The first week, there was a 2 day fast (which if you are having a gallbladder attack, is no problem since the last thing you want to do is eat). The following days are slowly adding fruits/veggies into your diet. So, days 3 and 4 you eat Grapes and only grapes. 2-3 oz. every 2 hours (of course, if you have certain diseases/illnesses, you'll have to substitute). I got the diet from GallbladderAttack.com. It's actually worked very, very well for me.
The first week was the hardest. I was tired, I was really depressed, I was stressed out, and I was upset with only eating grapes for the first couple of days. However, once I started to feel better (a few days into the diet), I stopped minding my very restricted food. It felt good to eat and not be in pain. I'm now going into my 3rd week on the diet and I'm able to add more food in (although, I am still not eating meat, grains, or dairy). It helps that my husband is a great cook and can make some amazing vegan dishes for me (although I still find I cannot be around when he's making his own food or dinner for the kids. It's hard to smell all of the foods I love, so I usually stay out of the way for dinnertime).
It is recommended to try small amounts of the foods you "want" (for me, it was chicken). I had a very small piece of chicken (1 bite) and within just a few minutes of eating that, I could tell I was not ready for it...so I'll just keep on with the vegan diet and try again in another week or so.
If you can check out the site I linked earlier, it will really give you a lot of information about the gallbladder, thyroid, and a bunch of other things you most likely will not learn from your doctor. Of course, not everyone is the same and what works for me may not work for someone else. And, I do have to say that it is best to be checked out by a specialist before going onto this eating plan (to make sure there are no other issues going on).
Ok, so at the beginning of week 3 for me, I feel energetic, happy, well rested, and hopeful. I jump up in the morning ready to face my day as opposed to ready to crawl into a cave. My skin looks much better and most people I know are commenting on how different I look (and act). The bounce is back in my step and the sparkle in my eyes. It's been an amazing shift from just a few short weeks ago.
Speaking of which, I was looking over the eating plan I got from my doctor and it was kind of sad. It basically talks about the same type of diet (very restricted at first, but slowly adding in foods that meet certain criteria) but it recommends replacing sugar with sugar substitutes (Aspartame, etc). I couldn't believe that! Please, whatever you do...please do not use sugar substitutes as they have been proven to cause a whole bunch of other ailments...and that is exactly what we are trying to prevent.
The first week was hard since I couldn't have any breads, etc. But, I promise that the longer you are on the diet and the better you feel, the less you will crave those other things. It will come to a point where you can slowly add small amounts of grains, dairy, etc. back into your diet, but until you can eat those things and not have issues, you'll feel much better leaving them out.
Finally, a lot of Thyroid issues also affect the Adrenals. It was so important for me to turn off the computer and other stimulating electronics and go to bed at an early hour (I'm now going to bed at the same time the kids do...around 8pm or 9pm). I get up whenever my body is ready (usually about 12 hours after falling asleep), as long as my husband is around to get the kids ready for school. This need for so much sleep is starting to taper off and I'm finding that I am naturally, without an alarm, getting up at 6:30am. So, it's definitely helping me to feel better.
This week, I have lemons, grapefruit, kale, celery, cucumbers, spinach, and beets in my eating plan. Next week (the 4th week), I get to add more fruit. It's the little things that make me happy, these days.
Thursday, April 25, 2013
Friday, April 19, 2013
At The Beginning
I started this blog to hopefully help others who find themselves in the same position I am. After many months of dealing with digestive issues, it all came to a head on April 8th. I spent the entire night up with massive gas, bloating, stomach cramps until finally throwing everything up (and feeling better enough to go to sleep).
I was diagnosed with gallstones on April 12th and this started my journey into Healing with Food.
