6mos, it took ME, 6mos... to notice a small brain change in myself, while ON my normal meds. YES, it IS WORTH THE WAIT !! Will I ever be med free.. I have no idea, but I do notice small changes in my behaviors and they are good for me & my family. I am still hopeful & determined about all of this ketogenic lifestyle. I will not go back. @ month 9, I am now tapering my 1st med, slowly. I hate the hospital, so going slow is fine with me. Notifying a support human to take notice of your behavior changes as you taper, is a good idea. As always, WE, the patients, need to be determined in HOPE of becoming something "different". If you can stay in the ketogenic lifestyle for 6 mos without falling off, you will be ready for the "2 steps forward-1 step back" of the meds tapering program. ❤ YOU WILL NEVER KNOW, IF YOU DON'T TRY.
Thank you for sharing this. After being in residential psychiatric treatment for two years I made the personal decision to start a keto diet based on research I had done. A year later I am in the process of tapering off my medications and have started nursing school!
I am on a paleo diet and my doctor has been able to reduce my antidepressant and my antipsychotic. It was three months on the diet before I could begin the taper but so far I'm doing well, no mania or psychosis.
Thank you Dr Scher for two excellent interviews. This is an enormous problem and need in American psychiatry. Both Dr. Ede and Matt (and you) are completely on point with this topic! Everyone keep up the great work I have been watching it evolve over the last 5-7 years (De-prescribing).
I absolutely love this video. I think it is so helpful, useful, important. Thank you for presenting a topic that many are afraid to address in such a sensitive and balanced way 🙂
I thought this was really informative. A lot of time, the stories I hear about people using keto or carnivore for mental health go something like this: I jumped right into keto and within 3 months I'm off all meds. I believe these experiences are genuine, but in reality, I think most with severe mental illness would benefit from a slow titrated process going into keto and a slow titrated process of lowering medications. Keto is a powerful medical intervention just like psychiatric medication, and going up or down on either too fast can be too much for the body to handle sometimes, leading to giving up on the treatment.
I’m very happy you're addressing this topic! Thanks so much! After I began a well-formulated vegan ketogenic diet 9 months ago, I lost fifty pounds. Under my psychiatrist's care, I lowered 900 mg of lithium/day to 600 mg/day, and I've remained in the low end of its therapeutic blood level range. However, from now on, I’m not tapering my bipolar meds (lithium and the MAOI tranylcypromine) until I start treatment with psychiatrist who's experienced with using ketogenic therapy for bipolar. (I'm on her waitlist.) Many years before I found my current psychiatrist, I slowly tapered down my lithium. I became manic and had to be hospitalized. My psychiatrist retires soon. He has been amazing over the past ten years. I credit him for saving my life by suggesting I try the MAOI medication tranylcypromine (Parnate) + lithium for my treatment-resistant bipolar depression. However, he's not experienced with using ketogenic therapies for mood disorders, and since he’s retiring soon, it’s the right time for me to consult with a psychiatrist who uses KMT. Thanks again for discussing such an essential topic!
Thank you for your comment and for sharing your journey with us. If you're comfortable doing so, please share this video with your psychiatrist, as it may help them see things from a different perspective that could allow them to help more people like you!
@@metabolicmind Thanks again - yes, I'll let my psychiatrist know about this video! He'll be doing pro-bono mental health counseling with low-income people after he retires. I'm also excited to let him know about my upcoming "Bipolarcast" video I recently recorded with Matt Baszucki & Dr. Iain Campbell - the airdate is tba soon. :)
@dyaneharwood3829 Curious if your blood levels of lithium dropped on keto (without a change in dose.) Matt's did, by a third. But with no symptoms. So we want to make sure psychiatrists understand not to up the dose to keep the blood level unless symptoms require it.
@@jan_ellison_baszucki That's such a great question, and it has been something on my mind ever since I was a few months into the KMT in 2022. I'm so bummed I can't find my iCal record of the exact date when I dropped from 900-600 mg because I entered it in there. When I looked online at all my lithium blood level results that took place before & since KMT, the techs didn't note the lithium dosage I reported to them before each draw! Darn! BUT (and I know this sounds a little "out there") I honestly believe in my heart that my lithium blood level ***did*** drop while taking the same dose of 900. I'll ask my pdoc if he noted the "drop date" at our next appointment in June & I'll let you know. Although I'm not an M.D., your following statement copied below makes total sense to me, & I'd love it if my experience could support it - I'm so sorry I lost such key info: "So we want to make sure psychiatrists understand not to up the dose to keep the blood level unless symptoms require it.
Thank you so much, amazing information. The comments on tapering meds via % is so important. When you work out the percentages of a 5mg taper to a 1mg taper...mind blowing that once you are on your third decrease you are decreasing your med by 50% at once!
Thank you so much for this, I feel like I have enough info now to go to my doctor with a plan to help knowing that this could take many years, and I am totally ok with that.
Tried stopping the last med on own after strict keto and losing lots of wt and feeling lighter; ended disastrously with horrible unending psychosis and repeated hospitalizations. Got back on more meds and quick wt gain with hospital food and meds side effects. Can Keto still help while taking lots of high dosage antipsychotic meds still even though no plans of lessening meds this time around. Need a psychiatrist in USA who understands keto while taking meds or it is ludicrous for a patient to struggle on own with no support.
Wouldn't it be better to totally stop one med before start tapering a new one? What's the point to remain in a very low dose and start tapering a new one?
One approach is to try to maintain any beneficial effect of a medication while minimizing the side effects. Lowering the dose while adding nutritional ketosis is one way to approach that. That may especially be true with Bipolar Disorder, where sometimes more than one class of medication is required for stability.
Hi, i have two questions: 1) Does Seroquel/Quetiapine interfere with keto, so that it get‘s harder to taper off? 2) What should i do when the lowest dosage of Seroquel are 50 mg - so i cannot do 10% less every time…
Here is an excerpt from an article in Psychology Today by Dr. Georgia Ede. "Seroquel, can increase insulin levels in some people and contribute to insulin resistance, which can make it harder for your body to turn fat into ketones. In some cases, these medicines may eventually need to be lowered or gradually stopped before you can realize the full potential benefits of a healthy ketogenic diet. " Here is the link for more information www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/diagnosis-diet/201803/ketogenic-diets-and-psychiatric-medications As for tapering, compounding pharmacies can be helpful with slower tapers. It's important to work with one's prescribing physician to help with a safe taper. We hope that helps!
@@metabolicmindThanks for your answer it helped me further. Although it can make it harder to produce ketones, i think it's worth trying... Is there some informations/research out from people who do keto on seroquel?
some consider .5 to be the minimum. It also depends on what your goals are, if you'd jyst like some metabolic flexability then .3 indicates you are doing that, but if you have mild or moderate metabolic syndrome a level greater than .8 or 1.5 respectively might be called for.
Thanks for your question Robert and for the thoughtful reply Chris. If someone is consistently at 0.3, then they are in "very mild" ketosis. Which, depending on your goals, may be enough, as Chris mentioned. But if someone wanted to target higher levels, adding MCT oil, or increasing dietary fat and lowering carbs (and maybe protein to a degree) may be helpful. But this is where we encourage working with a doctor/coach/dietitian who can help tailor a program for each individual depending on their goals and challenges.
