My CFS is not fully severe, but close. I'm medically disabled and mostly housebound. I no longer drive or go anywhere for that matter. I've had CFS for 22 years. I'm an ex-athlete. I'm giving Carnivore a shot - I'm just at the beginning. Thank you for sharing your experiences. I'm hoping to have some positive results. I really want my life back.
Oh wow. I hope this helps you very much. I'm considering it myself and that's how I found your comment. Please let me know how it goes month to month if your able. I know brain fog is so limiting, so no pressure if your not up to it. ☺️ One thing Im prepping to do is 100% carnivore, not 95% like this kind chap. To know if something works or fails, I want to give 100% attention and effort so I can definitively determine it's shortcoming or success correctly. 🎉
Congratulations on your health improvements. I didn't hear you mention oxylates, which is the primary problem many people have with chocolate (not just carbs). If you haven't explored the effects of plant oxylates (as well as the hazards of oxylate dumping when you remove them too abruptly), Sally Norton is a leading expert. Wishing you continued progress!
Thank you for the kind wishes and I'm actually just reading Norton's book now! I really want to cut out the chocolate. It has been a bit of a crutch/addiction/coping mechanism. It does me no favours and I'm hoping to try to stop it again soon.
FYI, the saying in the community is "the last 5% gives you another 100%". :-) Id recommend trying, just for 2 weeks, going 100%. You can always revert! Good job, and good luck!
Oh cool, Im just now transitioning from ketovore to carnivore, I’ve been paleo and then keto for years now and I suffer greatly if I eat carbs. Lyme/bartonella are probably a big part of why I got sick to begin with and my joint/muscle pain gets horrible if I feed myself carbs. I’m also trying to do dnrs rn but definitely struggling with that. I know my mind nervous system is really f-ed up so it can’t hurt right?! Looking forward to following your journey.
Also, about the chocolate and cheese, I would stop eating both, because: 1) Even 100% dark chocolate still has some sugar, which confuses the gluconeogenesis process, and makes the return to the fasting state longer. If you're doing a keto diet, then it's not ideal imo. + it's not good the addition, you need to get rid of it. 2) for all types of dairy, try to write on Copilot/BingAI : " does milk cause inflammation" ? And you're gonna be surprised by the insane amount of pro-inflammatory compounds it has. Very seasoned CHEESE (or normal cheese) isn't any better, it's actually worse! Because many molecules break down, of which a shit ton of them are proinflammatory!
Thanks for sharing this Patrick! I’m so encouraged to hear carnivore is going well for you so far! Over the last month I gradually reduced my carbs and have been all meat now for 5 days…so definitely beginning stages but needed to go slow due to gastritis/reflux and histamine issues. I already feel my overall inflammation is lowering and although I have more “energy” it feels more like cortisol/adrenaline as some heart palpatations as well. But my body is definitely not fat adapted yet so that could be part of it. With CFS, I’m assuming that process will be awhile. I’m gradually increasing my fat to what my stomach and digestion can tolerate at the moment. I’m currently eating 1# ground lamb and 12oz chicken plus 2T ghee. I need the chicken until I can handle just lamb to address histamine issues better. With POTS as well I’m just trying to figure out how many electrolytes work best for me. I’m only using 1/2 pack of the normalyte and 1 1/2 of the LMNT as I’m just not sure yet about the glucose with trying to get my body fat adapted. I have a ways to go but am glad to see my stomach and reflux issues much improved since moving to all meat, also the horrendous brain fog and heavy fatigue keeping me in bed all day has improved. Most of the heavier fatigue I do still have I notice after meals but your video gives me encouragement that may improve! Thank you again for sharing how it’s going for you and please continue to..it’s very helpful and informative as I’m trying to navigate my way through! 😊
Hi Jelene, thank you for the kind words about the video, glad it is of help. I hope to do another carnivory one at around the three month mark.....and it is the plan to drop the chocolate (though my brain doesn't want to contemplate the kind of reality!) :) I'm glad you are seeing some early signs of improvement despite the natural difficulties. I think a lot of people have difficulty with their digestion getting used to fat at first so hopefully that will settle down for you before too long. Half a normalyte is a very small amount of glucose so hopefully that won't interfere with your efforts to get fat-adapted. Best of luck in the continued transition and hope it really improves things for you.
Hello again! When you originally started keto, did you have chronic fatigue syndrome and/or POTS at the time? I heard it pretty challenging for people with these types of conditions to get fat adapted due to the severity of mitochondrial damage. What was your experience with this?
Yes, I did (now is my second time being carnivore, previously I did it back in 2020-2021 as well). I don't think - apart from increased nausea with the fat initially - that I had an issue becoming fat adapted.
I drink a glass of bone broth with every meal. The benefits are super noticeable! I use a instapot and DISTILLED WATER (very important)! Regular water doesn’t pull as much minerals out of the bones as distilled water. Perfect gelatin every time 👍
Hi Patrick, Thankyou for sharing! I am curious to hear another update on how you are finding carnivore. I tried it earlier this year with lots of sugar free electrolytes and found that my excessive thirst, urination and dryness went away. I fell off the wagon during some life transitions but plan to gradually go back to carnivore as the benefits seemed to outweigh any side effects
That's interesting that your thirst went away. Do you think it was the sugar-free electrolytes that did that or the carnivory? I'm still doing well with my diet. I've cut out the cheese. The 4 squares dark chocolate still hamper things a bit. My stamina is a bit better and my skin composition also. Hope to do another update later in the summer.
