a strong mother...

[Dorothy]

Make sure you don't take any iodine supplements!  (you probably already knew that).

Why please? I am unaware and would like to know.

[00nightstorm]

People with Hashimoto's, when they take iodine it often causes their immune system to attack their thyroid causing an increase in symptoms and the destruction of your thyroid gland.  Most people that are hypothyroid have Hashimoto's so its generally bad advice to tell someone with thyroid problems to take an iodine supplement.  You can get all the iodine you need from raw fish or natural sources.

[Dorothy]

Thanks for the explanation nightstorm. Why would the supplement make their immune systems attack the thyroid and iodine in foods not?

[cherimoya_kid]

I am unsure. It feels a little different from a sore throat and it does feel "tight", like it is closing up. But I think if it was an allergic reaction I should get it right away I guess? Because it does happen at least hours after eating the meat, sometimes I only notice it in the morning when I wake up.
It is painful too, especially when swallowing, maybe it is just a weird type of sore throat with swelling.

Hmm...how long has it been happening? 

[Suiren]

Since I ate raw wild caught salmon one night...I just nibbled it right off the skin. My husband was sick the whole night, I was fine but had a sore throat.

I have avoided raw fish lately, but its hard to find good meat.

00nightstorm
Yes, I avoid Iodine, but we used to eat salt with Iodine at home when I was little.

Dorothy
I think the dose is just too high...its like frcutose vs. HFCS 

[cherimoya_kid]

Since I ate raw wild caught salmon one night...I just nibbled it right off the skin. My husband was sick the whole night, I was fine but had a sore throat.

That sounds like an allergic reaction.  I'd go easy on the finfish for a while.  Maybe try some shellfish instead, see if that causes the same reaction.

[afroza]

Congratulations on your health recovery! That is fantastic. It is hard to go against the established view on diet and health, especially if you have a child. Everyone seams to think they are entitled to an opinion when you have kids.
I have had strong and frequent detoxes in my throat and tonsils since going on RAF. Almost only when eating "white" meat like fish or chicken. I use to get a very sore throat and sometimes fever. Doesn't happen anymore, but once I ate farmed salmon and had an allergic reaction similar to what you are describing. I have over time learned to feel the difference between detox and bad effects from food and I welcome detoxes due to high bacteria in raw food, but I know that not all people seek that kind of experiences, and I totally get that. But sometimes the quickest way to health is through somewhat uncomfortable detoxes. Maybe that is what you are experiencing with fish, only you can know.
  Try berries with raw cream (if you can get it) to gain weight, or frozen berries blended with cream as an ice-cream. Berries are the only thing I eat frozen sometimes, according to AV and others, they hardly looses any nutrition by freezing. Anything is worth a try even if only to gain back some weight. It is the best defence when recovering from health issues, and to produce good, nutritious milk for your child.

[Suiren]

afroza

Thank you! It IS hard to be on this diet when having a child. I don't even know how to tell my parents that the baby will be eating raw meat soon. I also dread things like kindergarten and school...we are actually even planning to avoid kindergarten, due to the risk of my son eating certain foods. :/

Maybe I really am experiencing detoxes then. How long have you had them for?

Raw cream - well, I eat a lot of raw butter and take olive oil supplements. Cream sounds good, but I think it has less fat and may not do the trick for me?
I definitively feel like my high fat diet has been producing very fatty high calorie milk for my little guy. He is so chunky, just I don't seem to be getting any

[Suiren]

Updates for July:

Now that I have tackled some of the bigger problems, it is about time to focus on the little things. I do have a lot of minor pains and twinges...that I just don't mention because they have become normal. I want to see if any of them improve on RPD.

1. Haziness, a head in the clouds kind of feeling or like I am trapped in my head is one of my biggest problems. I also get some sort of tunnel vision sometimes. I frequently feel drugged.

