Has anyone tried the Keto diet as a treatment?

Family
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Hey everyone,

I’m hoping to get some feedback from people but also possibly share a complimentary option to go along with medication and counseling. I’ve recently read that the keto diet can be used to help with SZ.

Disclaimer
While I try to look at academic articles and conferences to gather my information, this is not my area of expertise. There may be things that I have misunderstood or just don’t know about. Please always do your own research and talk to a doctor to make any treatment decisions. I’m hoping to get some feedback and to share information but I’m not a physician and my expertise is in social sciences not biological. If you do choose to look into this, I would suggest talking with a dietician or a doctor to remain healthy. Also I’m on my phone but if anyone is interested in the resources I have found, I can add links from my desktop.

The Theory
So the theory behind this is that schizophrenics have a higher rate of diabetes than those without SZ. Now previously we have known that serotonin imbalances and physical differences in certain brain regions were both related to SZ. The causal direction though is not known. This conceptualization of the disorder could suggest causality, which is interesting but not necessarily the point. Anyways, the theory is that the brain is not able to get the energy it needs from glucose. This could then affect the above mentioned brain regions and serotonin. It is thought that giving the brain an alternate fuel source, ketones, could reduce symptoms by essentially giving the brain the energy it needs.

The Literature
While there are not many, or possibly no, studies that empirically test this as a treatment option to SZ. That said, there is anecdotal evidence that shows a great level of improvement in symptoms that lasts. Additionally, the link between the keto diet and brain functioning is well documented, and he’s been used to help seizure patients since the 1920’s. This continues to be a treatment for seizures even today.

Implications
Should the above be true and I have not misunderstood anything, then this could suggest that dietary changes could help to improve symptoms. The keto diet though can be unhealthy if done wrong. Be careful when reading anything about diets from websites, especially when this can be seen as a current fad.

Your Experiences
Can anybody speak to this? Has anyone tried it? What’s been good/bad? Have I missed anything or said anything that was wrong? Personally, my wife has been doing it for about a week. This isn’t enough time to really see any improvements but she says she feels a little clearer, and it seems like she is more able to shake her delusional thoughts and has more energy. It is important to note that she is considered high functioning and can hold down a job no problem. Also, since it has only been a week, it is very likely that a combination of wishful thinking and a placebo affect are happening. Only time will tell if this works for us. We do have an appointment with a dietician scheduled, and her psychiatrist said he didn’t think there was any reason why she shouldn’t give it a try.

Please share with me what you think.

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I started about a month ago due to some less than good lab results. I think the COVID-19 quarantine had got the better of me or so my doctor thinks.

I can’t say I notice appreciable differences with mental clarity, but that hasn’t been much of a problem of mine of late. I see some improvements blood glucose-wise (I had a meter that I used for a dog of mine) and I’ve also lost 15 pounds. I return to my doctor in about a month after new labs, so I’ll let you know.

I was initially going to do a low carb diet similar to South Beach, but happened upon the Keto stuff. I find it relatively easy to follow and it’s not too hard nowadays to find food for this if you look hard enough and hand over your wallet. There’s riced broccoli and cauliflower and vegetable pasta etc. I also switched to lactose free milk just to lower the carbohydrate content (I’m not lactose intolerant).

I’m beginning to notice diminished returns lately so I may need to be more careful with my macros or caloric intake. The main side effect I find is the acetone smell to perspiration and breath, and I’m not even doing hard keto levels according to my test strips.

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I know this is a 4 year old post. We have started Keto for my family member. It has been 3 weeks. From next week, we are going to work with a keto dietician recommended by Dr. Palmer. Symptoms wise, my family member has some energy back, very minor reduction of other symptoms.

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This person has been following medical Keto for some months now and has had very good results in terms of managing her schizoaffective disorder and reducing meds:

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Thank you. I have already seen couple of her videos. Just curious to hear about keto success stories from the members in this forum. Putting a 23 year old on a medical keto is little challenging as the APs might not let the body go into ketosis that easily.

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We are on our 6th week of medical keto diet. Doing great so far (with the expected normal difficulties adapting to Keto). There are definite symptom improvements. Meds got reduced by .33% 7 days ago. If anyone has taken up this ‘keto’ journey, we can share our experiences. Thanks.

