My name is Wayne, I am New

(Wayne) #1

Title!

As my title intimates, my name is Wayne and I am new. Just a word of advice, I have a bit of an odd sense of humor. It’s just me. I never mean anything as mean, but words hardly convey emotion. So I think I got the hard part out of the way.

Why am I here? Well, Keto! LOL!

I guess that is part of the answer. I’m not here just to learn and talk and have fun, but because I enjoy all three at once. I’m also here because I am trying to make a change in my life for multiple reasons. First is that I am Wayne and I am an Epileptic. :wave: To some that may not be funny, but this is me. I’m not ashamed of that anymore. In the beginning, I was totally embarrassed by the fact that I have this horrible disease that I would sleep through when I had an episode, but scares the hell out of everyone around me. That first part is easy because I am there, but not there. The tough part is that it so profoundly affects everyone around me and that absolutely terrified me.

For years I have been medicated, studied, and medicated some more. Some of that has been successful and some of that has not. Medications work for a while or longer and then after a while your body changes and its effectiveness wears off. As doctors do, they increase the dose or change and I’m just tired of being medicated, medicated, and MEDICATED! So I talked to my PCP about alternatives to medication. She is open to those discussions. My Neurologist, though a wonderful man who has gotten me through a lot, is stuck on the idea that proven western medicine and medication is the only thing that works. I’m not buying that! I will continue seeing him because he has seen me through a lot, but I will also take into consideration that there are also other and proven, “alternative”, remedies available.

One thing that my PCP mentioned to me is this wonderful thing called the Keto diet. Maybe some of you have heard of it? :slight_smile: It’s been proven, in children, to reduce or eliminate seizures in pediatric epileptics. In fact, it predates most Epilepsy Medications. Recently there has been a number of promising studies on its effectiveness in adults. Something to do with how the body breaks down fats and the creation of Ketones in the body and how that works to change the electrical impulses of the brain, where seizures begin and can slow or stop them, or something like that. It sounded wonderful and so that sold me. Anything claiming to stop me from having a seizure and scaring the crap out of anyone and everyone around me is a plus. :+1:

I can’t remember if I previously mentioned this or not, but I began the diet in early May. To date, I have benefitted by losing 19lbs even though that is not my primary reason for doing the diet. It’s just the secondary. And as I mentioned, it’s a benefit. Unfortunately, I have had one breakthrough seizure since beginning the diet, but I don’t think that is the result of the diet not working. I am also going through a significant medication change simultaneously. So I won’t make any decisions as far as the effectiveness of the diet’s effectiveness or lack thereof on Epilepsy, but hey, -19lbs. :smiley:

You may ask how I am doing it? Well, simply, it’s a combination of monitoring what I am putting into my body and some guesswork. I know the basics of what to avoid when it comes to sugars, processed foods, starches, and avoiding anything that rhymes with the words ice cream, cookies, or cake. But, and this is a big BUT, I realize that starving me of the things I LOVE :heart: won’t make this easy. So all GOOD DELICIOUS GLORIOUS :drooling_face: things in moderation. Right? In other words, I participated and partook in national donut day. Why? Who doesn’t love DONUTS?!?! But, where I did that, I calculated and recalculated the other “things” I put in my body so as to not totally throw myself out of whack. I also contacted my nutritionist ahead of time and begged her permission. VERY NICE LADY!! :smiley: I mean, DoNuTs :drooling_face:

So here I am. I am a little odd, I am a little weird, I am a little goofy, and I may even be a little confused, but I am not little, yet. When I get there, I am going out for real ice cream. Any and all of you are invited to the celebration.

Until then; Happy Keto,

Wayne

(Marianne) #2

Dammit, you found a unicorn!!! (your doctor) :grin::unicorn: I wish! My gp and cardiologist think I am on some reckless fad diet and actually doing harm to my body by following keto. Every solution to them and the big thing now is a “plant based” diet - no thank you.

Congratulations on your seizures getting better. I saw a documentary (I think Forks Over Knives?), and these parents were switching their young daughter to keto. She has autism. All they fed her previously was junk and processed food, and she loved it. The switch was very hard on her as she initially fought the change and didn’t understand why she couldn’t have the things she loved. In time, she came to enjoy clean eating and ate keto food heartily - and her autism became far less severe. She began communicating verbally, developed better coping skills, and stopped flailing.

