How about a BIG WISH WELCOME for 'welovedis'!

[wovenwonder]

Karen (welovedis) posted on the marathon thread. I PMed her and invited her to join us on WISH! She replied to my PM --- and I felt really bad!

It seems that she posted earlier on WISH and mentioned that she and her doc both feel that her Atkins way of eating has caused kidney damage to her. Needless to say --- we (including me, I believe) didn't make her feel too welcome!

She is now going thru treatment for her kidneys and still working on losing those last stubborn pounds!

I know that alot of us are VERY PASSIONATE concerning the Atkins way of eating [me included] but I feel really bad that we left Karen out of the loop! Karen needs support too --- just like all of us --- and I know that the WISHers will pull thru for her!

So, please let Karen know that even though alot of us may be low carbing {and may disagree with certain things} --- that ALL OF US will welcome and support her with open arms!


Please don't use this thread to voice your opinion or medical support to the issue of Atkins causing/not causing kidney damage --- this is a welcome thread! Some things we can just 'agree to disagree' on.

 

[PRINCESS VIJA]

Hi Karen! Welcome to WISH. I read your post on the marathon thread, thanks for the helpful hints, and good luck to you on the 1/2 marathon and marathon training you are in!

 

[TCKK]

Welcome Karen.

 

[welovedis]

Wow...gee you guys!

Just for the record, no one that I have seen posting here on this thread or any others I have read were those who were sending me those flaming PMs. It seemed to be people who weren't even posting on the WISH boards. I guess I got discouraged too quickly.

But thanks for the warm welcome!

If I can just add one quick thing--I have no problem with lo-carb eating plans, it really worked for me. Unfortunately my system responded in a weird way and I ended up with some major problems because of the way I pushed my system (both eating and exercise-wise). I am learning that too much too fast is not the best for me but I harbor no bad ill to those who can use the eating plan to their benefit.

Anyway--thanks for the warm welcome! Hope everyone here has a great weekend and I, for one, am not going to count calories on Mother's Day! LOL!

 

[KathyTX]

You got flamed in PMs?

That's not very WISHlike- I'm glad it sounds like it wasn't any of our friends here.

We've got some die-hard Atkins fans here, some true-blue Weight Watchers, and lots of others who are doing it independently or with other plans. Of course, we know that we're all different, with different needs and habits. I think we co-exist pretty well! We all support each other, and realize that no one approach will work for everyone.

I'm especially sorry about your flaming, since the whole point of WISH is supporting and encouraging ourselves and our friends to GET HEALTHY! And that mean lots more than just our weight.

I'm glad you're here. Pull up a chair, and stay awhile!

(If you want to PM me the IDs of your flamers, we'll send Guido and the boys over to fill their keyboards with Crazy Glue...)

 

[KathyFP]

Welcome. I

think one of the most appealling this is the diversity on the board. It is wonderful the sharing of diverse plans. I know at first I didn't want to post because I had vertical banding and a lot of people have negative reactions. Although I was initially concerned about a negative reaction, I was pleased to recieved an awesome opened arm pixie dust welcome.

Always keep your health the priority. Isn't that why we all are trying new ways to eat better and exercise.

 

[geetey]

Welcome Welcome WeLoveDis!! As a potential 1/2 marathon trainee, I hope you stick around!! There is no better board than WISH!!!

 

[loisg1]

Welcome to WISH, Karen!! Best of luck in your weight loss.

Have a super day-
Lois

 

[yasuern]

HELLO & WELCOME welovdis! Welcome to the most support compassionate board for people trying to lose weight!

 

[Debbie]

Welcome, Karen. I'm so sorry that someone made you We don't do that on this board! We encourage (no matter how much we have to lose), we listen (no matter what programme-or even IF you're on a programme) and we care!

Oh, and we're always prim and proper!

 

[Zoo Keeper]

Welcome Karen!
Glad to have you aboard.
You'll soon see, the WISH board is addictive.

 

[Beanie]

Welcome to the WISH board, Karen!! I am sorry that we didn't make you feel welcome before, I personally apologize on my behalf...it was unintentional!

I hope you stay with us and join our fun! This is a wonderful group of people who are friendly, supportive and encouraging!!

 

[Cthia]

Welcome to WISH Karen.

Please don't be shy, hop right in and post away. There is alot of support and encouragment here.

Please don't take it personal that they didn't see your first post, it happened to me also but I stayed. Reading everyone's posts have kept me motivated.

 

[TigH]

WELCOME, Karen!

What a beautiful name you have! hee hee! Hope you decide to stick around and post frequently! Sorry to hear that you are having problems with your kidneys. We will do our best to lend you support and encouragement, so please don't be shy to post!

Wishing you a beautiful weekend!!! From one Karen to another, HAPPY SATURDAY!!!

 

[Luvinit]

HI KAREN!!! Glad you are here!!!


