keto for medical conditions?
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eatathome
Posts: 81 Member
Are any of you on a dr. controlled keto diet for a medical condition? Specifically, for seizures and/or migraines? My neurologist is not really on board (especially since I'm not a child, and my seizures have responded to meds for the past year), but my own experimenting has found it works wonders for migraines.
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My diet isn't controlled by my doctor, but I did go back to a really low-carb diet to cut out the gluten as it was a migraine trigger for me (didn't know this til the first time I tried Atkin's earlier this year). I have learned to live with the headaches, but it is so much nicer knowing I won't be having them every week. I haven't had a migraine in over a month--it's a wonderful feeling.
If keto makes you feel better, I don't see why your doctor isn't on board.0 -
I am on a gluten-free diet, but that alone hasn't helped my migraines. I'm going to try tracking them on a calendar and showing her. She is so dead-set against trying anything new that's not backed up by 1000 research papers. I can understand wanting to practice evidence-based medicine, but when nothing's working, you try something else, you know? I can't really go somewhere new because there's a real insurance monopoly here.0
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By reducing carbs in general you often remove many of the most common food triggers for a lot of ailments. [Corn, wheat/gluten, soy]. Others go the next step and cut the dairy.
Go at it slowly and pay attention (document) some of your body's reactions and your overall sense of well-being. [easily done in the Food Notes here on MFP].
That may help you pin point something you may need to cut (or even increase).0 -
As far as I know, Keto is beneficial for many medical conditions... Though its usually prescribed for epilepsy!0
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There is 1 neuro group here that does keto, but they're at the Children's hospital. I doubt they'd see me, especially since my seizures are med-treatable.
According to the research I've read (so far) it's the actual ketosis, not cutting out foods (I've already done an elimination) that helps migraines.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2898565/
http://perfecthealthdiet.com/2010/09/migraine-sufferers-should-try-a-ketogenic-diet/
There was a guy who blogged about his (extreme) keto experiment for migraines (he fasted for a LONG time), but I can't find it now. I'm not sure why he fasted for so long; i can get into (solid) ketosis right away by fasting for 24 hours then starting low carb.0 -
Your doctor can't really stop you - can she? I mean, ultimately, you have to eat and she's not there. The guy who made the movie Fathead didn't have his doctor's support, but the doctor couldn't argue with the results.
I have a cousin whose daughter is on keto due to seizures. She was having multiple seizures a day, and since keto, not a single one. When they started keto, they didn't have much hoe that it would work - just one more thing that they tried.0 -
There is 1 neuro group here that does keto, but they're at the Children's hospital. I doubt they'd see me, especially since my seizures are med-treatable.
We live in a crazy world. That doctors would rather control a medical situation with drugs when diet is an option - amazing.0 -
There is 1 neuro group here that does keto, but they're at the Children's hospital. I doubt they'd see me, especially since my seizures are med-treatable.
We live in a crazy world. That doctors would rather control a medical situation with drugs when diet is an option - amazing.
Oh I know, even getting tested for food allergies is like pulling teeth!0 -
I completely reversed my rather bad diabetes with a keto diet. My doctors had never heard of it for the treatment of diabetes and were not on board until they saw my results. But, if I go off of it, I'm in trouble again. I'm also completely off of wheat (except the occasional off plan day), soy, corn, beets, of course sugar. And, the rapid weight loss is staggering. I've only been on it for 3 months (with a lot of cheat days), but in that time I've lost 40 lbs with little to no exercise.
You have to do what works for you. My doctors tried to intimidate me into not following this diet. A nutritionist went as far as to say that I would die on it. But, I had to go by how I felt; now, I'm glad I stayed the course and my doctors are asking me to write a paper on the subject. Of course, the research is well publicized.. but, yes, they would rather go the drug route. I don't even want to think about why that would be.0