I found the longer I was on clean keto, eating enough and getting enough fat, my cravings for sweets and carbage were virtually eliminated. Now, they are just a passing thought that I can quickly dismiss and not a driving compulsion. I love to watch baking shows especially and although those were all things that used to be at the top of my consumption list, it doesn’t stir any desire or craving to have them. I love how we can eat and find it completely satisfying.

(You've tried everything else; why not try bacon?) #3

The therapeutic diet for epilepsy was originally formulated to be extremely low in protein, but more recent data suggests that a more reasonable amount of protein in the diet can still allow the diet to be effective. The various options are discussed in this lecture by Eric Kossoff, a paediatrician at Johns Hopkins:

(Wayne) #4

Hello Gingersmommy (Marianne) and thank you for the response. My doctor is special and I’m very lucky to have found her. My last PCP was very strict; Western Medicine, ONLY! I always felt like I was pushing a steel boulder uphill with these people. Great in the fact that they care, but so stubbornly steadfast on their beliefs that medication is the ONLY prescription. I am starting to look at alternatives because I’m seeing that sometimes medication works, but comes with a price. Each one has a side effect that I take another prescription, then another for those side effects, and so on and so on.

I’ll tell you how I found her though and it’s gonna be a little weird. My younger brother is Epileptic as well. He lives in a different part of the state and sees a different Neuro. His Neuro suggested Cannabis and for all about 13 minutes, I thought about it. I then decided at the ripe old age of 45, that wasn’t for me and dismissed the idea. Even though there is strong evidence supporting its effectiveness of it in combatting seizures. That may work well for him, and he’s been seizure-free for 7 years, but I don’t know. That is how I found her. She has an O.D. after her name, not M.D. M.D.'s are usually less likely to entertain the idea of “alternative” medicines or lifestyle changes.

Regardless, I am under the watchful eye of a very talented doctor and nutrionist. If something goes awry, I am sure we’ll make some changes. In the meantime, all steam ahead.

P.S. How the heck can you watch cake shows and not druel? I would be eating my TV. But again, I am at the beginning of my journey. I’m going to take it a day at a time and remember that this is a long term benefit, so a marathon, not a race.

Wayne

(Marianne) #5

Honestly, I just love watching baking shows, but it doesn’t awaken that demon, even though they were a huge part of my former diet. I do not feel tempted whatsoever (have been carnivore for almost a year and a half). I consider sugar and flour as poison now, notwithstanding their addictive power.

I think the longer you are on this, the easier it will become.

(Wayne) #6

You are a stronger woman than I am a man. :stuck_out_tongue_winking_eye:

#7

Hi Wayne! Welcome!
You’re so lucky to have found a PCP who will support your diet. Mine is nice, but he thinks keto is unhealthy and only approves of Mediterranean. I don’t argue with him. I just do my thing without asking him. He also thinks being 40 lbs. overweight is o.k. if you’re over 50 because “grandmas are supposed to be fluffy.” Nope. Otherwise, he’s a love.

I’m also doing this diet because of disease, or rather diseases. I have lupus, a goiter and severe GERD with class C esophagitis (class D is the last step before cancer), gastritis and a hiatal hernia. I’ve only been on this WOE for about a month, but I have seen so many benefits and already seeing positive results in my health.

I truly pray this WOE helps you with your epilepsy. It has helped so many people overcome so many health problems, and it was tailor made for yours!

(Wayne) #8

:smile: hug:

Thank You and I look forward to communicating with all of you moving forward!

Wayne

(Stickin' with mammoth) #9

Brutha from another mutha.

This. And, seriously…dude…the sooner you end the sweet stuff and let your taste buds reacclimate (and they will, big time, did you know steak can taste sweet?), the sooner you will see some real miraculous stuff happen. Because toggling back and forth between clean and dirty, that’s for laundry, not a gastrointestinal system.

Welcome to keto.

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(Marianne) #10

I’ve been on clean keto since I started. Last week, I was craving hot dogs (I used to love them charred). Yuck! What a disappointment. I swear, I could taste the chemicals.

(Stickin' with mammoth) #11

Me, too! Stuff I used to look forward to as a treat…now I wonder what the bleep I was thinkin’.

I have to roll up my windows when I drive down Fast Food Row (street filled with drive thrus) because the smell of the rancid burning vegetable oils and charred garlic makes me gag.