Just do what I do...ingnore the negitive people who just talk to hear themselves and....rely on your WISH friends to carry you through your tough spots!!!

Tracy

 

[welovedis]

Thanks again all! I just returned from my last kidney dialysis session and the docs are letting me resume a *light* exercise schedule, so I am pleased about that. It will feel so much better after being away from the gym for 5 weeks!

I truly appreciate all the kind words and welcomes. Thanks for all the friendly PMs. Alot of people are wondering what happened to me that my health has been compromised, so I thought a brief explanation here would help out.

I started Atkins in October 2002 along with a pretty intense exercise regimen at a local gym. Things were going great & the pounds & inches were dropping off. Early this year (Jan-Feb), it seemed like I had reached a plateau & even though I was trying hard, I just couldn't lose anymore weight.

A part-time trainer at my gym suggested tweaking my lo-carb plan to where I was practically doing no-carbs every other day, plus I was exercising 6 days a week, sometimes 7. That jump-started things & the weight came off again. I went back to eating my regular low-carb diet. However, I started noticing pain in my lower back, to both sides and after that started worse pain in my stomach & abdomen. After a week or so of that I started vomiting and couldn't keep much food down.

I saw my doc right away who ran some tests & kept asking me if I drank alcohol (I have about 1 glass of wine every 6 months). He did more testing & I went off to see a nephrologist (kidney specialist), & a GI doc. They did lots more testing & a kidney biopsy & found that my system was in a state of ketoacidosis(insulin deficiency) & hyperuricemia (too much uric acid in my system). These combined to cause some damage to my kidneys (long & short term) & liver (short term). All the docs feel that my eating habits were the cause since I was otherwise very healthy & had no health problems before October 2002. For some reason the low-carb (and no-carb) eating just didn't work for my system--very rare.

IMO Atkins works great for most everyone. For some reason my system just couldn't adjust well & I should have been smart enough to consult with a dietician or someone other than a part-time trainer before changing my carb intake so radically. I highly recommend that someone who is considering Atkins take the time to read everything they can so that they understand how low-carb eating changes your metabolism. I read alot but not enough to really grasp what was happening to me. I take full responsibility for what happened to me though--I waited too long for my symptoms to go away before getting checked out.

Anyway--sorry to write such a long and detailed post. I just want people here to understand what happened & why it just didn't work for me. I hope that I'm still welcome & really suppost everyone who is trying to be healthy as that is what it is all about.

Thanks again & hope everyone has a terrific day!

 

[glo]

Hey Karen,
I am sorry you did not feel welcome here at first. I guess we are passionate about what we are doing, and I am truely sorry if I was one of the people who made you feel unwelcome. I do not remember,but I am sure if it was Atkins related I probably was, again I am sorry I do hope that everything turns out well for you. Please stay and hang around a bit. If we get obnoxious give us abop on the head(gently please)

hugs and welcome

 

[Disneyaholic]

Karen

Welcome to WISH and whatever your eating plan is now, please know that we're glad to have you here.

How awful for you, that your efforts to lose weight and get in shape have resulted in kidney damage! Your suggestion to consult a doctor or dietician are indeed words of wisdom.

Dottie

 

[nativetxn]

YIKES, I don't remember reading about that. I'm sorry if you didn't feel welcome on WISH, welovedis. I sure hope I didn't make you feel that way.

I'm really glad that my husband sees his internist, cardiologist and urologist regularly. They told him he would be fine on Atkins as long as he did not already have kidney disease. They actually told him that Atkins would <b>not</b> cause kidney disease only exacerbate any kidney illness he had before he started the plan.

Now, I'm worried. I don't want him to end up with kidney disease. I think we need to discuss this with his physicians again. YIKES, very scary.

I'm glad you are giving WISH another chance, welovedis. I hope you can visit often.

Katholyn

 

[PAdisMOM]

Welcome Karen!!

I have a strange story that kinda goes with your situation.

I'm a teacher. Earlier in the semester I had a student that was very athletic. He was drinking protein shakes to try to get bigger. I guess he was drinking 2 or 3 a day. Very suddenly he became ill. Like he couldn't even sit up in bed. This happened over night.

They took him to the hospital and ran all kinds of tests on him. They found abnormally high enzyme levels in his blood. They said it was probably from the protein shakes he had been drinking. But they couldn't do anything to get his enzyme levels back down, and he was getting weaker and weaker. This lasted for weeks.

They took him to a specialist in Pittsburgh and within a week he was diagnosed with a rare genetic disease. It is causing his muscles to weaken. He has had this disease since birth, but apparently it was in remission. It may go into remission again, but nobody is sure.

I'm not sure if it was the protein shakes that triggered this disease to become active or not. It may have been a coincidence. But it reminded me a little of your situation. You just never know how different things will affect different people.

I hope you're feeling better. And I hope that whatever plan you pick works well for you and keeps you healthy!