@@me-cfs-strategiesforhealing Hi Patrick, that’s great news that you are still sticking to the diet. When I was on it I stopped having all flu like symptoms and exercise tolerance improved. The quickest change I noticed was that I didn’t need to urinate all the time. I honestly don’t know if it was the diet or the electrolytes that helped with the thirst as I introduced daily electrolytes upon starting the diet. I really want to try ORS however I am concerned about the sugar and how this would interfere with getting maximum benefits from the diet (such as getting energy from ketones). Have you thought much about this - you seem to have an incredible science mind and an IQ that allows you to comprehend these things well! Looking forward to hearing your update later this year 😊
Ah, thanks again for the kind words. I much appreciate them. Well, 1 litre of ORS contains 14 grams glucose (or dextrose, which is basically the same). So, if that is as much as one has, it's a bit like having the equivalent sweetness of a couple of bananas a day. My feeling is that the body should be able to deal with that glucose quite quickly. So my current feeling is that while it might not be ideal from a zero carb point of view, I think it is far from being too troublesome either.
Inspiring! My weak spot in my health / carnivore journey is beer, far worse than chocolate 😅 I also struggle with low energy levels for many years (but not as severe as yours) and I found that riding my bicycle 10-15 minutes to the office instead of working from home makes a big difference on my energy
Thanks for the complement! Ah sure, giving up our go-to comforts, can be hard. For the moment, I've made a small pact with the devil as it were but I hope to tell him to get lost soon enough, as I am noticing enough improvements to increase my motivation to get stricter with the diet.
Do you have adrenal fatigue? I heard that keto or carnevore shouldnt be done if you have it. Most of CFS patients suffer from ist (so do I) ...so I dont know if I should give it a try
ME/CFS patients often actually have shrunken adrenal glands which may lower output, rather than adrenal fatigue. I have a video on that. Then there can be HPA axis irregularities that influence hormone output. I'm sure I have had those kinds of issues but, speaking personally, I haven't found them problematic with carnivory. However I think the transition to the diet is rougher on ME/CFS patients than other people, particularly from fluid loss. Electrolyte mixes can be important. I use ORS and find it effective.
I don't know how I missed your channel all this time - our chronic illness/ME/CFS content is very similar! I also did a video earlier this year about my experience with Carnivore diet and ME/CFS - and I also said I was about 95% carnivore. Oh, and I love dark chocolate, too - my cheat is sugar-free dark chocolate (Lily's brand). Sounds like we have a lot in common :) Though I am diary-intolerant, so no cheese for me (I can tolerate butter). On our vacation last week, I had a 9000-step day - very exciting! (and rare). And not a single crash since January 1 :) After my 3 months on 95% carnivore, I am now transitioning more to keto - basically just more veggies (non-starchy, low carb ones). My main goal with diet is to keep yeast overgrowth (very common in ME/CFS) under control - after decades of treating it with everything under the sun, only this diet has finally done the trick. FYI, some of the other treatments that have most helped my son and I (22 years ME/CFS for me; 20 for him, plus we both have tick infections) have included coreecting sleep dysfunction, treating OI (life-changing!), treating immune dysfunction, and normalizing thyroid function. Glad to hear you are improving - I hope it continues! Nice to "meet" you!
Hi Sue - nice to "meet" you too! That's great to hear you are doing so well. You say you haven't crashed this year - do you think that is more down to carnivore, or listening to your body better? I'm trying to get back into that mindset. I've cut out the cheese now and also trying with the chocolate (but was a family birthday today so had some ;)). I really look forward to checking out your channel. For me, treating OI by drinking ORS has also been very helpful. What do you do for OI? All the best
@@me-cfs-strategiesforhealing No other changes to my routine, pacing, etc. In fact, I'm much MORE active because my stamina is so much better and almost no PEM. So, for me, the diet helps because it's keeping yeast overgrowth under control. That's something that plagues most people with ME/CFS - though many are unaware of it - because of the specific kind of immune dysfunction we have. I use all kinds of treatments (probiotics, herbal antifungals, prescription antifungals), and I THOUGHT I was on a very restricted diet, but it took completely starving the yeast of carbs to get the yeast under control, get rid of the awful flu-like aches, and allow me to do so much more without crashing. Plus, as I said, normalizing thyroid function (another common issue in ME/CFS) last year helped a lot, but I couldn't see the full impact of that until I got the yeast under control - such a complex disease! For OI, my son and I both take low-dose, extended-release beta blockers before bed each night - life-changing for us both! He also takes Florinef - it rarely works for adults, but he started it as a child and still takes it at 29. I was a bit alarmed when you mentioned your electrolyte solution contains glucose (because of yeast overgrowth) - have you tried sugar-free versions? My son like GU Brew tablets or Nuun tablets. I just drink a lot of water and use a lot of salt (Himalayan pink salt or Redmond's - both contain other minerals too). If you check out one of my videos (I also do videos about books but there are lots of chronic illness videos on my channel, too), look at the notes section - lots of links to my 18-year-old blog, with all kinds of informatio0n on treatments that have helped us. I hope you continue to see improvements! Nap time for me (I'm doing great but do still need an afternoon nap to recharge!)
Very interesting information and most helpful thank you. How did you normalise thyroid function? I'm currently trying to get off T3 monotherapy which I have been on for over two years - getting off it isn't easy. Yes, the ORS contains glucose and that is not ideal, especially while on carnivory. On the flip side, it does allow for a maximum blood volume boosting effect and, for now, I need that. Looking forward to checking out your blog.
@@me-cfs-strategiesforhealing I worked with my primary care doctor for a year to normalize my thyroid function - getting lab tests every 2 months, adjusting meds based on the results, and repeat! Over and over - took over a year, but I finally found the right combination of meds and doses. Why are you trying to get off thyroid meds? Don't they help you? I also found adding iodine supplements helped a lot (once I got to the right meds & doses). I wrote a blog post about it, but YT doesn't always like links, so I'll include it in a second comment.