#12

I always failed to understand how anyone can consider those things edible (the same with cereal)… Except homemade, proper donuts, without weird things, too much sugar, chocolate, sprinkles and other abomination.

Okay I stop. Welcome, Wayne, you seem a nice guy for me this far, odd sense of humor sounds okay too and I very rarely have problems with a person just because they have questionable food tastes :smiley:

So you share my belief (well, it’s true) that keto allows every food and drink? (That one can consume in small enough quantities.)
It’s still not a good idea to eat just anything on keto even if we go for ketosis only and not staying away from not healthy food… But many things are still okay. I started with that style but I had no meat and I couldn’t have my “proper” amount of vegs so I needed something!
It’s important to do keto realistically. It’s great others can do it strict, I needed my tiny high-carb stuff.

Real ice cream is overrated, too watery, not fatty and eggy enough if you ask me but each to their own!
Once I decided I will eat a super good pizza in a great place (I have high standards when it comes to that despite I barely had pizza a few times. but places can mess it up so horribly) in, say, every 5 years in the future. 5 years passed. 10 years passed. I start to realize I grown out of the thing and probably would feel it not tasty anymore. I like my not-quite-pizzas, though.

I say it a lot: we can change. Surprisingly much. But it’s individual and I still have some very carby stuff I like. Just not need or desire, fortunately, that wouldn’t be pretty, I go off too often without that problem, for various reasons.

Good luck! Though it seems the luck part already happened and you just need to continue… But it’s a saying as we all know so it’s okay.

Some of us can watch cooking shows in a middle of a fast too :smiley: I bake carby things for my SO, it gives me joy (and I don’t feel quilty as he is thriving on high-carb. and our things have a lower carb content and especially GI than the normal version while the taste isn’t worse at all) and I rarely want to taste them. (It’s useful I prefer my own version but if I don’t have that and I am hungry without enough proper food, well, I had my bad moments. But it’s okay most of the time.)
So it’s quite normal to look at pretty things we don’t want anymore if you ask me (that you didn’t but nevermind).

And it’s possibly different after 2 months, 5 years and 10 years… I had my hard time after 5 years on low-carb (before keto). I suddenly wanted back potatoes and whatnot so I went back to them. Fortunately I already had my new, low-carb habits and my body was adamant about low-carb since day 1, basically so it was just a few moderately potato-rich days, it wasn’t fun enough anymore and I stopped. It won’t come back again, I suppose. And I was a HUUUUUGE potato-lover.
I still gladly look at perfectly made, somewhat crunchy potatoes or anything. And cakes are often pretty! I never even could do any frosting but looking at the art of others is different.

Sweets are ridiculously easy on keto and they are superior over normal ones (except if some crunchy biscuits are involved but probably some people can do it on keto. and honey is special too. but that’s it. okay okay if one is into fruity sweets, that is an exception as well) even just taste wise IMO so they have a hard time to be really tempting when one stops and think about it. Bad deal. Yeah, one doesn’t always function like that, things just BEING THERE in front of us may be different, I had those times in the past… But a cooking show is safe if we only have that problem. Even if I fancy a dessert, I can even make a carnivore one and that’s perfectly okay in my eyes. It won’t be really sweet but sweetness is overrated, I know that now :wink:
But keto sweets? Lots of great options. Why would I want carby ones, most of the time? (Sometimes I must taste something exotic. I mostly grew out of it but I need some more time.)

This is one thing I never understood. Why people want to keep their old favs when they can have wonderful food anyway? To me, eating 9-10/10 at almost every meal is nearly completely enough. Sometimes I get nostalgy or something but it’s weak. But we are different, obviously and I have my zillion weaknesses myself. I am just lucky to stop eating added sugar, grains, dry legumes, potatoes and many other things one day and it was EASY. I ate maybe even tastier and definitely better food.
Eventually going as low as I really needed, well that was harder. But just not eating something nice when I have other similarly nice but better stuff? That’s a nice deal to me. And if something is clearly unhealthy, it’s not so hard to avoid it, usually. I am a hedonist and being health-conscious is a big part of it. It’s not hedonistic to get unwell and sick and die earlier.

I am sorry if I wrote too much about myself needlessly but maybe it had some use? I always find it interesting to see how others feel and see in certain situations :slight_smile: Btw my SO is the same, able to make drastic lifestyle changes and walk in the shop enjoying to see all the things he doesn’t need :smiley: It feels so free.

