Fritzy 22's Journal, 01 Feb 20

Fritzy - I had my gallbladder out about 20 years ago when I was around 40. My primary decision in doing so was because I was afraid I might someday misread the symptoms of something else, like an appendix or heart attack and thinking it was my gallbladder. Some of the physical symptoms can be similar. I have been happy with my decision and not having a gallbladder does not seem to impact me at all. All the best to you ! 

Crazycat - I think I probably will eventually have the gallbladder removed. I'm trying to wait until June when I'll be on Medicare and the cost to me will be so much less than the $4000 deductible I would have to pay now. My doctor said I should be able to wait if I stick to a low fat diet. I guess I need to get serious about that. I see him again in about a week. I'll see what he thinks about these additional attacks.  

Your overall progress is impressive, and I hope the gallbladder thing get rectified soon, either by diet, surgery, or self-healing.  

Hope the gallbladder gets fixed, I used to have those episodes, very painful. Nice weight loss.  

Midway through my weight loss/healthy living journey, I had kidney stones! it's crazy. it's like my body was ready for the stones or something I did the bump and jump and thought I would die! not recommending it, but the kidney stones were small 2mm across, so I bumped and jumped them out of me! I had been on medication for such a long time. I know the pain. Finding what works is tough. have they done trays to let you know the future for those stones? yeeouch! 

Have they done x Ray's I meant? 

Thanks Adameve. I'm thinking that surgery may be the only way to fix things with my gallbladder. Even though I know how I SHOULD eat, I am not always able to resist certain high fat foods. Thanks rgaDawg - did you have your gallbladder removed? Or did you do something else (something I could do) to stop the episodes? Jaimejay - I had a friend who had kidney stones and the pain sounded horrible. Don't know if pain from kidney stones or gallstones are the same or if one is worse. Just know I need to figure out something. I had pains about 6 or 7 years ago and then never again until just after this Thanksgiving. I've had 5 episodes. I had an ultra sound done and it showed gallstones. It sounds like there really isn't a way to get rid of the gallstones other than having the gallbladder removed. 

Fritzl 22, I just sent you a private message through this system. For me I do not get private messages on my app through my phone and I have to log onto my fatsecret.com account through a computer. The message I sent is my story that sounds a lot like yours. I was on the verge of checking into the hospital for the second round of liver and gallbladder issues. Suffered a really bad situation where I almost died but I turned it all around the very last minute. The message i sent you is about 7 years of research with tons of videos, lectures, and books. I made this all available for you for free in Hope's I can help someone that was in such pain like I was. I do not want any money and money does not motivate me much anymore. You can do it. First step is to remove all cholesterol from your lifestyle. Then move onto decreasing your fat intake. The best way to do this is to use vegetable broth instead of oil to cook with. This alone will help you a lot. It took me about a year or two to figure this one out. Eat lots of fruit as this is easy to digest and watch how easy it is to calculate your calories with this app. 

Another thing to think about is your comment about avocados, try to cut these out as they are 77-80% fat. Cut them out of your diet for a month and then slowly reintroduce them when you are feeling better. Fats (lippids) in the food you eat show up in your blood within minutes of eating them. This puts a burden on your liver (also the gallbladder if stones are created because of the excess stress the liver is under). The right time to reintroduce avacadoes into your life is when your skin feels and looks better. Yes you will get what is called the vegan glow. This is because your liver will heal over time and well this entire time you have (most certainly) suffered from skin issues as well as the skin (our largest organ the body has) is the first place the body sends the lipids ir is struggling to expel. Skin issues is the first sign of a over burden liver and kidneys. 

Lastly here is a note on your comments on bits and them being "healthy fat". This statement is difficult to talk about but please think of this. Have you ever eaten a fresh nut? No peanuts as they are not classified as a true nut but a nut like pine nuts or walnuts or almonds or chest nuts fresh? Most likely the answer is no that is because buts are only grown in the fall. Typically the fruit is in the summer and the fall yields the nuts. The nuts you eat from the store go though a series of processed where the water is removed to make them last longer. If the water is kept in the nut and stored then it would cause mold and the nut would go bad. Now this is important because water is life. Try going without water and you will not make it to long. When the water is removed from the nut this makes the nut very hard and this puts a burden on our digestive system. From what I hear from you I would strongly suggest that you limit yourself to buts and only eat them in the fall at there fresh state. You are about to embark on new and amazing flavors and colors, so not be afraid of going vegan just get through 30 days and then see if you can do 90. 

Thanks Chris9753 - I appreciate you taking the time to address a lot of my issues and telling me about your experiences. I admit I am not really good on reading research - I get lost and don't understand most of it. It's good to hear from someone who understands the reasons some of us have to go on a low fat diet and to have as little cholesterol as possible in our diets. A couple years ago my cholesterol lab results were high for the first time in my life. Not very high, but enough that I was concerned about it. I gave up all red meat, egg yolks and shrimp for 6 months when the tests were run again and were normal. In my food diary on FS I track cholesterol and try to keep it under 200 (200 is in one egg yolk). I have been reading about avocados and whether it's okay to have on a low fat diet. I'm not sure yet about that. My doctor said avocado shouldn't have a negative impact on my gallstones. I don't eat them every day, maybe 4 times a month and usually only 1/4 to 1/2 avocado. I do eat nuts most days, trying to get enough protein. Usually raw almonds 10-20 a day. They are grown locally, maybe I'll start buying them from one of the farmer's produce stands.  