Here's the post about Diagnosing and Treating Thyroid Dysfunction in ME/CFS and Long-COVID. Let me know if you have any questions: livewithcfs.blogspot.com/2023/10/diagnosing-treating-thyroid-dysfunction.html
I switched to tiny -the tiniest- dark chocolate chips - and had about a tablespoon of them - slowly nibbled on one at a time. I did that my first two weeks or so - and rarely do now that I’ve begun my 4th week. Great video! I sent it to a friend:)
That's a great tip, thanks! Reminds of someone who once advised that, given chocolate is essentially a drug (particularly dark chocolate), to just take one square and let it melt in your mouth over 10-15 minutes. I'm delighted you enjoyed the video :)
Thanks for posting your carnivore experience. I'm hoping to be able to go full carnivore soon. (But am very addicted to sugar/carbs at the moment.) I am very very ill with ME/Cfs - it's been getting worse in the 20 years I've been ill. Now almost bedbound...
I am so sorry that you are struggling so much with this awful illness. I hope carnivory can help you improve. Ribeye Rach is an inspiring channel if you haven't come across her already.
Thank you for an interesting report on your journey. My son has had long covid for the last 2 years and describes many of the symptoms you have and a whole lot longer list. I would love him to try the carnivore diet but alas he is a card carrying vegan 😢 I hope this diet keeps working for you.
Thank you Mark for the kind words. I'm sorry to hear about your son having Long Covid. The vegan mindset is hard to break free from. There is a RUclipsr - Ribeye Rach - who was very severe with POTS and who is doing very well now thanks to a mixture of brain retraining and carnivory. Also someone called Rebekah Heishman whose story of recovery is very powerful (I'm pretty sure she had ME amongst everything else) I'm giving a talk to the Irish ME Trust in a few days - which should be posted on their YT after (channel is called 'ME Ireland') - about why carnivory might help ME/CFS. I don't know if your son might be open to looking at those resources or not but just thought I'd mention in case. Positive examples of people improving can be more inspiring than anything else.
Curiosity question: have you ever tried fasting (drinking water) ? What happens if you stay in a fasted state for 1 day, if not longer (2,3, 4 days) ? Especially if you fast over 3 days, a considerable amount of stem/staminal cells should get produced, and the body should "reset" in many processes FOR REAL, so not like those many "guru" say. I'd give a try, to see if you improve or not!
Thanks for the nice comment about my videos. I easily lose my voice since I became ill though and it is much weaker in general. However, when I go back home, I will have access to a proper microphone which should improve the sound. Thanks for the fasting tip. I haven't tried it like that - just intermittent fasting. But I do remember watching a documentary about the potential amazing benefits and I'll keep it in mind. Some supplements I take depend on being taken with food so not sure how that would work.
I don't have ME/CFS, I have a completely different problem, that I'm trying to diagnose, of "fatigue/tiredness after eating any food". I was giving this as a general advice, as I've heard some people improve with fasting in ME/CFS.
Thanks for the insight. When undergoing this diet, did you *have* to enforce restrictions to eating other foods such as plant-based foods? What would happen if you consumed certain things outside the diet, but still involved mostly carnivore products? And how long do you plan continuing this diet to combat CFS? Would by reaching a certain state of recovery from CFS, do you know whether or not if one can cease the diet?
I was still eating fruits, avocados and some vegetables prior. In general I wasn’t doing too badly with other foods unless they were spicy (which would cause itching and spots). So carnivory was out of choice and not necessity in my case. As for how long I plan to be on it, I don’t know. At least a year. Some would use the diet till they are a lot better and then relax their food rules a bit. I might do that while keeping my focus generally on meat
It can take some time to get into ketosis with a low carb/carnivore diet. This means that many people experience a "keto flu" before the body can adjust. It has been recommended to drink non-sweetend electrolyte supplements to compensate - while your body adjusts.
Hello french here too, hope you doing great ! Is it ? Myself i'm not doing well lately. Same, me/CFS, desperate for reliefs. I tried carnivore many times but failed i think because of lack of support ; Did you know community that are helpfull for following this isolating woe ? Also because you are french too and it's rare in Carni woe have you any tips to not spend all my money in meat ? As you know it's not cheap there lately lol :')
Hi there! To reduce costs, steak hache / ground beef is the way to go. Best thing is to find a butcher who is happy to prepare it for you in bulk and who is happy to put in more fat than the store-bought stuff (eg 30 percent fat is good). That’s likely the cheapest option. Chicken or cod liver could be used for organs. In terms of live communities in France, there are a few me/cfs associations but all quite far away from me - maybe some offer zoom meetings? Sorry, I don’t know. I’m Irish btw but live in France.
I don't know if your illness allows it, but one of the Carnivore doctors said intermittent fasting helps with loose skin. You probably don't need to lose weight, but this kind of fasting also helps with a lot of illness along with Carnivore.
I'm still doing well with the carnivore. Had a tricky period with a two week bug and also getting off a thyroid medication (T3) was not easy. But I still feel the benefits, though no spectacular breakthrough yet. Hope to do another carnivore update later in the summer.
@@me-cfs-strategiesforhealing Maybe you have MCAS. MCAS is linked to EDS and Long Covid. Check out the videos below. Lecture at The ILC Ehlers Danlos & Chronic Pain Foundation. Mast Cell Activation Syndrome - Pain and Neurological Manifestations | Dr. Virginia McEwen, MD, CFPC Lecture at The Ehlers-Danlos Society Anne Maitland - "Understanding Mast Cell Activation in EDS & HDS" The Role of MCAS in Long Covid | With World Leading Specialist Dr Lawrence Afrin Here's How You Treat Long Covid | Lessons From MCAS - Dr Tina Peers Article on Forbes. What Do ADHD, Long Covid And Ehler’s Danlos Have In Common? Meet The Mast Cell.
