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My Dad had scary high level high BP for years around 160-180s.
Two medications combined brought it down to around 140-150 for many more years.
One month of strict Primal eating brought it down to 110/65 and has been keeping it there consistently and totally unmedicated.
Dad is 86. I don't want to hear anybody whining about "it's too late for me" or old dogs and new tricks. Grok's Grandpa rocks.
Thanks to Paleobird's Dad and the improvements he's seen with his peripheral neuropathy, my sister who also has it is going Primal!
Thank you for sharing Paleobird!!! Amazing!
This is, hands down, one of the most inspiring threads. So, as for me, I haven't lost crazy amounts of weight going Primal/Paleo (unfortunately I dropped it in a very unhealthy, typical SAD CW way)...
But I have been able to go off a medication. One pharmaceutical eliminated and I'm over the freaking [I]moon[/I] about it, folks. I have a connective tissue disease, Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome, and I was put on Cymbalta at the beginning of this year for severe nerve pain (assuming it was an inevitable part of EDS). I felt like a zombie for three weeks and eventually adapted to having even worse energy levels than I was already used to but the nerve pain was significantly reduced so I stuck with it. Upon the realization I also have coeliac disease and discovering that nerve pain can also be caused by gluten intolerance I ended up stumbling upon MDA and it has changed my life. I am now almost five months off gluten (and grains, and all that jazz) and I weaned myself off cymbalta about six weeks ago aaaand... drumroll please... the nerve pain hasn't come back!
It's magical. I can't describe the sheer agony that is nerve pain. If you haven't had it, the only way to describe it is by comparing it to having an open flame inside your body. For me it would be a line of fire that traced from my elbow through my fingers or from my hips/glutes to the knee. Or in the feet. Or back. Or whatever. Fire. Inside. Pain beyond description. I was psyched I found a medication that controlled that. I'm [I][B][U]thrilled[/U][/B][/I] to have the control in my own hands (or really, on my plate with some butter and bacon on top).
I would say that it's a different kind of triumph and definitely not like dropping 60lbs, but (stalking) [I]reading[/I] the amazing people that post on this forum made me realize that it's all relative, and we're all kick ass for taking our health into our own hands. I have "triumph" tattooed on the inside of my left wrist, and all this is what its all about.
Grok on. You guys are some serious inspiration.
[QUOTE=honeybuns;881697]Thanks to Paleobird's Dad and the improvements he's seen with his peripheral neuropathy, my sister who also has it is going Primal![/QUOTE]
Oh, I'm so glad. I'll have to tell Dad about that. Keep me posted on how she's doing.
[QUOTE=KKDMB;883182]This is, hands down, one of the most inspiring threads. So, as for me, I haven't lost crazy amounts of weight going Primal/Paleo (unfortunately I dropped it in a very unhealthy, typical SAD CW way)...
But I have been able to go off a medication. One pharmaceutical eliminated and I'm over the freaking [I]moon[/I] about it, folks. I have a connective tissue disease, Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome, and I was put on Cymbalta at the beginning of this year for severe nerve pain (assuming it was an inevitable part of EDS). I felt like a zombie for three weeks and eventually adapted to having even worse energy levels than I was already used to but the nerve pain was significantly reduced so I stuck with it. Upon the realization I also have coeliac disease and discovering that nerve pain can also be caused by gluten intolerance I ended up stumbling upon MDA and it has changed my life. I am now almost five months off gluten (and grains, and all that jazz) and I weaned myself off cymbalta about six weeks ago aaaand... drumroll please... the nerve pain hasn't come back!
It's magical. I can't describe the sheer agony that is nerve pain. If you haven't had it, the only way to describe it is by comparing it to having an open flame inside your body. For me it would be a line of fire that traced from my elbow through my fingers or from my hips/glutes to the knee. Or in the feet. Or back. Or whatever. Fire. Inside. Pain beyond description. I was psyched I found a medication that controlled that. I'm [I][B][U]thrilled[/U][/B][/I] to have the control in my own hands (or really, on my plate with some butter and bacon on top).
I would say that it's a different kind of triumph and definitely not like dropping 60lbs, but (stalking) [I]reading[/I] the amazing people that post on this forum made me realize that it's all relative, and we're all kick ass for taking our health into our own hands. I have "triumph" tattooed on the inside of my left wrist, and all this is what its all about.
Grok on. You guys are some serious inspiration.[/QUOTE]
My father described it as feeling like someone was stabbing an icepick along the outside of his leg from knee to the bottom of his foot. He had been ignoring a diagnosis of diabetes for years but that pain finally got his attention and convinced him to give my "crazy diet" a try. The BP control has been a wonderful side benefit. Getting off of medications is so important whenever possible. Dad is so much more alert and has much better balance now.
That is wonderful for your papa, Paleobird! +10000000 for being able to ditch as many pharmaceuticals as possible!
I finally crossed over 50lbs lost. :cool: I was sooooo close. I was like .10 away... and then the scale headed upwards. I have noticed that I have a slight gain before a nice drop, but not like the 4.6 lbs in 7 days that I gained (could have been the pina coladas and a few other things, like 3 months worth of 20% in the same week.)
So anyways............ I focused. The last 6 days I have dropped the 4.6, and almost 2 more :cool: So I am over 50 now actually :cool:
Hit a weight goal today! 130 pounds. 10-15 more to go!
And another small success:
6 weeks into Primal eating, I was running into an issue. Not with the eating plan, but with my own eyes. My eyesight was worsening at a rapid pace, and everything was blurry. Even worse, it was accompanied by terrible headaches that I'd never had before. The minute I went to visit my family in America, I rushed to the eye doctor, begging them for a degenerative test. They did one and said that everything seemed normal, and nothing was out of range.
When I went in for the eye exam, my doctor had me remove my contacts as he tested my eyes. My worsening eyesight was in fact nonexistent -- my eyes had gotten BETTER.
[img]http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7133/7476398932_bc11ef7ccc.jpg[/img]
Old prescription at the top, new ones on the bottom.
For those not familiar with the American system, the higher the negative power, the more nearsighted (unable to see far away) you are. My eyes were unchanged for about two years, when in six weeks, my negatives dropped.
Even better, when I told my doctor what I was doing, he congratulated me! He said that sugars from everything (including grains) bloat the lens of your eye, distorting vision. I just found out the hard way, I suppose.
So that is what I have going on!! I just had an eye exam in January. The contacts worked fine then, but now I have to take them out after just a few hours because things feel off. Come to think of it, I've been getting headaches more frequently as well.