[mmmveggies]

HI!

I am new to the board but have been vegetarian for over 13 years.

I have recently been noticing a lot of major changes in my body and am wondering if it could be related to my vegetarian diet.

-I have lost MAJOR weight (which I do know is my veg diet) I am 5'4" and 99 pounds.

- I am always tiered

- My skin has gotten soo bad in the past 6 months. I always had PERFECT skin. and now it is dry with signs of rosacea and dermatitis. It looks like I have aged drastically.

- It is hard to concentrate (my marks at school have declined).

- I am always COLD (even if it is 30C outiside!)

- My hair is thinning

- frequent headaches and migraines

I look and feel like a total different person. HELP?!

Has anyone else experienced these symptoms? It has really just been the last 6 months to a year I have noticed these changes. I am currently waiting results of a blood test to check for defficiencies...but would love some insight onto what is going on with my body and how to fix it!

Thanks!!

 

[GhostUser]

if you been veg for 13 years and just within the last 6 months started to lose weight, either you haven't been eating well enough for the past 6 months or you have something only a doctor can diagnose.

 

[Jessica Alana]

I concur with the Purrpetrator.

 

[mmmveggies]

I lost the weight ever since I became vegetarian.

It is just the other stuff that has been more recent.

But I heard that sometimes defficiencies in vegetarian diets can take years to surface.

 

[thebelovedtree]

My aunt had similar symptomes and was diagnosed w/ a thyroid issue, medical problems should probably be ruled out.

If it's food related we might be able to help you out a little more if you give us an example of what and how much you eat in a day.

 

[Keelin]

Yep, we really need to see what you're eating.

From the symptoms you mentioned (any non-eating problems aside), it sounds like you are very deficient in calories, fat, and iron; potentially protein as well. If you are eating sufficiently to cover those bases, it's medical, not food-related.

Being cold, hair thinning, underweight= signs that you are undernourished (ie. not enough calories and therefore not enough of each nutrient)

Poor skin= sign there is not enough fat in your diet

Poor concentration= often caused by a lack of iron

 

[IamJen]

The blood tests are a good start. As mentioned, fat (or lack of it) could be the culprit behind a few of these issues...are you eating enough?

Let us know what the test results say.

 

[VeganClaudia]

Hi,

I've been vegan for 12 years, and was vegetarian for 21 years prior to that. Part of what you said was stuff I've experienced in the past, and have overcome.

I had a problem with dry, unhealthy skin and hair when I wasn't getting enough fat in my diet. Adding raw nuts and seeds and avocado to my diet corrected this problem, and these foods may help you to put on some weight as well. Do you think that I would be far off the mark in assuming that you haven't been getting enough of these foods?

Aside from the dryness issue, eating a lot of colorful fruits and vegetables (as opposed to living off of a lot of colorless whitish starchy stuff) will do wonders for the color in your skin, and stop you from looking pale. For awhile I used to get a big chunk of my calories from grains and potatoes which have virtually no fat in them, and I wasn't getting any fat from nuts, seeds, or avocado, and I really wasn't eating enough colorful veggies and fruits. I was pale, lacked energy, would get hungry quite often, and my skin was dry. Now, however, my skin has really nice color, and people comment on what beautiful coloring I have, and they even tell me that my skin looks alive. People tell me that I look young for my age, and sometimes even tell me that they think I'm getting younger!

Anyway... I know that Keelin already observed that lack of fat is likely a problem here, however, I just wanted to add my own personal observations on this.

I think that you should be able to optimize your vegetarian diet and get back to being your healthy energetic self again. It is a good idea for you to get some blood testing done though, as it may help to pinpoint deficiencies you might have. The most common deficiencies among long term vegetarians and vegans are B12, Vitamin D, and low levels of essential fatty acids, so these might be good things to discuss or suggest to the doctor who orders the tests. As far as the essential fatty acids go, this again may be related to not eating enough nuts and seeds, which are a good source of omega-3's. Flax seeds and Walnuts in particular would be good for you to eat in order to get your omega-3's.

 

[laurie15]

a lot of those are symptoms of autoimmune disorders. i would get your gp to run a panel to make sure.

 

[danakscully64]

Quote:

Originally Posted by mmmveggies

HI!

I am new to the board but have been vegetarian for over 13 years.

I have recently been noticing a lot of major changes in my body and am wondering if it could be related to my vegetarian diet.

-I have lost MAJOR weight (which I do know is my veg diet) I am 5'4" and 99 pounds.

- I am always tiered

- My skin has gotten soo bad in the past 6 months. I always had PERFECT skin. and now it is dry with signs of rosacea and dermatitis. It looks like I have aged drastically.

- It is hard to concentrate (my marks at school have declined).

- I am always COLD (even if it is 30C outiside!)

- My hair is thinning

- frequent headaches and migraines

I look and feel like a total different person. HELP?!

Has anyone else experienced these symptoms? It has really just been the last 6 months to a year I have noticed these changes. I am currently waiting results of a blood test to check for defficiencies...but would love some insight onto what is going on with my body and how to fix it!

Thanks!!

I'm really worried. What did the blood test say?

I lost weight (15 pounds) when I went veg and became cold all of the time (just lost some body fat), but the symptoms you're describing are abnormal. I'm 5'4 too, but I'm 112 pounds (well, 110, but I just got over the flu... that weight will be coming back soon). Hope you're feeling better!

 

[Groovy chick]

I strongly advise a visit to your doctor.

 

[Lothar M Kirsch]

Did you see any change of the pigmentation of your handlines?

Your symptoms sound like an endocrinologic disorder maybe Hashimotothyreoiditis or M. Addison (Hypokortisolism). Better see a specialist!

 

[Eclipse]

Long term= B 12 problems?.

I know many peoples disagree, but I think all veg*ns and maybe all of the population should pop a B 12 tablet once in a while.

 

[Neggie]

I agree with many of the above replies and would love to know what your blood tests showed. As stated earlier in the thread, many of the symptoms match autoimmune issues such as thyroid disease. On that, I can speak with experience, since I experienced several of those symptoms prior to my diagnosis of Graves Disease. In my case, there were also some emotional issues, insomnia problems, and some cardiac symptoms as well. Proper maintenance has made a lot of difference... although some symptoms will stay with me the rest of my life.

Please let us know how you are doing. I wish you the best.