hi Cheral

Sorry to hear about the fibro. It's not fun.. Do you have some of the other lovely "go-with's" as well ?? Like CFS, IBS, TMJ, etc.. etc... ad nauseum?? Are you recently diagnosed? That's a tough time. I'm a 10 year veteran, so I've really come a long way to accepting myself as I am. At first, you struggle with accepting the disability. THEN you start to accept the new you. It happens. And there is much joy to be found in life, you just have to learn to stop looking in all the old places and expecting things to be the way they once were.

OK, I'll get down off my preachy soap-box now. This is a lowcarb support, not a fibro-rant column!! **LOL** and if you believe THAT, you obviously haven't read all of my posts! ..

Cheral, I posted a long article on how research is showing that lowcarb is the way to go for fibro, chronic fatigue and other syndromes of the neuro-endocrine system. Have a look here .. http://forum.lowcarber.org/showthread.php?threadid=215 ... there's a lot of reading, and if you have the time, do click on the links I've included there too. Even before I started strict lowcarb for weight loss I knew that I felt so much better by NOT eating sugar, refined grains, white rice and the like, and ate more fiber, veggies and lean meats. Of course, when my fibro was first diagnosed (back in 1991, they still considered it to be a "psychological" syndrome) I grabbed at EVERY straw... I did the colon cleansing, ear candling, herbal, wholistic, meditation, macrobiotic thing. Lost some weight being strict vegan.... but then developed spastic bowel and re-activated childhood eczema from eating a diet based almost entirely on grains. I am now totally allergic to barley and psyllium (as in, call 9-1-1 allergic) and eating any grain food in excess, whole or otherwise, will trigger horrendous cravings, diarrhea and bloating, and my skin becomes a disfiguring mess .... excess means more than once a week. Corn and corn syrup is really bad for this. As an aside, I do find a number of herbs and supplements to be helpful, as well as acupuncture and regular massage therapy.

I'm currently following Atkins Induction, had a bit of a stall-gain over the winter..... my goal is to get back to where I was at in December, then gradually switch over to Protein Power, which is what I had been following and lost 30 lbs.

You sound a wee bit impatient, sorry, that's a judgement call on my part. Don't mean to offend, just want to give you a big hug and say slow-down, and don't expect so much from yourself. You'll do fine.

I can give you some information about fibromyalgia and chronic pain support groups, if you'd like. Many of the boards are strictly emotional support.... and there are days I really need to go there to blow my stack, or cry my heart out. And other terrrific sites full of credible information, research, etc..... I tend to be very skeptical of the overly snake-oil, secret Noni-juice, miracle cure stuff out there - partly because I'm an RN, but mostly because I've been desperate enough in the past to spend a small fortune on them all - and they simply don't work ..

Anyway, please keep us posted of your lowcarbing success. You mentioned you were following Carb. Addicts. That is a good plan, and many have had great success with weight loss. My personal experience has been that I've had better control of the hypoglycemia swings and cravings, by spreading my carbs more evenly through the day, rather than having them all at one "reward meal" Everyone is different (in message board lingo - YMMV - your mileage may vary).

take care,
Doreen



[Edited by doreen T on 23-02-01 at 10:48]