@@me-cfs-strategiesforhealing Maybe you have MCAS which is linked to EDS and Long Covid, look for. Anne Maitland - Living with Mast Cell Activation Syndrome Mast Cell Activation Syndrome - Pain and Neurological Manifestations Dr. Virginia McEwen, MD, CFPC The Role of MCAS in Long Covid With World Leading Specialist Dr Lawrence Afrin Here's How You Treat Long Covid Lessons From MCAS - Dr Tina Peers
MCAS is linked to EDS and Long Covid, look for. The Role of MCAS in Long Covid With World Leading Specialist Dr Lawrence Afrin Here's How You Treat Long Covid Lessons From MCAS - Dr Tina Peers Anne Maitland - Living with Mast Cell Activation Syndrome Mast Cell Activation Syndrome - Pain and Neurological Manifestations Dr. Virginia McEwen, MD, CFPC
Hope you continue to get better! Have you heard about Vitamin A toxicity though with eggs, liver and especially cod liver oil? It could be a big factor in symptoms (especially brain fog).
Thanks very much and, I have indeed heard about it. I keep an open mind and maybe I'll experiment with it but I didn't find it a particularly convincing theory. I wonder if people do well on a low vitamin A diet because it also means they are cutting out a lot of other crap. What do you think about the idea though?
@@me-cfs-strategiesforhealing fair enough, for me I at least found out about it from accidentally overdosing on it when I took vitamin C supplements (they added alot of Vitamin A to it that I didn't read on the ingredients beforehand). Got pretty much incapacitated and had to take 3 days off work getting over the migraine, nausea and eye strain. Started cutting out cod liver oil and other high vitamin a things to try it out and it has helped with symptoms alot. Seems because it's fat soluble it's harder to get rid of, so builds up in the body (liver and fat) over time and once you reach the threshold it spills over and causes symptoms every time you eat something with vit A or if the liver gets an injury from a virus or stressor, vit A apparently spills out from the liver where it's stored. Anyway, hope that helps
@@me-cfs-strategiesforhealing one more question buddy, you know any good similar products within Europe? I can't afford those shipping costs for normalyte sadly ...
They are trying to get it available via Amazon Europe so hopefully that will help with the shipping at some point. There are loads of different ORS products, problem is a lot have junk in them (preservatives and strange additives). Another good one is dioralyte natural though
@@me-cfs-strategiesforhealing I decided to mix it myself. Ordered dextrose, Himalayan salt, and potassium chloride Day 2 carnivore, I'm awful. There is zero blood and water going in my hands forearms, everything awfully constricts, can't leave blanket
I haven't tried LMNT but the idea is that the glucose in standard ORS binds with the salt in stomach in such a way that the whole salty solution ends up going into the blood stream. With no added glucose, there would still be a blood volume boosting effect but it would be a bit messier and not as effective. Have you ever tried drinking ORS? It certainly would be interesting to compare the effects of ORS vs LMNT but theoretically the former is more effective at boosting blood volume.
@@me-cfs-strategiesforhealing thanks for your reply!! Oh wow, that’s really interesting, I didn’t know that. I wish I had your science brains! That would be a really interesting experiment to compare the two. I’ll let you know if I go back full carnivore with sugar free electrolytes. I actually haven’t tried standard ORS, it is probably worth a shot seeing as I seem to be experiencing more symptoms related to this lately. Is it okay to also salt food when taking ORS or would this put things out of balance?
If you ever do try out the two of them, I'd be curious to hear what you feel the differences are. For me, ORS has a magical effect. In terms of salting food while drinking ORS, that's a great question. I don't know the definitive answer. Perhaps it could mess with things a little by confusing the body by adding in some additional salt it has to deal with. But I have to say that I don't do well with high amounts of salt, ingested normally (ie just by salt loading). It makes me feel ill. I do add a big pinch of salt to each of my two meals but that is it for my added salt. I probably have around 3-4 grams of salt per day (from those pinches and the natural salt content of meat) and the rest is from ORS.
In France I get a fresh sheep’s cheese, soft, very little added salt so short shelf life of just a few days. But I’ve got the cheese out now….just my nemesis of the chocolate remains!
@@me-cfs-strategiesforhealing you get it at the farmer locally? Btw you say you drink 2liters of the normalyte. Since 1 bag is meant for 500 ml, do you really drink 4 bags a day ?
No that’s in supermarket but I’ve seen similar in local markets. I drink 3 sachets normalyte these days (1.5 litres in total). Hope to reduce to 1 litre this summer.
@@me-cfs-strategiesforhealing okay sounds 👍 good. Gotta get the normalyte too. Had 4 weeks ago my immunadsorption. Today right in this moment I start carnivore
My CFS is not fully severe, but close. I'm medically disabled and mostly housebound. I no longer drive or go anywhere for that matter. I've had CFS for 22 years. I'm an ex-athlete. I'm giving Carnivore a shot - I'm just at the beginning. Thank you for sharing your experiences. I'm hoping to have some positive results. I really want my life back.
I really hope the carnivory helps you out. Please let me know how you get on
Oh wow. I hope this helps you very much. I'm considering it myself and that's how I found your comment.
Please let me know how it goes month to month if your able.
I know brain fog is so limiting, so no pressure if your not up to it. ☺️
One thing Im prepping to do is 100% carnivore, not 95% like this kind chap. To know if something works or fails, I want to give 100% attention and effort so I can definitively determine it's shortcoming or success correctly. 🎉
Best of luck with carnivore. 100% is the way to go.
for carnivore diet ch Dr Ken berry, shawn baker md podcast, dr caffee, no carb life, kelly hogan, homestead how& more
Congratulations on your health improvements. I didn't hear you mention oxylates, which is the primary problem many people have with chocolate (not just carbs). If you haven't explored the effects of plant oxylates (as well as the hazards of oxylate dumping when you remove them too abruptly), Sally Norton is a leading expert. Wishing you continued progress!
Thank you for the kind wishes and I'm actually just reading Norton's book now! I really want to cut out the chocolate. It has been a bit of a crutch/addiction/coping mechanism. It does me no favours and I'm hoping to try to stop it again soon.
