Meds, diet or both?

[mexmom]

Hello. We're new to the board but not new to PP. We discovered it in the mid 90s and were very curious, but never put it into action. My husband's mom died of heart failure on her 50th birthday and had Type II diabetes for most of her adult life. When my husband found he had high triglycerides (in 2001) we went on the diet and it worked wonders. We didn't follow it for long, though. Last week he went in for bloodwork and the lab tech came out to say his blood was too fatty to be analyzed accurately (they were doing an insulin resistance test). They showed us the tube of blood with nearly half of it full of fat. Shocking.
So, the doctor told him to take a combination of three lipid-lowering drugs for 14 days only. We decided at the same time that we needed to go back on the plan. He's been on 30g carbs for nearly a week. His headaches are gone and he's already lost 8 pounds. Is much of that weight loss actually fluid? How much of this is due to the medicines? We're very much against his taking anything long term unless it's absolutely necessary. He had a heart scan done and his arteries are very clear-no immediate problems there. He does have insulin resistance according to tests he had done two years ago, but is not presently diabetic.

My question is this: We live in Mexico and we're pretty sure his doctor won't go for the low-carb thing, although the diet he gave us to follow is very close. How often should we check his blood while he's on Phase I and when will we know if we can switch to Phase II? Also, how necessary are these drugs?

Thanks so much for your time.

[Gaelen]

Hi, mexmom--welcome to the boards.
First, we can't really offer you specific medical advice over the internet; none of us has enough information to do that and all of the questions you're asking are the kinds of things a patient should be going over with a doctor face-to-face.

Second, while you may be 'against taking anything longterm unless it's absolutely necessary,' in this case it may well BE absolutely necessary until your husband's bloodwork turns around--and it can take as long as a year for lipid profiles to turn around. That's long-term for the purposes of most insurance plans.

Third--yes, the weight loss to date may well be fluid. However, your husband does need to be pretty strict about following Phase I until his lipid profile is completely normalized. The Drs. Eades don't recommend moving to Phase II until people are close to goal weight and their related health issues (insulin resistance, blood sugar levels, blood pressure levels, blood lipid profiles) have completely resolved. And with your husband's history, this doesn't sound like a plan he can pick up and put down at will. If his bloodwork was truly that bad, this is a way of eating he'll need to plan to follow pretty much for life.

Fourth, why are you so sure the doctor won't approve of a low carb approach if the diet he gave your husband is 'very close?' I'd at least discuss it with him...you are going to need his help to monitor your husband's lipid profiles for improvement.

As for how necessary are the drugs...that depends on your husband's bloodwork, and since none of us have seen that, none of us can really answer that question.

Talk to his doctor, explain what you want to do, and try to work with the medical professional with whom you deal on a regular basis.

Welcome in!

[Belfrybat]

I've found when dealing with main-stream doctors to not use the term "low carb". I tell them I've cut out most sugars, grains and starches, have added in more servings of low glycemic vegetables, and am being careful to eat good fats. We don't use the glycemic index on PP, but the veggies we eat are all low glycemic, and doctors seem to like that term. Also, no need to tell them that saturated fat is on my list of good fats. I've never had a problem since adopting that approach.

As to the meds. I would suggest reading all you can about the kind of meds your husband is on and doing your own research. After the initial 14 days, talk to the doctor about a future treatment plan and share your concerns about any of the meds. At this point, test as often as the doctor recommends -- the more ammunition you have the better.

Welcome to the board and good luck to the both of you.

[mexmom]

Thank you for your much-needed advice! You're right, in that we will need to follow the plan for life and I know from our past experiences with it that it does work. As for our doctor, thank you for the advice on not using the term "low carb" with him. We have an appointment next week and we'll be sure to be upfront with him about what we're doing.
I"ve done the research on the meds, so I"ll keep all of that information in mind when working with our doctor and monitoring his lipid profiles and insulin resistance. His blood pressure is normal and so is his blood sugar so far.

Thanks so much again for your time and sharing of your knowledge.

[BryanM]

Welcom mexmom!
When I decided that Protein Power is what I was going to do, I took the book to my doctor and showed it to him. I didn't really ask him, but I said this is what I am doing and told him he was welcome to run any tests he thought were necessary to monitor my progress. My doctor still doesn't get the whole low carb lifestyle, but he will come around eventually.

[mexmom]

Just glad to report that my husband's blood levels after 15 days of Phase I and the meds were good.
colesterol: 117
Triglycerides: 144
Glucose: 88

He's still on Phase I and doing okay. We're going back for more blood work next week. He was taken off the medication until after the results to see how he does without the meds and only the dietary changes.

We haven't seen his triglycerides this low in several years!

Thanks and we'll be in touch.

[Gabriel Guzman]

Thos are great news!!!! One of the most common effects of Protein Power, at least, is that triglycerides decrease significantly and rapidly, perhaps only surpassed by how quickly blood glucose levels get normalized. Empirically, at least based on my own results, I would say that blood glucose gets normalized first, then triglycerides and then cholesterol (i.e. LDL profile comprised mostly of large LDL Particles). The time varies, of course, but that seems to be the pattern, very important information for physicians when their patients are taking medications that need to be adjusted to the new metabolic status. I seem to remember Mike Eades commenting that he would check his patients after 6 weeks on Protein Power but I think that's something that needs to be discuss between patient and physician.