Fat since . . . pt.2

A lot going on in my little world lately.

On June 27th I went to a hearing to determine if 3+ years after applying I qualify for the Social Security Disability (SSDI) I paid into for 40 years. The doctor giving his opinion of my medical state gave all these details of the damage to my spine. Repeating many times the phrase 'pathological morbid obesity'. He was 2000 miles away and has never met me. He concluded, after looking at my records, that 'pathological morbid obesity' and age would prevent my condition from ever getting better. In his experience age and obesity were irreversible in situations like mine. Gastric bypass was the only possible way to mitigate the 'pathological morbid obesity' to relieve my symptoms. Maybe. The judge said at the bench that my application was valid. It's all about waiting for the paperwork to process so I can afford to to be limited to laying here on my back 90%+ of the time.  

A few days later I had an appointment with yet another orthopedic doctor. When I made the appointment it was difficult to get in. His staff made me repeat back on the phone that I wasn't seeing him just for a disability report*. I was trying not to be too hopeful but a real diagnosis from a doctor able to treat me is a dream I've had for years now. A great retort to what the hearing doctor said. As usual this guy didn't address the ischial tuberosity pain I have when I sit more than an hour, sometime up to 2 during any one day. He said that even if he did operate on people as overweight as I am that it probably wouldn't help my back pain and other issues like neuropathy. 
He asked about whatever else I had tried. I had been to a pain specialist 2 summers ago. That dr gave me 3 cortisone shots with no results. New dr wanted to know if I wanted to go back. I said I did not like the pain specialist dr. New dr asked so I explained "He is like the chiropractor I used to work for. No matter what you come in for you were prescribed adjustments 3 times a week till your insurance benefits ran out." New dr explained that he and the pain dr get paid to do treatments not just doing exams like he was with me at that time*. Long pause . . . . 
Did he not think an operation would help me or did he think my insurance wouldn't cover it*?
I told him that physical therapy does help with the back pain for a while, sometimes. He wrote me a prescription for PT and sent me on my way. 
When I first got there his front desk people made me sign a paper that said something about him never prescribing narcotics. Then again in the exam room the nurse prepping me made the point that he never writes prescriptions for any medications. "Wait, they told me at the front desk . . " Pain meds are no help with the butt pain. The back pain does get bad enough that oxy or one of those is needed. Only once this year so far but mother fuck, that opiate addiction thing has nothing to do with me but at some point is going to literally leave me in a world of hurt. 
*For-profit healthcare is a big hole of suck. 

Anyway back to the grain free WOE. Internet chat groups have helped me a lot in understanding adult-adhd and statin damage. Lots of links to articles good and bad. So far, each of the major variations of low carb eating have such "True Believers" that even describing my short term, off program, experiences has gotten me booted from a couple of groups. One of the biggest groups I am still in is all about keeping the American Diabetes Association diabetes management guidelines. So far I have only been warned but am on thin ice. I don't know why I care. There are so many WOEs that have better track records than ADA has. For some people anyway. 
In the last week I have noticed some new things related to not eating grains, beans or potatoes:

• I still use a little bit of sugar in my coffee and tea. Something those true believers would blanch at. 
• When I was weighed at the new ortho dr's office I saw that I was down 15 lbs so far. The last time I was down to 330 was years back. 
• Lobedo got less and less in the last couple of years. What with being depressed, older and in a prolonged state of suspense and shame. I've had beg to get by while waiting on SSDI. To my surprise a number of time during the last month I have woken up ready for action, if you get my drift. The sensory charms of women make me feel all sparkly inside again. 
• Not a whole lot of more energy but I do find myself getting up to do busy work around the house. Who knows? the years of domicile neglect around here may start to fade away. 
• I have switched to what I assume is a more natural appetite rather than carbohydrate induced cravings all the time. 
• The lightheaded and dizzy feeling every morning became kind of rare a few months ago. It's back.  
• Gout attacks that got bad for a while have calmed. Could be that much of the stress of the hearing is gone now that it's over. If I am in ketosis it is a side effect. 

Then I read about one thing that happens when ketosis kicks in, that may account for a boost in the general feeling of wellbeing, reduced brain fog and appetite. Beta-hydroxybutyrate, or BHB is let loose in your blood stream. It creates a euphoria, kind of like the drug ecstasy (GHB). Evidently without the bad side effects. 

Keto evidently has some possible bad side effects but the good may outweigh them or not be relevant to me. One reason I was considering the blood sugar diet. It's less intense that way. I had this quack doctor years ago that wanted me to take the diet drug fen-phen after it was found to be dangerous but before it was banned. He said the odds of a fatal side effect from fen-phen were 1 in 15,000. The risks of suffering and/or death from obesity were just a matter of when. 

The clear headedness is a double edged sword. I think my addiction to carbs started at a such a young age and has been worse for me than other people because of ADHD. A way of self medicating to buffer the extra noise in my head. Euphoria and energy lately but also overlapping stimuli that I remember experiencing at other times in my life. Before I was diagnosed with adhd. If I get enough sleep and then caffeine I get a bit of the focus I was getting when I was prescribed Adderall. That is why I am able to get back to doing this blog. On the other hand I am more easily distracted than I was. You get CRS at a certain age too. 

Just as if I wasn't coming up with enough conflicting articles and studies the brain fog could also be type 3 diabetes. They are using low carb on alzheimer's people with good results. 

As I ended with in the last instalment I am hopeful that I won't have to use one of the methods that require a lot of tracking of this and that. Not only am I not predisposed to that kind of thing I do have faith in the principle that human bodies are self correcting. Removing the irritant of excess carbohydrates and the bad stuff in modern grain hybrids may be the key to letting my body heal itself. 

I have also been watching many videos on YouTube on these topics. One of the many medical doctor experts said some things that made no sense. She said the she tells her patients not to eat anything that grows underground. They are all full of carbs like potatoes. So no carrots or onions. She's just plain old wrong about that. She also said one thing that made a lot of sense. She drew an analogy between carbohydrate sensitivity and sensitivity to the sun. Due to factors beyond your control like heredity. Similar to the way redheads have to avoid the sun as much as possible. Some people can work up to hours of exposure. Still other darker complected people can tolerate lots of sun by comparison. It's the same with carbs and grains. You have to find the level of exposure that works best for you. 

The proof will be if I survive this new WOE and continue to lose weight and feel well.