Keto, Cancer and Inflammation

braincancer
(BigA1988) #1

Hi there,

My names Aaron, mid 30s, from the UK.

I’ll try and be as thorough as possible without boring you all to tears.

Back in June 21 I was diagnosed with a grade iii brain tumour (Oligodendroglimoma, temporal lobe, right side. I had then had surgery followed by radiotherapy and was about to start chemo, until they realised I had fatty liver( NAFLD, with elevated ALT) so they they had to halt chemo. I also now have epilepsy as a result of the tumour. I’m taking 200mg of Brivaracatam a day for that.

I haven’t had any treatment for my cancer for 1 year and 4 months, apart from my own “plant based therapy” from a famous green plant and CBD. After my last MRI, which I’ve been getting one done every 2 months, my oncologist said the tumour is “remaining under excellent control, with no signs of progression”

During this time I had given up nicotine, alcohol and caffeine, but also during this time my Acid reflux, GERD and Psoriasis were getting even worse and I then developed Ulcerative Colitis. Feedback from GP was basically saying all the same things I have been told all my life about psoriasis and reflux (steroids, reflux pills, etc). So I thought I need to reduce the inflammation throughout my body, so I started researching for a few months and came across keto and carnivore.

I’m one month in now, and my reflux, GERD and Ulcerative Colitis have now basically gone and i’m starting to notice the trigger foods, etc. I have started (mildly) jogging and lifting weights and I’m feeling fitter.

So I just thought i’d give you a run down. That’s me and I hope to learn lots off you more experienced guys too,

Thanks

Aaron.

(Robin) #2

Oh, Aaron… what an inspirational story! Obviously you’ve gone through some extraordinary challenges, to say the least.
As I was reading, I kept thinking this guy is gonna turn things around. And you did. Congratulations!

Many of us have experienced relief from some of your issues, but doubtful that any have had all of them at once. Incredible!
I look forward to your continuing participation.
Welcome!

(Rebecca ) #3

Hello Aaron and welcome! Thank you for sharing your testimony! Hearing real life stories of healing are much more inspiring to me than a text book!!

(BigA1988) #4

Thank you so much, Robin. Thats a lovely welcome. Definitely helps being in a community like this when we have so many similar underlying issues.

And thanks to Rebecca as well, and I agree. Reading real world, personal issues and success stories really keeps you motivated.

And please excuse some of my spelling issues and what not, my fine motor skills art quite what they were. So I try and proof read everything about 5 times over to make sure, and I still make mistakes lol. Just a word of warning :sweat_smile:

Thank you.

(Bacon is a many-splendoured thing) #5

Welcome to the forums, Aaron!

I’m glad you are seeing such a good response to your keto diet. You may notice more changes in the time to come. For example, skeletal muscles often need time to readapt to metabolising fatty acids, after years of a high-carbohydrate diet. We call this period “fat-adaptation” and it generally takes between six and eight weeks, for the majority of people.

You may also see some improvement in your tumour. Don’t be expecting a miracle cure, but a low-carb/keto diet can help greatly with keeping tumour growth under control. It should also reverse your NAFLD, if it hasn’t done so already. And I’ve watched lectures by noted oncologists who use a ketogenic diet as adjuvant therapy to chemotherapy and radiation treatments.

Please keep letting us know how you are getting on.

(David Cooke) #6

I watched this morning. The guy obviously gets a bit angry about the situation, but he does make valid points.
Happy to read your story!
(Cindy) #7

Wow, Aaron! You’re doing GREAT! Brain cancers are where the first successes with killing cancers by starving them of glucose began, so your prognosis should be really good!!!

I started keto 5 years ago to prevent the Alzheimers that killed my father’s whole family in their 70’s and the breast cancer that killed my mother in her 50’s. I could already feel the earliest stages of it, and my dna said that I have the gene. Along the way, some of my other smaller health issues cleared up, but ones that were strongly linked to pure inflammation didn’t.

So 3 months ago, I switched to carnivore. At the same time, I’ve looked into plant toxins like oxalates, and I’m working on trying to clear them out of my body as fast as I can. My inflammation is diminishing some already, but I still have a ways to go. I’ve read that clearing plant toxins can easily take several years, so I’m in this for the long haul now. But what I’ve seen so far is very encouraging.

Interestingly enough, worrying about my weight is no longer an issue at all, which is amazing, since I also have a lot of obesity in my family. On keto, I got to an OK healthy/low weight, then immediately started gaining again, and my inflammation was getting worse too. But on carnivore, I dropped all that weight, got quickly down to my lifetime goal that has always been unreachable, and have been maintaining it easily for 2 months now. Not my main goal, but a really nice perk. So something feels very right about all of this for me.

My main inflammation issues are migraine headaches, severe and lifelong IBS, and arthritis all over my body. I also have oxalates in one of my eyes which gives me very clouded, blurry vision and is untreatable by doctors. So oxalates are a real thing!!! I’m pretty sure they’re in my joints and causing a good part of my arthritis.

Good luck to you!!! Please keep in touch! And if you need encouragement, we’re hear for you!