While I was at my doctor's office, I had asked what caused gallstones. She responded that no one knows what really causes gallstones. Some people get them, some people do not. This didn't sit well with me and so when I got home, I jumped online and started researching gallstone issues. Obviously, one of the culprits is diet. But, it's not the only culprit. The biggest culprit seems to by thyroid. Yes, it seems that an imbalance in thyroid can, and very often does, cause the body to produce gallstones. Specifically Hypothyroidism (when the thyroid under produces). Reading this made me very, very angry. I'll start at the beginning:
Almost 12 years ago, I was extremely active. I worked out 6 days a week with HIIT cardio and heavy weight training. I was biking 16 miles a day until I was almost 8 months pregnant with my first child. I ate very healthy and I slept my 8 hours a night. As I reached the end of my pregnancy, my daily workouts were replaced with long walks (or waddles, at that point). I had a complication free birth and settled into life with my beautiful daughter and husband. I took 3 months off from working out to allow my body to heal and then jumped right back into the daily workout routine. The first thing I noticed was that my period had changed (even though I was exclusively breastfeeding, I got my period back 3 days after my 6 week check-up). It went from being 4-5 days and very moderate to bleeding extremely heavy for 2 days with light spotting on the 3rd. The bleeding was so heavy that I could not leave the house for 2 full days. My Super Plus Tampons and Overnight Pads would be soaked through in less than 20-30 minutes all day, all night until the 3rd day. I brought this up to my doctor as I was worried that something was wrong. I was told this was a change in my body and this sometimes happens to women and is a normal part of becoming a mom. I wasn't comfortable with that answer...but I had no way to find out otherwise.
Fast forward a few years and I started becoming more and more tired. I attributed it to my overnight shifts as a bartender. At this point, my daughter was almost 3 and my workouts started happening less and less. Whereas before I would never miss a day, now I was finding that I just didn't have the energy to go. I brought this up with my doctor, as well. I was reassured that it was just the stress of being a mom to a very active toddler and as she got older, things would get better.
I became pregnant with my 2nd child in 2005 (after 2 miscarriages that same year) and found that I was becoming more and more tired. Each time I complained, I was constantly reassured that it was pregnancy hormones, being the mom of a toddler, demands on daily life, on and on. I spent time at the library trying to find anything that would explain my situation. I found mommy books that talked about all of my symptoms and was reassured that "all moms usually go through this".
In the meantime, I began gaining weight. Slowly, very slowly. I attributed it to not exercising. I wanted to sleep all of the time. I hated going anywhere. I had my 2nd child in December of 2006 and the change I felt immediately after that was immediate and shocking. I had a difficult delivery with him, so my issues were written off as "normal" for a difficult delivery. I felt depressed. Not just the baby blues, but depressed. I had no energy, I had no drive, I had no desire to get out of bed. It was more subtle, at first. But as the days and weeks passed, it got worse and worse. I became pregnant with my 3rd in September of 2007. By May of 2008, my depression was at an all-time high. I had nightmares, I literally couldn't drag myself out of bed and I had gained almost 40 pounds (not including the baby weight). I talked with my doctor and the response was mainly that after I had the baby, we could try using antidepressants. I really didn't want to go down that route. I've seen people spend the rest of their lives on antidepressants and I wanted to make sure that I wasn't one of them.
I found a naturopathic doctor (who was months away from retiring and moving out of state) because of my 2nd child's issues with congestion. In the course of the meeting, we started talking about my depression issues (she could tell just by talking and looking at me) and I broke down in tears about what I've been going through. She reassured me that everything would be ok and started recommending herbal (and food) supplements to take to help ease the depression. She worked with me for several months. I felt so much better. I finally felt like I could get out of bed and I looked forward to "being a mom". I didn't feel "healed" but I definitely felt better.
She had told me, several times, "You need to get your thyroid tested. It's imperative to know what your thyroid is doing." By the time I convinced my doctor to do the thyroid test, she had retired and moved. My doctor got the test results and stated that everything was "fine" and that some people were "predisposed to depression after pregnancy". I felt deflated and crazy. How could all of this be happening to me? I worked out, ate right, I did everything to keep myself healthy. How did I go from being really healthy just years before to the pit of depression? Was I making all of my symptoms up?
I felt lost and alone. My desire to associate with other people diminished severely. My desire to be outside faded away and all I wanted to do each day was lay in bed, but laying on the couch was fine then, too. I became pregnant with my twins in 2010. While I was able to "control" the depression with the craziness of having twins, it was still a daily, constant battle. Some days were better than others.
I had the twins in January 2011...and my symptoms got worse. I was cold all the time. My hair was falling out in finger fulls all day long. My memory was a thing of the past and my mind felt foggy. There was also the extremely heavy bleeding each month and I gained even more weight, despite the fact that I was eating healthy and my depression was just lingering on the outskirts of my mind, sometimes grabbing a hold and sometimes waiting for the right time. But I started noticing that when I would eat, I felt like I wasn't digesting. I didn't feel good after I ate and the bloating and massive gas and constipation started. It was very infrequent, so I attributed it to the type of food I ate. I did get online and look up my other symptoms, which all pointed towards hypothyroidism. I had another thyroid test done. It, again, came back "fine". I tried to find other causes for my issues. Other than the symptoms I had, I was classified as "healthy". No cancers or other diseases.
