Carlene
03-06-2006, 08:14 PM
Hi, I know I don't come over here much anymore since boot camp started, but I got my blood work back after being 100% raw for 9 months now and losing 136 pounds. I had hoped for great results, but boy, I didn't think they would be this great. Here's a copy of what I posted over at boot camp.
Oh first, thanks to all the wonderful women who shared this journey with me while I depended on RFT to keep me 100%. Nothing I'm accomplishing today would have happened without you.
Okay, I am too excited for this to be in great detail. Later this week I will post old versus new numbers either raw food boot camp or ibeatobesity.
But they are amazing.
Let me start with the fact that I have always believed all my problems were caused by my liver - my fatty liver. I have been working on my liver since September of 2004. The naturopath gave me supplements, but I didn't take them for very long, I just have an aversion to drugs. I did my liver cleanse every few months. Occassionaly took milk thistle, but the lipotraupic drugs she gave me I took only a couple of time.
When I first went in September (I thought it was November, but I pulled out the lab results - first ones were in Sept 2004) I had been horribly depressed. After researching depression I asked to have my seratonin levels checked. She ran a complete amino protein lab. Of the 20 proteins checked the majority were below low or low. My thyroid levels were way low, and my prolactin levels were very high. I was having a heavy discharge from my left breast. One day it was bleeding. I also had a large lump under my left arm pit the size of a walnut that I believed was lymph. And let's not forget I was very very depressed. One of my best friends in 1990 killed herself because of hormonal depression. Knowing that kept me aware that the depression I was in was very dangerous, that is why I sought help.
So I started taking an amino protien supplement, thyroid meds, primrose oil, chaste berry tree extract, and coconut oil. I think there were many more, I have a draw full of supplements she prescribed. She did not believe it was my liver, but my hormones. I believed that the liver regulates all hormones and that if I fixed my liver the rest would fix itself.
Also back in September my cholesterol was 264, triglyceride was 203, LDL 184, VDL 34, and Chol/HDL Ration was 5.7. Blood sugar was 102, uric acid was high, and liver enzymes were slightly elevated.
After 1.5 months of taking thyroid meds, I gained 12 pounds, my liver enzymes went up and still my thyroid hormones were low. She upped my thyroid meds to 2 a day. After a few weeks on that I found my brain had gone dumb. I knew it was the tyroid, went back to one pill and had my blood work done again. I was right and she put me back to 1.
At this point I became Vegan again. So in March after 3 months vegan I had my blood work done again. The cholesterol was down to 210, but everything else was still bad. The thyroid levels were okay, but remember I was taking a thyroid pill everyday.
In May I found raw. So in September after 3 months of solid raw I had blood done again. Cholesterol was 201, things were better, but my liver enzymes were at their highest and prolactin was still too high. Glucose was 91 and my hemoglobin which seems to be a bigger indicator of blood sugar spiking was slightly high.
At this point I also tried going off the thyroid meds. Within 3 or 4 days the depression came back with a vengence, so I went back to them.
At Thanksgiving I went away for 10 days and forgot to take my thyroid meds with me. I thought I would have to go find some after a few days if the depression came back. It didn't. Exactly the opposite happened. I felt great. By the end of the ten days I was flying and decided I would not go back to the meds.
As an added note. Remember my hair loss? Well it can happen from a hyperactive thyroid as well. When I stopped taking the thyroid my hair loss also stopped. Coincidence...I think not!
Okay so here we are today. 9 months raw. No thyroid meds for 4 months. I will admit that I cheated a little. I don't usually take any kind of supplementation for protein, but for three days prior to the tests I did have smoothies with ground hemp protien. And one day I took an iron-free multi-vitimen.
So...drumroll please....
My thyroid levels are all in normal ranges. Smack right in the middle!
My liver enzymes are back to normal!
My prolactin levels are back to normal!
My sugar levels and hemoglobin are perfect!
Cholesterol..well... 185 with tryglycerides also at 185. I wonder if that is a typo because my good to bad cholesterol ratio is in normal ranges.
Potassium, chloride, sodium, and calcium levels are all within normal ranges.
My iron is fine, but my ITBC which I think means Total Iron Blood Count was low, but the % saturation was high. I don't get those numbers.
Protein. Okay this is where they expect us to have problems and I did. But keep in mind these standards are for meat eaters.
Urea Nitrogen (BUN) is very low at 4 range is 8-25
Creatinine I had .5 range is .6 - 1.4
BUN/Creat Ratio I had 8.0 range is 10 - 28
Albumin I had 5.9 range is 6.0-8.2
Oh and my inorganic phosphorus is 4.6 range is 2.5-4.5
So in truth the only really off measurements were Urea Nitrogen (BUN) and TIBC. Not bad for a woman who has been obese for 15 years and just used a very radical diet considered dangerous by many, to get healthy.
