Meat & Dairy Free Diet for Dercum's?

Is anyone on a meat and dairy free diet??? I am going to try it starting next week(gotta go shopping for stuff first) as Dr H recommended I do it…If anyone else is also doing this diet will you tell me if its relieving some of the side effects?..I pray it will…Its worth a try…I am even considering doing a diet that a friend suggested I try called the raw foods diet( veggies,fruits,whole grains and nuts and such)…I will try anything to slow the progress down of this…My thinking is not clear anymore and I stutter all the time now too…

I started the diet Saturday and I want to say that if you all havent tried it please do…So far the pain really hasnt lessened but only 3 days on it…I weighed myself Saturday morning and I was 247 then…Okay I just weighed myself tonite and it was 237…I dont know if its eliminating the meat and dairy or my scale is nuts…

1 Like

Nope. :slight_smile: I’m following the “Fat Flush Plan.” It’s no processed foods, good fats, eggs, lean meat, and veggies and fruits. I go easier on the higher carb veggies and fruits, because I feel better without them. I also supplement like crazy. It doesn’t make me totally well, but I definitely feel worse when I stray.

Good luck with your plan. I hope it helps.

Hello All

I am curious if any of you had growth problems during your childhood? I was dianosed with an elongated colon and wonder if this may have something to do with the way my body deals with nutrition. I have been in unrelenting pain for the past month. I feel like i have been shot at close range with a shotgun loaded with glass shards. I am so tired of the pain. I am also tired of dropping things,falling down and my lack of strength. I cant even lift a simple bag of dog food for more than a few seconds. I am embarrased that my wife is our only source of income. God please fix us!

Rodney

I have never been very good at dieting, I always end up giving up because its too hard and I hurt anyway, so why not eat what I want and enjoy it! I have tried at different times and different diets. The only one I ever really lost any weight with was the low carb diet, not Atkins or Southbeach, I just counted carbs. But that got old and I had trouble digesting my food even with the digestive enzymes I take. I have learned to stay away from certain foods like too much cheese (which I love ) and too much white bread, things like that. But when I get depressed I will eat anything. I hate that I do that but it is a comfort food thing. I love meat and hate fish, so it is really hard for me to follow a diet. Oh well.

I had alot of sinus problems growing up and every childhood disease you get a vaccination for(chicken pox,measles,mumps) I got it…When I was 14 we went to FL for vacation and something happened when I scratched a bug bitr and I developed a staph infection.I wont forget that I was hospitalized and in a quarantined room the whole time …I never thought I had any growth problems but when I had my first daughter I developed a fold of fat in the area of the c section that nothing would get rid of…Its filled with lipomas (didnt know what they were then…Know what they are now)…
If it meant you might get relief for some pf the things happening to you wouldnt you try it(the diet??)…Dr H tells me it DOES help…And there are substitutes for some of the foods like milk and cheese…I think its worth a try…

Nomad,
I’m not sure what you mean by growth problems? I’m short, the shortest in my family, but I assume that is just genetics. I was an extremely sickly child and, even then, I was a bit chubby and my fat was painful. I thought everyone’s was, though, and continued to believe that until just a few years ago. I had never known anything else, so it never occurred to me that was abnormal. I didn’t really notice the hundreds, maybe thousands, of bean sized lumps either. I figured that was just the way fat felt to the touch. The big ones only got my attention when they hurt. I only asked the doctor about the ones on the soles of my feet when they became so painful I could barely walk. I knew that wasn’t normal! I know it sounds like I was an idiot, but I had a very high IQ. I just didn’t know what normal fat felt like because I had never had it.

Pamela

Going to the Dr Friday so I will know if its me or my scale…Dr H also suggested a proteanase inhibitor as well…I hope that the Dr will read all the info I have for him…will keep posted/…Thanks to all who have been my rock!!!

Oh my this diet will be hard for me…I had to cook three meals …one for the grand kids…one for hubby and then one for me…Thank goodness for Zip Lock Steamer bags…

I dont know if it is because I am losing some weight or the weather is changing but pain has increased alot over the last few days…has anyone else lost weight and had pain increase??I am so stiff in the joints especially in my hands and wrists.

What diet are you on that you were able to lose wt? I’ve been sick and not eaten for a week and gained 3 pounds. I don’t even have to eat it, just walk by it and I’ve gained wt. Really am interested in the diet you are on.

Thanks
Benita

Someone on another site said she had recently lost most of her normal fat and,now that there is nothing left but normal fat, she is in alot more pain. She assumes that is because the normal fat was cushioning the tumors, and now there is no cushion.

