I was on atkins diet about 4 or 5 months ago and lost about 15lbs I started having problems while I was on it and decided to quit thats was about 4 or 5 months ago. I have not gained any weight back but i have been having heart problems, anemia, bones are weak from not enough calcium. The doctors are not sure what all is wrong with me yet because I have had so many test and all the results are not back yet. but before this diet I never had any health problems and there is no heart problems that run in my family. I have to take about 12 pills a day. I just thought I would let you guys know what can happen being on a diet like this, it is very very dangerous so, please be careful.

Hi Crystal!

Sorry you're having such trouble with your health. Reading back through your previous posts, I noticed that you never posted what your daily menu looked like. Seeing as you have been off the low carb way of eating for 5 months or so and eating pretty much anything you want, I'd have a hard time saying that your current health problems are a result of what you did last fall, especially the anemia and the weak bones. Weak bones take years of calcium deficiency to develop, not weeks. I also noted that one of your earlier posts said that you were having problems with higher blood pressure and heart rate almost from the beginning...perhaps you already had an underlying condition that low carbing brought more to the forefront? It would be helpful if you could post what your carb levels were and what an average daily menu looked like so that current low carbers could have more information on what you were doing. Hope the doctors discover the cause of what's going on with you and that you feel better soon!

Agreed.

Your problems sound like kidney disease, or hypoparathyroidism. The parathyroid glands are located next to the thyroid in your neck, and they control the uptake and absorption of calcium in your body. A young neighbour of mine, a law student only 26 yrs old, broke her hip .. just walking, and kersnap it broke. The problem was hypoparathyroidism, with osteoporosis resulting.

Kidney disease will result in the symptoms you're having ... high blood pressure, heart congestion, anemia and increased calcium losses in the urine, leading to osteoporosis. Eating too much protein doesn't CAUSE kidney damage, but it can add stress to kidneys that are already diseased. Ketones and ketosis do not harm the kidneys in any way.

Hope the tests show what the problem is, and the drs are able to help you get better

Doreen

I don't have high blood pressure since I went off low carbing. I went off low carbing because off the high blood pressure I got about 3 months after I started the diet. My syptoms that I have been having since low carbing are heart palps, fatique, headaches, fast heart rate, dizzness and always sleepy. I did not have one medical problem before I started low carbing. And I was tested for bone density before but nothing.

heres a sample of what I ate if I can remeber now

breakfast- 1 egg,bacon,16 oz water multi vitamin
snack, celery and chesse 16 oz water
lunch- hamburger meat 1 cup of salad 16 oz water
snack chocolate pudding (replace milk with whipping cream)16oz water

dinner- steak, small salad, 16oz water


I am not trying to scare nobody but I just wanted you to know. Maybe everyone's not the same and good luck I wish you all the best!

Crystal...

Sorry this WOE didn't work out for you, but please don't be too quick to blame low carbing or say that it is dangerous for everyone until you know for sure what's going on. It could all be related to something else besides the way you were eating. I've been doing this for a year and my health has improved dramatically along with my blood tests and I know many others can say the same. Having said that, I know that this WOE is not for everyone. Diets are not "one size fits all". Do what's best for you and your health. This WOE is best for MY health and for that of many others, but it seems that it is not for yours. I hope that your doctors can discover the cause of your health problems and get you on your way to recovery!

According to your earliest posts last fall, you were gaining weight and blood pressure up after only 9 days on the diet .. which suggests fluid retention. You also reported feeling sick and unwell at that time. It's possible there really were pre-existing health problems.

I do hope you get some answers soon. However, I'm curious why you would have been tested for bone density in the past, unless the dr. had suspicion that you may be prone to osteoporosis. The test is not normally ordered for a young, pre-menopausal woman unless there's a strong suggestion of pathology. Most insurance companies won't pay for it unless you're over age 65, or multiple risk factors, including pre-existing disease.

Doreen

My doctor had the test done a few years ago because I broke two bones in a car accident. The reason for the one this time is because I am a smoker and small framed and it is routine for some one my size. I am not saying that low carb is bad for everyone but for some like me it is. I'm not blaming low carb for all my health problems but it is very strange I never had problems before. When I was on the diet is when my problems started I had fainting spells , high blood pressure, heart palps, and weakness. Never had high bp before as a matter of fact my bp was normally 110/60 before I started than while I was on it my bp was 190/100. Than a week after I stopped lc my bp was 110/60. I just want people to know that lc can be dangerous for some people not all but some.

