Guest guest Posted September 12, 2008 Report Share Posted September 12, 2008 Hello... I was just wondering if anyone had any insight to share regarding my swelling issue... I'm 31, female, and I have Hashimoto's Disease and multiple food allergies. I've cleaned out my diet (to the extent that I can safely eat about five things). My diet is high in fat (nuts and avocado oil are all I can tolerate) and I eat a good amount of peeled potatoes (plain) and plain, organic turkey and chicken breasts. (No seasoning, no processed food, etc...) Could too much fat be a problem, even if it's really healthy fat? In the past few months, I've experienced bouts of swelling that can add about 10-15 lbs to my body weight in a matter of a couple of days. The swelling is all over: eyelids, fingers, ankles, tummy... I've tried dandelion root, b6, vitamin c, and OTC diuretics without any success. The only thing that seems to help is drinking insane amounts of caffeine and not eating any salt at all (which makes my already-low blood pressure plummet, and leaves me open to passing out when I stand up too quickly). My doctor has tinkered with my thyroid medication, and now he's saying that an RX diuretic may be what is needed... My weight is on the low side of normal, but if I drink ANY water or anything else non-caffeinated (I drink diet pepsi and diet 7 up, but removing diet soda from my diet makes the swelling unbearable, so I'm not going to try to get rid of them again until I can control the swelling), I get so swollen that it's actually taxing to breathe and my skin gets shiny from stretching. !!! I work out daily (cardio and yoga), and I swell badly when I lift weights so I've stopped that for now. I live in Chicago, so it's not really hot--especially right now. Can anyone think of anything that might be causing this? My blood work is excellent, I'm in really good shape, but the swelling is so bad! Thanks in advance for anything you can think of that might help, even if it's just to say that taking an RX diuretic might be helpful. Love, M Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted September 15, 2008 Report Share Posted September 15, 2008 Hello M, Outside of your diet being an over all wreck, how you researched the effects of aspartame and other diet sweetners on the human body? Here is a link that will reference which artificial sweetners are in each diet drink on the market. Aspartame is a nightmare with Arizona, N.M., and Hawaii trying to band any product containing it from coming into their states. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diet_soda Next, you might want to look at your electrolytes. I noticed you did not mention eating any fruits(except avocado) or vegetables(except potatoes) which are a rich source of potassium. Potassium helps regulate fluids in the body. The recommended amount of potassium is 3500 mgs. a day. Most people fall far short of that amount. Potatoes are a good source of potassium but I doubt you are eating enough to push you potassium levels to the amount needed. Because potatoes are high on the gylcemic index, you could be pushing your insulin levels to an undesirable high. You did not mention what medication your doc has you taking for the thyroid. With many of the synthetic meds used now, though they may increase the T4 released by the thyroid, they do not necessarily make the " as needed " conversion to T3 which is the hormones needed by the cell tissues of the body. Some people lack the ability to convert T4 to T3 as needed. Without adequate T3, the body takes on a swollen water logged appearance. You appear to be eating an adequate supply of fats, but would be wise to divide your fats into a more healthy complex of the essential ones. Omega 3, Omega 6 and Omega 9 are needed by the body. Omega 3 can be obtained from eating oily cold water fish or taking flax seed oil. You may also want to consider adding oil of evening primrose to your intake. It will help regulate hormones and fluid to some extent. If you have not seen your gynocologist in a while, you may want to have her run your female hormone panel as if out of balance, they can also cause havoc with fluid retention. Above all, look very carefully at the diet drinks and sweetners used in them. I would think that if you can not tolerate anything else at this time, just plain water would be better for you than polluting your body with diet soda. At best, they are nothing more than a bottle of unhealthy poisonous chemicals. Good luck in your search. , " msl5858 " <msl5858 wrote: > > Hello... > > I was just wondering if anyone had any insight to share regarding my > swelling issue... > > I'm 31, female, and I have Hashimoto's Disease and multiple food > allergies. I've cleaned out my diet (to the extent that I can safely > eat about five things). My diet is high in fat (nuts and avocado oil > are all I can tolerate) and I eat a good amount of peeled potatoes > (plain) and plain, organic turkey and chicken breasts. (No seasoning, > no processed food, etc...) Could too much fat be a problem, even if > it's really healthy fat? > > In the past few months, I've experienced bouts of swelling that can > add about 10-15 lbs to my body weight in a matter of a couple of days. > The swelling is all over: eyelids, fingers, ankles, tummy... > > I've tried dandelion