Mixed messages re high protein low carb diet

 I'm waiting for my surgery date and thought meanwhile I'd try to wean myself off of carbs, I've been busy the last month with moving etc and figured a good time to try while I was really busy and active.
Bought LeanWhey protein powder Fr Vanilla and find it not bad mixed with almond milk/frozen berries or with choc flavour...have a protein bar every other day too. I'm AMAZED at how quickly the cravings have almost stopped. I am using MFP to track EVERYTHING..and have lost about 12 lbs thus far.  Today I went to see the internal med Dr and he fast tracked me into having a ECG, Chest Xray and blood work for liver function and coagulation test as well urine analysis...I wasn't expecting to do any of this until I actually was closer to getting a surgery date..seemed more like a preop screening to me.  Afterwards I went to the mall to look for a gift for my daughter's BD. I HATE the mall too many people, sound and lights..began having visual disturbances ( sparkly prisms ) and knew that to be a warning that I was getting a migraine. I ran over to the drugstore and confirmed with the pharmacist and mentioned being on a high protein/low carb diet and he went off about that not being a good idea = kidney failure..stressing my liver..wasting my muscles instead of fat....now I'm confused...post surgery we eat protein first then some veggies...low carbs/low fat...

I've read on here some references to kidney function, hair loss and low energy..is there something I'm missing????? 

 Get a new pharmacist! Or, listen to him when he talks about something he knows. If you have healthy kidneys a high protein diet will be a healthy diet for you. Listen to your surgeon and nutritionist and do what they say. Thousands of us have lost tons of weight in a healthy way by eating a high protein, low carb diet.

I think I know what is missing ... you don't mention your fluid intake.  The high protein protein diet does put some stress on your kidneys.  If you have normal kidney function prior you should be fine.  You do need to increase your fluid intake to at least 8 cups per day ... this flushes the kidneys and keeps things working as they should.

http://www.livestrong.com/article/308210-high-protein-die****er/ 

http://www.webmd.com/diet/news/20030317/high-protein-diets-c an-hurt-kidneys 

Hope this helps ... drink lots of fluids every day please.

 Thank you for the info, and I am getting in at least 6 - 8 a day. That's always been a tough one for me! 

I think that part of the problem here is semantics - the diet we typically have post-op (whether low carb or not), is not really a high protein diet, but rather an adequate protein diet - it's just hi-pro relative to the minimal amount of everything else we are eating. The 60-100 g per day of protein that most of us are consuming (generally variable depending upon our lean mass - women generally on the lower side of the range and men on the higher side) is what we should be consuming pre-op, in maintenance, and for life - it is what we need to keep our body's tissues maintained. But, at the 600-800 calories that most are consuming during the loss phase, there isn't a lot of room for carbs and fat, so it is a "hi-pro" diet by default. Were we to consume a proportionate amount of protein in a 2000 calorie diet, then that definetely would be "high protein" and there would be concerns about kidneys, etc

Pre-op it is a good idea to wean yourself off of the junk carbs (and junk fats, too) that helped get us into where we are needing WLS and getting into the habit of getting in at least the minimal amount of protein that we need to function (and not strip our muscles if we don't get enough,) but be mindful of the total nutrition that our bodies need. Certainly, be up front with your PCP as to what you are doing as there can be imbalances created by these diets that need to be monitored (Potassium, for example, isn't supplemented well with normal supplements and most of the best dietary sources tend to be carbs - potatoes, bananas, melons, oranges, etc., and being too low can lead to all sorts of problems) so that may have been why your doc fast tracked you to the lab.

Potassium is one of the reasons I'm not in the uber low carb camp. I actually eat (gasp!) potatoes, bananas and melons (admittedly very small servings) and use coconut sugar (1000mg per tablespoon****asionally.

I really don't consider the 70-80 grams of protein I eat as high protein. It just LOOKS high when fitted into the 7-800 calories I eat.