Weight loss diets????

[Guest guest]

Hi all,

Hope everyone had a good New Year's Eve. I've got a problem I need some direction with.

Since last February it seems like I've been in one continuous flare...or maybe this is the way lupus will be for me indefinitely. I was wondering if anyone had some safe dieting tips for lupus patients with mild kidney dysfunction. I have a lot of water buildup daily and have to take water pills now. Before the flare that put me on my butt I had lost about 60 lbs on the Atkins diet...or my variation of it. I had used that diet for many years to lose weight quickly and without constant hunger pangs. The longer the flare continued this past year, the more weight I gained from inactivity and now I've gained back everything. I walk daily (when I'm up to it) and watch what I eat, but it doesn't seem to help. I gain weight on a 2000 calorie diet. Now everytime I eat a little too much meat I blow up with water like a water bed. I like veges but I never have been much of a bread eater...candy and sweets have always been my downfall. Veges just leave me hungry 5 minutes after I eat them...fruits aren't much better.

I take 400 mg. Plaquenil daily (fairly low dosage) and am afraid that the rheummy will put me on Prednisone eventually since I don't get much relief from the Plaquenil...then I'll really gain weight. I've looked at a renal diet breakdown, but it would mean giving up most of what I like to eat. Please don't tell me not to diet with this disease. I'm getting heavy enough now that I'm uncomfortable. I weighed 175 a year ago, now I'm pushing 240. My joints are constantly swollen and hurt too much for a lot of exercises.

Any ideas?