Excited to be here & down 7.8 lb since Dec 30!

#1

Hi everyone!

Thanks to 2 good friends who stayed w/us over the Christmas holidays, my husband & I have dived into the land of the ketogenic lifestyle. I don’t have a specific question really. Just wanted to share some info. I’ve been reading lots of posts here over this past week and binge-listening to 2 Keto Dudes podcasts. The ones where they interviewed the salt doctor and the cancer expert were fascinating.

Ok, so a bit of background…
A married couple who we’ve been friends w/for a long time came to stay w/us for a week over Christmas a couple of weeks ago. The wife (W) has PCOS and is insulin resistant. The husband (H) has Type 2 diabetes. Both have a lot of weight to lose. They told us ahead of time that they’re eating keto. Hey, I’m flexible, that’s no big deal, we can change it up a bit while they’re here. No problem.

When they arrived, we found out that they each have lost about 45-48 pounds in 6 months on this. H’s blood sugar is much better managed. They both feel great. Not hungry all the time, etc., etc. At their insistence, we watched “The Magic Pill” on Netflix. Holy cow, that was amazing.

Last year, my husband (DH) was diagnosed w/Type 2 Diabetes. From what I recall, his initial A1C was 12-something. And his blood sugar was in the low 300’s range. And he was having pain sensations in his toes. All bad stuff! DH’s mom is also T2D and has been for over 20 years. She gradually was put on insulin and has a whole host of T2D-related medical problems as a result…

  • gastroparesis
  • retinopathy
  • high pressure in her eyes, which along w/the retinopathy, has rendered her blind enough that she can’t drive now
  • 1 heart attack
  • almost no sensation anymore in her toes
  • neuropathy in her feet
  • severe kidney damage. She’s probably at 40-50% kidney function now
  • congestive heart failure
  • high blood pressure

DH is committed to fixing his T2D because he doesn’t want to end up like his mom. First after the T2D diagnosis, he went vegetarian/almost vegan. Juiced a lot, ate much healthier (well, healthier according to the traditional medical establishment). His A1C dropped to something like 7 or 8. Blood sugar usually hovered around 125-130.

And then we started sort of keto’ing when our friends were here. DH noticed that his blood sugar readings were much better. 2 hr after eating, it would be 95-107 instead of 125-130. Excellent! And he didn’t feel like he was starving all the time. Great!

DH said that he wanted to try this out and would I do it with him? Sure. Absolutely, if it means that I’ll have my husband around for longer and healthier and happier, too. We started on 12/30. As I write this, it’s 1/8. And I’m so thrilled that our friends told us about this. So thrilled that I stumbled upon the 2 Keto Dudes podcasts because I’m a data person, so I love hearing all of the science behind all of this.

As of this morning, I’m down 7.8 lb and DH is down 5 lb! My starting weight was 240. DH was 245. I’m 5’7" tall and he’s 6’1". We both (me especially) have a long way to go. But I’m not worried about it. It’ll come off with time.

So far, I’ve been using the Carb Master app on my smart phone to track stuff and it’s been useful & helpful. DH doesn’t track anything. We’ve switched from eating a lot of dinners out to eating almost every meal at home.

DH’s primary care doctor has him right now on:
Metformin - 1000 mg 2x/day
Aspirin - 81 mg 1x/day
Atorvastatin - 20 mg 1x/day

Of course, I’m not thrilled w/the statin and we’re hoping that he will be able to get off of the statin drug altogether through the course of this lifestyle change.

DH & I are taking a magnesium supplement and I’m cooking w/pink Himalayan salt. Only 1 evening did I feel sort of “off” and a little achy, so I had some chicken broth and that fixed those symptoms. A couple of days last week, I was tired enough to need a short nap in the afternoon. But other than that, there haven’t been any “keto flu” symptoms that haven’t been manageable. Drinking plenty of water, of course!

We’ve stopped eating all grains, bread, potatoes, sugar, processed foods, and anything with added sugar in it. Stopped drinking pretty much all sodas. Occasionally, DH has a Coke Zero. I don’t like how Coke Zero taste, so if I can’t have leaded Coke, then I’d just rather not have soda at all. And I’m not a fan of coffee (I know it’s weird, I hate the taste of it), so I don’t bother with it. DH drinks coffee with heavy cream & a smidge of Stevia in it instead of the high sugar-added special flavored creamer that he used to have.

What’s been amazing over this past almost week and a half is all of the non-scale victories that I’ve noticed in myself. Stuff like:

  1. I have a pair of pants that I haven’t been able to zip up in a few years. 2 days ago, I could zip them up and they finally fit well!

