Here’s what I did:
Just before I started playing around with diet I was on:
- Enbrel (a TNF blocker and immune suppressant)
- Methotrexate (immune suppressant)
- Seasonal (birth control)
- 40 mg Cipralex (depression)
- Minocycline (skin issues)
- Dapsone (skin issues)
- 40 mg Adderall (for hypersomnia)
- T3 (for arthritic and ankle pain)
- Gravol – nonprescription – to sleep from the Adderall
- a couple more every now and then
I was having arthritic symptoms even while taking the immune suppressants I was on, so I was pretty unhappy with them. I had been on them since I was 7 or 8 and still needed multiple joint replacements at age 17 so I was pretty sure they weren’t doing a good enough job anyway. I looked into the side effects of methotrexate and how toxic it is and decided to stop. This was before any dietary changes or even thoughts of dietary changes. I didn’t notice a difference when I stopped taking it. When I realized that maybe gluten was causing arthritic issues I stopped taking Enbrel as well. I did this because I wanted to be able to see if diet would actually change something, and I wasn’t sure I’d be able to tell if I was still on the meds.
I stayed on everything else.
I started the strict diet in September 2015, and when I started realizing that there was a microbiome issue, I stopped the antibiotics. Only after my depression lifted in November did I taper down the dose and remove it completely. I met a physio that helped my ankle pain and I stopped the T3’s in November as well. Only after my fatigue went away did I remove the Adderall and Gravol (January 2016), When the only medication I was left taking was birth control, I stopped taking it after reading studies linking it to not nice things. I wasn’t medication free until I was 4 months into the diet. The reason for this was because I didn’t actually believe changing my diet would get rid of my depression, or skin issues, or everything else, so I saw no need to remove my medications.
Here’s what I recommend:
Don’t stop taking your medications. This change in diet should be drastic enough for you to be able to see a major improvement even with the medications. If the diet helps, you can decrease dosages and hopefully remove the medications altogether. They shouldn’t stop you from seeing your progress. If you aren’t on medication, and you’re okay enough to test out diet, I do recommend doing that before you take medication. From my experience, medication does not solve the issue, it’s like putting a band-aid on top of sliver, you need to remove the sliver. If you’re already on medications (especially ones like antidepressants or immune suppressants), you can definitely try the diet, see how you feel after a month, and then decide. I wouldn’t recommend stopping the meds right away because it takes a while for the diet to get rid of symptoms anyway, no point in suffering more.
I have read quite a bit about hormonal birth control, and statins. Those do look like bad ideas. Those medications I would look into a bit more and decide for yourself. Antidepressants definitely you don’t need to remove until you feel better. Let me know if you have any questions in the comments!
Good luck!
UPDATE: 2022 – Psych med withdrawal is real, can be extremely severe for people, and can be insanely dangerous. Wean down slowly and if your doctor doesn’t know about withdrawal, get a doctors that knows about it. Some people need to literally dissolve their medications in water and then wean down that way because of the withdrawal – check out outro.com to hopefully find a doctor that can help. The lion diet helps massively avoid withdrawal but it’s still risky if you’ve been on a high dose psych med for a long period of time.
Thanks so much for sharing! Your story is powerful and inspiring!
Mikhaila, my story is similar to yours in many ways so I felt compelled to share! I have had dramatically positive results overcoming an auto immune disease using the same foundational nutritional approach that you have. I hope this feedback is useful to you, your website, and anyone who may be reading this: Back in 1992, when I was 17, I weighed roughly 75 pounds and was diagnosed with Crohn’s. I was put on loads of medications (including immune suppressants) and underwent bowel resection surgery, but was still getting progressively worse and all the incompetent GI Specialists ever offered was more surgery and more drugs. (Not a single word on nutrition or lifestyle from any of them aside from the HORRIBLE advice to drink a sugar loaded calorie drink called “Ensure” Who in their right mind recommends something that increases inflammation response to someone suffering from inflammatory bowel disease??!!) I was determined to get into martial arts & bodybuilding despite what the GI specialists were telling me. I educated myself on bodybuilding nutrition & holistic healing methods (this was before the internet BTW!!) and eventually started a diet designed for bodybuilders & powerlifters by Dr. Mauro DiPasquale called “The Anabolic Diet”. (This was based on a High Fat, High Protein, Under 30 grams carbs or lower/day diet followed by weekly carb loads) I distinctly noticed symptoms were minimized all week and only ever acted up occasionally during the High Carb Day when too much sugar was consumed. Fast forward to 2016 where my friends convinced me to enter my 1st bodybuilding contest in which I actually won 1st place. I have since continued competing and moving up the amateur ranks, and am now competing at the Canadian National Level, and am aiming for my IFBB Pro Card. I suppose the GI Specialist who scoffed and literally laughed in my face at my idea to take up bodybuilding as a skinny 18 year old was wrong. Keep up the good work in sharing your experiences. Hopefully more people suffering from Auto-Immune diseases (as well as diabetes, obesity & God-Knows what else) will realize the link between what they eat and what ails them!! -John
Makhaila God bless you Amen Amen for sharing. This morning
i heard your diet story through a you tube video
your beautiful dad spoke about what you went through i had tears a child that went through all this and your parents the worries sleepless nights.Plus going to Queens the worst food in the world kids used to get sick there ( my daughter at tented this university) I drove to deliver home clean cooked food every week
I googled your name to learn more,so happy that you have found the remedies May the good God keeps watching over you
isn’t this diet like the Atkinson diet high on protein and veg?also how often one can eat , usual 3 times a day, and can one indulge on this food meaning have as much as we want ?
all the best
Tovah
It’s similar to Atkins. You can eat as much as you want! Whenever you’re hungry.
I asked him for solutions and he prepared a herbal remedy and send to me,when i received it, i started taking it as directed. Thank God, now everything is fine, I’m cured by Dr. Sam herbal medicine, I’m very thankful to God and very happy with my hubby and family. You can contact him through his email address on
Email:supremecurehome@gmail.com
Tel/Whats-App: +2347087462033.
what about hypothyroid ?
Anyone notice any improvements on this diet?
I’m on levothyroxine Na, 9-10 50 ug tablets per week.
What about the fillers in the medication, wont thing like lactose and corn starch stop the diet from working? or is it in such smal amounts that it wont have any affect?
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