I was always a "dreamy", introverted child. But I never felt hazy or like I am not really "there" until I was 16. Since I had bad reactions after receiving vaccines then, I often wonder if that is partially to blame. Every time I had gotten shots, my health took a downfall.
Also, young people generally have less health problems, just because they are younger and have not been as affected by their life style yet.
I am tired of feeling drowsy, but not sure how to tackle it yet.

2. My weight, I HATE this problem so fucking much. I just want to be able to gain weight like every normal person. Stuffing myself is so not enjoyable.
I am never too far from a normal weight, and after pregnancy was even able to stay close to the 50kg (110 lbs) mark which is okay, just not my ideal I guess. But recently I lost a lot of weight, and now I am down to 47kg. Currently to gain weight I am eating:

1/2 bar of butter, 5 tablespoons of cold pressed olive oil on top of regular foods. I have chosen butter and olive oil because they have the highest fat content.
I am trying to consume even more raw butter and will update my progress in a little bit.

I am also looking into other methods that could help me gain weight as discussed in this thread: http://www.rawpaleodietforum.com/health/i-keep-losing-weight!/msg97090/#msg97090

[afroza]

afroza

Thank you! It IS hard to be on this diet when having a child. I don't even know how to tell my parents that the baby will be eating raw meat soon. I also dread things like kindergarten and school...we are actually even planning to avoid kindergarten, due to the risk of my son eating certain foods. :/

Maybe I really am experiencing detoxes then. How long have you had them for?

Raw cream - well, I eat a lot of raw butter and take olive oil supplements. Cream sounds good, but I think it has less fat and may not do the trick for me?
I definitively feel like my high fat diet has been producing very fatty high calorie milk for my little guy. He is so chunky, just I don't seem to be getting any

Hi, again, sorry for the delay. Your son looks healthy and beautiful on your profile picture! I have noticed that I don´t gain weight on just fat (that´s why the Low Carb High Fat diets are successful when trying to loose wieght, I guess) but rather if I combine fat with carbs, like cream with berries or banana.
The detoxes I used to have in my throat and lungs used to last for a couple of days, sometimes with fever. I had many years of throat infections and antibiotic treatments prior to RAF so it was in bad shape.

[Suiren]

Updates for August

1. My weight keeps dropping. I am at wits end. I am 46.2kg/ 102 lbs now and was 50kg/110lbs on a standard diet.
My last resort is a food journal, to have a better overview. I can't go much lower, this does not sound good.
Weirdly my face also got much thinner, my cheeks are sunken in much like some fruitarians , not a good look.

2. My skin keeps imroving, big time. My pimples are getting less and less, I only have a few zits here and there every few days, I would say overall that I have "good skin" now, like what the average person considers good, because imo many people nowadays have less than perfect skin.
Some things about my skin are better than ever before, or rather, like when I was 15, 16. It is something about the glow and texture. My pores have become smaller, I never considered them big..but they just seem finer and not "open". My skin is much less oily and not dry anymore. I don't really need moisturizer much at all anymore, I just put a little (I use a very good organic brand) because my skin is happier that way, any sort of dryness will result into redness and excess oil for me.
I have to say my eyes also look a bit fresher lately...not sure how though, I think less puffy and like I am more rested?
All the changes are very subtle and it takes time to see them, but comparing last month to this month I can see vast improvement.
My body skin has also gotten so much better. I had some tiny bumps and rough parts on my upper arm and thighs...but its all gone. Even the parts that never had a problem are softer and smoother. I never even thought I had a problem other than my face.
I think my skin may not get to perfect until I cut out the butter? Dairy really makes me break out and since butter has some casein too, I think it might make a difference.
And of course I am not all raw yet.
What is a little weird, my face was not bad until 8 months postpartum, which was also the time when I made the most changes from a standard diet to a paleo diet. Now eating certain foods only once causes me to break out badly, especially grains and dairy, but also beans.

