Hello everyone. I have been wanting to do this for a while but needed time to sort it all out in my mind first. I really appreciate all the support
I get from this board and wanted to share with you all how this WOL changed my life for good.
Let me start off by telling you that I have always been in very poor health. I was born with severe Asthma and Allergies. I spent most of my childhood going back and forth to the hospital. My lung collapsed when I was 10 and they thought I would die.
When I was 12 my Dad left and we didn't speak for 10 years. My Mom and I were on our own. I moved out at 15. That's when things really got bad. I was taking a lot of medication to control my Asthma and Allergies and constantly on antibiotics for some sort of infection. When I was 18 I was put on anti-depressants (Zoloft), anxiety medication (Xanax) and sleeping pills (Imovane). I was suffering pretty seriously from depression and anxiety, not doubt stemming from the lack of a Father figure and my own stubborness to be on my own away from my Mom and living a working life of an adult instead of a teenager. Anyway that is emotional stuff. My depression and anxiety got worse. I was up to 150mg of Zoloft daily. I then developed stomach problems. It is a good thing I had a smart Dr. because she sent me to a specialist and he discovered I had
Barretts Espohagus. I had numerous lesions that were considered pre cancerous. Anyway, I was devastated. My Zoloft was increased to 200mg. The specialist told me I had to change my ways or I would die. He told me I couldn't drink coffee (I was having 8-10 cups a day), stop smoking, stop eating cheese, chocolate, spicy foods, etc... take medication for the rest of my life, and have a scope every 6-12 months to monitor the lesions. I told him there was no way I could drastically change my diet like that. I was extremely stubborn and very angry. He told me "the more often I see you the faster my mortgage gets paid."
Anyway, my Dr. was shocked because Barretts usually afflicts men and people over 40, I wasn't even 20 yet. A year later I developed severe IBS-D. Back to the specialist. I was put on Dicetel 100mg three times a day and Buscopan for cramping. It went downhill from there. I suffered from constant migraines, acne (took Accutane)constant fatigue, inability to concentrate (they wanted me to take Ritalin), memory loss, lethargy, pain, anemia, all kinds of strange infections and illnesses (got a virus in the nerves in my face!!) and all I wanted to ever do was sleep. I was put on muscle relaxants and high doses of iron. I was to the point of taking 13 pills a day and costing my drug plan $7000.00 a year. I was constantly getting sick and not going to work. When I did go to work I would come straight home and go to sleep. My diet was horrible. I was addicted to sugar and carbs like you wouldn't believe. My mood was so unstable, up and down up and down, it was soooo tiring. I started putting on weight. I was never heavy in my life but now it was all settling in my midsection, butt and hips. I was in complete denial. I told myself it was out of my control, it was because I had stomach problems, nothing I could do about it.
In March of 2004 I had such a serious attack of IBS-D, going to the bathroom 18+ times a day, severe cramping, pain, complete loss of energy. I was hospitalized for severe dehydration. I just didn't care anymore, I contemplated suicide. When the bout ended, I got off my butt and decided to do something abot this. Actually that isn't entirely true, I wanted to lose the 35lbs I had gained and decided to do something about that. That's when I read Dr. Atkins book. Little did I know how it would change my life. I researched it for months and started in Feb/05. I don't know what pushed me towards this particular WOL because I had heard so much bad press about it and not to mention the fact that I had never been on a diet EVER in my life, but I like to think it was a miracle. As I progressed through the diet, things got better. All those crappy things I was feeling started to go away.
With the help of my new Dr. I slowly came off my medications. I am happy to report today that not only am I 1lb from goal but I no longer take ANY prescription medication. (I take Reactine for allergies) I can't explain to you how good I feel. I have never had so much energy, been so happy, or felt so good. My life has been completely tramsformed by this WOL. I now know it was the food I was eating that was making me sick - how unbelievable is that?? If you told me last year that I would feel this way and be off medications I would have laughed in your face. I truly believed I was destined to a life on prescription drugs and I would die very young. I am amazed evey day. I am so grateful for this WOL and I am a new woman with a new lease on life. Nothing can stop me now. I hope I didn't ramble but I felt it is important to let people know how this changed my life. Thanks for listening and I wish you all the greatest success.
Mel