Thread by @VeganRecovering

When I first started #Veganism, I was 41, healthy and athletic. I did yoga daily. You might have called me "fit."

But I was freezing cold, even in summer sun, lost my period and went flat chested.

Something was wrong.

I was starving myself "for the animals."

I wore padding to disguise my totally flat chest.

My cheeks were hollow.

I covered cystic acne with makeup.

My hair fell out so I wore wigs.

I got collagen to fill my deep nasolabial folds.

So much denial.

I compared my body to fashion models, celebrities like Madonna or Sarah Jessica Parker. I didn't think I was too thin.

But the lack of body fat lead to hormonal issues.

Over time, the health problems accelerated because my immune system was weak.

Constant colds. Bronchitis. Asthma. Coughing.

Infections.

Skin problems.

Cuts that didn't heal.

This lead to B-12 depletion.

That lead to pernicious anemia.

I took supplements.

Vegan supplements.

Which I now realize were inadequate.

A doctor urged me to eat eggs, take Omega 3 fish oils, and butter.

I couldn't digest animal fats anymore.

I struggled to put on weight.

I added more starchy cooked vegan food, potatoes, vegetable oils, nut butters, quinoa, rice... and I got "skinny fat" and bloated.

My teeth aches so much I couldn't chew solid food and so I did loads of green smoothies, shakes, soups and juices that I didn't have to chew.

Over time, this excessive fiber and overload of oxalate lead to chronic #ibs and digestive issues.

Horrible gas pains, and even rectal bleeding.

And by my mid 50s, I was starting to experience some clicking noise in my joints.

Loud enough that people complained when I walked.

I had absolutely no idea it could be caused by...

My decades of overdosing on "healthy" green smoothies!

I was also starting to have severe pain and menstrual bleeding.

This seemed normal because all my vegan girlfriends also had this!

When my girlfriends started dying, of rare and sudden Cancers, nobody questioned our "healthy vegan diet."

And then in 2018, I hit the wall, end stage, after a car accident left me in intractable pain, struggling to walk. Neurosurgeons found several rare autoimmune spinal cord diseases in my MRIs.

As I went down the rabbit hole of research, I found that at least one, myelopathy, is directly related to B-12 deficiency and is more frequently found in long term vegetarians.