FYI, the saying in the community is "the last 5% gives you another 100%". :-)
Id recommend trying, just for 2 weeks, going 100%. You can always revert!
Good job, and good luck!
I don't doubt it! Thanks for the tip. I've cut the cheese but dang the four squares of dark chocolate is still a tough one....I'll get there.
Oh cool, Im just now transitioning from ketovore to carnivore, I’ve been paleo and then keto for years now and I suffer greatly if I eat carbs. Lyme/bartonella are probably a big part of why I got sick to begin with and my joint/muscle pain gets horrible if I feed myself carbs. I’m also trying to do dnrs rn but definitely struggling with that. I know my mind nervous system is really f-ed up so it can’t hurt right?! Looking forward to following your journey.
How is it working out for you?? I'd love an update 🙏🏻
Also, about the chocolate and cheese, I would stop eating both, because: 1) Even 100% dark chocolate still has some sugar, which confuses the gluconeogenesis process, and makes the return to the fasting state longer. If you're doing a keto diet, then it's not ideal imo. + it's not good the addition, you need to get rid of it.
2) for all types of dairy, try to write on Copilot/BingAI : " does milk cause inflammation" ? And you're gonna be surprised by the insane amount of pro-inflammatory compounds it has.
Very seasoned CHEESE (or normal cheese) isn't any better, it's actually worse! Because many molecules break down, of which a shit ton of them are proinflammatory!
Thank you for the advice. It's the plan to drop both, hopefully sooner rather than later.
Your videos are very good and scientific! Please make the volume of your voice much louder, thank you.
Will do this for all videos bar the next two-upcoming (already scheduled). Thanks for the feedback, I had no idea....
Thanks for sharing this Patrick! I’m so encouraged to hear carnivore is going well for you so far! Over the last month I gradually reduced my carbs and have been all meat now for 5 days…so definitely beginning stages but needed to go slow due to gastritis/reflux and histamine issues. I already feel my overall inflammation is lowering and although I have more “energy” it feels more like cortisol/adrenaline as some heart palpatations as well. But my body is definitely not fat adapted yet so that could be part of it. With CFS, I’m assuming that process will be awhile. I’m gradually increasing my fat to what my stomach and digestion can tolerate at the moment. I’m currently eating 1# ground lamb and 12oz chicken plus 2T ghee. I need the chicken until I can handle just lamb to address histamine issues better. With POTS as well I’m just trying to figure out how many electrolytes work best for me. I’m only using 1/2 pack of the normalyte and 1 1/2 of the LMNT as I’m just not sure yet about the glucose with trying to get my body fat adapted.
I have a ways to go but am glad to see my stomach and reflux issues much improved since moving to all meat, also the horrendous brain fog and heavy fatigue keeping me in bed all day has improved. Most of the heavier fatigue I do still have I notice after meals but your video gives me encouragement that may improve!
Thank you again for sharing how it’s going for you and please continue to..it’s very helpful and informative as I’m trying to navigate my way through! 😊
Hi Jelene, thank you for the kind words about the video, glad it is of help. I hope to do another carnivory one at around the three month mark.....and it is the plan to drop the chocolate (though my brain doesn't want to contemplate the kind of reality!) :) I'm glad you are seeing some early signs of improvement despite the natural difficulties. I think a lot of people have difficulty with their digestion getting used to fat at first so hopefully that will settle down for you before too long. Half a normalyte is a very small amount of glucose so hopefully that won't interfere with your efforts to get fat-adapted. Best of luck in the continued transition and hope it really improves things for you.
Hello again! When you originally started keto, did you have chronic fatigue syndrome and/or POTS at the time? I heard it pretty challenging for people with these types of conditions to get fat adapted due to the severity of mitochondrial damage. What was your experience with this?
Yes, I did (now is my second time being carnivore, previously I did it back in 2020-2021 as well). I don't think - apart from increased nausea with the fat initially - that I had an issue becoming fat adapted.
But from a lot of podcast interviews, it seems some people feel it takes them 1-2 months.
How are you now?
I drink a glass of bone broth with every meal. The benefits are super noticeable! I use a instapot and DISTILLED WATER (very important)! Regular water doesn’t pull as much minerals out of the bones as distilled water. Perfect gelatin every time 👍
I was on carnivore 8 months (4 on keto before) didn't help at all with my LC actually I had to stop because I felt worse and worse.
Hi Patrick, Thankyou for sharing! I am curious to hear another update on how you are finding carnivore.
I tried it earlier this year with lots of sugar free electrolytes and found that my excessive thirst, urination and dryness went away.
I fell off the wagon during some life transitions but plan to gradually go back to carnivore as the benefits seemed to outweigh any side effects
That's interesting that your thirst went away. Do you think it was the sugar-free electrolytes that did that or the carnivory?
I'm still doing well with my diet. I've cut out the cheese. The 4 squares dark chocolate still hamper things a bit. My stamina is a bit better and my skin composition also. Hope to do another update later in the summer.
@@me-cfs-strategiesforhealing Hi Patrick, that’s great news that you are still sticking to the diet. When I was on it I stopped having all flu like symptoms and exercise tolerance improved.
The quickest change I noticed was that I didn’t need to urinate all the time.
I honestly don’t know if it was the diet or the electrolytes that helped with the thirst as I introduced daily electrolytes upon starting the diet.
I really want to try ORS however I am concerned about the sugar and how this would interfere with getting maximum benefits from the diet (such as getting energy from ketones). Have you thought much about this - you seem to have an incredible science mind and an IQ that allows you to comprehend these things well!
Looking forward to hearing your update later this year 😊
Ah, thanks again for the kind words. I much appreciate them.