It wasn't until my digestive issues blew up, that I was able to really get someone to listen to me. I was able to avoid gallbladder surgery, for the time being. But, thank goodness for the internet, I was able to find validation and proof that I wasn't crazy. That my symptoms are real and that MOST doctors and labs run faulty and misread tests about hypothyroidism (as I believe is the issue in my case). That there is a light at the end of the tunnel.
I am now on a diet that allows me to feel energetic and also be able to sleep at night. My depression, while still there, seems more like a passing thought than a heavy wet blanket and I'm starting to feel the urge to really become active, again.
It is my hope that others out there who have the same or similar story to mine will be reassured that something can be done. You do not have to spend your life feeling depressed, cold, etc. Hypothyroidism is the biggest, most misdiagnosed illness of our time. It can be the cause of most of our depression and health woes. You do not need to have ALL of the symptoms of hypothyroidism to have it. Even having 1 or 2 of the symptoms is enough to throw off your entire body. Of course, as time goes on...you'll start to get more and more symptoms...as it happened with me.
So this is my journey. My journey to get back into the joy of life. While there are drugs available to "do it faster", food will always be the best way to get your body truly balanced. As I have seen in just the few short weeks of changing up my diet (severely since my recent gallbladder attack), life is night and day. My blog will be focused on food and my path towards rebalancing my thyroid and my body.
Please note that I am not a doctor or trained in any medication. I do spend a lot of my (very little) spare time to research as much as possible. I do not recommend anyone do anything that I am doing. You have to do what is best for you.
And with that...I will start logging my food journals for the day and posting the research I'm finding and the results of my visits with an Endocrinologist.
Peace, light, health, and happiness,
Angela
I was diagnosed with gallstones on April 12th and this started my journey into Healing with Food.
While I was at my doctor's office, I had asked what caused gallstones. She responded that no one knows what really causes gallstones. Some people get them, some people do not. This didn't sit well with me and so when I got home, I jumped online and started researching gallstone issues. Obviously, one of the culprits is diet. But, it's not the only culprit. The biggest culprit seems to by thyroid. Yes, it seems that an imbalance in thyroid can, and very often does, cause the body to produce gallstones. Specifically Hypothyroidism (when the thyroid under produces). Reading this made me very, very angry. I'll start at the beginning:
Almost 12 years ago, I was extremely active. I worked out 6 days a week with HIIT cardio and heavy weight training. I was biking 16 miles a day until I was almost 8 months pregnant with my first child. I ate very healthy and I slept my 8 hours a night. As I reached the end of my pregnancy, my daily workouts were replaced with long walks (or waddles, at that point). I had a complication free birth and settled into life with my beautiful daughter and husband. I took 3 months off from working out to allow my body to heal and then jumped right back into the daily workout routine. The first thing I noticed was that my period had changed (even though I was exclusively breastfeeding, I got my period back 3 days after my 6 week check-up). It went from being 4-5 days and very moderate to bleeding extremely heavy for 2 days with light spotting on the 3rd. The bleeding was so heavy that I could not leave the house for 2 full days. My Super Plus Tampons and Overnight Pads would be soaked through in less than 20-30 minutes all day, all night until the 3rd day. I brought this up to my doctor as I was worried that something was wrong. I was told this was a change in my body and this sometimes happens to women and is a normal part of becoming a mom. I wasn't comfortable with that answer...but I had no way to find out otherwise.
Fast forward a few years and I started becoming more and more tired. I attributed it to my overnight shifts as a bartender. At this point, my daughter was almost 3 and my workouts started happening less and less. Whereas before I would never miss a day, now I was finding that I just didn't have the energy to go. I brought this up with my doctor, as well. I was reassured that it was just the stress of being a mom to a very active toddler and as she got older, things would get better.
I became pregnant with my 2nd child in 2005 (after 2 miscarriages that same year) and found that I was becoming more and more tired. Each time I complained, I was constantly reassured that it was pregnancy hormones, being the mom of a toddler, demands on daily life, on and on. I spent time at the library trying to find anything that would explain my situation. I found mommy books that talked about all of my symptoms and was reassured that "all moms usually go through this".