3. My energy and alertness has yet improved again, I know I say this all the time, but I sleep even better (feel okay with 6 hours), and my brain fog has gotten better. I have had problems with brain fog since I was 18 and it seemed to slowly have gotten worse. Especially since pregnancy I have had it so bad, that sometimes I can not focus on certain tasks. I am also extremely forgetful, like an old lady...
But I have been more sharp, which is good, because I am alone with my son during mid day now, and I need to be able to function.
The feeling of being trapped in my head has also bettered. This was especially bad when paired with my fears of something happening to my son (or even me). I see danger in normal day to day things now. I still manage to leave the house and face them, but when my dad was recently holding my son standing near the river I caught myself standing in between them and the river, trying not to look obvious.
I don't know if it is a maternal instinct going too crazy, but it sucks when you have those fears and on top of that your mind feels trapped with those fears, because you are not in the real world at the moment...hope that makes sense.

4. My menstruation is back!!
I a somewhat happy about this because my body worked just like a clock again and exactly at one year postpartum it returned. 1 year is said to be where your body is pretty much back to normal.
And I also means I am much more fertile again  , we are not trying for number two yet, will probably even wait two more years, but it is just good to know.
I do have some cramping though that I never had before though, but I read it is common for the first period to be heavy and painful. At least it is moderate pain and a normal flow. Usually I have a very light, short period (1-3 days), I used the little panty liners during my period. And it has always been symptom free, if I wasn't bleeding, I wouldn't even know I have my period.

I think I might start a google site or something similar as a diary too, so I can keep track of all the improvement better than in a thread.

[cherimoya_kid]

The best foods I've seen for weight gain are avocados and goat dairy.

[Suiren]

The best foods I've seen for weight gain are avocados and goat dairy.

I have not been eating a lot of avocado because 1 single avocado costs about $2.50 here and it ends up being too expensive for us. However I tried to add some to our butter.

Goat dairy, would it give me the same problems as cow dairy? I can't seem to tolerate much dairy at all anymore. I suppose goats milk or cream still has less calories than butter right? Raw goat butter would be very hard to find I think
Is goat dairy expensive? We live off of 480 Euros a month, after paying bills which is usually not enough for super foods and other expenses like travel (bus, train)

[Suiren]

Foods I can't tolerate anymore:

All grains, including corn but grains containing gluten are worse, all dairy except butter, not even cream really, although it seems less bad. Beans give me problems. I have not been able to eat any type of fish without a very sore swollen throat lately.
Fructose has been causing me more problems than on SAD.

Too much nuts seem to cause diarrhea. Too much fat and oil gets me nauseated.

I think I'm just gonna have to starve. I could not even eat standard foods anymore to save myself from starving.
I also would not want my son to be fed grain fed breast milk again...This just sucks so fucking bad.

[aLptHW4k4y]

Try some weightlifting, otherwise it's pretty much impossible to get fatter on this diet (unless you're naturally big/fat).
I have the exact same problem with weight, but I'd rather be thin and feel good than stuff myself with bread or dairy or whatever and feel crappy, just so that I look better to others.
Most here won't understand that those like us that are naturally thin, end up REALLY thin on this diet. I'm 1.9m tall male and 73kg.. fucking marathon runners are bigger.

[Suiren]

Try some weightlifting, otherwise it's pretty much impossible to get fatter on this diet (unless you're naturally big/fat).
I have the exact same problem with weight, but I'd rather be thin and feel good than stuff myself with bread or dairy or whatever and feel crappy, just so that I look better to others.
Most here won't understand that those like us that are naturally thin, end up REALLY thin on this diet. I'm 1.9m tall male and 73kg.. fucking marathon runners are bigger.

Does weight lifting increase fat in any way? I thought it would just produce lean muscle mass and add to weight because of the muscle being heavier?
Also the problem is, I am not even maintaining weight on this diet, I keep losing. At some point I will be unhealthy because of being too thin.
I am also worried things like weight lifting would not look good because I am a woman..I don't want toned abs, or arms...I want fat, a soft shape all that womanly stuff, which I believe is natural for women to have (just not to an excess). I will lose that if I drop more or would actually work out I think.

