Hello! My name is Fay and this is my son, Scott's, 2nd time on the ketogenic diet.
He was diagnosed with a severe seizure disorder (Lennox Gastaut Syndrome) at age 3. We tried all the seizure medications and the medication combinations and even had the VNS implanted which is now turned off and soon to be removed. Scott is now 17 1/2 years old and is medically stable for the first time in his life.
He was on the diet the 1st time for 3 1/2 years but had to come off due to a severe asthma attack we couldn't control without high doses of steriods. The steriods brought him out of ketosis which in turn caused him to go into nonstop seizures regardless of how they adjusted the diet or the medications.
We started the diet (2nd time) on Jan.18, 2005. He has been seizure free since Jan.20, 2005. He had been medication free (weaned off of Ativan which he had taken for 13 years, Lamictal, Celexa, Clonidine, Ritalin and Trazadone) since August 3, 2005. his autism and behavior problems left with the seizures and especially with the medications. He is trying his best to catch up with everything he has missed.

:angel: Fay, I'm sure many people will benefit from your information. Give Scott a hug for me.




:im_033: Labrat :im_033:

Will do Labrat! Thanks.

Hello, I am new here but not new to Atkins, Protein Power and anything low carb/ketogenic. I have been low carbing for 5 years and I added intermittent fasting 1 year ago. For about a year or so, I have been researching various conditions that have been treated successfully on this diet. I tell you, I would not go through any ailment, not even a hang nail, without some form of low carb/ketogenic dietary lifestyle. Those of you who are using this to help your loved one's neurological maladies are to be commended for your courage. I have learned that this diet that enhances the production ketones which are mini healers with mighty powers. These little healers have been used in various neurolgical disorders such as epilepsy, ALS ( Lou Gehrigs Disease ), strokes, alzheimers,parkinsons etc. :Yeah That: I wish this information was available when my dad had a massive stroke. He was plagued with seizures after that stroke and died at the ripe old age of 67. :So Sad:

I do want to recommend the book "The Brain Trust Program" by Dr. Larry McCleary. He not only supports this dietary lifestyle, he isn't afraid of it. He truly believes in it through strong research and has an accurate knowledge regarding it.

But, the reason that i have become increasingly obsessive about this subject is I have a friend with focal dystonia, another neurological disorder. I think the answer is right here. I won't be surprised to see that the diet that is keeping my hypoglycemia and migraines at bay, is the one that will help this guy with this problem. Forgive me for my rant. I am climbing down now but I want to get as much information that I can get from you fine people and if you need any help from me I am there. :hbeat:

black57

:Welcome: Thank you for recommending the book!

Hi Black57,

Thanks for all the information regarding low carbs and what you have learned over your course of living this lifestyle. And thanks for the book recommendation!

:im_033:

Welcome black57

Thank you for your contribution to our diet/section. Even though it's small in comparision, there ar a lot of page loads. Many people are interested in this.

Back when I was first married, my husband and I both went on the Atkins diet. He was in the USAF and had to watch his weight. We did quite well, lost about 20 pounds each, but boy the dragon breath :Icky: was a challenge! LOL :D

I've thought about doing this again. It may help with my RA and fibro. : doctor :

Hello and welcome! I totally agree with the others here about telling us about the book. Will def check it out.
The ketogenic diet has been my son, Scott, seizure miracle. If he can't come off the ketogenic diet for some reason then we will put him on the modified atkins diet.
Am thinking about trying the atkins diet myself to lose a few pounds.
I hope that I'm not being too nosy here but would you mind sharing your fav meals with me? I'm hoping that I can work them into meal plans for Scott. I'm always on the lookout for something new to give him. Thanks

