Anything
 

I have and she’s all for it now although she recommended low-fat at first but she can’t refuse me anything anyway :p

I told my Dr that I had started the Atkins plan and she marched me to the lab and had blood work done. Then she compared it to the work that had been done years ago and we both found that my blood was much better after Atkins than before. She was sure that she was going to find a cornucopia of problems and was a bit miffed that she didnt. Go figure.

Now that I have moved to Victoria, I am looking for a decent GP, any suggestions? The University has its own clinic but I would like my own.

Holly

My regular doctor gave me a referral to see an endocrinologist. I went there yesterday. When I told him I was restricting carbs, he told me I needed to see a dietician so I would learn how to eat properly. I don't go back to my regular doctor until November. I hope by then I have lost enough weight and lowered my cholesterol enough so that I don't get the "unhealthy eating" lecture from him too!

Trusting your doctor, and conversly .... your doctor trusting YOU
 

Well, I have always told my doc. every step of the way what I'm doing. There is an element of trust that works both ways.

If you are afraid to tell your dr. that you're following a low-carb diet, you need to ask yourself, Why??? Are you afraid of the dr. yelling at you?? That's serious.... you need to be able to trust your health care provider to be supportive and understanding. Are you maybe unsure of lowcarbing yourself, and so don't want to bring up the subject to your dr.??? Read and learn ... click on Low Carb Studies on the menu bar at the top of the page. Read through our Research and Media forum ... you can print out the articles to take to your dr. I have printed out a week's worth of menus for my doc. When she saw the fresh lean meats, salads, veggies ... and no junk, cookies or tons of pasta... she was supportive and congratulating my efforts. Especially that not only my weight, but also blood pressure, total cholesterol and triglycerides have come down as well.

Trust works both ways. We need to be able to trust our docs. but also they need to be able to trust their patients in return. If they give you a prescription, they assume you're going to take it. You need to be honest and say at the next appointment, No, I didnt' take it, I was afraid. You need to say you are following a low-carb eating program ... show a few menus of what you are truthfully eating .... I truly think your doc. will be supportive if you show that you are sincere, and have done some reading and learning. Doctors are always impressed when their patients read and learn!!!!

Drs. are not gods, they are real people, and exposed to the media hype just like everybody is. It's up to us to educate them ;).. If you are having success with low-carbing, don't hide that from your doctor .. we need to get the word around. When more family practitioners see their patients being successful with a low-carb program, they will be more likely to prescribe it for others.

If we stay silent, and don't tell ..... then no one will know.

Doreen

Excellent advice Doreen! You make a very good point. Who better to educate the medical professionals about the benefits of low-carbing than its most enthusiastic success stories.

Arm yourself with knowledge and confidence...let the results speak for themselves.

No, no I don't - anymore.
 

Sorry I disagree. I've had WAY too many doctors put me down, roll their eyes at me, LAUGH at me and tell me that I'm committing slow suicide while being on this diet. I will trust only doctors that trust MY judgement...my feelings and experiences. So IF I do tell, I check first with the office prior to making the appointment if the doctor is "Atkins diet friendly"...and most have no idea what I'm talking about - I don't go there. Even the doctors who ARE, I only discuss my diet if it is relevant to why I'm there and I am asked. Doctors are in general not trained in the area of nutrition/unbelievable but true. They are not the experts as we all know - an no doctor has ever taught me how to feel, live and thrive through better nutrition - No, they are not GODs, but they do presume the authority to JUDGE us by anything we bring into their office. In the future, I hope to find many Atkins friendly doctors...and maybe even doctors who live the Atkins way. But it is none of my business their personal habits of course, I'm just looking for a doctor who won't patronize me and chastize me for my own personal and private decisions. Also, I figure that I tell my doctor my problems and low carbing is not one of them. No offense anyone, I respect your thoughts/ways. I'm just a sufferer of some very very bad doctor office experiences. At my weight doctors don't want me on any type of a diet - and in general they don't understand that if I don't low carb - I don't eat AT ALL. They should be greatful to this way of eating. I think it has probably saved my life.

Good points Nancy, I like your attitude! :thup:

Wa'il

Okay
 

Look I DO think we should be honest with as many people as we can, especially people involved in caring for our health. However, I have not had the positive experiences that some of you have...and while I don't volunteer my diet to anyone (most people don't care much they just want to see me eat SOMETHING), should a doctor ask, I would tell - but I'd be very reluctant.