Your BMI is 20.2, which is ideal. Mine is 16.9. I usually don't think BMI is the most accurate, but there is a difference between the two. To get a BMI of 20.2 I would have to be 55kg/ 121lbs. That is 10kg/ 22 lbs (!!) more than what I am now.

I also personally want to be bigger, regardless of what other say. My arms look like tooth picks and I don't want to see bones...

[CitrusHigh]

Hi Suiren, Sorry you are having a frustrating time.

I haven't read through this whole thread yet so I can't comment much or make suggestions, I only want to tell you that it took me 2 years to fully detox (or at least 90%ish) on a RVAF diet, you are well within that zone of time so take heart, it isn't an overnight process always and it takes time to pull toxins from deep inside your tissues and marrow.

Keep heart and keep experimenting until you find something that works for you. There is an answer to your health issues but it takes persistence to get there. I remember how many occasions over the last 6 years that I was at my wits end also, literally begging god for a solution to my health problems, if I had given up I would still be in misery to this day, either drugged out or isolated in my pain.

I also want to second your notion to keep an eating journal. With tricky cases like yours they are invaluable!

Good luck!

[aLptHW4k4y]

BMI gets skewed for tall people like me, so it's more like 18-19 I think. It's certainly not ideal because I get the same remarks like you everywhere, "you're so thin...". But yours is indeed really low.
Women can't make much muscles, so don't worry about that. But your appetite will increase, metabolism will normalize, etc.
I agree that women look much better with some healthy levels of fat under the skin, and likewise men with some normally sized muscles as well as fat, but yeah, we're at a genetic disadvantage with regards to this and need to fight.. At least it's better than being obese.

I don't know how tolerant you are to carbs, if you don't have problems with them you could try eating some white rice every day. It's extremely cheap and relatively safe if you add a bunch of fat like butter to it. Without the rice I'd probably go down to your BMI.

[Suiren]

Hi Suiren, Sorry you are having a frustrating time.

I haven't read through this whole thread yet so I can't comment much or make suggestions, I only want to tell you that it took me 2 years to fully detox (or at least 90%ish) on a RVAF diet, you are well within that zone of time so take heart, it isn't an overnight process always and it takes time to pull toxins from deep inside your tissues and marrow.

Keep heart and keep experimenting until you find something that works for you. There is an answer to your health issues but it takes persistence to get there. I remember how many occasions over the last 6 years that I was at my wits end also, literally begging god for a solution to my health problems, if I had given up I would still be in misery to this day, either drugged out or isolated in my pain.

I also want to second your notion to keep an eating journal. With tricky cases like yours they are invaluable!

Good luck!

Thank you Thoth! The detoxes are not too bad, especially since I really avoid certain foods strictly. If it was not for the concerning weight loss, I could say I am doing well actually.
I started a food diary using an app called fitness pal, it estimates how many calories I need to gain and I can search up foods, enter the amount I ate and it will calculate the calories. Supposedly I will gain on 2100 cals, 1 lbs a week even. But it is only 7pm and I still have 2 meals ahead of me, and I already consumed 2439 cals  .
I assume I need way more calories than the average person, maybe because of the paleo foods too. And 500 extra for breastfeeding anyway...

[Suiren]

BMI gets skewed for tall people like me, so it's more like 18-19 I think. It's certainly not ideal because I get the same remarks like you everywhere, "you're so thin...". But yours is indeed really low.
Women can't make much muscles, so don't worry about that. But your appetite will increase, metabolism will normalize, etc.
I agree that women look much better with some healthy levels of fat under the skin, and likewise men with some normally sized muscles as well as fat, but yeah, we're at a genetic disadvantage with regards to this and need to fight.. At least it's better than being obese.

