On the advice of the ever-up-on-it Kirsten, I scheduled a one-hour Zoom consult that took place yesterday with a Naturopathic doctor currently out of Texas named Dr. Melissa Gallagher. She is a lymphedema expert (Vodder-trained Certified Lymphatic Drainage Therapist) and is also knowledgeable about and able to provide advice on the foibles of lipedema. I had a page-long list of questions to ask her. I was definitely not sorry to have spent an hour picking her brain!

You would think that California, land of hippies, acupuncture, and every food movement known to humans, would be a mecca of naturopathic doctors, not to mention experts on the latest health issues, but I have not found this to be the case. So when Kirsten discovered Dr. Melissa’s raft of advice provided via upbeat YouTube videos (link to her channel here) and started quoting her to me on a more-than-regular basis, I decided that perhaps a long-distance relationship was better than none; I also have hopes that she can refer me to someone she knows and in whom she has confidence, here in Los Angeles.

Some of the lipo-lymphedema-related stuff I gleaned from our conversation:

One of the “toys” that I recently bought but of which I haven’t made much use is a Sonic handheld percussion massage “gun,” billed as a deep-tissue massager for stiffness and sore muscles. Several people on the “Vibration for Fat Disorders” Facebook page recommended it as a good tool to break down the fibrosis caused by lipodema, and although I have felt it was a positive in terms of sensations, I haven’t treated it as a serious therapy “weapon.”

Dr. Melissa encouraged me to change that attitude and make it one of my primary daily-care therapy tools. She says that tackling fibrotic tissue with the massage gun is kind of like tenderizing meat—it restructures the cells to return the tissue to a more even, shapely appearance, plus (a much bigger advantage) it can re-open channels through which the lymph can drain. The massage gun won’t break up the cells, but it will release the fibrous density somewhat, restructure the position of the fat cells, and relieve the locked-up fascia. It’s a big assist with mobility issues around the joints, and she suggested using it around the knees and on the outer thighs two or three times daily.

She likewise advocated further use of my Lifepro vibration platform, and suggested I experiment more with the several settings, at various speeds and from different positions of sitting or standing on or placing my feet on the platform, and increasing my time from two five-minute sessions to possibly 15 to 30 minutes a day.

Countering this advice is her perspective on the Lympha Press compression “sleeves” about which I was so hopeful. Contrary to the doctors I consulted in the hospital (urologist, GP, cardiologist), all of whom pooh-poohed the idea that the three days of intensive use of my Lympha Press had had a material effect on my kidney stone problems, Dr. Melissa gasped when I told her that I had used it two hours a day for three days in a row, and herself posited that this was probably the primary cause of my problem with a kidney stone stuck in my ureter!

She said that while she does feel the Lympha Press is a viable tool for people with severe lymphedema, it is also a powerful one and not to be used with abandon. She suggested that when I start back with it (and she recommended holding off a little longer), I begin with one 30-minute session every other day, and pay close attention to how my body reacts to it. It stirs up a lot of action and, as we all know, sometimes the body gives a powerful reaction, which is what she thinks happened with my kidney stone. She thought it was possible that the three days of double hour-long sessions might be what pushed the stone out of a kidney and into the ureter and then exacerbated the resulting infection when no fluid could be released (which was my theory all along). I’m going to need to take it slowly and perhaps admit that this contraption may not be the end-all solution for which I had hoped.

Dr. Melissa reiterated what Kirsten has been telling me all along (that I was too stubborn to accept), which is that compression is critical. Lipedema is all about containment, and I learned that if there is no room for the fat cells to accumulate (because they are squeezed together), their growth actually slows! And lymphedema fluid, of course, needs encouragement to move up to heart level and thus out of the body. But she also said that there were many solutions to explore and that, bottom line, something is better than nothing, so if all I can manage some days is to wear a pair of leggings, that will do.

Homeopathically, she suggested a supplement called Lymph Stim Liquescence, plus regular ingestion of ginger tea made with fresh grated root, and adding turmeric to the diet. She also recommended periodic soakings in a foot bath with boiled fresh grated ginger and magnesium flakes dissolved in the water, a combo that is a transdermal motivator.

My diet, including whole foods and excluding sugar and additives as it does, sounded good to her, and all she had to say was to include a daily rainbow of variety.

Finally, I’m going to begin a regimen of large doses of progesterone, which will hopefully help both conditions and also provide better cardiovascular health and promote sleep.

I’ll keep you posted about any developments from this advice.