#13

Welcome Wayne!!

I am a little weird too and I have a really big funny bone, but not a lot of filters. My sense of humor has gotten me into trouble or caused me to be judged harshly on occasion. I don’t mean it either, it’s sort of part of my ASD. My kids can be weird too. Lol It’s genetic. I was raised on I Love Lucy and my mother was a lot like her in real life and passed it on to me.

My mother was also an epileptic. She had grand maul seizures almost weekly for most of my teenage years. It really took a toll on her mind. But so did all the medications they had her on.

My two sons both have Tourette Syndrome, among a bunch of other neurological acronym goodies on the ASD spectrum. One has a significant case of TS and his rage attacks and tics needed so much medicine when young. They used epileptic medicine to treat his tics. In all my kids, most medicine for one condition triggered bad symptoms for another condition. He is out of college now, off all his meds, and not doing so good mentally. My heart aches that I probably contributed to his failing mental health with how I fed my kids and I wish I had learned what I know now much sooner. At 24, he is hard to convince to convert to Keto, especially when he is falling apart mentally.

My youngest son has dormant tics that only come out when on stimulants. But there are tons when they do. He has the most disabilities out of all of them, but he is very logical and doing really well today. He is opening his mind to the true mental healing that Keto can offer, and this week I am going to meet him at college and shop for a Keto diet for him. It may be dirty Keto at first because he won’t have the time like I have to cook whole foods or bake, so it will be challenging, but it will be better than how he has always eaten. I’m so happy he is willing to learn.

I can’t agree with the others enough about abstaining from “cheating” with old foods, even glorious doNuTs. I’m a true, blue, walking sweet tooth of a gal. I started Keto March 6 and refused to let one speck of sugar or refined carbs or prepackaged crap past my lips. It took less than a week to never crave any of it again. I can sit here with a cake in my face and not be tempted. And when I do accidentally taste real sugar products it’s so gross and way too sweet now. BUT, my method to successfully do this is a bit different than others, and different than Keto purists. While I won’t eat crappy prepackaged foods, short of Aldi keto bread or La Banderita Carb tortillas, and I cook primarily all Whole Foods, I DO rely on erythritol. It has been my saving grace. I’m experiencing all the benefits of Keto and great weight loss, and for the first time in 20 years I am completely off all mental health medicine. I haven’t had my Adderall in almost two months yet every day I have the same benefits it provided without any of the side effects or addictive need for it. So erythritol has allowed me to succeed and satisfy my sweet flavor profile. Some people prefer hot and spicy, I prefer mildly sweet. Lol. I’m certain I would have craved things had I not used it. But I haven’t. And it never caused me to want or need more, or trigger anything. For some people it can. You have to find it out for yourself if your body can use it. And many people lump it with all the other sugar alcohols and label it bad and not worth it, but it’s entirely different than the others.

I make treats, deserts, muffins, seeet breads, bagels, etc with erythritol. Even Ice Cream! Although because I abstained from ever eating the old stuff, I surprisingly eat very little of the Keto sweets and goodies. But they are there when I need them. Maybe erythritol can help you go the next step of not eating any sugar, ever, not even a taste. And you can reach the other side where you don’t crave when you see all the glorious cakes and cookies and such. You will understand how gingersmommy is immune to it - like me. :joy:

(Wayne) #14

I’m not really toggling back and forth. I have been very Keto strict since I started and I asked my nutritionist and she told me I was fine, so :stuck_out_tongue_closed_eyes:

I’m not looking at this as a weight-loss trip, though that is a benefit, it’s a life and death trip. One thing I know about seizures and I have had some shorty’s and severe ones that put me in the hospital for days, is that the next one could be my last one. That can mean one of two things. Either I’m seizure-free or taking the last and longest nap of my life or :skull_and_crossbones: I would rather live knowing that I am making decisions in that battle and not just leaving it up to someone else.

(Wayne) #15

I was a truck driver for nearly 20 years. Donuts are pretty much a staple in the cab on a trip. Especially on a coffee-fueled run. I was bad, too. I didn’t just like the plain ones. It was the chocolate-filled cover with chocolate and then dipped in anything else that would just put a child into an overload shock.

Don’t mind me, chocolate and I have a love affair. Shhhh…!