root, b6, vitamin c, and OTC diuretics without > any success. The only thing that seems to help is drinking insane > amounts of caffeine and not eating any salt at all (which makes my > already-low blood pressure plummet, and leaves me open to passing out > when I stand up too quickly). > > My doctor has tinkered with my thyroid medication, and now he's saying > that an RX diuretic may be what is needed... > > My weight is on the low side of normal, but if I drink ANY water or > anything else non-caffeinated (I drink diet pepsi and diet 7 up, but > removing diet soda from my diet makes the swelling unbearable, so I'm > not going to try to get rid of them again until I can control the > swelling), I get so swollen that it's actually taxing to breathe and > my skin gets shiny from stretching. !!! > > I work out daily (cardio and yoga), and I swell badly when I lift > weights so I've stopped that for now. I live in Chicago, so it's not > really hot--especially right now. > > Can anyone think of anything that might be causing this? My blood > work is excellent, I'm in really good shape, but the swelling is so bad! > > Thanks in advance for anything you can think of that might help, even > if it's just to say that taking an RX diuretic might be helpful. > > Love, > M > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted September 15, 2008 Report Share Posted September 15, 2008 , " msl5858 " <msl5858 wrote: > Hi ...my first recommendation is to completely cut out all the sodas/diet sodas from your diet immediately!! Your condition cannot tolerate the aspartame, high fructose corn syrup, sugar and other artificial poisons contained in sodas. You can drink parsley tea for swelling boil a cup and a half purified water in a non-teflon coated pan, add a handful of organic parsley and infuse for several minutes..don't forget to eat the parsley as well and you can add this to green drinks or smoothies as parsley is a natural diuretic. Eating lots of celerey helps balance blood sodium content in a healthy way. Next, please eliminate all products containing soy from your diet. Soy (unless fermented like tempeh) interferes with your thyroid activity. Kalima > Hello... > > I was just wondering if anyone had any insight to share regarding my > swelling issue... > > I'm 31, female, and I have Hashimoto's Disease and multiple food > allergies. I've cleaned out my diet (to the extent that I can safely > eat about five things). My diet is high in fat (nuts and avocado oil > are all I can tolerate) and I eat a good amount of peeled potatoes > (plain) and plain, organic turkey and chicken breasts. (No seasoning, > no processed food, etc...) Could too much fat be a problem, even if > it's really healthy fat? > > In the past few months, I've experienced bouts of swelling that can > add about 10-15 lbs to my body weight in a matter of a couple of days. > The swelling is all over: eyelids, fingers, ankles, tummy... > > I've tried dandelion root, b6, vitamin c, and OTC diuretics without > any success. The only thing that seems to help is drinking insane > amounts of caffeine and not eating any salt at all (which makes my > already-low blood pressure plummet, and leaves me open to passing out > when I stand up too quickly). > > My doctor has tinkered with my thyroid medication, and now he's saying > that an RX diuretic may be what is needed... > > My weight is on the low side of normal, but if I drink ANY water or > anything else non-caffeinated (I drink diet pepsi and diet 7 up, but > removing diet soda from my diet makes the swelling unbearable, so I'm > not going to try to get rid of them again until I can control the > swelling), I get so swollen that it's actually taxing to breathe and > my skin gets shiny from stretching. !!! > > I work out daily (cardio and yoga), and I swell badly when I lift > weights so I've stopped that for now. I live in Chicago, so it's not > really hot--especially right now. > > Can anyone think of anything that might be causing this? My blood > work is excellent, I'm in really good shape, but the swelling is so bad! > > Thanks in advance for anything you can think of that might help, even > if it's just to say that taking an RX diuretic might be helpful. > > Love, > M > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted September 16, 2008 Report Share Posted September 16, 2008 Marina, Just running through your comment, trying to answer everything: Actually, aside from the diet soda which I'm trying diligently to eliminate, my diet is impeccable for my body and has led to perfect blood work and excellent overall health. I am allergic/sensitive to salicylic acid (no fruits/vegetables), dairy, chicken, red meat, fish, pork and I have Celiac Disease. My nutritionist is one of the best in the country, and she keeps my diet perfect for me. She, of course, scowls about the diet soda, but, like I said, I am making a huge effort. I eat tons of potatoes (because I'm not allergic to them), but because I eat no grains or sugar, my blood glucose levels are perfect--just had my blood work done. I also never eat a potato without a fat or protein. I take T4 AND T3, Thyrolar and Cytomel, so I get adequate T3. I can't eat fish or flax seed as I am allergic to both. As I explained in another e-mail, my doctor has put me on a potassium-sparing diuretic to help