I was diagnosed with P.O.T.S. which "has no cure" and was debilitating enough to cost me a job where I was almost making 6 figures because I couldn't walk across a room without my heartrate spiking to 150 and almost blacking out. I was prescribed steroids, beta blockers, gabapentin, antidepressants, vasoconstrictors, DANGEROUS medications. I didn't take most of them. Instead, I had a revelation that my worst symptoms would occur after eating. I have no official "allergies", but did an elimination diet and kept a food journal (also monitored blood sugar) and discovered triggers. I changed to gluten free, dairy free, lots of protein, minimal sugar, minimal if any alcohol. I am no longer on any medications. Last year I traveled and swam with whale sharks. (The year prior I couldn't walk up 1 flight of stairs and my Dr at some point said "I'm sorry I can't help you" without EVER ONCE inquiring about diet.) I am incredibly convinced that most common/processed food is pure poison and a huuuge part of illness is diet-based. But big pharma doesn't make money off of my conclusion. Eat well, my friends.
Ironically these are roughly the same medication group prescribed for COPD/Emphysema. Just like you I noticed a keto, low carb diet works wonders, and removing alcohol also worked. They tried putting me on a pulmonary rehab program, except the stuff i do in rehab is 10 times weaker than what i do at home. They walk me on this treadmill, but the cardio i do at home involves rock climbing. They have these small weights, but the weights i use at home are 3 times their maximum weight. It's all useless
Yeah! Eventually they would have told me to get a wheel chair! My stamina still isn't super great, but now I go on hikes that are a few miles long and am able to follow work out videos (switching from laying down to standing, etc pretty quickly) without my heartrate going insane or getting tunnel vision.
By the way, I ran across mention of the "gut-lung" axis the other day. You might do some research into it. Perhaps applicable for COPD? https://www.mayoclinic.org/medical-professionals/pulmonary-medicine/news/the-gut-lung-axis-intestinal-microbiota-and-inflammatory-lung-disease/mqc-20483394
Best regards to you!
COPD does have a diaphragm/liver issue when it comes to eating, relating to bloating. A lot of people have told me i should blow all my cash and move to a high cost location with better health care services, i just dont see why. I got lucky with my house, and i wouldnt want to trade it for some high cost, super liberal area. Plus these diseases will kill you when they do, trying to suck out a few more painful years is in my eyes an atrocious idea. So you blow all your cash, but you're in chronic pain, does that somehow make you better off?
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