I don't know how tolerant you are to carbs, if you don't have problems with them you could try eating some white rice every day. It's extremely cheap and relatively safe if you add a bunch of fat like butter to it. Without the rice I'd probably go down to your BMI.

I eat some carbs in the form of sweet potatoes and carrots, or fruit. Rice does give me problems now. It never used to, but since I cut out grains, whenever I eat more than maybe a small serving once in a blue moon, I get stomach aches, horrible breakouts, and I also feel foggy from rice. Brain fog is a big problem of mine.

When I was on a standard diet WITH butter and olive oil added for calories, I gained some weight. But now its so hard.
Sometimes I wonder if the diet I have eaten all my life, actually caused me damage that makes it hard for my body to absorb calories. I read celiac disease sufferers can have that problem, I had many symptoms of celiac disease, but never got checked because I knew changing my diet will help anyway.

Weight lifting: I am fairly active, at least more than the average person since we don't have a car, which mains walking 45mins to the supermarket with the stroller and back with groceries, lifting the stroller and especially lifting my son the whole day. That fat baby in the picture is a fat 1 year old now, he weighs above average, 24lbs  , and he wants to be held all day. So I can clean the house holding him in one arm and a broom in the other hand. If he is not being held he wants to be entertained and play so I certainly do get some exercise I think.

I DO wonder about my metabolism though, and I might have it checked again...it used to be unusually fast, and then slow once I started meds for Hashimoto's (although that did not help gain either).
Since I am off meds, it might be fast again?

[aLptHW4k4y]

Sounds like you're getting enough weight lifting with that little guy

Brain fog means you're probably not very tolerant to carbs and you're pretty much doing low carb? Have you measured how much carbs you eat per day? Carrots and fruits doesn't sounds like much, especially because you need a fortune to eat enough calories from fruits, and you said money is restricted.

It's a fact that when eating raw diet you will absorb LESS calories, that's what many studies have shown. E.g. when eating raw fish you'll absorb less protein than when eating it cooked. My take on it is that you need some time to adapt to fully digesting raw foods, maybe months for some but years for others, which is why these studies found what they found, because they were mostly done on people who've never eaten raw meat or fish or eggs before in their life. So maybe you're just still in this adaptation phase. Or maybe you're badly doing a low carb. Or maybe it's that celiac possibility. No clue about Hashimoto though, maybe someone can comment.

[CitrusHigh]

What I meant with the comment on detox Suiren is that it may be hard to gain weight while your body is in detox, and your other conditions are almost certainly contributing to the problem, and they will not likely heal and normalize completely until your body has detoxed everything out and then healed the other issues like hashimoto's, cancer, etc.

It will probably take time for your system to 'reset' itself, regenerate itself and function properly. It would probably help enormously to be eating raw glands and organs, all of them, especially thyroid in your case, but also brain and everything else. I know you said at one point in this thread that you were still adjusting to raw meats, so I don't know if you're up for that, but even if you're not now, keep it on the back 'burner' so to speak, for when you've exhausted all the other avenues.

Also breast feeding is an ENORMOUS drain in energy, and I think you won't have near as much trouble maintaining your preferred weight once you're through. Have you tried feeding the big little fella some raw liver or hamburger to supplement your breast milk?  I really think it's awesome you're trying to keep him on your milk for a while, there really is nothing better for them and it's such a crucial time, the benefits show in the photos of him! He's gorgeous.

Re your high metabolism and output of breast milk I doubt that calculator is going to do much good. I know I certainly eat far and above what most people eat and, though I'm beginning to fill out and bulk up a bit now at 26 yrs old and having healed so my body will accept the nourishment pretty efficiently, I still stay very trim and lean compared to what my friend, who eats like me in terms of calories, looks like.
All that is to say, your journal is great, but don't expect too much from their calculator unless you're in some way able to account for your high metabolism with the calculations, like tell it you need whatever number of calories you think you need to maintain your weight, even if the calculator thinks you only need an arbitrary number like 2100.