me wean off the caffeine (thinking that I am dehydrated from the caffeine and my body hoards any water I give it). It helped me lose all the weight overnight, and now I just have to use the pills as needed until my body gets used to water and having no caffeine. Thanks for your concern, and yes, I have read and reread everything about Aspartame, and I know the stuff is bad, and it should be avoided, and I really am trying to get off of it, but I needed to get the swelling under control to move forward. Thanks again, M , " Marina " <AmSassy_2 wrote: > > Hello M, > > Outside of your diet being an over all wreck, how you researched the > effects of aspartame and other diet sweetners on the human body? Here > is a link that will reference which artificial sweetners are in each > diet drink on the market. Aspartame is a nightmare with Arizona, > N.M., and Hawaii trying to band any product containing it from coming > into their states. > > http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diet_soda > > Next, you might want to look at your electrolytes. I noticed you did > not mention eating any fruits(except avocado) or vegetables(except > potatoes) which are a rich source of potassium. Potassium helps > regulate fluids in the body. The recommended amount of potassium is > 3500 mgs. a day. Most people fall far short of that amount. Potatoes > are a good source of potassium but I doubt you are eating enough to > push you potassium levels to the amount needed. Because potatoes are > high on the gylcemic index, you could be pushing your insulin levels > to an undesirable high. > > You did not mention what medication your doc has you taking for the > thyroid. With many of the synthetic meds used now, though they may > increase the T4 released by the thyroid, they do not necessarily make > the " as needed " conversion to T3 which is the hormones needed by the > cell tissues of the body. Some people lack the ability to convert T4 > to T3 as needed. Without adequate T3, the body takes on a swollen > water logged appearance. > > You appear to be eating an adequate supply of fats, but would be wise > to divide your fats into a more healthy complex of the essential > ones. Omega 3, Omega 6 and Omega 9 are needed by the body. Omega 3 > can be obtained from eating oily cold water fish or taking flax seed > oil. You may also want to consider adding oil of evening primrose to > your intake. It will help regulate hormones and fluid to some extent. > > If you have not seen your gynocologist in a while, you may want to > have her run your female hormone panel as if out of balance, they can > also cause havoc with fluid retention. > > Above all, look very carefully at the diet drinks and sweetners used > in them. I would think that if you can not tolerate anything else at > this time, just plain water would be better for you than polluting > your body with diet soda. At best, they are nothing more than a > bottle of unhealthy poisonous chemicals. > > Good luck in your search. > > > > , " msl5858 " > <msl5858@> wrote: > > > > Hello... > > > > I was just wondering if anyone had any insight to share regarding my > > swelling issue... > > > > I'm 31, female, and I have Hashimoto's Disease and multiple food > > allergies. I've cleaned out my diet (to the extent that I can > safely > > eat about five things). My diet is high in fat (nuts and avocado > oil > > are all I can tolerate) and I eat a good amount of peeled potatoes > > (plain) and plain, organic turkey and chicken breasts. (No > seasoning, > > no processed food, etc...) Could too much fat be a problem, even if > > it's really healthy fat? > > > > In the past few months, I've experienced bouts of swelling that can > > add about 10-15 lbs to my body weight in a matter of a couple of > days. > > The swelling is all over: eyelids, fingers, ankles, tummy... > > > > I've tried dandelion root, b6, vitamin c, and OTC diuretics without > > any success. The only thing that seems to help is drinking insane > > amounts of caffeine and not eating any salt at all (which makes my > > already-low blood pressure plummet, and leaves me open to passing > out > > when I stand up too quickly). > > > > My doctor has tinkered with my thyroid medication, and now he's > saying > > that an RX diuretic may be what is needed... > > > > My weight is on the low side of normal, but if I drink ANY water or > > anything else non-caffeinated (I drink diet pepsi and diet 7 up, but > > removing diet soda from my diet makes the swelling unbearable, so > I'm > > not going to try to get rid of them again until I can control the > > swelling), I get so swollen that it's actually taxing to breathe and > > my skin gets shiny from stretching. !!! > > > > I work out daily (cardio and yoga), and I swell badly when I lift > > weights so I've stopped that for now. I live in Chicago, so it's > not > > really hot--especially right now. > > > > Can anyone think of anything that might be causing this? My blood > > work is excellent, I'm in really good shape, but the swelling is so > bad! > > > > Thanks in advance for anything you can think of that might help, > even > > if it's just to say that taking an RX diuretic might be helpful. > > > > Love, > > M > > > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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