over my right leg.

Decided to say, forget it, and just start eating whatever. Well that hasn't been good for weight control or protein control, or the rash, or my overall health.

Quick, somebody scold me good or scare me royally. I can take it and I need it. Welcoming a bit of straight-talk here.

Jellen, doesn't feeling like crap and having a big rash and dying kidneys scare you enough without others piling on? It is good to have support but I think self motivation is key for long term success. And for something like this, overcoming addictions etc, the motivation has to be the desire to get free no matter what the price. The price for you is not giving in to cravings etc. They are just noise, or stormy weather and as such to be noted and then ignored, not indulged! Bite that bullet, GF!!!

Thanks GL. I'm not sure why I seem to forget my condition, but I tend to look the other way--especially around grains and sugars.

I started buying the gluten-free breads and they called for jams that called for butter, that called for hashbrowns that called for scrambled eggs, that called for cheese... and down she went.

It is just so frustrating to count protein grams and it's the simple sugar foods that are lowest in protein grams...but are also the most addictive for me.

Keep the advice coming. I appreciate every bit of it, and I'm one who does respond to scolding, really.

Cognitive dissonance here. Jam yes, the others... simple sugars? Maybe sort of but butter, eggs, cheese? Not! When this kind of thing happens repeatedly, it is not about the food, yes? I suspect there are deeper issues afoot, Watson...

Yep, I keep telling myself I must be missing something nutritionally that I used to get while eating vegetarian.

It's like this....if I don't think about it while eating wrongly, it doesn't count, right? Wrong.

Good start! Now deeper, much deeper. No need to go public with it, in fact it may be better not to, but the motivation to self-sabotage is usually coming from down in the basement somewhere, where the crawly things that go bump in the night live, old old personal history, that sort of think...