It does sound very worrisome Crystal; I hope you get some answers soon. And you're right, there is no one-size-fits-all diet. Some persons cannot tolerate very low to no-carbs, whereas others will thrive. I think it's safe to say though, as a blanket statement, that everybody would do better if they ate no sugar or processed carbs at all; ate less UNprocessed carbs such as fruits and whole grains; and more vegetables, quality protein foods and natural fats.

Take care

Doreen

Maybe. I have yet to meet anyone who have read a LC book, followed it to the letter, and had health problems.

Most of the problems occure with people designing their own plans, with no medical expertise, and just "winging" it".

I hate to tell you this Crystal, but I'm hoping it will help you re-evaluate your low-carb experience: Looking back at your posts, I see a lot of back and forth switching, between different plans, including hight carbs, and weekly cheats, BFL, PP, Atkins, etc., sugar-loading, then induction, then loading. I'm not making this up, just a quick glance at your previous posts, even thought you have not maintained a journal.

It may seem to you that low-carb lifestyle is responsible for all the trouble you had, but taking a more objective look, you will see that you haven't even completed a proper 2 week induction.

I hope this does not offend you and you may use it for positive re-evaluation when you try low-carbing again. Practice makes perfect.

Wa'il

"I think it's safe to say though, as a blanket statement, that everybody would do better if they ate no sugar or processed carbs at all; ate less UNprocessed carbs such as fruits and whole grains; and more vegetables, quality protein foods and natural fats."

I'll give you a loud low carb amen to that Doreen! This is precisely what I'm doing with my 2 daughters right now because they are too young to low carb (7 and 8). They still get sugar and processed carbs once in a while (at school, of course), but overall I've cut most of it out. Because they have my genes, I've always been a bit concerned that they may be at higher risk to develop type II diabetes like I did, so I'm doing my best to teach them to eat right now in hopes that we can prevent that in the future. I don't present it to them as a "diet" but rather tell them that they need to learn to feed their body healthy fuel. Kind of like putting junky gas in your car makes your car run bad, putting junky food in your body makes IT run bad. Hey....for their age, the analogy works well.

I don't know where your getting your information because I stuck to the low carb plan Dr. Atkins and read the whole book and did everything it said. I never switched back and forth on my lc diet till I started having problems so, i think you need to get your facts straight first of all. LC was the first diet I have ever been on and hopefully the last. If I ever have to go on a diet again it will be a healthy one with fruit, vegtables and low calorie foods. god made fresh fruit and vegtables for us to eat and thats what I am going to do. I don't eat a lot of sugar anyways don't really care for it. I went to bfl because of the problems I was having with lc . I guess some people just believe that things like this can't happen but it can believe it or not!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Crystal...

I don't think anyone is saying you didn't have the experience or health problems that you did (and still do even though you have not been low carbing for several months), but they are questioning the real cause of those problems. Even though your doctors have not figured out what is causing your problems, you seem to have it set in your mind that it was the low carbing that caused it. Isn't it possible that you are jumping to conclusions? Granted, the problems seem to have started when you began low carbing, but isn't it possible that the low carbing did not cause your problems, but rather served to make you aware of them instead? Cause and effect are not always that easily determined. It would be like me saying that because I developed car problems driving down a particular road, driving down that particular road caused the car problems without waiting to hear what the mechanic found first. Not sure why I'm into all these car analogies today, but they seem to fit.

Through the search button. According to you own words earlier, you didn't take vitamins, and had a minumum of a weekly cheat. I'm not criticizing your choice on how you did it, just pointing out these for the record.

I beleive that you are sincere in thinking that you did. Many times we think we're following the plan to the letter, but miss a few crucial details.


And I'll wish you the best of luck on whatever you chose to follow.

You'll be surprised to know that all Low-carb plans (including Atkins) recommend eating lots vegetables, and allow fruits as well. This is another detail you may have missed from your reading.

Wa'il

Believe it or not your going to believe what you want anyway.

Crystal...

It's not about "believing what we want". I believe that your experiences are real and valid, but I also believe that the conclusions that you have come to regarding the experience that you are having may not be totally accurate. I agree that low carbing CAN be dangerous for SOME people. Dr. Atkins does say in his book that there are some people who should definitely not follow a low carb WOE (those with advanced kidney disease, for example). As for following a healthy diet with veggies, fruits and low calorie foods; by all means do so! But I have to point out as Tamarian did that Dr. Atkins does encourage the eating of lots of healthy veggies and some fruits. The only things I don't eat on this WOE are bread, rice, wheat, pasta, potatoes, starchy veggies, flour and sugar. Please let us know what your doctors find; it could answer a lot of questions for other people who may read this thread.