Fell off the wagon:-(

TomsMomTomsMom Raw Newbie

After losing 130 pounds and becoming healthier than I've been in my entire life, I fell off the wagon and have gained 30 pounds. I'm sick to my stomach about it. It's my own fault. No one stuffed this process dirt and sugar down my throat.

You know how some of us lose hair while detoxing? Okay, mine never grew back, and so now it's so thin you can see my scalp unless I'm really careful about styling it. I'm not the kind of woman who has ever done things with the hair. I'm used to being very natural with my frizzy curls, and now I'm hysterical when I go out to market. It's stupid, and I'm sure it's not from the raw diet. It can't be.

I've lost it from my head and body on and off since I was 13, but I know it's not that disorder where people loose all their hair(can't spell it), because the loss I have is diffuse, not in patches. Well, it's mostly on one side. Go figure.

Anyhow, I really lost my mind about the stupid hair. I also started to have pain in my knuckles and toes again, really bad this time. This is also something I've had problems with for over 20 years, but I never bothered to see a doctor for it. A few months ago, I was finally diagnosed with Psoriatic Arthritis, but I don't understand why it's so bad! My tendons in my hands and arms swelled so badly, I couldn't hold a glass. Try wiping your butt when you only have a claw.

The hair is distressing for a reason to me, but it's ridiculous, so I won't bother whining. It's just . . . I don't know how to say it. It's the only thing my ex left me with that made me a woman:***(

I was really being a good girl on the raw diet! I loved the lifestyle and I love you guys. I don't understand the hair loss and the horrible arthritis attacks, and if it's detoxing, why won't it go away? It's been over three years since I started.

Most of all, I am just disgusted with this weight gain, because I did it in ONE summer, and I did it by eating pure filth. I can't believe I am doing this to myself. I never gain weight like a woman. I gain it in my belly. I look like a pudding.

On the brighter side, I finally managed to move to Chicago:-D

Comments

  • Hi! could you be deficient in any vitamins, such b12? Were you gaining weight by eating a high fat diet, low fat diet? Were you eating cooked foods? What foods were you eating that made you put on weight?

  • TomsMomTomsMom Raw Newbie

    Hi, sweet! I'm sorry I babbled like that.

    In answer to your question, I binged on high-fat, high-sugar stuff. Processed, of course, just to make things worse. I'm embarrassed to say what I ate.

    Not to make excuses, but the hair loss and arthritis flares started way before I ate the junk.

    I started my raw lifestyle in Oct. of 2007. Around March of 2008, the hair came out, all over, sort of diffuse, but more on one side. My knuckles started to swell up horribly, something I hadn't seen in a long time. I figured detox. But my hair has never really come back all the way. It will start to come in nice and soft, and then falls right out again.

    But I stayed on my raw diet anyhow, right up to summer of 2010. By then I had lost all that weight, and I actually felt very good. Except for the lousy pains in the hands and toots and back.

    I started to take suppliments out of desperation, but now I just take the Nature Made daily vitamin and mineral tablet. It includes B12. For a while I took some extra zinc and D3. But nothing changes.

    I'm getting used to the pain. But the binging and resulting fat-assery is scaring me. When I was growing up, I starved myself, but as an adult, I've turned into a hog. The raw diet actually got my eating problems under control for the first time in my life. I can't believe I blew it all:**(

  • Dont worry, things will work out, Its true that the raw diet does help eating disorders, Raw food makes people very healthy, And the thing is you can eat as much of raw fruit and veggies you want and still lose all the weight. Take it slowely, Enjoy life with healthy foods:)

  • powerliferpowerlifer Raw Newbie

    Hair thinning is very common and often is caused by low thyroid or low levels of the essential mineral iodine. Have you had your thyroid tested, even so there notoriously inaccurate, basal body temperature testing first thing in the morning is more accurate as well as symptoms.

    You sound stressed, adrenal fatigue and inturn low thyroid can cause hair loss/thinning aswell as inflammatory conditions such as you have been diagnosed with.

    Adaptogenic herbs can help such as ashwagandha, schizandra berry, siberian ginseng, jiaogulan, maca root etc.

    Seaweeds are the best and pretty much only decent vegan source of iodine.

    Dont let these people tell you its all due to detox, i bloody hate that overused word with passion especially when symptoms are as serious as you say. Have you had blood work done, going back to a vegan/vegetarian or even meat based idea to temporarly stablize yourself might be a good idea. Make sure your getting enough variation and calories if you staying raw.

     

  • TomsMomTomsMom Raw Newbie

    Hi, powerlifter! "Detox" doesn't have any meaning for me, either, but it's become part of the vocabulary:-D I thought if I got heavily into the autoimmune disorder stuff, I would chase everyone away.