#8

Welcome Aaron and well done on finding your way to keto!
I am fighting inflammation too but not a brain tumour and I am so glad to hear you have arrested the progression of that. Keto is great for epilepsy, Jessica Turton in Australia at Sydney University just completed a PhD on just that. Her study was on children with epilepsy I believe but I am hoping it will be published.
I just started on low dose Naltrexone which reportedly has some pretty good results with all sorts of issues and I am eating carnivore now cause I seem to react to plants at the moment.
I was using CBD oil for pain (IBD) but switched to Naltrexone cause of inflammation and auto immune issues. So far it is helpful but haven’t had tests to prove anything. Based on reducing pain levels something is working!

Well done you on finding your way here.
I don’t think you need to apologize for spelling, I was stuck at the name of your brain tumour and thought wow, this guy is doing well to be writing this way after that surgery. :smiley:

Wishing you well and continued success.

My dietician suggested MCT oil a teaspoon a few times a day to start, I think cause with my inflammation levels and carnivore diet, it may be helpful to have the ready ketones available.

I am just using the liquid coconut oil from the cooking section of the supermarket.

(BigA1988) #9

Hi Paul,

Thanks for your response.

I definitely noticed some changes just from removing dairy early on, I think that was my main source of GERD, but my epilepsy nurse (of all people) asked if I suffered with reflux and if I took anything for it, I said yes, I’ve taken Omeprazole and Nexium on and off for years. She said they are processed through the liver and could be causing your NAFLD. So I stopped taking them immidetly, and instead (after watching a few keto docs, started taking supplements (omega 3) to promote stomach acid, rather than decrease it and my reflux is 10x better.

And thank you for even discussing keto and cancer on a forum, nearly every other forum doesn’t want to hear anything, outside of protocol. I appreciate that

I’ll keep you updated, Paul.

Thanks again,

Aaron

(BigA1988) #10

Thanks David,

Yes, I had discovered Dr. Thomas Seyfried while researching keto, etc. He’s certainly an interesting guy and has had some promising results. I’m certainly going to keep following him and his advise.

Cheers

Aaron

(BigA1988) #11

“Wow, Aaron! You’re doing GREAT! Brain cancers are where the first successes with killing cancers by starving them of glucose began, so your prognosis should be really good!!!”

Thank you, Cindy. Nearly everything you wrote I can certainly relate too. And that makes a lot of sense. Sometimes I feel I should do the same and go full carnivore and rid myself of oxalates.

“My main inflammation issues are migraine headaches, severe and lifelong IBS, and arthritis all over my body. I also have oxalates in one of my eyes which gives me very clouded, blurry vision and is untreatable by doctors. So oxalates are a real thing!!! I’m pretty sure they’re in my joints and causing a good part of my arthritis.”

So are still getting those problems, even on carnivore? My PsA has certainly improved I must say.
With oxalates, do you think they are more of a problem depending on your age, and if you’ve basically consumed more foods high in oxalates, for more years?

Thats great about your weight. Fantastic. Well done.

“I started keto 5 years ago to prevent the Alzheimers that killed my father’s whole family in their 70’s and the breast cancer that killed my mother in her 50’s. I could already feel the earliest stages of it, and my dna said that I have the gene.”

And that is certainly a motivator, and fair play to you for sticking to it.

Cheers,

Aaron

(BigA1988) #12

“Welcome Aaron and well done on finding your way to keto!
I am fighting inflammation too but not a brain tumour and I am so glad to hear you have arrested the progression of that. Keto is great for epilepsy, Jessica Turton in Australia at Sydney University just completed a PhD on just that. Her study was on children with epilepsy I believe but I am hoping it will be published.”

Thanks Marion. That’s very interesting. I have seen a few studies online alluding to the same conclusions. And I have to say since I’ve started keto, my siezures feel far more under control. I was on 3000mg of Keppra at one point, and felt like I was literally going insane. I’m still on meds but very few and I don’t feel panicky if I miss a dose like I used too.
I’ll look up Naltrexone and see what it’s about.

“I was stuck at the name of your brain tumour and thought wow, this guy is doing well to be writing this way after that surgery.” Haha :joy::joy::joy::+1:

I wish you continued sucssses as well, Marion.

Thanks for your reply.

Aaron.

(Cindy) #13

A lot of my oxalate issues are improving pretty rapidly. Arthritis is much better all over my body except on one particularly bad spot. But even it is slowly getting better. Headaches are better. IBS is much better. The eyes are the very slowest to respond to anything since there’s almost no bloodflow in them, so the experts say they can take years to clear out oxalates. But at least there’s light at the end of this tunnel!

#14

Thanks Aaron. :grinning:

Very low or low dose Naltrexone…I am on 2mg a day. It has to be compounded cause it is only available in 50mg tabs regularly. It was marketed for people trying to come off opiates but now it is out of patent, so there is no profit in researching other applications, which seem to be very hopeful.
I hope your doc may know about it.

Best wishes to you.

#15

Hi Aaron, I need to correct the info I posted above…Jessica Turton’s research was on children with type 1 diabetes and keto diet not epilepsy!!!
Apologies.