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M/E Beware!

I have been home from the Hospital for just a week... and would have written this before, but did not know how to approach it, guess I was afraid of backlash from die hard M/E eaters... (that was me)

First let me say, I am a Low Carb Advocate... always will be... but I took things a little too far.... by doing M/E... NOT Kimmers Experiment, but M/E...

I was doing very well on Kimkins... lost a good amount of weight, then I switched to M/E... within a few days had a hard time "going"

Used a laxitive, and things were better except for some cramps...took a few days for those to go away.... back to Kimkins... all was OK...

A little stall in loss, and back to M/E... stopped "going" (again)... terrible cramps, (blamed it on the "net carb" candy for Easter)...( just 2 little Russel Stovers chocolates) 2nd day terrible cramps... 3rd day still cramps, and still did not "Go".... Passed out that evening (first for me!) an ambulance ride to the Hospital, where I spent the next 7 days, on large doses of intraveinous antibiotics.... Diagnosis??? Acute Diverticulitis! Never had it in my life!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I was SO sick, I can't even begin to express it.
When my doctors asked me about what happend I didn't know where to begin... any changes in diet?? well yes of course... I told them about the Atkins lo carb, and they said it wasn't the cause... had to be something that caused me to stop "going" I told them about M/E... Well I guess I don't have to tell you about the looks I got!!

I felt like a fool.... Now I am looking at a possible surgery, to remove the damaged part of my colon.

It was explained to me like this..... We all have Diverticuli in our colon... but sometimes when we strain to "go" or have a lot of pressure there for many reasons, little pouches form, usually not causing any problems, as we age, they become a little larger, if we are usually regular with our BM's we are fine... but when we jolt our systems into times of standstill, and non movement, things can fall into those little pouches and cause a lot of trouble. Especially if we eliminate fiber from our diet.... which as we all know can stop things up!

Anyway I was also told that Steak, was a very big culprit of this problem because is it a hard meat to digest, and eating a lot of it is not a good idea, also nuts and seeds are trouble too, especially when you can't "go" they are small and heavy and fall into these pouches, become surrounded with bacteria, and cause a major intestinal infection...

I have to be honest and admit I was eating steak 4 to 5 times a week on
M/E ...I love it... And I was mistaken in thinking it was just older people who suffered from this... one of my nurses 32 year husband (steak lover) has it too.. and so did several other people of all different ages.

SO now I am on a diet of high processed foods for the next 4 weeks, because my doctor does not want my stomach to do anything.... then I will have a Colonoscopy to assess the damage, and see if I need surgery to remove the affected area... (sheesh ... can't wait for that) ... if all goes well, I will be put on a high fiber diet...

I am not trying to deter anyone from any of the plans you are doing, but for goodness sakes if you get cramps (low) and they don't go away in a day, go to the doctor!!! You might have a problem! and it might NOT be the low carb candy!!! If I had not passed out, I would not have been taken to the hospital by ambulance, thus I would have just assumed I had a "bug" my colon could have very eaisly ruptured, and cause peritonitis, which could have killed me...