    I eat lots of seaweed(mostly dulse-- I love it). Maybe some herbals would be helpful.

    I've had bloodwork done, but I honestly wouldn't know what to ask for beyond the basics. They always tell my thyroid is okay.

    Basal body temperature? Really? Well, how can I tell what is normal for a woman my age?

  • powerliferpowerlifer Raw Newbie

    Im pressed for time so ill dig out a link how to test your basal body temperature which could indicate low thyroid disorder. Other symptoms such as cold intolerance are a good indicator.

    All auto-immune conditions are part down to adrenal gland dysfunction not outputting sufficient immune regulating corticosteroids. So the adaptogenic herbs will help that.

    Raw foods rich in vitamin C and B5 also. Glad to hear your getting an iodine source.

    Where is the hair loss mainly?

     

  • TomsMomTomsMom Raw Newbie

    Oh, I'm sure I can find out how to do the basal body temp test. I bought a thermometer today(basal type).

    I've lost hair all over:">

  • powerliferpowerlifer Raw Newbie

    Nice one let us know how you get on.

  • Forgive me for interjecting- but it sounds like you have some serious issues going that may go beyond what you can figure out on your own.

    Have you ever seen a doctor about this? I mean, not just the hair loss but the weight gain pattern, ect.?

    Please don't think I'm trying to advertise to you. I am not a doctor, nor am I trying to give you any medical advice. Issues such as yours can be from several different sources- some so serious that you wouldn't be able to deal with on your own, and some perhaps more simple such as a food allergy (yes, even a raw food). You may just have the poor luck of being allergic to a common food, but you may have something really serious. Autoimmune thyroiditis is much more complicated than just iodine and vitamins. And many people's basal temperature differs from the norm, it is a non-specific test that can be used with a doctor to monitor treatment, it will not tell you the cause of your issues. Many very healthy people run at 97 F, while for others 98.6F can signal depressed immune or thyroid function.

    Licensed naturopathic doctors are trained to identify all the things that a primary care doctor would ID, they would be able to refer you when they identify something that needs a specialist as well, and they would be sensitive to and quite familiar with your dietary preferences- and they should have a lot of respect for it, too, but be able to tell you if your health required a change in diet. Any doctor should be able to give you some test results to think about, in case you have insurance issues.

    It can be expensive, but 3 years of your life is very expensive, too. Its the best advice I can give- go to a doctor you trust who is trained to deal with chronic issues like an ND. You're working so hard, be kind to yourself:)

  • Please dont be hard on yourself for falling off the wagon

    it happens to us all from time to time

    I have Rheumatoid Arthritis and also low diamine oxidase , the enzyme that breaks down histamine in the intestines. These appear to be linked in that I have always had " irritable bowel" after eating some foods without knowing why ( histamine can make one need to rush to the bathroom!) but also inflammation can create histamine in the body. I am now holding off the RA by eating a low histamine mainly raw diet. If I eat high histamine foods ( anything fermented milk products, wine, mushrooms , yeast in bread or anything else, sugar and sweeteners or green peppers egg plant, more than a few tomatoes or potatoes ( all deadly nightshade family) then I get bad joint pain over night. I take no drugs or pain killers for the RA.

    My immunologist here in the UK ( who advised me to eat a raw diet in the first place) checks all my vitamins and minerals regularly and these are currently fine but he insists I must be careful not to supplement B12 unless it gets very low as B12 being bacterial creates histamine.

    A few years ago, my hair fell out and thinned on top and I recently discovered that hair dye also caused me to have a histamine overload. I cannot use any hair products including shampoo for the same reason. Just before Xmas I realised I could not bear a sore head any more and I shaved my head and took off all the dyed hair. I have started to feel so much better and now have a silver head and a lot of my hair has grown back. My thyroid function is fine but my internal inflammation appears to have being making me lose my hair!

    It is very important to get the right help with serious conditions. it is often a lot more complicated than anyone can help with on even such a great forum as this . Before meeting with my immunologist I was eating a standard vegetarian diet ( lots of high histamine foods) and putting on weight at a fast pace. I felt ill all the time and my head was sore. I had even started to eat meat because I was advised wrongly by a dermatologist that I needed to for my health and my joint pain became severe as a result . Since following the raw food Low histamine diet and working out what I am reacting to , I am starting to feel great and the joint pain is retreating and I never get "IBS" symptoms .

    When I started eating raw I talked to a lot of people on the net and thought I could eat any raw food ( despite being advised to the contrary by the immunologist). I followed the high fruit path but did not realise that some fruits were high in histamine. I reacted so badly I thought therefore that a raw diet wasnt for me but it was just high histamine in my case. I would never have known without proper tests.

Sign In or Register to comment.