Chris - I did go totally vegan for 21 days starting January 2 when doing the Daniel fast. I lost 11 pounds. But I didn't get enough protein. I am for at least 40 grams a day and ideally would like to get 60. I didn't get close to that while eating vegan. You can probably still see my food diary for those days. I doubt I will ever be vegan, but maybe vegetarian where I can have non fat milk to bring up the protein grams. Thanks for the private message and all the information you provided. I will check things out. I've been going over my lab results (I keep them) and comparing current results to those in the past 2 or 3 years. The last results show Cholesterol at 216 when it should be under 200. LDL high at 127. Triglycerides is fine at 130 and what is often called the "good" cholesterol, HDL also fine at 64. I usually feel the HDL levels are good because I eat nuts, avocados and only use olive oil instead of other oils/fats. One thing that is always high is CRP, very high and it indicates inflammation. I know I need to lose weight and exercise to improve all my lab results.  

Protein is easy to supplement, powders, drinks ea. have around 20 - 30 gm. 

RgaDawg - I have some protein shakes and drinks mixes. But it is one of the things my doctor doesn't like me to have. He wants me to avoid processed foods as much as possible - totally as far as he is concerned and when I asked him about protein powders etc, he said they are "processed". But I will use what I have 

salsa is good on a baked potato.  

The body do not require that much protein. No one in America has a protein deficiency. Actually there is isnt really anyone on TV that has directed a protein deficiency just a calorie deficiency. The body needs very little fat 10-15% body weight is a nice amount. Protein could be quite low as well. I am sure the body could efficiently run on 20% body weight as protein. If you feel these numbers sound do able then think about how much you eat. Ultimately there is an ideal range of lipids (fats), and protein intake. I personally think the body is perfectly fine with less then 10% protein and 10% fat intake daily. This puts very little burden on the system. Of you feel this might be right then think about what you currently have. Fat is energy and thus it can be converted to what ever. Protein, fat and carbohydrates are all composed of carbon molecules. Then things get even more strange when you take into consideration that at the atomic level things operate on electrons of which is just a theory. A scientific theory but none the less a theory not a law. 

I had my gallbladder removed at age 26, 11 years ago. Took a few months to get use to the bile dumping from the liver. But your body adapts. I’ve had no problems. I had to have it removed because of many tiny gallstones. Was having an attack everyday. A stone was obviously blocking my gallbladder bile duct. Best to get an ultrasound done and blood tests can tell you if you have an infection or not. All the best💖 

Bella, I remember that gall bladder attack pain. Brutal! When my GB was acting up (early 1990s), I first tried the conservative route -- a medication that was supposed to dissolve gall stones -- but it didn't work. (The med proved ineffective in most cases. I don't know if they still prescribe it.) I was then ready for the surgery. Laparoscopic cholecystectomy has a much shorter recovery period than the older full incision method, and it's very well established as the surgical approach of choice now. I remember reading: "Ask your surgeon how many lap cholies he's done. The learning curve tops out after 500!" The general surgeon thought it was a funny question and questioned why I was asking. He just laughed: "I've done many hundreds of these!" The immediate recovery was ugly for a couple of days, and consuming fat for the first 4-5 post-op months would trigger violent abdominal pain and vomiting. (I made the mistake of eating a salad with a little full-fat dressing. Made me wanna die!) However, within 10 days, I was out digging in my garden! A low-fat diet will keep the GB action to a minimum and help avoid acute attacks till your Medicare kicks in. After six months or so, I had no trouble at all. The liver and biliary system takes over the function of the missing GB, which I think is an amazing adaptation! Good luck! 

Hmmmmm, usually "processed" refers to pollutants, preservatives, artificial coloring, flavorings. I use a fully organic, plant based protein powder, no artificial ingredients, no sugar, etc. Best plant based protein is simple pea protein and you can order it from Amazon as pure organic pea protein.  

Thanks Georgia, Draglist and Chris! Pascoal - I've had an ultrasound and it showed gallstones, but that's all I've been told. Lots of lab tests were run, don't think any of them indicates an infection. But one test (CRP) has been high for at least 3 years, indicting inflammation. I asked my doctor if the gallstones could be the reason for the high levels on that one test. He said possibly. Mira - you called me Bella again! I didn't realize you'd had your gallbladder removed. I need more information before I decide to do that. I've heard from some people that they've suffered from chronic diarrhea ever since having it removed. My impression is it's best to stick to a low fat diet whether or not the gallbladder is removed. rgaDawg - I think my doctor considers any food you buy that has a bar code on the package is "processed" food. I know he is a vegan as is my women's health doctor. Both tell me I can get enough protein from the plants I eat. I try to tell them I don't eat the volume of "plants" to get up to at least 40 grams of protein. When I told my doctor I was doing the Daniel fast and the highest amount of protein I got was 30 grams, he said that was fine. The other doctor told me to get enough protein I'd need to eat beans and rice most days and that she gradually went vegan. First giving up red meat and then moving on from there. I may check out the organic pea protein. Thanks for the information.