In the meantime, I began gaining weight. Slowly, very slowly. I attributed it to not exercising. I wanted to sleep all of the time. I hated going anywhere. I had my 2nd child in December of 2006 and the change I felt immediately after that was immediate and shocking. I had a difficult delivery with him, so my issues were written off as "normal" for a difficult delivery. I felt depressed. Not just the baby blues, but depressed. I had no energy, I had no drive, I had no desire to get out of bed. It was more subtle, at first. But as the days and weeks passed, it got worse and worse. I became pregnant with my 3rd in September of 2007. By May of 2008, my depression was at an all-time high. I had nightmares, I literally couldn't drag myself out of bed and I had gained almost 40 pounds (not including the baby weight). I talked with my doctor and the response was mainly that after I had the baby, we could try using antidepressants. I really didn't want to go down that route. I've seen people spend the rest of their lives on antidepressants and I wanted to make sure that I wasn't one of them.
I found a naturopathic doctor (who was months away from retiring and moving out of state) because of my 2nd child's issues with congestion. In the course of the meeting, we started talking about my depression issues (she could tell just by talking and looking at me) and I broke down in tears about what I've been going through. She reassured me that everything would be ok and started recommending herbal (and food) supplements to take to help ease the depression. She worked with me for several months. I felt so much better. I finally felt like I could get out of bed and I looked forward to "being a mom". I didn't feel "healed" but I definitely felt better.
She had told me, several times, "You need to get your thyroid tested. It's imperative to know what your thyroid is doing." By the time I convinced my doctor to do the thyroid test, she had retired and moved. My doctor got the test results and stated that everything was "fine" and that some people were "predisposed to depression after pregnancy". I felt deflated and crazy. How could all of this be happening to me? I worked out, ate right, I did everything to keep myself healthy. How did I go from being really healthy just years before to the pit of depression? Was I making all of my symptoms up?
I felt lost and alone. My desire to associate with other people diminished severely. My desire to be outside faded away and all I wanted to do each day was lay in bed, but laying on the couch was fine then, too. I became pregnant with my twins in 2010. While I was able to "control" the depression with the craziness of having twins, it was still a daily, constant battle. Some days were better than others.
I had the twins in January 2011...and my symptoms got worse. I was cold all the time. My hair was falling out in finger fulls all day long. My memory was a thing of the past and my mind felt foggy. There was also the extremely heavy bleeding each month and I gained even more weight, despite the fact that I was eating healthy and my depression was just lingering on the outskirts of my mind, sometimes grabbing a hold and sometimes waiting for the right time. But I started noticing that when I would eat, I felt like I wasn't digesting. I didn't feel good after I ate and the bloating and massive gas and constipation started. It was very infrequent, so I attributed it to the type of food I ate. I did get online and look up my other symptoms, which all pointed towards hypothyroidism. I had another thyroid test done. It, again, came back "fine". I tried to find other causes for my issues. Other than the symptoms I had, I was classified as "healthy". No cancers or other diseases.
It wasn't until my digestive issues blew up, that I was able to really get someone to listen to me. I was able to avoid gallbladder surgery, for the time being. But, thank goodness for the internet, I was able to find validation and proof that I wasn't crazy. That my symptoms are real and that MOST doctors and labs run faulty and misread tests about hypothyroidism (as I believe is the issue in my case). That there is a light at the end of the tunnel.
I am now on a diet that allows me to feel energetic and also be able to sleep at night. My depression, while still there, seems more like a passing thought than a heavy wet blanket and I'm starting to feel the urge to really become active, again.
It is my hope that others out there who have the same or similar story to mine will be reassured that something can be done. You do not have to spend your life feeling depressed, cold, etc. Hypothyroidism is the biggest, most misdiagnosed illness of our time. It can be the cause of most of our depression and health woes. You do not need to have ALL of the symptoms of hypothyroidism to have it. Even having 1 or 2 of the symptoms is enough to throw off your entire body. Of course, as time goes on...you'll start to get more and more symptoms...as it happened with me.
So this is my journey. My journey to get back into the joy of life. While there are drugs available to "do it faster", food will always be the best way to get your body truly balanced. As I have seen in just the few short weeks of changing up my diet (severely since my recent gallbladder attack), life is night and day. My blog will be focused on food and my path towards rebalancing my thyroid and my body.
Please note that I am not a doctor or trained in any medication. I do spend a lot of my (very little) spare time to research as much as possible. I do not recommend anyone do anything that I am doing. You have to do what is best for you.
And with that...I will start logging my food journals for the day and posting the research I'm finding and the results of my visits with an Endocrinologist.
Peace, light, health, and happiness,
Angela
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