Just some thoughts, I'll have more intelligent input as soon as I've caught up on the whole thread. Cheers!

[Suiren]

aLptHW4k4y

I think what I am doing is low carb? I eat about 1 carrot a day, or one banana, sweet potato.  I have been wanting to increase the amount, but I get so full off of the fat, nuts and eggs.
I think it might be the low carb, since I cut out rice not too long ago. It was one of the last things to go, but then I had to take it out of my diet abruptly because I suddenly started reacting badly to it.
I also think my body has gotten much more sensitive to crappy foods, which is a good thing of course, and it is sad to think that my body used to just shut up about all the grains (grains in the form of bread and pasta used to be my main food source!).

I only eat partially raw, good grasfed meat ans wild caught fish is always eaten raw. But cheap grain fed meat from the supermarket (often fatty ground beef) is dried or cooked, plus I do buy lunch meats, prefer prosciutto over cooked ham, but yeah most lunch meats are cooked.

Thoth
Yes, you are right about the calculator. It is nothing to rely on too much, I just like how I can keep track of my calorie intake, so I can see how much works for weight gain.
Same goes for adding more carbs, or more avocado....I have been wanting to see if my body gains better with more carbs eaten with all the fat.

I am going slow with eating raw meats, because I tend to detox, especially from fish it seems. I don't want my son to get too much of that through the breast milk, and also I need to have enough strength being home alone with him.
I had some days where I felt faint, and it is a scary thought if I pass out while he is alone with me.
I am willing to try organs and brain and all that stuff...I have eaten it cooked, maybe it will taste okay to me.

I know breastfeeding uses a lot of energy and calories, maybe even more now that he is older. Luckily I have never felt drained from it. It is even relaxing, because we get to lay down on the couch for ten minutes and rest ( I nurse him side lying mostly).
he does not eat a lot of solids yet, he is still in that test and play phase. We wanted him to start with meat a month ago and ordered gras fed meat and suet, but the order is not here yet! Those people are driving me crazy...  >:I feel bad he has to wait so long for his meat. The same farm could also sell us liver and other organs...so I hope they will hurry up already.

What you say about the detox makes sense. I just hope I don't starve in the process .

My conditions are pretty much gone...I think I was trying to update my first post before, but was not able to anymore. My prolactin levels are normal, so the pituitary tumor must be gone or shriveled up to the point of no harm. My thyroid is working normally and I don't really have Hashimoto's anymore, my blood work just shows high anti bodies still. The other numbers were okay. I am thinking the high anti bodies could be caused by my former diet too...not sure, just a simple guess of mine.

Oh and the HPV and cancer officially gone according to my last tests in June!! 
My doctor was even baffled that it cleared after 8 years of problems and it was also surprising that the HPV Virus is not showing up. I was expecting bettering, like less abnormal cells, but not that yet.
Would that mean I have progressed more health wise already? 

[CitrusHigh]

That would mean that you kick so much ass!

I would say you're doing pretty much everything right under your circumstances and your issue with weight gain will work itself out one way or another soon enough, god I wish my step mom was like you! Instead of my baby bro and sis suffering from eczema and asthma they would be robust and healthy! oh well, you are a pioneer and setting a wonderful example for the world!

[Suiren]

LOL, 

Sorry to hear about your brother and sister. On a mothering forum I come across quite a few not so healthy baby and toddlers. And I wonder if their problems could be fixed with a better diet. I suppose though, but try telling those mothers...I don't want to seem mean. Sometimes I carefully suggest cutting out grains and dairy or something, since that will sound less crazy to people.

My son was only sick once when he was 5 days old, because my FIL decided to pass his cold on to the newborn baby. But he took it like a champ, he only had a stuffy nose, while I was having actual cold symptoms and raised temperature haha.