Well, 1 litre of ORS contains 14 grams glucose (or dextrose, which is basically the same). So, if that is as much as one has, it's a bit like having the equivalent sweetness of a couple of bananas a day. My feeling is that the body should be able to deal with that glucose quite quickly. So my current feeling is that while it might not be ideal from a zero carb point of view, I think it is far from being too troublesome either.
Inspiring! My weak spot in my health / carnivore journey is beer, far worse than chocolate 😅 I also struggle with low energy levels for many years (but not as severe as yours) and I found that riding my bicycle 10-15 minutes to the office instead of working from home makes a big difference on my energy
Thanks for the complement! Ah sure, giving up our go-to comforts, can be hard. For the moment, I've made a small pact with the devil as it were but I hope to tell him to get lost soon enough, as I am noticing enough improvements to increase my motivation to get stricter with the diet.
With cfs my ebike riding has been everything omg❤
I can’t seem to find the video with your oral rehydration drink. It wasn’t above during this video nor can I find it on your channel.
Sorry about that, I'll look into why that was. It's called 'How I Boost Blood Volume in ME/CFS' and it was released back in March.
Thanks for sharing, also a sufferer
You're welcome
Do you have adrenal fatigue? I heard that keto or carnevore shouldnt be done if you have it. Most of CFS patients suffer from ist (so do I) ...so I dont know if I should give it a try
ME/CFS patients often actually have shrunken adrenal glands which may lower output, rather than adrenal fatigue. I have a video on that. Then there can be HPA axis irregularities that influence hormone output.
I'm sure I have had those kinds of issues but, speaking personally, I haven't found them problematic with carnivory.
However I think the transition to the diet is rougher on ME/CFS patients than other people, particularly from fluid loss. Electrolyte mixes can be important. I use ORS and find it effective.
I don't know how I missed your channel all this time - our chronic illness/ME/CFS content is very similar! I also did a video earlier this year about my experience with Carnivore diet and ME/CFS - and I also said I was about 95% carnivore. Oh, and I love dark chocolate, too - my cheat is sugar-free dark chocolate (Lily's brand). Sounds like we have a lot in common :) Though I am diary-intolerant, so no cheese for me (I can tolerate butter). On our vacation last week, I had a 9000-step day - very exciting! (and rare). And not a single crash since January 1 :) After my 3 months on 95% carnivore, I am now transitioning more to keto - basically just more veggies (non-starchy, low carb ones). My main goal with diet is to keep yeast overgrowth (very common in ME/CFS) under control - after decades of treating it with everything under the sun, only this diet has finally done the trick. FYI, some of the other treatments that have most helped my son and I (22 years ME/CFS for me; 20 for him, plus we both have tick infections) have included coreecting sleep dysfunction, treating OI (life-changing!), treating immune dysfunction, and normalizing thyroid function. Glad to hear you are improving - I hope it continues! Nice to "meet" you!
Hi Sue - nice to "meet" you too! That's great to hear you are doing so well. You say you haven't crashed this year - do you think that is more down to carnivore, or listening to your body better? I'm trying to get back into that mindset. I've cut out the cheese now and also trying with the chocolate (but was a family birthday today so had some ;)). I really look forward to checking out your channel. For me, treating OI by drinking ORS has also been very helpful. What do you do for OI? All the best
@@me-cfs-strategiesforhealing No other changes to my routine, pacing, etc. In fact, I'm much MORE active because my stamina is so much better and almost no PEM. So, for me, the diet helps because it's keeping yeast overgrowth under control. That's something that plagues most people with ME/CFS - though many are unaware of it - because of the specific kind of immune dysfunction we have. I use all kinds of treatments (probiotics, herbal antifungals, prescription antifungals), and I THOUGHT I was on a very restricted diet, but it took completely starving the yeast of carbs to get the yeast under control, get rid of the awful flu-like aches, and allow me to do so much more without crashing. Plus, as I said, normalizing thyroid function (another common issue in ME/CFS) last year helped a lot, but I couldn't see the full impact of that until I got the yeast under control - such a complex disease! For OI, my son and I both take low-dose, extended-release beta blockers before bed each night - life-changing for us both! He also takes Florinef - it rarely works for adults, but he started it as a child and still takes it at 29. I was a bit alarmed when you mentioned your electrolyte solution contains glucose (because of yeast overgrowth) - have you tried sugar-free versions? My son like GU Brew tablets or Nuun tablets. I just drink a lot of water and use a lot of salt (Himalayan pink salt or Redmond's - both contain other minerals too). If you check out one of my videos (I also do videos about books but there are lots of chronic illness videos on my channel, too), look at the notes section - lots of links to my 18-year-old blog, with all kinds of informatio0n on treatments that have helped us. I hope you continue to see improvements! Nap time for me (I'm doing great but do still need an afternoon nap to recharge!)
Very interesting information and most helpful thank you. How did you normalise thyroid function? I'm currently trying to get off T3 monotherapy which I have been on for over two years - getting off it isn't easy. Yes, the ORS contains glucose and that is not ideal, especially while on carnivory. On the flip side, it does allow for a maximum blood volume boosting effect and, for now, I need that. Looking forward to checking out your blog.
@@me-cfs-strategiesforhealing I worked with my primary care doctor for a year to normalize my thyroid function - getting lab tests every 2 months, adjusting meds based on the results, and repeat! Over and over - took over a year, but I finally found the right combination of meds and doses. Why are you trying to get off thyroid meds? Don't they help you? I also found adding iodine supplements helped a lot (once I got to the right meds & doses). I wrote a blog post about it, but YT doesn't always like links, so I'll include it in a second comment.