Pamela

Pamela:

I have an opinion about that. I may have already told you guys that when the nodules started forming in me I wore a 7 and I’m a 22 now (cause I like everything very, very loose). My theory goes along with yours. I believe that when you are thinner and you move, move anything, the muscles, connective tissues, etc. all rub across the DD fat. Since it is so sensitive anyway, the lack of normal fat to cushion the impact of movement itself is why it is even more painful for thin people or people who have “lost all their normal fat” - just a theory.

Benita

Benita, I suspect you are right. My thinner areas like my hands, wrists, feet and ankles are more painful than the fatter places on my body. Just a theory though.

Pamela

I was a chubby nursed baby and a very thin child. At puberty, I got kinda fat. In college I was very thin from running all over campus and working full time. After I had the kids I stayed a normal weight for 20 years then twenty years ago I started gaining weight. In the last 10 years I have gained over 100 pounds of unhealthy fat. It hangs on my arms and belly sagging down and filled with painful lumps. The fat on my face is full of painful lumps. My feet are so painful I can’t walk and my back is so painful I can’t stand. The groin area and where my legs meet my body is fat filled with painful lumps. My arms are full as are my legs, rib cage, hips and feet. Everywhere! I am an insulin dependant diabetic so I watch my diet carefully, but I do not lose any weight. I eat a third of what I did earlier in life but since I can’t move I don’t burn any calories. I don’t like what I see in the mirror but I have such severe IBS I deal with digestive problems every day. The best “diet” I ever had was just a life style. I ate steak, cottage cheese and coney’s and was on my feet 16 hours a day, walking and working. Once a week I had fish and mashed potatoes. I weighed 105. I think activity is the key and I am unable to be active due to many medical conditions. I just found out my thyroid is about gone and started on thyroid med. I hope that Dr. H’s research on our abnormal fat leads to a cure for obesity. I think this will come in time for most of you…just not oldies like me. : )

Well I emailed Dr Herbst…Ya’ll know she is the expert…She told me and I quote right from her email…

Diet DOES make a difference in this disease. I favor no dairy and no red meat, pork or lamb. You can eat fish and chicken and turkey on Thanksgiving but avoid at other times. There are many dairy substitutes such as soy, rice and almond milks and cheeses.The idea here is to stop activating the proteases by changing your diet.

My doctor is great he has put every email from her in my file…I am following her recommendations on the diet…I dont know if there will be more pain…I have only been doing this for a few days …I am trying it because I believe in what she says…I know that dairy products can aggravate simus problems…I am 200 plus pounds and Im tired of being fat…I have diabeties,lymphadema and high blood pressure as well.I believe that just by cutting some things out and eating healthy maybe I can get rid of the type 2 diabeties…My A1C is at 7 right now and thats good…I take Metformin and have been for 2 years but thank God I do not have to take insulin shots…every one is different but as per Dr Herbst’s believeing diet makes a difference Im listening to her…Ill post in my journal how its working…

Hello Ejohnson,

My name is Lisa Moon. I’m new here so I haven’t had a chance to read everything I want to yet. I am also a registered nurse and I have taken a special interest in nutrition since being diagnosed by Dr. H. last November. I have been eating some red meat on occasion just because it is hard to abstain completely but for the most part I eat chicken fish and turkey whenever I do eat meat. It’s sort of a way of weaning off the bad stuff.

The reason Dr. H. recommends to abstain from red meat is because of the antibodies that cause our immune systems to be overworked, so chicken fish and turkey are OK. You can use ground turkey in place of beef in many dishes. If you like pasta dishes the best is whole wheat pastas and use tomato sauces with chunks of your favorite vegetables like zuccinim onion, mushrooms, etc. you won’t even miss the meat. If you like mushrooms, use sliced cooked portabelos on buns with all the fixins you would use on a burger. For snack foods, I grab a piece of fresh fruit(there are so many different kinds), a handfull of nuts or raisins, a rice cake(they come in chocolate) or frozen fruit juice bar. You can find a lot of recipes online but remember some of the frozen vegetarian products are actually just processed foods.

I’ve also been using the MCT oil that DR. H. recommended. It doesn’t mix well but I use it with a rasperry vinegar to make salad dressing. I’m going to try some new things with it so be looking for my posts.

By the way, I lost 18 pounds since November and people are commenting about it!

Hi Lisa, The only MC oil I can find is coconut. Can you tell me what other
ones there are? Or is that what you are using?

Thanks,
Joan

There are short, medium and long chain fatty acids.

What is MCT oil?

Benita