The first doctor i ever asked for advice about weight loss recommended The Zone. But when i read the first page of The Zone and it said something like "You must think of food as a prescription medication that you take in specific doses at specific times" I was tempted to put it down immediately, and when I got to the calculations of what constitutes a block of what. . . i gave up and ate some spaghetti. When I asked my regular doctor, she said to cut back on carbs. After that, someone at work was doing the Atkins diet and loaned me the book. It was at least a year later before I finally tried it successfully. But recently, when i told my regular doctor that I was on the Atkins diet, she rolled her eyes and shook her head. Which made me wonder if she knows what the Atkins diet is, since she made the low-carb suggestion. Hmmm.

I came to low carb through my OB/GYN. :cool:
I am pre-menopausal and have gained 50 lbs since my hormones started going out of whack. Even being on hormones did not help. She suggested I cut carbs because menopausal (and pre) are sensitive to them. I bought the book the menopause diet and tried it for a while. Her principle is to eat carbs only by themselves and not within a "digestable" time period of protein or fat. Her book gives a great explanation as to why the older female body stores fat when estrogen is in decline. It made sense to me to just cut the carbs. Both my OB/GYN and PCP are happy with the results (BP is down, Cholesterol is down, weight is down)
:clap:

:thup: This is my first post to this site. I am married to a registered nurse and I am an elementary school teacher. I have talked to the pathologist who works at the hospital where my husband works. He has been following the basic LC plan he said for about 30 years. My husband came up with a one page plan that follows the basic Atkins plan. He had the pathologist look at it and give suggestions. You know how you get all the input from others who don't know much about this wol? My husband has asked the Doc many questions. He told my husband that he has done thousands of autopsies and never found anyone has died from a low carb. diet, but he has seen a lot of deaths attributed to obesity and high carb eating. He is also a firm believer in staying away from fake fat (margarine and hydrogenated oils, etc.) He has a theory that it may have a connection to Alzheimer. The doc also said that your brain is made up of something like 80% fat. He said that this way of eating is similar to the way people ate in his grandparents day. Any way, I had to start because my husband lost 40 pounds and I didn't want to weigh more than him!! I started at 216 in April and am now at 178!! I want to loose about 25 more. I feel great!! My dad is off his diabetic meds. after following this way of eating. He's lost weight also.

My doctor recommended I give Atkins a try. She told me that she thought it may be a good choice for me because I was PCOS (Polycystic Ovary Syndrome). And there is a connection between insulin resistance and PCOS.

She, herself, had been on Atkins and had done well. She didn't recommend the diet as a "healthy diet" but saw that it could be a "prescriptive diet" for me.

It took me over 6 months to read the books she recommended, do lots of research, and finally decide to give it a try.

When I decided to start the Atkins plan, I called the doctor ... she took me off the glucophage I was on for PCOS, and she did some blood work. In a month or two we'll do some follow up blood work.

I have to say that I really like my current doctor. She treats me as an intelligent woman -- she told me about the diets, told me the pros and cons, encouraged I read and research for myself, and then supported whatever decision I made ...

so far, so good ... down over 20 pounds in 2 months ... and feeling good!

Congrats
 

Maybe someday I will find a doc like that. I think there are more now than ever before - this community is very conservative however. I wonder if more Atkins docs are located in more liberal younger moden more "hip" big cities and towns? I wonder if they did a survey, would age matter as to whether the doc supports or not? I'd assume so - older / less open / less up on research? But please, I'm not trying to offend older doctors...I'm just curious and have this hunch.

Hi Wendy,

Just want to say...20 pounds in two months (actually over 20 lbs!) :clap: .....thats just wonderful, I'm so very happy for you.

Tina, you have done just great too. I love reading success stories, gives one such encouragement! You have me thinking on the connection with margarine and alzheimer. I have two clients with this and sure enough they eat margarine!

Although my doctor rolled her eyes and plenty of friends have said, That doesn't sound healthy - I've never heard their arguments as to why a low carb diet would be bad for you. My approach to the diet has been leaving off certain foods rather than limiting myself to a diet of bacon, sausage, eggs, and steak. I think I eat really well - veggies every day, a variety of foods, mostly lean meats. Like so many others on this website, my blood work has checked out fine. What is the reason for so many people's (esp. doctors') rejection of it?