Doing the Newcastle

[AlcalaBob]

Tuesday February 6th.
Just as a little addendum:

I've just had the much-anticipated visit to my unsupportive GP who was indeed surprised, not to say greatly thrown off balance by my request for a reduction in medication - that just doesn't happen. He noticed my weight loss but he started by saying that 800 kcals is not enough and I should have at least 1500, around 50% carbohydrates, plenty of fruit and follow a slow, gently diet with plenty of exercise, the usual mainstream message. But I'd written up a summary of my trial of the ND with the blood levels, medication and weight, and I asked him why he thought the levels dropped to normal within a few days. He had no idea and was genuinely surprised. It was a useful way to get him to take the ND seriously and fair play, he did then. I'd translated some material for him and also found a Medscape article from 2016 in Spanish and I also left him a brief summary of my experiences, including my mistaken reduction in meds and its correction. He insisted on checking my blood pressure, which is now lower than the last time he checked - I've no idea what it is, he didn't tell me and I forgot to ask, what with all the fun. I think he will take the ND seriously though he did insist that his patients wouldn't be able to follow it - I argued that they should have the option and at least know about it. My (somewhat cynical) guess is that he'll think about it a bit but will continue with the routine advice of eat less, exercise more. He is, after all, expected and required to issue the standard advice. I'll have a blood test in a couple of months and work on him a bit more then... I think I'm probably the first patient he's had who has long-term diabetes and has managed to reduce their meds. Hopefully in time, there'll be a lot more. (Oh and I hit the weight target - now 95.8kg and dropping)

 

[Roytaylorjasonfunglover]

Impressive story. Also shows how slowly good News penetrate the medical community. Let hope he reads some more of Roy Taylor!

 

[AdamJames]

Tuesday February 6th.
Just as a little addendum:

I've just had the much-anticipated visit to my unsupportive GP who was indeed surprised, not to say greatly thrown off balance by my request for a reduction in medication - that just doesn't happen. He noticed my weight loss but he started by saying that 800 kcals is not enough and I should have at least 1500, around 50% carbohydrates, plenty of fruit and follow a slow, gently diet with plenty of exercise, the usual mainstream message. But I'd written up a summary of my trial of the ND with the blood levels, medication and weight, and I asked him why he thought the levels dropped to normal within a few days. He had no idea and was genuinely surprised. It was a useful way to get him to take the ND seriously and fair play, he did then. I'd translated some material for him and also found a Medscape article from 2016 in Spanish and I also left him a brief summary of my experiences, including my mistaken reduction in meds and its correction. He insisted on checking my blood pressure, which is now lower than the last time he checked - I've no idea what it is, he didn't tell me and I forgot to ask, what with all the fun. I think he will take the ND seriously though he did insist that his patients wouldn't be able to follow it - I argued that they should have the option and at least know about it. My (somewhat cynical) guess is that he'll think about it a bit but will continue with the routine advice of eat less, exercise more. He is, after all, expected and required to issue the standard advice. I'll have a blood test in a couple of months and work on him a bit more then... I think I'm probably the first patient he's had who has long-term diabetes and has managed to reduce their meds. Hopefully in time, there'll be a lot more. (Oh and I hit the weight target - now 95.8kg and dropping)

I'm sorry I missed your 'end of ND' posts, I haven't been on the forum much recently!

Congratulations on sticking to it, the weight loss, medication reduction and the increased feeling in your feet (hopefully that's still there?).

If you are going to 'do it again' as you suggest, it will be interesting to see what happens if you've first been eating more normally and cranking your metabolism up for a while.

Thanks for sharing your experience with such detail. Whatever you do next, keep us posted!

 

[pavlovsdog]

I was signposted to this thread by another member, firstly well done AlcalaBob and how are things going now? I am hoping to start ND soon and am also on insulin, so any further hints would be greatly appreciated

 

[AlcalaBob]

I was signposted to this thread by another member, firstly well done AlcalaBob and how are things going now? I am hoping to start ND soon and am also on insulin, so any further hints would be greatly appreciated

Hi, I haven't been logging in much recently. I repeated the ND again to try to lose an additional 10kg but was unsuccessful despite rigidly sticking to the diet for a further six weeks. I'm still at the 96kg level but my blood is very good (most morning readings under 5, never over 7 during the day) and I've halved the medication I used to be on. My doctor is now taking it very seriously given the drop in my HbA1c to under 6. When I followed his previous advice it peaked at 9.3. I've tried to figure out what's happened with the weight and I think it's to do with the insulin.

Roy Taylor argues that every individual has a personal fat threshold which operates like a kind of thermostat. If you can get below that threshold, then the liver and pancreas can start to recover functionality. If you're over it, you will tend to regain the weight back to some higher stable level. My problem was that with the level of insulin I take, all that happened on a very low calorie intake is that I became exhausted and I think it's because the insulin encourages continued storage of fat, leaving less energy for consumption. My metabolic rate drops if I reduce the intake too much, rather than me losing weight. Essentially I need to get the weight down to a lower stable level and that needs stepping down the insulin in very small steps.

When I originally did the ND I made the mistake of cutting my insulin straight away and my readings quickly went up and I wasn't prepared to wait and see what happened. We should remember that when patients did this in Taylor's trials, they had medical support and there's some risk involved if you do it yourself. It's manageable if you understand what you are doing - but GP support is obviously a lot better. In my case, I restored the insulin but gradually reduced it again as my weight was coming down. I tolerated slightly higher readings but the weight came down initially but then the weight stabilised and so did the glucose levels, a kind of plateau. I've been stuck there for some time. I think it would be possible to reduce the insulin bit my bit to see if the weight would come down forming a virtuous circle, but it's a sort of cat and mouse game and if you're going to do it, you should talk to your GP about it. Small and slow changes are how I did it last time. I'm going to have another crack at it in the near future, probably in the autumn.

One thing that is important to know is that when you start the ND, there is a sudden drop in carbohydrate intake and it's important to monitor your levels carefully to avoid a hypo. Again GP advice is important if you can get it. If you keep taking the same level of insulin but cut the carbs dramatically, you can cause yourself some problems. Within a matter of a few days, the BG drops to within normal range as the liver loses its fat and recovers some insulin sensitivity. So obviously you have to watch the medication carefully. In Taylor's trial they simply stopped all medication at the outset - I wasn't willing to do that. Perhaps my decision wasn't the best one but I didn't have a helpful GP at the time.

Good luck with your ND. I've been immensely pleased with the results and feel so much more in control these days. I still have a way to go, but I'm now sure it's possible.

 

[pavlovsdog]

Thanks AlcalaBob, its inspiring to read about your progress. Not sure how my GP will react, I think many of them are still quite sceptical, or worse, don't know about ND. My nurse says she will support me but I think when it comes to reducing meds she might be more reluctant. Not only am I on insulin, I am also on oral meds so it might be tricky to manage. Anyway, fingers crossed and good luck with the next stage in your progress!