Here's the post about Diagnosing and Treating Thyroid Dysfunction in ME/CFS and Long-COVID. Let me know if you have any questions:
livewithcfs.blogspot.com/2023/10/diagnosing-treating-thyroid-dysfunction.html
I switched to tiny -the tiniest- dark chocolate chips - and had about a tablespoon of them - slowly nibbled on one at a time. I did that my first two weeks or so - and rarely do now that I’ve begun my 4th week. Great video! I sent it to a friend:)
That's a great tip, thanks! Reminds of someone who once advised that, given chocolate is essentially a drug (particularly dark chocolate), to just take one square and let it melt in your mouth over 10-15 minutes. I'm delighted you enjoyed the video :)
Thanks for posting your carnivore experience. I'm hoping to be able to go full carnivore soon. (But am very addicted to sugar/carbs at the moment.)
I am very very ill with ME/Cfs - it's been getting worse in the 20 years I've been ill.
Now almost bedbound...
I am so sorry that you are struggling so much with this awful illness. I hope carnivory can help you improve. Ribeye Rach is an inspiring channel if you haven't come across her already.
@@me-cfs-strategiesforhealing Thanks
Thank you for an interesting report on your journey. My son has had long covid for the last 2 years and describes many of the symptoms you have and a whole lot longer list. I would love him to try the carnivore diet but alas he is a card carrying vegan 😢 I hope this diet keeps working for you.
Thank you Mark for the kind words. I'm sorry to hear about your son having Long Covid.
The vegan mindset is hard to break free from.
There is a RUclipsr - Ribeye Rach - who was very severe with POTS and who is doing very well now thanks to a mixture of brain retraining and carnivory.
Also someone called Rebekah Heishman whose story of recovery is very powerful (I'm pretty sure she had ME amongst everything else)
I'm giving a talk to the Irish ME Trust in a few days - which should be posted on their YT after (channel is called 'ME Ireland') - about why carnivory might help ME/CFS.
I don't know if your son might be open to looking at those resources or not but just thought I'd mention in case. Positive examples of people improving can be more inspiring than anything else.
Curiosity question: have you ever tried fasting (drinking water) ? What happens if you stay in a fasted state for 1 day, if not longer (2,3, 4 days) ? Especially if you fast over 3 days, a considerable amount of stem/staminal cells should get produced, and the body should "reset" in many processes FOR REAL, so not like those many "guru" say. I'd give a try, to see if you improve or not!
Thanks for the nice comment about my videos. I easily lose my voice since I became ill though and it is much weaker in general. However, when I go back home, I will have access to a proper microphone which should improve the sound.
Thanks for the fasting tip. I haven't tried it like that - just intermittent fasting. But I do remember watching a documentary about the potential amazing benefits and I'll keep it in mind. Some supplements I take depend on being taken with food so not sure how that would work.
Have you fasted for a long time and how did it go?
I don't have ME/CFS, I have a completely different problem, that I'm trying to diagnose, of "fatigue/tiredness after eating any food".
I was giving this as a general advice, as I've heard some people improve with fasting in ME/CFS.
I am confused. I thought you found healing with DNRS years ago??
Please see my video on becoming ill a second time and on changes I'd make to my POTS book.
Thanks for the insight. When undergoing this diet, did you *have* to enforce restrictions to eating other foods such as plant-based foods? What would happen if you consumed certain things outside the diet, but still involved mostly carnivore products? And how long do you plan continuing this diet to combat CFS? Would by reaching a certain state of recovery from CFS, do you know whether or not if one can cease the diet?
I was still eating fruits, avocados and some vegetables prior. In general I wasn’t doing too badly with other foods unless they were spicy (which would cause itching and spots). So carnivory was out of choice and not necessity in my case. As for how long I plan to be on it, I don’t know. At least a year. Some would use the diet till they are a lot better and then relax their food rules a bit. I might do that while keeping my focus generally on meat
I have been on carnivore for 17 days and it is kicking my *ss... I am glad you are seeing some improvements and hope that has continued.
super! Hope that continues for you
It can take some time to get into ketosis with a low carb/carnivore diet. This means that many people experience a "keto flu" before the body can adjust. It has been recommended to drink non-sweetend electrolyte supplements to compensate - while your body adjusts.
I'm on day 18 and feel horrible and anxiety is bad did it get better for you
Hello french here too, hope you doing great ! Is it ?
Myself i'm not doing well lately. Same, me/CFS, desperate for reliefs. I tried carnivore many times but failed i think because of lack of support ; Did you know community that are helpfull for following this isolating woe ?
Also because you are french too and it's rare in Carni woe have you any tips to not spend all my money in meat ? As you know it's not cheap there lately lol :')
Hi there! To reduce costs, steak hache / ground beef is the way to go. Best thing is to find a butcher who is happy to prepare it for you in bulk and who is happy to put in more fat than the store-bought stuff (eg 30 percent fat is good). That’s likely the cheapest option. Chicken or cod liver could be used for organs. In terms of live communities in France, there are a few me/cfs associations but all quite far away from me - maybe some offer zoom meetings? Sorry, I don’t know. I’m Irish btw but live in France.
@@me-cfs-strategiesforhealing Thank you for these informations, good luck for your recovery and stay strong
Take black walnut tincture,cloves and wormwood Follow Dr hulda Clark’s parasite program $59 online
I don't know if your illness allows it, but one of the Carnivore doctors said intermittent fasting helps with loose skin. You probably don't need to lose weight, but this kind of fasting also helps with a lot of illness along with Carnivore.
How are things in month 2?
I'm still doing well with the carnivore. Had a tricky period with a two week bug and also getting off a thyroid medication (T3) was not easy. But I still feel the benefits, though no spectacular breakthrough yet. Hope to do another carnivore update later in the summer.
So will you stay on it?
I'm still on it at 4 months and plan to be on it for foreseeable future
I’m so pleased for you
Thank you very much
Stretchy skin could be EDS
Yes, I think I have EDS.
@@me-cfs-strategiesforhealing Maybe you have MCAS. MCAS is linked to EDS and Long Covid. Check out the videos below.
Lecture at The ILC Ehlers Danlos & Chronic Pain Foundation.