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Good luck, please keep us posted… Dan

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I have seen at work. I am in touch with the young man who’s having remarkable recovery his mother extremely well-versed in concepts techniques. Send me a note. I can put in touch with her.

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Hello Everyone, A quick update. By God’s Grace, our Keto life is going on well amidst the normal hiccups. It has almost been an year since I wrote the comment here. We were able to reduce the pill upto 30% - which is a miracle in itself. Our taper schedule is very slow (.5mg reduction over a period of 8 weeks) Our family member has started to work, drive , do few other things that we didn’t think was possible. For folks who are trying keto - give it some time and it might work. Of course, it is hard and you need a ‘buy-in’ from the family member. Regards.

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I just got my son out of a 5 mo stay in jail. He lost 75 lbs. He is SZ. I started him on keto and giving him exogeneous ketone sport drinks ('Shift"). This is the 5th day and he is Mad as a Hatter. So tough to stay with him and hear it. Im retiered and determined to keep him in keto. We got him some intense therapy thats supposed to start next week. Zero meds right now. I so want to see improvement but it takes time i guess. I sure pray this works.

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Im trying it with my 35 yo sz male. You mentioned the glucose not getting processed in thier brain and i have heard on several drs videos the hypoglucosis in the brain of sz’s has been well documented. Right now hes glnot on any meds so i think that is contributing to the difficulties in managing this as im on 24/7. I’m retired so i can do more supervision than most familys.

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Today was about day 11. No improvement yet. Today he started back on meds 1mg risperidone. I received my keto-mojo machine today and his ketones were 0.7. Hopefully tomorrow is a better day.

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Day 12 ketones 0.7
Day 13 ketones 0.5 seems calmer still thinking is off.

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Thanks for the update! Having some insight from you really helps us understand more the effectiveness of Keto diet and schizophrenia. I ordered the Keto diet from Factor. I am going to try again,

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Day 15 ketones 0.9 blood glucose .91.
Today we added a dose (i think is 10 gm) of American Ketones “Original Ketones” which are supposed to be bioavailabe rather than the 15gm of ketone salts im giving him with the SHIFT brand ketone supplement. The Original ketones are pretty expensive at about $12 a drink, compared to th Shift supplement at about 5 bucks for three a day. He was much calmer today. Its a struggle. Ive thrown out a lot of high carb food so its not available. SZs eat junk food and its best if non keto foods are just not around. So ive dropped about $700 on getting a full month of the cimbined exogenous ketones to add to the disiple of only keto food. Lots of meat. Dan Sullivan gave me the tip to cut pork bellys into cubes and air fry them for snacks:WINNER, put some seasoning on them. Also we walked over two miles today. I think exercise is going to help.

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Today is day 16. Last night was quiet and a blessing not to wake up to all the hollering at the imaginary. He was conversing with them this morning but at least he hadn’t broke anything last night. He wont let me put MCT oil in his morning tea, which i have been doing almost every morning (just a squirt). I found for myself a tablespoon of MCT does seem to make the keto pee test strips go higher. So that is a cheaper alternative or strategy to the more expensive exogenous ketones that i need to get going at a higher inclusion for the long term. Dropping hundreds every month on exogenous ketones isnt a good option when insurance wont pay for it or when SZs have no insurance anyway.

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Have you followed some of the keto diet tips on youtube? Specifically Lauren Kennedy West’s channel? (formerly: Living Well With Schizophrenia)

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Yes made Fat bombs.
My daughter and i convinced him to go into the local hospital today. He went banging onvthe neighbors door at 2 in the morning looking for his imaginary friend. Two weeks of keto down the drain. Will try again when i get him back. He needs meds sorted out to keep him out of trouble.

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So 2 hours after getting my son to voluntarily go in to treatment they call me up and say they have no bed for him because hes acting up. But they have beds for baker acts, so i ask for the doctor to baker act him and they have no doctor. The second thing they did after taking his belt and stuff was give him a plate of food. Im not going to waste a ketone strip on him for two days.

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Took him on a road trip to a project house im working on. Two days with relatively no serious outbursts. Even took him to a church service and a waffle house. On the way home at a conveiniece store he bought some potato sticks - a keto mutiny - he was back in yelling mode again when we got home yelling at the niegbors. They called the sherriff this morning but deputies did not baker act him. We will try to get him in hospital again today. Not saying it was the potato sticks just an observation. This is going to still be a long haul after 7 years with diagnosis.

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