:Great!: I would love to share my foods with you.Before I share my meals, I would like to add a ketogenic cocktail recipe that Dr. McCleary recommends It is 1teaspoon to 1 tablespoon of flax oil : yuk : 50 mg of EPA ( Eicosapentanoic Acid ) and 2 tablespoons of MCT ( Medium Chain Triglycerides ). He recommends taking this 3 times a day. He recommends it for migraines, peri-menopause symptoms and anything else that is helped with ketosis. I am a meat eater and I love all kinds of tastey fleshy morsels like poultry,seafood, beef, game.I love grilled steak topped with some crumbled blue cheese with a side of sauteed asparagus with garlic butter. Homemade ice cream, naked fried chicken ( chicken fried without breading), omelettes and fritattas, egg salad. I am not from the South but my mom, who was from the south, cooked lots of greens. I have not had these greens in ages, and now I find out how healthy they are. I usually cook up some collard greens, turnip greens,kale, mustard greens, swiss chard or a mix of all of these. Avocado/tomato/onion salad with full fat Italian dressing.Mom also made some very good cauliflower with homemade cheese sauce when I was a kid. I make that recipe now with heavy cream and colby. I use plenty of fats in my food. We eat butter, regularly.Coconut oil is very good for cooking. I love it on baked chicken...it just adds the best flavor. I use coconut oil in stir fried shrimp and veggies ( spring peas, brocolli, bell peppers.I also make coconut fruit smoothies that taste like milk shakes. I get plain full fat yogurt at Whole Foods. I also began using celery root and I will pan fry that with some onions. Now, sinceI actually do low carb and not true ketogenic, I am not sure if I listed anything that does not work with a ketogenic diet. Shopping at Whole Foods is a little pricey but the food is much safer to consume.

Trader Joes has the best heavy whipping cream and it makes excellent cheese sauce without the need of a thickener.

I believe strongly that this will help with fibro and RA. I had osteo-arthritis symptoms. I never bothered with finding a DX 'cuz I didn't want to believe that I could possibly have had this in my forties.I was so achy and I felt elderly but didn't want anyone to know.Not only did my knees ache, my wrists ached also.Soon after beginning Atkins the aches in my joints began to dissipate, greatly. I work in the music department in my area and I was walking past the piano when my foot brushed against it and my knee popped out of socket. I was in the worst pain ( I'd rather be in labor :ROFLMAO: ). I went to emergency where xrays were taken and the doctor was so impressed with my bone mass. I think that I was around 48 years old at that time and Doc was expecting to find some form of osteoporosis. I may have been in pain, but there was no damage. I guess my nerves were working just fine :excl: Now being on Atkins for 5 years, I have no joint pain. It has nothing to do with my weightloss because I gained the weight back but my joints continued to improve. I began losing the weight again after doing intermittent fasting and low carb. I know RA and fibro are actually immune related but the ketogenic diet also improves immunity. I was the only one in my work team that did not get the flu AND I was the only one who did not get a flu shot. I am fifty and am showing no signs of developing diabetes, which runs in the family.I swear to goodness, out of everything that I mentioned, I also have fewer gray hairs. Might I add that I have exemplary glucose, cholesterol and triglyceride levels.

:huh: If I can post some pertinent links for the health benefits of coconut products,traditional ketogenic diets,Dr. McCleary's blog, Dr. Eades blog and Jimmy Moores blog. I would also like to share my low carber sites...I want to post these links. I don't want to without being sure. I didn't read the policies for this forum cause i was so anxious to climb on board. Personally, I love eating this way. I enjoy doing research and making new discoveries expecially in the medical world. I shall return. :im_033:

Posting links shouldn't be a problem :no2:

Just keep the R&R in mind. : lighten :

:Thanx: You know, I have been going to various forums such as this one for years. I joined a similar site a few months ago and posted a site and got in trouble. It bugs me because the site was very informative and I just wanted to share the information.

Fay, I am getting ready for work and I really need to get off of the puter. I just wanted to tell you that I am not one who believes in fate. I think that life goes as it goes. But, this is different. Reading your post makes me think that I came into low carb, although it is not as extreme as true ketogenic diets, for a reason. DH has an autistic niece and I feel that he has Asperger's. Yet, his Asperger's has lessened in intensity sens I have been low carbing. He also takes advantage of this diet although it is not as strict as mine. It just seems that the world around me needs this and I am the initiator. Gotta go, see you tonight.

