“The best of it all is that I’m free of pain”

Suzzanne

Suzzanne was diagnosed with fibromyalgia after a long period of painful aches all over her body. She was in so much pain that she could barely walk when she found low carb, high fat. Here’s what happened:

The email

Hi Andreas,

I read about Denise who became healthy and free from her illnesses by eating the right food. I’d like to tell you about myself and my body.

In 2008, I became depressed. At the same time, my feet started aching. It felt like I was walking directly on my bare bones. I had to take small, small steps. I could never walk too far away with my dog, because I wasn’t sure if I would be able to go back home again.

And then, I started to have pain in different parts of my body. It could be a very small spot on my thigh… my arm… my calf. Anywhere. This pains was horrible. I couldn’t do anything about it, so I was forced to suffer through the pain until it went away. Sometimes my buttocks ached so badly that I couldn’t sit nor lie down. Every place where there are muscles, I was in pain. I mean literally everywhere, even my private parts ached.

In 2006 I became lactose intolerant. I started eating lactose-free products. My digestive system had been suffering from cramps for a couple of years by then, and I couldn’t get rid of them. In 2009 I was referred to a course in how to handle pain. There I met a psysician who examined me and gave me the diagnosis fibromyalgia. At that point I was having horrible pain attacks, even in my tongue. Sleeping through an entire night was a luxury. Or I ended up sleeping well, but still felt terribly exhausted.

In 2013 I read about low carb, high fat. I read that there were people who had eaten themselves healthy. But the thing that caught my attention was the weight loss. I didn’t really think the pain would go away and by then I was used to being in such great pain. I was aching all over.

During this time, I had a couple of biliary colic attacks, which I thought was fibromyalgia. In the end, I was admitted to the hospital. They did an x-ray on me and saw stones in there, so they removed my gallbladder through surgery. I was also hit by appendicitis, which I also thought was the fibromyalgia. The year after my appendix burst, so I was put in the hospital once more. The doctor who removed it told me I had had an inflammation. I couldn’t tell what was fibromyalgia and what wasn’t.

When I started eating low carb, high fat I could barely walk without pain. Almost immediately I felt the improvements. After 2 months, I was free of all my symptoms! No pain episodes either. This was amazing!

Although, I love baking. Both bread and sweet baked goods. Saffron buns and Danish crullers are my favorites. I did continue eating low carb, but I sometimes baked. Even if I gave most of it away, I did eat some of it. My digestive system was sensitive to lactose. At least I tought it was, anyway. During Christmas 2014, my GI tract was really upset. The cramps were back. As soon as I ate something, it passed right through.

I suffered pain attacks all over my body. I started to think that maybe it was the milk protein I was reacting to. I called up a friend who had also gotten healthier on low carb. She had read that if you were gluten intolerant, sometimes this also makes you intolerant to milk protein. She advised me to stay away from everything containing gluten and all dairy products for six months.

Of course, you probably already guessed what happened. My digestive system healed itself. Instead of dairy products, I used coconut cream. Soy milk and soy cream didn’t work. My stomach reacted to them and even today I get nauseous from soy products.

My digestive system got well! The cramps disappeared. I was feeling good! After six months, I started to carefully re-introduce milk products. It went sort of okay. As as I didn’t eat any gluten, I was fine. Today, some dairy products work, although not heavy whipping cream.

But my body! I’m not in pain anywhere today.

If I eat wheat flour, the pain attacks will be there instantly, I’ve noticed that this also applies to gluten-free products. I tried eating candy a while ago. Heart palpitations and heartburn were my rewards for that experiment. I had cravings for sugar and also after other kinds of carbohydrates. It started when I ate too many carbs. So today, I am fairly strict, around 20 grams of carbohydrates per day. I don’t have any cravings for neither sugar, nor other kinds of carbs.

The best of it all is that I’m free of pain! I wake up in the morning after a good night’s sleep. I am well rested and alert. I’ve even started exercising again. Life is wonderful! Now there are no limits. I used to never know how I would feel each day. Today, I know.

Sincerely,
Suzzanne

Comment

A big congratulations to you, Suzzanne, for having managed to eat yourself healthy and free of pain! Gluten is often the big, bad villain in dramas like this.

Try it yourself

Do you want to try a low-carb diet yourself? Use these resources:

• Low Carb for Beginners
• How to Lose Weight

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