Conflicting Diet Info - Please Help!

[Snowpuppy]

I am probably the board's longest lurker having started PP in May '99. :D
I always lurked as I was having great success but zero self confidence. I did pm/email a few people back then. For anyone who remembers Steph, she was always wonderful and encouraging!

I did really well but fell off PP after some very emotional life events. I was off PP for about 2 years, back on high carb, gained back some weight but have dropped that again.

I was diagnosed with Sarcoidosis 2 yrs ago which is an autoimmune disorder and I am looking into antibiotic therapy (similar to RA) with a new physician. I wanted to come back to PP as I felt sooooo good on this program! My dilema is that one of the experimental protocols for Sarcoidosis is so overwhelmingly restrictive as far as vitamins, supps, foods, exercise.....I could not do both. I would like to get back into the pool. I have very little muscle mass after 2 years of no exercise. Most of my Sarcoidosis symptoms are resolving themselves but I still have shortness of breath and asthmatic like wheezing.

Any suggestions from those who have dealt with medical issues that have improved on this woe when you were told to stay away from this plan? I didn't have any serious medical issues to deal with previously so learning how to deal with the medical community is all new to me. These 2 years have truly been an enlightening experience in American medicine. :eek:

I will see my new dr later this month. He is integrated medicine and believes in treating the whole person.

[Gaelen]

I am probably the board's longest lurker having started PP in May '99. :D
I always lurked as I was having great success but zero self confidence. I did pm/email a few people back then. For anyone who remembers Steph, she was always wonderful and encouraging!

Welcome back in, Snowpuppy. Steph and her Yummy Chicken Stuff are the stuff of legends. ;)

Any suggestions from those who have dealt with medical issues that have improved on this woe when you were told to stay away from this plan? I didn't have any serious medical issues to deal with previously so learning how to deal with the medical community is all new to me. These 2 years have truly been an enlightening experience in American medicine. :eek: I will see my new dr later this month. He is integrated medicine and believes in treating the whole person.

BE HONEST with your doctor, and with his staff, and tell them what you want to do. Give him/her a copy of the plan, and let the information do the work. Don't conceal what you're doing in any way. You may not qualify for a particular experimental protocol, but the bottom line is that your health will improve...and that is what is most important.

My own internist didn't necessarily embrace Protein Power, but when I started to lose weight successfully, and KEEP IT OFF, and show dramatic improvements in my cardiac risk ratios in my bloodwork and complete cessation of my migraines, his response was 'whatever you're doing, keep doing it.' This isn't the way of eating that the RD at my oncologist's practice typically recommends, but she's extremely pleased with my results eating this way. With bottom-line people, you need to produce results. My docs are all bottom-line oriented people, and as long as I get there with good bloodwork and appear to be improving my health, they're open to the possibilities of this way of eating. Meanwhile, they're reassured that I'll be completly honest with them about what I'm eating and how it affects me...

Hope this helps.

[Snowpuppy]

I still make Steph's Yummy Chicken Stuff! :D

Thanks for the insight on medical issues. I bounced from dr to dr when I was first diagnosed. Because Sarcoid is rare, no one suggested a protocol other than steroids. From everything I read, once off steroids, your symptoms come back with a vengence as your disease has progressed while your symptoms were suppressed.

These last 2 years I was eating anything that agrreed with me. My liver enzymes were elevated at one point and that inflammed my gallbladder and landed me in the hospital. I got the low fat lecture from the hospital nutritionist, then went home & promptly hurled on SF Jello :(

I will tell my new dr about my decision to return to PP. I may ask if I can begin antibiotic therapy and forego the rest of the experimental treatment for now and see how I do. My body seems to be healing very slowly on it's own. I question a protocol that shuns excercise and limits diet to very few food choices.

[Gaelen]

I question a protocol that shuns excercise and limits diet to very few food choices.

Snowpuppy, part of getting ANY autoimmune disorder under control is isolating triggers, and in order to do that, you have to treat your body as if anything to which you are exposed (including a wide variety of supplements and foods and the stimulation of hormones that results from exercise), and any combo thereof, can be a trigger. That is one huge reason why the early phases of Sarcoidosis, or RA, or lupus, or any other autoimmune disorder, often require the affected person to severly restrict everything at once, and then 'test' for triggers by gradually reintroducing things in a controlled way. Yeah, it's a pain, but if it helps you ultimately learn to control the problem without steroids, it will be worth it, won't it?

[Snowpuppy]

Gaelen, any insight you can give me on inflammatory disease will be welcomed!!!! You have a great suggestion in starting all over with foods & supps. Unfortunately, no dr I have seen recommended this approach!!!!

I was ill one day after eating eggs for breakfast and a burger/no bun for lunch. I also didn't feel well one afternoon after having a burger w/a little mayo (eggs in mayo). I remembered arachadonic acid (sp) in the PP book I had. The Eades had written a caution that sensitivity to arachadonic acid can increase inflammation. :eek:

At ~2 years on PP and before Sarc, I noticed a sensitivity to too much eggs & red meat. The Eades suggested cutting out eggs/red meat for 3 weeks as a test & OMG, did I feel better!

I removed all supps a couple of weeks ago. My GI had suggested an OTC iron supp as I had low iron but not anemic. It made all my symptoms go haywire. The GI sent my lab results to my pcp who prescribed a script iron supp!! I was sick after 3 days. She thought I had an upset stomach. I told her no, stomach was fine but my inflammatory symptoms are haywire. She thought I was not telling her the truth. I quit the iron and also quit the dr. Feeling quite well having done both :p

[deirdra]

Snowpuppy, have you looked into food allergies & intolerances? Sensitivities to gluten, soy, dairy proteins, corn, citrus & melon were what was causing my inflammation, asthma, joint pain, water retention, depression, etc. - see my thread (under Other Health Issues) for books I've found useful. I had eliminated most of them on PP and felt much better, but avoiding all of them most of the time is what got me to my goal weight, off all meds & feeling fantastic.

[Snowpuppy]

I've noticed some food allergies. If I had a couple of wheat crackers for an evening snack, my nose would start to run during the nite. I also can't tolerate some of the protein bars I once enjoyed. I believe it may be the peanuts. Supps that I used to take such as CoQ10 now irritate my stomach.

I am going to follow Gaelen's suggestion about removing everything and then seeing how I feel when I reintroduce a new food or supp back into my diet. Watching every mouthful, planning meals and keeping a diary is a pain, yet it's so simple. :rolleyes: