Repeat; It's the Uric Acid, it's the Uric Acid

You know, sometimes we doubt our choices.

A couple of weeks ago I started questioning my choice to become a vegan. My legs and ankles were swollen from mid morning until I went to bed. Now, I take Lasix for heart failure, but it hasn't ever seemed to work very well for me, but the constant swelling was something new. I started getting worried...was I getting enough protein on this vegan diet? I read that protein deficiency can cause swollen ankles and legs...and started thinking...ooohh, maybe that's what my problem is...too many carbs, not enough protein.

And sooo, a couple of days later wouldn't you know I began to eat meat. When I say meat, I mean animal protein. A lot of people refer 'meat' to be red meat, but to me meat is all animal protein. I bought some haddock, as well as some skirt steaks, and I even bought 2 tiny lamb chops. I really thought I was doing the right thing, but deep inside I knew...KNEW! this was not going to be the solution.

Well, the results are as follows.... After I ate the lamb chops, I was overcome with a bone crushing depression and cold spell that lasted for a few hours. I literally sat on the sofa and bummed. Next day I tried the haddock, which sent me into a paroxysm of coughing and the RLS that night was terrible! Yes, the lamb caused the RLS too.

And then the final frontier; my CBC results...when they came back I couldn't believe it; my counts were LOWER than all the time I have been tracking them. Really bad!!! On top of all that, the meats cause me to be terribly short of breath, each time. It too was scary, and it really helped me clarify things.

After all that, I decided to forgo the whole meat thing....except for one last little attempt at eating meat with the skirt steak yesterday. I awoke this morning with 2 blood blisters in my mouth, after a night of dancing around the living room with RLS.

FINAL ANSWER??? My first choice was the right one; becoming a vegan has improved me and my blood counts; maybe small amounts, but I was able to skip a few infusions while I was a strict vegan. I'm back on track again. Proof once again, that you can't argue with success. As for the swollen legs and ankles, I think a combination of the warmer weather and food sensitivities( I'm working on that)is making that happen. We'll see. Thanks for reading.