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I started out on atkins to lose weight but had problems with my blood pressure increasing and food allergies being triggered. My daughter bought the new McDougall book and talked me into trying it. Two days Vegan and my BP was 101/68. I am a Vegan with training wheels... I am not perfect... I am trying. I also have a lot of pain with fibromyalgia. I am in menopause and have a borderline hypoactive thyroid. I am short and need to lose about 75 pounds. About 45 of it I gained in the past two years. I am not sure if this diet helps hormone imbalances but I hope so.

Has anyone else had experiences with fibromyalgia, rosacea, food allergies, or hormone imbalances? That I need to lose weight is a given,but if my body was balanced I think it would help in many ways.

Well, no one has replied yet. Overall my blood pressure is better. Not always as good as the 104/75, but not high either. Pulse seems to be lower also. Is that normal. I did not expect that. That one is really odd to me. My resting pulse has been on the high side for years.

My daughter has not had any improvement in her RA. She has eaten more corn since eliminating wheat due to severe allergic reaction of hives in back of mouth and tightness in chest. It has been since then that the swollen red joints appeared so I question corn.

The best she has felt was when she got stung by a bee by accident. Now she is looking into practitioners that use bee stings to treat RA. There are actually two in her area. She sees an acupuncturist regularly.

It may take you daughter some time trying to figure out if there is any other allergies to foods she may not be aware of. That is interesting on the bee sting though.

I'm glad you are making some progress with the bp and pulse.

Hey you just described me! I have been McDougalling for almost a year now and my diagnoses of Fibro made just the week before I started this...had suffered for longer was gone only 7 days on this WOE ...Rosacea..GONE!...food allergy's..wheat is my trigger for arthritis pain...just a few bites and I suffer the next day...as well as Hormones...I "mone" no more...

Food allergies are sometimes misdiagnosed as fibromyalgia. I have had fibromyalgia for over ten years and i carry an extremely positive RA factor, but they say I don't have RA. My highest test was 350 and it should be less than 20. Some docs think whatever it is is autoimmune related. My daughter does have RA.

I have been eating this way about two weeks. My BP is much better, but I feel much worse than before. I actually feel like someone beat me up. I have spent some days in bed. I have not belt this bad when having a full allergy flare up for two weeks with hives daily not even close. I was tested for celiacs and gluten years ago. I had alcat testing done for 150 foods and additives. The foods that cause hives are casein, msg, flax, cayenne pepper, tuna. When I cut out the foods, I do not see any affect on my pain. It does clear up my hives though.

I pulled out my book on inflammation cures. I hadnt read it before. In reading it I understand why I have had more pain. I unknowingly went from eating foods that were more anti-inflammatory to foods that were more inflammatory. Rice was my main food. The more a food affects the blood sugar the higher the inflammatory score. Self.com also has the inflammatory scores included with their nutrition database. For most people this isn't a factor. For me, I feel like a whipped pup so I must find a change... a less inflammatory menu.

I had a long history of inflammation problems, including dermatitis (eczema and rosacea): http://anti-itisdiet.blogspot.com/2007/ ... ation.html

I cured my inflammation problems by adopting a limited subset of the McDougall Program regular diet: http://anti-itisdiet.blogspot.com/2010/ ... i-eat.html

Some of my other medical problems continued, but seemed to have slowed down or possibly have stopped now. The McDougall Program (diet, exercise, stress reduction) is not a cure-all, but it is, I think, the best therapeutic program around. It is worth experimenting with, at least for a few months, with 100% compliance.

I am hypothyroid. I'm having a hard time losing weight.

My mother has fibro. The key to making this diet work for her has been to find her trigger foods. It's a puzzle we have been working on, and it takes time, but one by one we are going down the list and she is making slow but steady progress.