Medical conditions impacting diet/weight loss?

black_vortex

I'm quite new here but I'm interested in hearing from others. I was wondering if anyone else has any medical conditions which they find difficult to manage and which impact their diet and their weight loss journey? And following on from that, how they cope with and manage it, and what tips or hints they might have, particularly in regards to motivation.

I have a rare medical condition which highly restricts what I can and cannot eat, and finding a balance within allowed foods is very difficult (even dieticians / doctors etc have struggled to come up with adequate meal plans). Its frustrating, but my lot in life. I just find it difficult to keep a balance between the variety of things i need to consider, and I was wondering how others (with any condition) might have managed this?

spamantha57

Food has actually been the least difficult part of my journey. I started learning about food/ nutrition & changed my diet about a year before I started getting health problems. I guess that was the 1 good thing in all this...

I was a dancer growing up & taught dance & was a social butterfly. Then I got really bad anxiety disorder right before my severe depression decided to kick in so I was put on a bunch of meds. I lost 20lbs super quick but I gained it back a few months later.

Anxiety got worse, got social anxiety, started not going anymore because of it. Had breathing problems & various heart problems started creeping in over a couple years. Lost a job, wasn't dancing anymore, went from being very active to eventually being practically bed-ridden for 2 years. It got to the point I couldn't do much more than laundry & cook dinner. Gained another 20lbs. Resting heart rate was 100. Ended up going to the ER a lot, where my resting HR was usually 140-150 BPM. Was trying to get OFF meds & doctors wanted to give me MORE because of my heart / high blood pressure. Eventually enough was enough for me. By that time I lost my home.

I spent almost a year getting off meds & reducing my BP from 100/150 to now 78 BPM! Amazing & I'm so happy I did what I did, even though it was hard (& still is.) Thankfully by this time I was getting even more into nutrition & fitness (even though I couldn't physically do things, I was studying a lot & began working towards my fitness & nutrition certifications.) I was able to fix a lot through different eating habits. Quitting caffeine was a big one, & then just being more aware of what exactly I was ingesting & how it made me feel. I used to not even be able to WALK more than 10 minutes. And now I just started Insanity 2 weeks ago! Granted I can't do things full out yet, but I'm so thankful I did what I did to get here now.

Welcome to your first post! Sorry if I rambled. I've only been on MFP for 2 weeks but I like it. Since you have issues with what you eat, MFP breaks down a lot of nutrients for you, so you can easily see what you're eating a lot of or not enough of, & I love that. Hopefully you get good at logging everything & it can help you out with your needs too.

deladypilot

Without knowing what your rare medical condition is, it is hard for any of us to really lead you in the right direction but do a little research on the condition (im sure you have already) but look for other drs in the country that have treated this condition. If you can find one, make a call and ask if they have a dietician that they work with specifically for their patience with this condition. See if you can set up an appt with that person even if it is by phone. The old Reach Out and Touch Someone may be your best bet.

Look for Drs that may have written papers on your condition, they can probably lead you in the right direction

Best of luck to you

rlpensi

I have Thyroid disease. Your thyroid does many things, one major thing it does is run your metabolism. When I was pregnant, I would have hypothyroidism, which means I needed to take medication so that it would function the way my body needed it to. I gained a lot of weight in my first pregnancy because it wasn't found until halfway through. After I would give birth, it would flip-flop and I would have hyperthyroidism. This made it easy for me to lose weight. After my second child my endocrinologist decided that radiation iodine therapy would be best for me. It basically "kills" my thyroid and I take pill for the rest of my life so that my body can function normally. That sounds really dramatic, but it really does affect you when your thyroid is all screwed up. Now I will always have hypothyroidism. One of the symptoms is weight gain. For the past couple of years, and through another pregnancy, they just got my dosage of medication right...for now.


I have no food restrictions because of this so I don't know exactly how to assist you in that. Your not alone though!