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Small yet happy successes since I started in August 2011

PostPosted: Fri Nov 04, 2011 10:45 am
by figpiglet
Hi all,
My name is Jen ( though I love figs hence my "name" on the forum). Since August I have lost 14 lbs and my blood pressure went from 128 over 84 to 95 over 66 recently. I didn't get a preprogram cholesterol but it is now 177 with LDL 102 and HDL 62. My triglycerides were 67. I realize this still isn't optimal but I think it will get better as I lose weight. When I McDougalled previously it got down to 135. My doctor labeled my current cholesterol ideal, but I have read in Dr. McDougall's writings that under 150 is better. I also have more energy and have been able to discontinue antidepressant meds. I am sure giving up the caffeine as recommended has helped me A LOT. The meds never made me feel well enough anyway. I got constipated and had to take ducosate sodium for that. I also got insomnia and had to add Ambien. I am off all these meds since the end of August ( when I started eating better) and am feeling better. Thanks for everyone posting here. I am helped by reading about your successes.

Re: Small yet happy successes since I started in August 2011

PostPosted: Fri Nov 04, 2011 4:31 pm
by carollynne
very inspiring, and keep at it, life gets better and better!

Re: Small yet happy successes since I started in August 2011

PostPosted: Fri Nov 04, 2011 7:40 pm
by figpiglet
Thanks, I'm finding a lot of support from the warm community here. Jen

Re: Small yet happy successes since I started in August 2011

PostPosted: Fri Nov 04, 2011 10:51 pm
by lmggallagher
Getting off meds to me is no SMALL success, that's HUGE. Thank you for sharing your accomplishments, it's very inspiring to me - to know this early in my start on this program that plant-based unprocessed food really is the appropriate and effective vehicle to get us back to kilter. I have had a real positive turn around in my sleep pattern and also my energy level -- totally unexpected and happened so fast. So it's great for me to read that you got off of sleep meds, now I know I really can link that improvement to this program. I really believe that the emphasis on starches increases our serotonin levels and improves mood and sleep. Whatever it is yay, it's working :)

Hope things continue to improve for you, oh and me too! Michelle AKA lmggallagher.

PS figpiglet is the cutest dang handle ever, made me smile :-D I bought some really expensive Mission figs today. HAD TO HAVE THEM - OMG they were so expensive!

Re: Small yet happy successes since I started in August 2011

PostPosted: Sat Nov 05, 2011 6:57 pm
by Gramma Jackie
Glad to hear your lab report was good. I wish you all the best as you (and the rest of us) try to get healthy.

Hi Michelle

PostPosted: Sun Nov 06, 2011 2:29 pm
by figpiglet
Those figs are expensive! I got some dried figs at Whole Foods and am eating them in oatmeal. I just keep feeling more energetic and positive the longer I do this program.
The medication thing is huge. I could hardly walk up the stairs from the fatigue and other side effects.
The doctor told me that he didn't recommend it and that it was like trying to invade Afghanistan with a pistol instead of a tank ( the meds being the tank...)He said diet could not have that big of an effect.
I had read the Star McDougaller who had improved her mental health so I had something to hold onto to resist his influence. I had also done this plan in the past and been in much better health. Going off of it was a big mistake for me and resulted in a decline in my health that caused me a lot of suffering.

I told him I would always wonder and doubt what I was doing if I didn't try to get off of them. He then said that this was my right and I agreed with him on that. I then saw him 4 wks later and he downplayed my improvement. I told him I was doing better and he said oh so you're about the same. And I said NO, I am doing better.
My next appointment is in early December to check in and it will be my last appointment.
He is not a bad guy. He is actually the best psychiatrist I have ever seen in his interpersonal manners. He seems like he has some compassion but he sees diet and lifestyle as weak forces in the treatment of mental illness. He just has no clue ( and doesn't want to listen and get one either because it doesn't fit into his reality.) It was hard for me to resist his negativity. I am sure many patients never get off meds because they face this kind of attitude. However, I will continue to follow up with him one more time and state my view that diet can have a big impact. My plan is to call him next holiday season and tell him how I am doing and why I am doing well. Being on those meds on top of a SAD diet was destroying my vitality and worsening my ability to cope. He should hear that something he has discounted is in fact so powerful and is valid.
Thanks for your post. Jen

!

PostPosted: Sun Nov 06, 2011 4:51 pm
by lmggallagher
Jen figpiglet:

I am glad to hear that you will go back to your Doctor and try one more time to educate him on your self help progress. I have had some experiences with Doctor's being negative about what they consider alternative treatment, but were in fact working well for me and my conditions.

On-the-other-hand, we can be our own worst patients without keeping up with what we find to work. By this I mean that taking a pill is a lot easier than doing this. And not doing this and not taking the pill easier yet. But I bet for both of us, those pills have their side effects too, so far not a single bad side effect from the good food I am eating. Though I felt pretty bad the first few weeks of going vegan (before McDougall) I guess that was the detox phase!

But the medications for what ails me are really bad. The last one I was given for my fibro was actually a seizure drug, true it got rid of the pain (none of the others touched it) but my eyes were swelling shut too. Turns out one of the side effects was potential blindness, EGAD!

I actually started looking at changes in diet because of a nurse, who taught part of a 10-week "Pain Management" course I took at my medical facility. She did a whole module on foods and pain - that got me to researching. I actually called her to tell her that her section was the most valuable to me, as I had already done everything else they taught. She told me that she was about to reconsider if that portion had any value and whether to keep it in. I can't wait to tell her that I have improved some due to this. No where near as much as some other folks but noticeably, for sure. So for me I'll just keep going back to them showing them the improvements until they know it's real.

I am really lucky though my primary care physician is all excited about me going vegan, because she and the other Doctors at the med center got a lecture from Dr. Esselstyn. She said that swayed them all positively to the results of plant-based, at least in terms of cardio health. I actually think she is vegan herself because of that lecture - but they never think to recommend it to us, odd huh?

Still for both of us I'd say it's a wait see, I am a little improved and enthusiastic that things keep going this way and I will keep up with this WOE for the rest of my life no doubts, but that doesn't mean that I will rule out any medical interventions that would help if I need them.

OMG, figs at Whole Foods must be REALLY expensive. It's more expensive here anyway. The Mission figs I got were a little basket for $6 something. Outrageous, but I so craved them, and I am saving big time on this program....sooo, hehehe, I do treat myself from time to time :)

Re: Small yet happy successes since I started in August 2011

PostPosted: Sun Nov 06, 2011 6:42 pm
by figpiglet
Hi Michelle,
I agree that medical interventions can be good for some conditions. I have been reading Dr. McDougall's book for women, I think it's called The McDougall Program for Women. He says what the conventional treatments are for various things and then his recommendations and why he makes those recommendations. Maybe if you need input about a medicine or condition at some point, that might help. Or if your condition isn't in there you could email him. Have a great day. Jen

Re: Hi Michelle

PostPosted: Mon Nov 07, 2011 4:47 am
by VeggieSue
figpiglet wrote:Those figs are expensive!


The only figs we get in this house are the store brand newton cookies my husband loves. I can't stand those tiny seeds getting everywhere!


The doctor told me that he didn't recommend it and that it was like trying to invade Afghanistan with a pistol instead of a tank ( the meds being the tank...)He said diet could not have that big of an effect.


Carlton Fredericks, a radio personality in the 1960's and 1970's, reported frequently and wrote books on how foods DO affect mental health, mostly how sugar affects the brain and behavior. Doctors knew back in the 1950's and 60's about all this!

OK, so this particular guy pushed dropping the white flour and sugar and eating what's now known as a lo-carb diet and stressed the eating of meat and fats instead of those simple carbs, but the lesson is the same. *We* know to replace the sugars with whole foods, whole grain carbs, instead.

Re: Small yet happy successes since I started in August 2011

PostPosted: Mon Nov 07, 2011 6:46 am
by Vegankit
Congratulations on winning your health back through good food.

Re: Small yet happy successes since I started in August 2011

PostPosted: Mon Nov 07, 2011 10:14 pm
by lmggallagher
Thanks Jen - I'll look for that book - I didn't even know about that one! he just did a Facebook video on fibromyalgia too and reaffirmed for me that soy and gluten aren't good for me - so I know he gets this ailment of mine :) Hope you day is going well - aw let's make that the whole week!

This week

PostPosted: Tue Nov 08, 2011 9:50 am
by figpiglet
Hi Michelle,
This week I am cooking lots of potatoes and rice and making it easy to eat healthy meals. So far so good :-D Jen

Re: Small yet happy successes since I started in August 2011

PostPosted: Tue Nov 08, 2011 10:13 am
by giddyupgin
Great to hear all the good info in this subject....finding a supporting doctor is a challenge..i say when they try to give you grief about what you are doing...don't react but look at them with a thought " what is it in their lives that they can't see through themselves" in other words why can't they see the truth... we are what we eat... I read enough articles and see enough illness through my work as a health care provider that supports my own decision ..this is the right way....what the health society promotes now JUST DOES NOT WORK!

Re: Small yet happy successes since I started in August 2011

PostPosted: Tue Nov 08, 2011 11:41 am
by figpiglet
I agree. Most people are well meaning and they have something that blocks them from being helpful. It's great that we have an alternative here on this site. Jen

Re: This week

PostPosted: Tue Nov 08, 2011 7:48 pm
by lmggallagher
figpiglet wrote:Hi Michelle,
This week I am cooking lots of potatoes and rice and making it easy to eat healthy meals. So far so good :-D Jen


Hey Jen - I'm going potatoes too. Had Green Potato Soup. Sounds a little Dr. Seuss to me - no ham or eggs though, lol. Our weather here is making me all needy for comfort soup. Last night was a two cat night they both pretty much slept on top of me, until I turned the heat back on - was 36 at my house this AM. Very pretty happy it wasn't my walking day, but it was my very heated pool day, yay. What are you doing with the potatoes and rice?