# The Ketogenic Diet for DPDR



## Erika (Aug 10, 2017)

I haven't seen this mentioned here, so I decided to bring it up.
For those who are unfamiliar with the diet, it involves eating very few carbohydrates, while most calories come from fat. There are multiple variations of it, some more restrictive than the others, but no matter which one you choose, you'll have to make an effort. The goal of the diet is to create a metabolic state called ketosis, which means the presence of substances called ketone bodies in the blood. They replace carbs, the body's preffered energetic substrate, as the primary fuel.
A very lax variation of the diet is very popular for weight loss. The more restrictive variants are used for a range of medical conditions, ranging from epilepsy (for which it is highly effective) to bipolar disorder and schizophrenia (for which evidence isn't very strong, but very promising).
It is currently unknown why the diet works.

My personal experience:

I tried the ketogenic diet for two weeks some time ago.
For DPDR, the effects are unclear. Those two weeks were a good time for me, it allowed me to work 12 hours a day, but it isn't as if it erased my DPDR. It mostly took away other bothersome symptoms rather than DPDR. Unfortunately, I had to stop precisely the 14th day because of an UTI, bruises appearing on my skin and annoying digestive issues. The spos were certainly due to vitamin K deficiency, because this vitamin has an important role in blood clotting. I already have mild blood clotting problems. The UTI was likely caused by the acidic urine ph caused by the excretion of ketone bodies, coupled with the reduced thirst that often comes with the diet.
I came off the diet quickly with 150 grams of sugar and the side effects quickly went away. But my usual symptoms came back with a VENGEANCE. It is not possible to assert that it was from the diet, because that day was one of many consecutive nights when I hadn't slept adequately, a major trigger for my symptoms. And it happened before that I have a sudden flare-up after like 5 sleepless nights. It took me many weeks to come back to baseline.

Note: I was certainly in ketosis, as evidenced by a lab test that I took.

I want to caution you that you should toroughly research the diet before you follow it, make sure that you do not have health conditions that make the diet dangerous (diabetes, various deficiencies, metabolic problems). You should never attempt the diet by yourself, always check with a doctor. It is highly restrictive and requires you to take special measures to maintain a healthy lifestyle.


----------



## London (Dec 23, 2016)

Hi Erika,

I stayed in strict ketosis for 5 months (less than 30g carb)

I'd say that 2 weeks is too lesser of a time even if you were in actual ketosis.

Its a brilliant diet for your mind and body IF you do it properly. Otherwise, it can be dangerous. How it helped me; ACNE VANISHED / CONCENTRATION INCREASED / DROPPED BODY FAT / STARTING FEELING MORE EMOTIONALLY BALANCED / DP REDUCED

The issue for me was that; staying in keto requires serious planning in terms of what to eat and when you are out working, this becomes a real issue. If you are keto and switch over to non keto foods - you will have hell to pay in terms of symptoms.

A lot of people dont realise how impactful this diet is and the fact you said that you did it for 2 weeks and stopped due to health issues tells me you did it wrong.

It should take about a month to slowly taper your normal carb intake down to less than 50 grams a day - this takes stress off your bodys metabolic pathways and thyroid. All of sudden cutting off carbs will not do you any good.


----------



## davinizi (Mar 9, 2016)

I read about the keto diet and find it very interesting. Perhaps humans were meant to eat that few carbs to use fat as their main energy source since those in ketosis report to have so much more energy. I also read that before you go into ketosis you may feel worse for days or weeks, maybe even months depending on the individual.

As London already mentioned, you probably need to slowly downgrade your carb intake and slowly upgrade your (healthy) fat intake and not just start a keto diet right away.

Erika, I wonder if you have liver issues..I read liver disease can be a cause of vitamin K deficiency and if it came up during the keto diet, it might be related because your gallbladder (attached to the liver) needs to produce a lot of bile to digest all that fat. I hope you consumed healthy fats and not trans fats btw..


----------



## Erika (Aug 10, 2017)

davinizi said:


> I read about the keto diet and find it very interesting. Perhaps humans were meant to eat that few carbs to use fat as their main energy source since those in ketosis report to have so much more energy. I also read that before you go into ketosis you may feel worse for days or weeks, maybe even months depending on the individual.
> 
> As London already mentioned, you probably need to slowly downgrade your carb intake and slowly upgrade your (healthy) fat intake and not just start a keto diet right away.
> 
> Erika, I wonder if you have liver issues..I read liver disease can be a cause of vitamin K deficiency and if it came up during the keto diet, it might be related because your gallbladder (attached to the liver) needs to produce a lot of bile to digest all that fat. I hope you consumed healthy fats and not trans fats btw..


Yeah, it's true that I started my diet very abruptly. I even fasted for 24 hours before it and then ate less than 20 grams of carbs a day.
I really don't know about my liver, never checked, since I am quite young, and don't expect to have such problems. I did have other digestive issues and various pains around my abdominal area throughout the whole thing.


----------



## Billy D.P. (Apr 12, 2016)

I tried keto for a couple weeks last month and felt awful at the end. I've been dealing with stomach problems and it only seemed to make it worse. The brain runs of glucose and humans have evolved color vision to identify fruit over the course of millions of years, so entirely depriving your body of sugar for long periods of time kinda goes against our nature. If people want the same effects as keto they can simply fast and not eliminate sugar. Fasting on the other hand has all sorts of proven benefits just as long as you balance it out and don't starve yourself to death.


----------



## cocomacd (Jan 18, 2018)

I have seen some pre-workout supplements that put your body in 'ketosis' so that when you're exercising you are burning fat. I wonder if using something like this to put you in 'ketosis' would yield a different result. Not saying its a good option, but just curious on the outcome. Personally, it is all a ton of work! LOL

Billy's mention has me wondering....I wonder if a true 'fast' would be of benefit to this?! Hmm...food (or fast) for thought!


----------



## London (Dec 23, 2016)

cocomacd you are referring to ketones (raspberry by any chance) - they dont work


----------

