[MAD] true, no medication

[Fedup]

I am friends with another man for the 20 years or more, his name is Francie and he has Grand Mal as well it is sever at the best of times.

I was walking up town one day when I meet Francie and invited him for a coffey, as we sat down he told me how a doctor was taking him off his medication and he would only be on a high protein diet (mainly vegetables) on its own with some supplements as well, this is not the ketogenic diet or any other diet I know of, this is something somebody told Francie about and said he should try it, it means no more medication. So he found a new doctor who agreed with him.

I was a bit sceptical but very happy and though I should do that, luckily I did not. Francie told me how he would be off his medication by the weekend which was only a day or two away and in the mean time he was starting his diet. True to his word Francie came off his medication and on his diet, two weeks later I was in intensive care visiting him, he had uncontrollable seizures. He could not live on his own, work, nothing he had to move back in with his parents and I used to visit him in the house and sometimes when he was up to it I would bring him for a coffey. It took 3 years to get some control of his seizures but not the control he had, sometimes I still meet Francie, but he does not leave the house much now.

I think if he had taken his medication in conjunction with a diet like the ketogenic diet he might have had more success.

 

[Bernard]

That's really odd. The MAD diet has been around for a while and seems to be pretty effective for some people, but I'm baffled that a doctor would advise weaning someone off meds before they even started the diet, much less before they've been on the diet a while and been seizure free.

 

[Fedup]

Bernard

Yes it was not good advice he got about how to go about it or what to do and he just took the word of another. I think it was the way it was done more than anything.

I know it was not the MAD (Modified Atkins Diet) diet it was a diet that he got from somebody, there was a lot of high protein (vegetables) and not sure exactly what else, I just cannot remember it properly, except somebody advised him to do it.

 

[Nakamova]

So very sorry that happened to your friend. Maybe the doctor who okayed the diet and stopping of his meds wasn't a neurologist? Either way, sounds like irresponsible medical advice. It can be very dangerous to stop taking AEDs too quickly.

 

[valeriedl]

I don't know how much meds he took but you'd think the dr would have weaned him off of his meds slower and had him on the diet for a longer period of time just to make sure that everything that he 'needed' from the diet were in there for a good while first.

I'm on a good bit of meds and I'd be scared to death to stop taking them. If my neuro told me that I might be able to stop taking one med by eating certain foods then I might try it, but I wouldn't stop taking all of them.

 

[Fedup]

I could not agree more with everybody, my point is he took somebody's else's advice and found somebody called a "doctor" who would carry out this advice without consulting his actual doctor or neurologist, and all because somebody had said this worked for me so it will work for you. What happen to him is what I wrote, the point being, just because it works for you, does not mean it will work for others. Everything is trail and error and everything, should be done after seeking advice from your doctor or neurologist.

Knowing something is good, its what you do with the information that is dangerous.

 

[AlohaBird]

I'm the biggest advocate around for high protein, keto, MAD, type diets and even I would never advocate weaning off of meds that fast and before the diet had even had a chance to kick in. That is the height of irresponsible. I wonder how he got anyone with an MD to sign off on that.

But that goes to show that just because someone has an MD after their name does not make them perfect and each person still has to be willing and able to think for and make decisions for themselves. Whether it is to take/not take a pill or to do/not do any particular diet, each of us is ultimately responsible for our own forks in the road.

 

[Belinda5000]

That's really odd. The MAD diet has been around for a while and seems to be pretty effective for some people, but I'm baffled that a doctor would advise weaning someone off meds before they even started the diet, much less before they've been on the diet a while and been seizure free.

Bernard,

I tried the MAD diet and it didn't go to well for me and my heart problems.