  2. a ring that used to be too small for my finger now fits!

  3. I have SO much more energy than before! I’ve never experienced this before when “dieting.” I’ve done Weight Watchers a couple of times, but every time I’ve tried WW, I always feel like I’m starving. As in, 2 hours after I eat, I’m ready to eat a horse again. And hardly any of the Weight Watchers cookbook recipes ever tasted very good. Bleh. But now? I’ve actually got enough energy to exercise. I’ve started going on walks again. I did 3 hours of yard work this past weekend and wasn’t even phased by it. Before Keto, I would have needed a nap after that.

  4. In the mornings, I no longer have to drag myself out of bed. When I wake up, I’m ready for the day now.

  5. ALL of my cravings for candy, ice cream, bread, French fries, are GONE. Seriously, this is a major victory for me. There was a container of frosted brownies in the kitchen that sat there for a week and neither of us touched it. I threw it out.

  6. No more guilt about food. Very nice neighbors of ours brought over some chili the other day (they don’t know we’re keto’ing). Normally, I love chili, but it has lots of beans in it. And who knows what other not-keto-friendly stuff. So I politely accepted it and later threw it out. NO desire to eat the chili.

  7. In the past, I’d wake up and immediately be hungry. Sometimes ravenous. But now? I could easily wait a couple of hours before eating breakfast because I’m not hungry right away.

SO thrilled to be here! I have another friend who has been eating Keto for over a year. I told her a few days ago, “NOW I get it! I understand why you’ve said that you have no desire to eat like you used to.” It’s pretty amazing. I’m excited to see how my DH’s lab work changes over time in the coming months!

(bulkbiker) #2

Hi and welcome to the world of keto magic!

(Doug) #3

Welcome, Nerfherder (I learned a new word today). :slightly_smiling_face:

That is quite a post you made - full of worthy concerns and good things about ketogenic eating.

(Full Metal KETO AF) #4

It’s great that you and your husband are getting on board. I started September 1 because of out of control BG levels. I have post transplant pre diabetes. I have had great success but I am not there yet. Welcome and good luck with the journey.

#5

Great work!!! Bravo!!!

As you’ve said, hopefully DH can get off the statin. Keto uses LDL cholesterol exclusively to move fat from fat cells to be burned and if there are less LDL particles floating around then that might be a restriction plate on how much fat he can burn daily, and possibly why you lost more weight than he did so far.

Now there are instances where Statins can greatly extend longevity, such as if he has Familial Hypercholesterolemia. But if he was given the statin because his cholesterol wasn’t “within range”, then he can probably do without it. But check with the doc as you mentioned.

(Shanda) #6

Hi there fellow newbie! Much love and good luck to you and your DH on this new journey.

#7

This afternoon, DH said that his A1C a month or 2 ago was 8. The most recent A1C, which was drawn a couple of days ago, is 7.1. So it’s on a strong downward trend, but I think he needs it at 5.

I myself am complicated from an endocrine perspective. I have a genetic condition called Late Onset Congenital Adrenal Hyperplasia (or partial 21-hydroxylase deficiency). It’s basically the non-lethal form of salt-wasting congenital adrenal hyperplasia, but the symptoms are different. My condition is caused by mutations in the CYP21A2 gene. I had testing done at the National Institutes of Health and learned that I have 1 gene for the salt-wasting CAH and 1 for the LOCAH. And when you’re in that situation, the lesser form of the disease is what manifests itself.

From a labs/bloodwork perspective, my total testosterone is usually elevated. DHEAs is often normal, but on the high end of normal. But if you measure 17-hydroxyprogesterone, it’s literally in the thousands. At most, a woman’s #s for this would be in the double digits during pregnancy (if memory serves me correctly). I was not diagnosed with this until AFTER my 2nd child was born. I saw a fertility specialist to get pregnant because of infertility problems, which, I learned later on, were thanks to the LOCAH.

I am the sort of patient who most doctors have only read about in medical school. I wondered for 15 years why my hair kept falling out, why I still had acne many many years after puberty, why my periods were so out of whack, etc., etc.

One of the other diagnostic tests they do with this condition is an ACTH stimulation test. In my case, because of the LOCAH, my adrenal glands MOST of the time make enough cortisol. But sometimes when I’m under stress (i.e., tired, sick, stressed), my body doesn’t make quite enough cortisol. I can tell when that happens…it starts out with feeling achy. Then it feels like I have a fever, but when I take my temp, it’s normal. Sometimes I get nauseous. And if it’s REALLY bad, it feels like I’ve been hit by a truck and I need to go lie down and sleep.

So with this ACTH stim test, first they do blood draws at Time 0 of a bunch of hormones (cortisol included). Cortisol, by the way, only lasts in your blood stream for 15 min. So if you ever have to get that drawn at a lab, make sure (if you’re in the US), that they put it in a lavender tube and you see them put it on ice. Otherwise, you’ll be spending that money on that test for nothing because it will be an invalid result.

Anyway, after the Time 0 blood draws, the doctor injects you with synthetic ACTH. Then you wait 30 min. At Time +30 Min, they draw more blood for the same set of hormones (but they’re most interested in how your cortisol responds). Then at Time + 60 Min, they do it again. A couple of times that I’ve had this test run on me, I felt very woozy, nauseous, and horrible. One time in particular, I had to go home and sleep for 6 hours in order to recuperate. By Time + 60 Min, your cortisol is supposed to double what it was at Time 0. In my case on that test, it didn’t double.

So what does this mean? It means that Dr said I need to make sure I don’t eat a low salt diet. And if I’m VERY sick (like car accident or in the ER), I need a steroid like hydrocortisone or a Florinef injection or something like that.

I see an endocrinologist regularly, but honestly, most of them have no idea how to treat me and I’m the one educating them because all they know how to deal with is Type 2 Diabetes patients. And based on what I’ve read here, they’re not doing that great a job at that either!

I go every 3 months to the endo Dr. Last 2 fasting glucoses were both 89. Total testosterone was 69 and 73, so elevated like I expected, but Free Testosterone was w/in normal range at 5.1 and 5.8…that’s because of meds I take in order to prevent the body from using all of that testosterone. As a result, my hair stops falling out, the acne goes away, periods aren’t so weird anymore, etc.

BUT I noticed an upward trend in my A1C…6 months ago, it was 5.3. 3 months ago, it was 5.8. It’s not supposed to go up! Well, my mom had Type 2 Diabetes. So I think it’s a good thing that DH & I have started this keto thing. My mom also died of pancreatic cancer, so when I listened to that 2 Keto Dudes podcast where they interviewed the cancer expert from Boston College, I was pretty excited about that.

(squirrel-kissing paper tamer) #8

Welcome! I love your updates. They’re so informative and it sounds like you’re going to do fine learning the in’s and out’s of how the ketogenic way of eating works on the body. Keep up the great work!

(MyLove MyLife) #9

Welcome to keto family, Nice Work :slight_smile:

(Katie the Quiche Scoffing Stick Ninja ) #10

Welcome to the forum :slight_smile:

#11

This is a lot to take in. An A1C of 5.6 and lower is where you want to be at. Past that and you’re burning beta cells in the pancreas faster than you can replace them. Which leads down to T2D and insulin injection dependency, this takes many years however.

Once you are fat adapted I would suggest experimenting with intermittent fasting and/or extended fasting. Since your condition is genetic, it will probably have zero effect, but in the off chance it helps, that would be a good thing. Plus, you’ll save some money.

(Turtle Dove) #12

Isn’t Keto grand … a life changer!

#13

Welcome and thanks for sharing your story. Good to hear.

(Jane) #14

Welcome!

#15

I stepped on the scale early this morning and now I’m down 9.6 lb! Wow. I even took a walk after dinner!

(Scott) #16

This makes me think, with the rapid positive results that can be seen with this WOE why wouldn’t every doctor start with keto first?

#17

Exactly.

I don’t expect this amount of weekly weight loss to continue. I do expect that it will level out to about 2 lb per week. But what’s totally amazing to me are a couple of things…

  1. I don’t feel like I’m starving all the time. In terms of the quantity of food (i.e., volume), I’m eating less. But I feel full/satisfied much sooner than I did before. I’m attributing that to the amount of fat in my diet and cutting out a bunch load of carbs.

  2. I’ve gone on Weight Watchers a couple of times in the past. And it would easily take me 2 months to reach the 10 pounds lost mark, yet here I am on the cusp of it and it’s not even at the end of week 2 yet.

  3. I’m not tired all the time like I used to be! I don’t have to drink caffeinated drinks all the time anymore.

(Scott) #18

I lost twenty pounds very fast but have sort of stalled. I am not worried and if nothing else maintaining with ease. I feel like I need to lose some belly fat of about 10 pounds and I will. Right now I am in a phase where I am tweaking things like giving up my nightly beer and running more miles. I am a tinkerer and enjoy making small changes to see what happens.