Mary

Thanks for your posts and for the links too.
You mentioned homemade ice cream- yum!- which Scott also likes. I don't know if you eat sugarfree jello or not but I "invented" a keto icecream sherbert that taste just like the kind you can buy in the store. Make the Jell-O as directed on the box except don't let it conjeal. Whip the cream then whisk in the jello into the cream slowly mixing well. Can add a few drops or small squirt of sugar free davinci syrup (same fruit flavor as the jello) too. Scott's favorites are orange and lime. Sometimes I add crushed pineapple. Strawberry is great this time of the year especially when you can get fresh, pick your own strawberries right out of the field.
One of Scott's favorite meals is strawberry shortcake. I make the shortcake out of ground macadamia nuts, raw, well beaten egg and a couple of drops of pure vanilla extract. Spray a nonstick waffle iron with nonstick cooking spray and heat as usual. Pour on the "batter" and cook as you would a "normal" waffle. Once done set aside on a plate. Whip the cream till stiff adding either splenda or liquid sweetner to taste. Put the whipped cream on top of the cooled waffle. slice strawberries and put on top of the whipped cream. Melt butter and flavor with sugar free strawberry flavored Davinci syrup and pour over the waffle and whipped cream. Enjoy.
We also use a lot of coconut oil. Scott's favorite is chocolate candy. I mix Hersheys unsweetened cocoa powder and either splenda or liquid sweetener into it to sweeten. I then mash it all together with the bottom of a spoon. When it's mixed as well as you can get it plop it into wax paper and put in the fridge for a few minutes to harden (it only takes less than 5 minutes to harden). If you add a few chopped almonds into it it tastes just like an almond joy candy bar.
We tried MCT oil but it caused Scott to have seizures so we had to stop it. Yes, we went up very slow- a few grams at a time- but he just can't handle it.
He is both seizure free (last seizure was New Years Day) and seizure and behavior medication free (since August 3, 2005).

Wow Fay, That jello sherbet thingie sounds great. I could easily see myself eating that. Just to brag a bit, strawberries are always in season here in Southern CA :D I use almond flour for my baked goods but, I believe that macadamia nuts are lower in carbs. I'm gonna try that.I use the ground almond flour because Whole Foods carries it. I might make waffles this weekend. DH just bought me some sugarfree syrup. :rolleyes: You might like this recipe
http://lowcarbdiets.about.com/od/breads/r/...arbcoffcake.htm

Sorry to hear about Scott's bad experience with the MCT. I wonder why it caused the seizure? My son has ADHD an I am trying to make some serious changes in his diet. Kinda hard to do when the kid is 19 years old. I told him to use some of my MCT oil, hope it doesn't make him more ADHD :dribble2:

You said one of Scotts favorite <<meals>> are strawberry shorcake. He gets to have dessert for dinner? :coolthumb:

I have to figure out some way to tell my sis-in-law about this. Maybe I will relay the info to my husband and he can tell his sister. :Thanx: Your sucess chokes me up. I am almost always on the computer looking up various forms of this dietary lifestyle and I think that examples such as yous are the most rewarding. Here is the link to Billy McLaughlin's site. You can listen to music samples, read his story and read his interview in Acoustic guitar. If the spirit moves you email him and let him know about your experience. As, I told you earlier, he has focal dystonia which is a neurological disorder that I believe could be helped with a ketogenic diet. As a musician, I know how vital music is to the musician. For me, when I play my flute, my blood "circulates" through the instrument. I am sure that is what happens to Billy when he plays his guitar, which is why it was so important to re-learn the instrument on the opposite side. I hope that you get to see him in concert one day. :note: I'm getting sleepy so I will return tomorrow.

http://billymacmusic.com

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Birdbomb, I am sobbing. I have been on stage with this guy and he is such a down to earth person. I had not hear anything about him for years. Finally I googled him following a Bobby Mcferrin google ( Don't Worry Be Happy ) and found Billy Mac. Finally and I have been stunned ever since knowing about his malady. Gotta go to work. I shall return...thanks so much for putting planting this here.

He style is really nice. I enjoyed listening to him. :)

Beautiful music!

Most, if not all of his music has a story behind it. To me that makes his music even more interesting. The piece that he is playing on the documentary sample is Helm's Place. This is was the street that he lived on while in college. He went to a college here in California, I believe that it was USC. That street overlooked the Santa Monica freeway. I moved to CA with my family about 9 years ago and I realize that this composition is about every freeway in Southern CA. :rolleyes: Again, if you get the opportunity to see him in concert...go see him.

Wow, talk about inspirational! Not only is the music beautiful but the fact that he overcame the loss of his ability to play caused by focal dystonia is truly amazing. Thank you so much for sharing this with us! I will definitely be adding his music to my library.

Hugs,
Cindy

Cindy, It makes me feel great to hear you say that. Since I located Billy a few months ago, I began ordering his music :note: . It is my goal to have every CD in my library. I am writing an arrangement of "Coffee Break" for flute choir. This will be recorded at the upcoming student recital in May. He okayed this and wants to hear the arrangement. Take care you guys.

Thanks Mary! :bigarmhug: