There have been quite a few developments in the last few days related to my personal journey. Mostly positive developments so I thought it might be useful to summarize them here.
I’m still reeling mentally from my first 3 month Track Your Plaque (TYP) blood test results. I DID really believe everything Doc Davis says about the importance of low carb, no wheat, etc. And yet, somehow, I never expected my 1st quarter numbers to look so good. I was pretty faithful to what I imagine a TYP diet might look like but I probably have been closer to the diet of Jimmy Moore than to the one Dr. Davis would advocate. Not because I don’t want to do it but just because I have a lot to learn yet about what it is and how to do it. And YET, I have these great blood test results.
All that low-fat theory and ideology is a big fat lie. An astounding development in the history of modern science.
I’ve been experiencing a feeling of some regret and loss because I realize now that I’ve had it within my grasp to get to these sorts of results for YEARS. No scientific breakthrough was required for me to do low carb. No new invention was required for me to stop eating wheat. I could have been fighting this disease more effectively YEARS ago…
But I wasn’t fighting it effectively because I wasn’t clear about what I really needed to do. There were plenty of hints out there about low carb and the metabolic syndrome, etc. and I was vaguely aware of them. Perhaps if I was a bit more of a scientist I could have put the picture together for myself. Or perhaps I needed to put more time and effort into researching this topic more seriously. I don’t know.
I regret that I wasn’t on this path years ago. I figure if I had found the TYP program after the mild MI ten years ago I could have dealt with my problems effectively and not had to have a triple bypass 5 years ago. No scar on the chest and all that.
I mention this feeling of loss and regret because I don’t want to imply here that I’m always feeling good about all this. I have begun to realize now that the feeling of hopelessnes I had in fighting the disease had pushed me toward a more depressed state than what I believe is my natural way of being in the world.
But now onward and upward. A few developments…
I had been attempting to raise my instant release Niacin dosage for the last week or two supplemented by the use of Slo Niacin. I got the instant release level to 1g per day and attempted on Sunday night to move it to 2g. Ugghhh. I could deal with the flush no problem but felt physically sick the next day.
By coincidence, I had set up an appointment with my HMO primary care physician for Monday. When I met with the doctor I explained that I had “found a program for coronary artery disease plaque regression on the internet.” I loved saying that to him and watching the expression on his face when I said it. He had the same expression that I would likely have had if I had been in his place.
But look, there’s no arguing with my blood test numbers. And before I met with him, my blood pressure was taken and it was lower than it has EVER been. I was amazed and brought that to his attention too.
He was concerned about the fact that my ALT number was elevated and, of course, that’s great. But he was more concerned about my ALT number being high than he saw benefit in the lowering of my lipoprotein/cholesterol risk. He said “you are self-treating” which, in his view, is a bad thing. I immediately came back saying “Well, take a look at my blood test results. They speak for themselves. And the reason I’m here is to get your help with dealing with issues that come up.”
The net of the meeting was that I’ve now got an appointment with an endocrinologist next week. I’m going to start doing a search within my HMO for a doctor who will support my doing the TYP program. I’m thinking that the structure of my HMO is such that I can set up appointments with doctor after doctor for just a small fee until I find one who will help me. If nothing else, I’ll have some fun stirring the soup as I tell doctor after doctor “yes, I’ve got these numbers which are my best ever and I did it on the Atkins diet.”
The other new development is that I began a water only fast on Tuesday. You’ll recall that I had broken my diet over the US Thanksgiving holiday and then had the conscious sense, even fear, that I wouldn’t be able to climb back on the low carb wagon. But a few days after the holiday, I climbed back up on it and without really trying too hard reduced my food intake day by day.
On Monday I think I had one meal. Then, my cult leader, ummh, I mean, Doc Davis, made a blog post about another person doing a fast with great results. I didn’t want to be left out so I decided to give it a try.
(What do you think? Am I a fully fledged cult member if I obediently snap to attention and start a fast when he posts to his blog about fasting?)
On Tuesday it took little if any effort to stop eating entirely. It’s now early Thursday, the third day of the fast. I think I’ve only experienced hunger pangs twice for just a few minutes. I have had a bit of a headache from time to time but otherwise have felt great. I feel very relaxed. I do 100% of my work at home so that makes it easier for me to do this than if I had to work outside the home.
So I haven’t felt hungry really but the mental and physical habit of going to the kitchen to grab even just a small snack is more ingrained than I imagined. Now that habit is hard to break. I find myself walking into the kitchen and then remembering that I’m not eating and that nothing looks especially appetizing to me and then just get another glass of water.
Oh, and I’ve lost a few pounds too that I’ve been trying to lose.
I’ve also felt some of that heightened state of mental and emotional awareness that Dr. Davis has written about in various places.
I think the net of all this is that I can see myself incorporating fasting into my life on a regular basis. Not sure yet what that will look like. I’m not really even sure when I’ll stop this first fast. I’m thinking I’ll start eating again tomorrow (Friday), the fourth day.
Probably the biggest take-away lesson for me, and I think it might be helpful to you too, is to remember that it’s not worth bothering to think about a fast until you’ve gotten yourself into that state of low carb eating where your appetite is reduced anyway. When you get to that point, it’s not that big of a deal to cut the food entirely.
December 6th, 2007 at 7:40 pm
Congrats on your numbers! Well done!
And good luck with your doctor search. Maybe if you found a younger doctor, there’s a chance they’d be more into the web and current findings on carbs.
I may be borderline diabetic, or if my second a1c comes back normal since I drastically cut back and sugar, starches and bread. But I haven’t stopped them entirely, and I still find myself feeling weak and shaky if I go longer than 4-5 hours.
Today I’m doing clear liquids (oops sugar, darn), and tonight I’ll be NPO for a procedure tomorrow, and I can’t see myself doing a real fast any time soon. But once I’m past the procedure, I’m biting the bullet, and stopping all grains, sugar and starch completely until I can go considerably longer without food.
Again, congrats on the labs!
December 7th, 2007 at 3:14 am
Isn’t it amazing that these lessons have to be dredged up from the swamp of mis-information, including that from the “official” organizations like the American Heart Association and that most-guilty-of-misguiding-the-public American Diabetes Association?
Keep up the progress! Your heartcipher blog, along with the Track Your Plaque resources, are all teaching us new lessons and leading us into new territory.