LauraCoth Member

That need to look hot/great (a.k.a. "perfect") is such a slave driver, really it is. It sucks the joy out of life. You end up always living in that hypothetically wonderful future where you look like a fashion model, instead of enjoying today.

I did this diet for a couple of years in University. B)

My ND is pretty up on many things -- in fact, she really likes low carb as a lifestyle and encourages it over simple calorie restriction for weight loss, not to mention for inflammation relief. I bet she'll have some insights into what's happening with me. It may simply be that my electrolytes got so severely out of whack…

It's actually been about 3 months of trial. I was on Atkins for a few months a few years ago with none of this going on, so something has changed. Too bad. Hopefully my ND can get this sorted out quickly. Electrolyte imbalance almost killed my Spousal Unit last year while he was on chemo. It would be ironic if I was the…

Nope. Ain't happening. The more salt I take in, the more I thirst. The more I thirst, the more I drink; the more I drink, the more I pee (ALL NIGHT LONG). The more I pee, the more I get cramps. Rinse and repeat, ad nauseum. Horrible cycle, can't break it. Too bad, because I really, really like eating this way. But lately I…

Ironically, a few years ago, while I was still working, I took 2 pills a day; my Synthroid in the morning, and my Ativan at night. I took the Ativan for years, and never increased my dose from 1 mg. Since I stopped taking it, I now take about 50 pills a day. Hate to say it, but I was way healthier on the Ativan because I…

Those ribs look awesome. I normally cook mine for 2 hours at 200 in foil and then finish them on the grill, with a spicy rub.

On top of my prescriptions for thyroid medication and progesterone, I'm taking magnesium, selenium (for T4/T3 conversion), Tryptophan (for insomnia), GABA (for insomnia) Ashwaghanda (for adrenal issues), B12 (deficient), D3 (deficient) and B6 (to help metabolize the Tryptophan). But I am quite ill, having had several years…

You have a dinosaur doctor. Synthroid is NOT the only game in town. Many of us need T3 in addition to the T4 you get in levothyroxine. How can you tell? By having your doctor order the CORRECT blood tests, not just the fairly useless TSH test. You should be getting Free T4 and Free T3, as well as reverse T3 tests. These…

I'm beginning to wonder if many M.D.'s are even MEDICAL experts, based on the experiences my partner and I have had over the past few years.

I had a carb blow-out tonight too -- we had company, so I made low carb everything except for the flourless chocolate mousse cake. I was going to resist, but then...I've been good for a long time, and my chocolate mousse cake is really freaking good. Tomorrow is back to the plan, though.

When my naturopath was treating me for adrenal issues, she recommended 1 teaspoon of salt mixed with 2 teaspoons of Bob's baking soda, mixed in bone broth.

Okay, I have managed to halt the cramps by drinking one teaspoon of pink salt in water three times a day. It seems drastic, but at least it's stopped the cramps for now. I may be able to reduce it at some point. It hasn't stopped the three nightly bathroom trips, but that might take time. As soon as I go more than about 4…

I usually get a steak, or fish or a steak/salmon salad, or bunless burger when we go out. Often a restaurant has perfect low carb stuff if you ignore the potato or rice -- last night I had ling cod covered in macadamia nut crust with roasted cauliflower, broccoli, red pepper and beans. It was good enough that I didn't feel…

GNC is a sports supplement store. They'd never had it. I was able to find a VERY expensive bottle on Amazon.ca of 1 gm tablets, which will be here on September 28th.

You can't buy sodium tablets here -- perhaps not in Canada at all, but definitely not here in B.C. I asked at every drug store, and got blank looks, except for the compounding pharmacist who gave me a lecture on the evils of sodium and said his sodium was for prescriptions only. Local vitamin and sports stores like GNC…

As with any diet, if you return to your original way of eating once you've lost the weight, you'll fail, because that's what got you in trouble in the first place. Low carb, low calorie; doesn't matter. You need to develop a new way of eating, and that's for the rest of your life.

You know, I'm still really struggling with this. Over the last few days the cramps have been gone. Yesterday I drank lots of bouiliion (a different kind that seems okay) and salt water and salted my food heavily, so I had about 3,500 mg sodium in all. In total, including the broth and my tea, I had about 8 cups of liquid.…

But what really burns me is that it is served with every meal in the hospital - a whole can of it -- and it's everywhere you look; in the ward fridge, in the chemo unit, even in the cafeteria, for gosh sakes, because, you know, the world at large needs to get themselves some Ensure, too. It's as though the whole medical…

Slightly off-topic, but when the Spousal Unit was hospitalized for a month last year due to severe dehdration and electrolyte depletion due to side effects from chemo, I was told over and over and over that I should be encouraging him to drink Ensure all day long because, "it's full of good proteins and nutrients." I read…

No medications for cholesterol. "Statin" would be a dirty word for me, in any case, were a doctor to use it in my presence. My cholesterol is fine. I am on thyroid medication, progesterone and a prescription for L-Tryptophan; the latter two were added because my insomnia became life-threatening a couple of years ago…

Also, salt is supposed to be very good for the adrenal glands. And salt is a requirement of a low carb diet. Maybe you can kill twobirds with one stone?

So basically, 2 teaspoons of sailt daily should be more than enough sodium for one day, especially when including sodium in foods as well. I'm thinking that if I use 1/2 teaspoon pink salt in the morning, 1/2 at noon, and another 1/2 teaspoon at night, I should be pretty good, then, or at least for the time being.

Much farther in, now, and the insomnia is gone. I also notice far less joint pain, as a bonus. My hip has been horribly painful for the last year, almost incapacitating at times, but now it only hurts later in the day. My chronic elbow and shoulder pain -- once bad enough that I couldn't sleep on that side -- is gone, just…

Yeah, I'm wondering about the bouillion cubes too. Seems to me I get an odd reaction. I was fine this morning after some tea but after the bouillon my chest tightened up again. I'm buying some chicken and making my own broth this week. The cubes are gross, though expedient for travel. We'll be home again tomorrow and life…

Thank you. My concern is that all day yesterday I was short of breath. Scary. It's not so bad this.morning, but I'm dropping to 3500 MG instead of the 4000 I had planned. This is what happened a while back, last time I increased my sodium drastically. Looks like I'm pretty sensitive. Figures. I'm like that with…

At 3, your TSH is too high. What the heck is wrong with doctors? I hear the same story over and over.

If I take all of my NDT in the morning, I don't sleep after a few weeks. I might get 3 hours of badly interrupted sleep. If I take it in 2 doses, the second one around 3 pm, I sleep quite well.

Thanks. We had to travel today and I felt like I was going to explode, my clothes are so tight. It's a horrible feeling. And now the friends hosting us just announced that dinner is vegan; chickpeas and tortillas and so on. :# That on top of the salt would blow me up even more. I see a trip to the grocery store in my…

My girl Willow as a kitten.