You are officially a weirdo! :stuck_out_tongue_winking_eye:

(Wayne) #16

I talked at length about this with my Nutrionist. I have a sweet tooth and that is one thing that is the going to need to adapt to. I’m not a frothing drooling maniac that turns hulk at the sight of it, but delicious sweets and I go way back. What’s been fun is trying to find ways to make the things I love a way that conforms into a Keto world. For the most part, I have had some amazing dishes, I have had some ok ones and I for the first time since my journey began had a total and utter failure. I never in my life thought I would gag on a pancake. This thing looked like a pancake, smelled like one; sorta, but absolutely and totally didn’t taste like one. It was so bad I tried handing it off to my dog who gave me stink eye, probably thought I was trying to poison him and walked away. He hasn’t talked to me all day because of it. I am at the point I think he is planning my untimely death.

I, too, have grand maul or tonic clonic seizures. They last anywhere for 30 seconds or my longest was almost 9 minutes. Recently I suffered my first serious injury when I fell so hard I gave myself a very bad concussion, bruised the side of my face and my eye swelled shut, and had pain traveling from my shoulders, neck and up to the left side of my head. I was so swollen. It occurred while I was outside with my dogs at 3am. It’s a good thing my Kia is a seizure detection and alert dog or who knows where I would be right now. I was in the woods behind my home walking them and apparently hit a tree on the way down.

So, I owe my life to a dog bought as a pet who has this untrained ability to detect these events when they happen, normally, and we put a lot of time, money and effort into training her to do the rest. She was never meant to be my service dog, but I believe that God was watching over me and gave her to me because even though I don’t go to church every Sunday or preach his word, I live a life where others matter over me.

Thank you again!

Wayne

#17

Welcome man! You got lucky for sure with your doc! My PCP although an MD, runs her practice like a functional med practice, she became an MD in India so not as brainwashed.

I also know all too well stuffing those donuts in the truck as well! (I’m a regional guy). If I was OTR it’d still be 300lbs for sure.

(Wayne) #18

B Strong, Love it! NH here and B Strong for sure!

Yeah, I was a regional guy as well. I had to give up my CDL when this mess started. I have to be seizure free and off all seizure meds for 7 years to get it back. I’m not holding my breath. My downfall was Dunks. An iced coffee, regular, and a couple of the nastiest donuts they have and then tootling back down the road again. Whether up in Portland, ME or down to NY, CT, RI, VT or MA. I hauled Propane. I would drive it and be home for supper. My favorite job ever. I got to go places, doing something I love and then be home. Play catch with my son or kick the soccer ball around with my daughter. The real scary part is I had my first seizure in the cab of that truck. Thank God I wasn’t driving at the time. I felt weird and just had enough time and sense to call 911 before it hit. Imagine if I crashed that thing loaded? Yikes!!

(Stickin' with mammoth) #19

You were saying?

#20

I love your doggie! That’s fantastic. She is a blessing for sure, placed into your life for a purpose.

And ya I’ve had to throw out a lot of ingredients when something bombs. I’m basically learning to cook all over again and that requires some experimentation and getting used to how ingredients work. My husband says I’m like a mad scientist in the kitchen now, laser focused and sometimes half crying and half laughing at the same time. I do get so disappointed when I worked really hard on something and it tastes awful. But that’s how we learn. And I’m really enjoying myself in the kitchen these days. In the past we never really had to understand how ingredients worked. All we had to do was follow a recipe. But now I need to learn how and why each ingredient reacts with everything else. It’s not simply following recipes with all the pro-chef-wannabes out there on the internet. I swear some take pictures of high carb foods and use them as the picture for their recipe just to entice traffic and earn advertising dollars. But when you follow their recipe exact it’s like a child’s mud pie and nothing even close to what they pictured. Or they only tested it once, never multiple times, or then they made adjustments to make it work but didn’t update the recipe. So I am now determined to understand the ingredients to avoid the chaos when someone is being irresponsible with other people’s time and money in their recipes.

Like I learned you can drain a lake with a cup of coconut flour. :rofl: I’ll keep an emergency stash on hand to help if ever my basement floods. And I learned you can create glue out of food with just a small amount of xantham gum. Lol. My gravy was more like cookie dough than gravy. :woman_facepalming:t3: So many recipes forget to impart wisdom and they leave out key points about working with these ingredients that make their instructions work.

I will love to see how Keto helps you and your epilepsy over time. I pray that it heals you from within and makes it easier and safer for you.