I couldn't be happier. If you thought I loved raw before. Watch out now! Raw has healed my liver, and by healing my liver it healed my body. Dispute that!
Oh first, thanks to all the wonderful women who shared this journey with me while I depended on RFT to keep me 100%. Nothing I'm accomplishing today would have happened without you.
Okay, I am too excited for this to be in great detail. Later this week I will post old versus new numbers either raw food boot camp or ibeatobesity.
But they are amazing.
Let me start with the fact that I have always believed all my problems were caused by my liver - my fatty liver. I have been working on my liver since September of 2004. The naturopath gave me supplements, but I didn't take them for very long, I just have an aversion to drugs. I did my liver cleanse every few months. Occassionaly took milk thistle, but the lipotraupic drugs she gave me I took only a couple of time.
When I first went in September (I thought it was November, but I pulled out the lab results - first ones were in Sept 2004) I had been horribly depressed. After researching depression I asked to have my seratonin levels checked. She ran a complete amino protein lab. Of the 20 proteins checked the majority were below low or low. My thyroid levels were way low, and my prolactin levels were very high. I was having a heavy discharge from my left breast. One day it was bleeding. I also had a large lump under my left arm pit the size of a walnut that I believed was lymph. And let's not forget I was very very depressed. One of my best friends in 1990 killed herself because of hormonal depression. Knowing that kept me aware that the depression I was in was very dangerous, that is why I sought help.
So I started taking an amino protien supplement, thyroid meds, primrose oil, chaste berry tree extract, and coconut oil. I think there were many more, I have a draw full of supplements she prescribed. She did not believe it was my liver, but my hormones. I believed that the liver regulates all hormones and that if I fixed my liver the rest would fix itself.
Also back in September my cholesterol was 264, triglyceride was 203, LDL 184, VDL 34, and Chol/HDL Ration was 5.7. Blood sugar was 102, uric acid was high, and liver enzymes were slightly elevated.
After 1.5 months of taking thyroid meds, I gained 12 pounds, my liver enzymes went up and still my thyroid hormones were low. She upped my thyroid meds to 2 a day. After a few weeks on that I found my brain had gone dumb. I knew it was the tyroid, went back to one pill and had my blood work done again. I was right and she put me back to 1.
At this point I became Vegan again. So in March after 3 months vegan I had my blood work done again. The cholesterol was down to 210, but everything else was still bad. The thyroid levels were okay, but remember I was taking a thyroid pill everyday.
In May I found raw. So in September after 3 months of solid raw I had blood done again. Cholesterol was 201, things were better, but my liver enzymes were at their highest and prolactin was still too high. Glucose was 91 and my hemoglobin which seems to be a bigger indicator of blood sugar spiking was slightly high.
At this point I also tried going off the thyroid meds. Within 3 or 4 days the depression came back with a vengence, so I went back to them.
At Thanksgiving I went away for 10 days and forgot to take my thyroid meds with me. I thought I would have to go find some after a few days if the depression came back. It didn't. Exactly the opposite happened. I felt great. By the end of the ten days I was flying and decided I would not go back to the meds.
As an added note. Remember my hair loss? Well it can happen from a hyperactive thyroid as well. When I stopped taking the thyroid my hair loss also stopped. Coincidence...I think not!
Okay so here we are today. 9 months raw. No thyroid meds for 4 months. I will admit that I cheated a little. I don't usually take any kind of supplementation for protein, but for three days prior to the tests I did have smoothies with ground hemp protien. And one day I took an iron-free multi-vitimen.
So...drumroll please....
My thyroid levels are all in normal ranges. Smack right in the middle!
My liver enzymes are back to normal!
My prolactin levels are back to normal!
My sugar levels and hemoglobin are perfect!
Cholesterol..well... 185 with tryglycerides also at 185. I wonder if that is a typo because my good to bad cholesterol ratio is in normal ranges.
Potassium, chloride, sodium, and calcium levels are all within normal ranges.
My iron is fine, but my ITBC which I think means Total Iron Blood Count was low, but the % saturation was high. I don't get those numbers.
Protein. Okay this is where they expect us to have problems and I did. But keep in mind these standards are for meat eaters.
Urea Nitrogen (BUN) is very low at 4 range is 8-25
Creatinine I had .5 range is .6 - 1.4
BUN/Creat Ratio I had 8.0 range is 10 - 28
Albumin I had 5.9 range is 6.0-8.2
Oh and my inorganic phosphorus is 4.6 range is 2.5-4.5
So in truth the only really off measurements were Urea Nitrogen (BUN) and TIBC. Not bad for a woman who has been obese for 15 years and just used a very radical diet considered dangerous by many, to get healthy.
I couldn't be happier. If you thought I loved raw before. Watch out now! Raw has healed my liver, and by healing my liver it healed my body. Dispute that!