Mandy’s Story - Part 1

Monday, November 4, 2019:

This morning the scale read 94.4 kilos and that with my 1 meter 70, is really too much. Unfortunately in one month another 1.5 kilos added.

I decide to make an appointment with the family doctor. I can go the same day. We discuss what the causes could be, what I have done about it myself and when it all started.

How it started

It all started in 2010 after my last delivery. I had become pregnant using the ICSI method. The first attempt was unfortunately unsuccessful, but fortunately the second attempt was successful and I was pregnant. Throughout this process I had to take a lot of hormone-stimulating medication. I also stopped smoking just before we started the process. After a smooth delivery, my placenta did not come and I had heavy bleeding (fluxus). I had a total of 3.5 liters of blood loss. In the operating room, I already received blood transfusions. This caused a lot of stress for my body.

At the end of all three of my pregnancies I was around 86 pounds and after the deliveries I usually went back between 70 and 75 pounds. After my last delivery, I stuck around 78 pounds. I was still breastfeeding, so I didn't think it was a problem yet. After 6 months I stopped breastfeeding. The kilos came on slowly. When my daughter turned 1, I weighed 88 kilos.

"In the years that followed I continued to struggle with my intestines. I reacted to many foods, almost always had stomach aches and a very swollen belly. I often felt tired and lifeless."

The Cambridge diet

Acquaintances of mine did the Cambridge diet and had good results. So I went to the consultant and a few weeks later I also started the Cambridge diet. The first 2 weeks I was only allowed water, tea or coffee without sugar or milk and 3 Cambridge shakes a day. In total 465 Kcal. This while running a busy family with 3 young children and working as a nurse in an outpatient clinic. I kept this up for about 5 weeks. Then my intestines started to bother me and I had to stop the diet. I had also lost only 7 kilos.

In the years that followed I continued to struggle with my intestines. I reacted to many foods, almost always had stomach aches and a very swollen belly. I often felt tired and lifeless. I had so many different examinations by the MDL doctor, but nothing came out of it. So it was given the name Irritable Bowel Syndrome. In fact, not much can be done about it.

Alternatives

I then turned to naturopathic doctors. Had several energetic readings, got lots of supplements, did colonics, orthomolecular diet, anticandida diet, pro-biotics. I tried to exercise, went to some combination of crossfit and boot camp, then back to the gym. Hundreds of dollars I spent on it. Some things helped temporarily, some things didn't. I also found it hard to maintain myself. I also found it difficult to maintain, for example, to eat no bread at all and eventually I fell back into my old habits.

Validated