Has anyone started the diet without a dietician??

May 22, 2003

The reason why I'm asking is I got a call today from the neurology nurse and he

told me that since they only have ONE dietician on staff and she only works two

days a week there is a long waiting list for kids who need to start the diet,

maybe three months or longer! She is the ONLY one in the region too! I'm just

wondering if any of you started the diet without a dietician. If you did, how

do you figure out the ratio?? They are going to get approval for a drug for

Kaitlynn from Health Canada but we were told there should be no problems in

getting it approve. She will need something in the meantime because she can't

go without anything.

I remember some people were putting their kids on the Atkins diet because it's

not as restrictive but what were the results?? Help! I really don't want to

put her on meds since this has only a 30% chance of working for her but right

now it looks like we have no choice ( Any suggestions??

Thanks,

Halina

May 24, 2003

or maybe the Specific Carbohydrate Diet that some of us are using

I was thinking about that Patti. Is there a website or somewhere I could go

and see what this Specific Carbohydrate Diet entails?? I would be really

interested. I do like your idea of starting a Atkins type diet while on the

waiting list, you know SOMETHING just so I can get her used to it and see if

it would help her because right now they are getting this new drug from

Japan and it will take six weeks to get so if I can start something before

then maybe she won't have to take the pills?? The neurology nurse didn't

want me to start anything without a dietician because the excuse he gave me

was that we don't know how much Kaitlynn weighs and we can't figure out the

proper calories. " I " truly believe I can do it again just give me the

values I need. I really need to find all of Kaitlynn's info I had the last

time we started the diet because I don't see why I really need to start the

diet in the hospital. I've known of people who haven't and they've been

successful. I guess I can always talk to the doctor about these other type

of diets but I'm afraid they might strike me down with this idea ( STILL

she's MY child and I should have say what I do with her right?

Halina

May 22, 2004

Halina,

I do think a few families here have seen some degree of seizure control with

just a modified Atkins diet. Without going out on a limb and just starting the

full Keto diet, or even Atkins all by yourself, you might consider just making a

few changes to her diet to see if there is any response. The ones I'd suggest

are changes that would not be a bad idea for ANY child. You won't necessarily

have her in ketosis but you'd be leaning toward the way she would be eating on

the Keto diet..... or on a modified Atkins type plan.

First I would cut out ALL sugars.... and anything that has any form of sugar in

it. Use stevia as a sweetener (a natural, herbal sweetener that is carb free).

Also cut out ALL white flour and anything made with it. In fact, you might want

to only use grains in their whole grain form..... for example, oatmeal would be

fine.... and brown rice. If she needs a pureed texture, you can put these into a

food processor with broth or a little water and cream. Use the veggies and

fruits that are non-starchy and lower in carbs..... eliminate potatoes, sweet

potatoes, bananas, etc. Add some extra fats to her diet..... but be careful.

Fats are high in calories and you don't want to turn her into a baby hippo.....

I'd suggest using pure butter (organic if you can), olive oil, a good

quality natural mayonaisse, and a little heavy cream. When a kid is on the Keto

diet, their calories are strictly controlled to keep them from gaining from all

the fat so you'll need to keep that in mind. Just try to keep her diet as pure

and simple as possible..... whole natural " made from scratch " basic meals.....

cut way back on the packaged, processed stuff. Any child would benefit from a

diet like this. Then, if you see positive changes, you might want to learn more

about taking it a step farther, with the Atkins diet and talk to some of the

parents who are using it on their own..... or maybe the Specific Carbohydrate

Diet that some of us are using. At the very least, you'd be miles ahead of the