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Born with a rare heart condition in the late 1970’s, Iain underwent open heart surgery to correct an extremely complex birth defect known as transposition of the great arteries. The condition was repaired, but never cured and, with little data available at the time, a poor prognosis was given. Nonetheless, beating the odds, Iain has successfully survived to raise a family and attained senior analyst positions within central government.
Iain’s heart, and health began deteriorating as he pushed into his late 20’s. At this point his consultant cardiologist intervened and prescribed him diuretics for fluid retention and high blood pressure. Cardiology prescribed Iain a drug called Lasix (furosemide), which is an extremely potent diuretic. The drug essentially lowers blood pressure and reduces pressure on the heart by reducing the overall volume of blood in the body, not only can this leave a patient dehydrated, it can have extremely serious side effects such as electrolyte imbalances, requiring yet further medication to ‘restore the balance’.
Essentially becoming reliant on prescription medication affected his lifestyle significantly across all the spectra of health, from physical to mental. At his worst, Iain was prescribed 80mg a day of furosemide, a very high dose.
Iain says:
“I used to spend my day stressing about when I could take my diuretic, what meetings I had, did I have to travel? I never knew if I was going to need the bathroom an hour after taking my pill or how many times I would need to go. My “record” was about every 10 minutes for nearly two hours. I was dehydrated, I had lost most of my salts, I was a mess. I was getting depressed and my kidneys were starting to suffer.”
After approaching Intelligent Eating, and having his current health assessed, it was clear that Iain had little in the way of nutritional literacy, but an incredibly powerful emotional driver to remove the dependency of prescription medication.
Iain was given coaching, recipes, and advice on food shopping as a busy executive, balancing a lifestyle of long hours and a busy home life.
Iain says:
“18 months after I started talking to Adam I am happy to say I no longer need to take diuretics. I’m free from the stress and the planning and the inconvenience. I’m liberated! It took me 18 months because I made small gradual changes. I’ve no doubt it could have been achieved much more quickly, but the beauty of Intelligent Eating is that there is no time line. There is just improvement. As a side note, my weight has also decreased from 86kg to 79kg, for the first time in my life I feel excited about the future, not concerned. Thanks for releasing me from the chains”
As of October 2022, Iain is doing extremely well and no longer prescribed furosemide. His weight remains that of a healthy BMI and he is fit and active.