Mast Cell Activation Syndrome - Pain and Neurological Manifestations | Dr. Virginia McEwen, MD, CFPC
Lecture at The Ehlers-Danlos Society
Anne Maitland - "Understanding Mast Cell Activation in EDS & HDS"
The Role of MCAS in Long Covid | With World Leading Specialist Dr Lawrence Afrin
Here's How You Treat Long Covid | Lessons From MCAS - Dr Tina Peers
Article on Forbes.
What Do ADHD, Long Covid And Ehler’s Danlos Have In Common? Meet The Mast Cell.
@@me-cfs-strategiesforhealing Maybe you have MCAS which is linked to EDS and Long Covid, look for.
Anne Maitland - Living with Mast Cell Activation Syndrome
Mast Cell Activation Syndrome - Pain and Neurological Manifestations Dr. Virginia McEwen, MD, CFPC
The Role of MCAS in Long Covid With World Leading Specialist Dr Lawrence Afrin
Here's How You Treat Long Covid Lessons From MCAS - Dr Tina Peers
MCAS is linked to EDS and Long Covid, look for.
The Role of MCAS in Long Covid With World Leading Specialist Dr Lawrence Afrin
Here's How You Treat Long Covid Lessons From MCAS - Dr Tina Peers
Anne Maitland - Living with Mast Cell Activation Syndrome
Mast Cell Activation Syndrome - Pain and Neurological Manifestations Dr. Virginia McEwen, MD, CFPC
@@me-cfs-strategiesforhealing MCAS is linked to EDS and Long Covid
Hope you continue to get better! Have you heard about Vitamin A toxicity though with eggs, liver and especially cod liver oil? It could be a big factor in symptoms (especially brain fog).
Thanks very much and, I have indeed heard about it. I keep an open mind and maybe I'll experiment with it but I didn't find it a particularly convincing theory. I wonder if people do well on a low vitamin A diet because it also means they are cutting out a lot of other crap.
What do you think about the idea though?
@@me-cfs-strategiesforhealing fair enough, for me I at least found out about it from accidentally overdosing on it when I took vitamin C supplements (they added alot of Vitamin A to it that I didn't read on the ingredients beforehand). Got pretty much incapacitated and had to take 3 days off work getting over the migraine, nausea and eye strain. Started cutting out cod liver oil and other high vitamin a things to try it out and it has helped with symptoms alot. Seems because it's fat soluble it's harder to get rid of, so builds up in the body (liver and fat) over time and once you reach the threshold it spills over and causes symptoms every time you eat something with vit A or if the liver gets an injury from a virus or stressor, vit A apparently spills out from the liver where it's stored. Anyway, hope that helps
Thank you that does help a lot. Well you can't argue with success so it is definitely something I'll look into. I just love eggs though ;)
dark choclate has way too much oxalate my friend... try to get it out
I know….
@@me-cfs-strategiesforhealing one more question buddy, you know any good similar products within Europe? I can't afford those shipping costs for normalyte sadly ...
They are trying to get it available via Amazon Europe so hopefully that will help with the shipping at some point. There are loads of different ORS products, problem is a lot have junk in them (preservatives and strange additives). Another good one is dioralyte natural though
@@me-cfs-strategiesforhealing I decided to mix it myself. Ordered dextrose, Himalayan salt, and potassium chloride
Day 2 carnivore, I'm awful. There is zero blood and water going in my hands forearms, everything awfully constricts, can't leave blanket
I'm sorry. I think I know that awful constricted feeling. It is horrible. I hope you feel better soon.
Would electrolytes such as LMNT they don’t contain sugar be a good option also?
I haven't tried LMNT but the idea is that the glucose in standard ORS binds with the salt in stomach in such a way that the whole salty solution ends up going into the blood stream. With no added glucose, there would still be a blood volume boosting effect but it would be a bit messier and not as effective.
Have you ever tried drinking ORS?
It certainly would be interesting to compare the effects of ORS vs LMNT but theoretically the former is more effective at boosting blood volume.
@@me-cfs-strategiesforhealing thanks for your reply!! Oh wow, that’s really interesting, I didn’t know that. I wish I had your science brains! That would be a really interesting experiment to compare the two. I’ll let you know if I go back full carnivore with sugar free electrolytes. I actually haven’t tried standard ORS, it is probably worth a shot seeing as I seem to be experiencing more symptoms related to this lately. Is it okay to also salt food when taking ORS or would this put things out of balance?
If you ever do try out the two of them, I'd be curious to hear what you feel the differences are. For me, ORS has a magical effect.
In terms of salting food while drinking ORS, that's a great question. I don't know the definitive answer. Perhaps it could mess with things a little by confusing the body by adding in some additional salt it has to deal with.
But I have to say that I don't do well with high amounts of salt, ingested normally (ie just by salt loading). It makes me feel ill. I do add a big pinch of salt to each of my two meals but that is it for my added salt. I probably have around 3-4 grams of salt per day (from those pinches and the natural salt content of meat) and the rest is from ORS.
what do you consider as fresh cheese?=)
In France I get a fresh sheep’s cheese, soft, very little added salt so short shelf life of just a few days. But I’ve got the cheese out now….just my nemesis of the chocolate remains!
@@me-cfs-strategiesforhealing you get it at the farmer locally?
Btw you say you drink 2liters of the normalyte. Since 1 bag is meant for 500 ml, do you really drink 4 bags a day ?
No that’s in supermarket but I’ve seen similar in local markets. I drink 3 sachets normalyte these days (1.5 litres in total). Hope to reduce to 1 litre this summer.
@@me-cfs-strategiesforhealing okay sounds 👍 good.
Gotta get the normalyte too.
Had 4 weeks ago my immunadsorption. Today right in this moment I start carnivore
Oh wow, how did the IA go and where did you do it?
So this is a keto diet more or less . I think cutting out carbs this quickly. Is dangerous
The adaptation phase is somewhat unpleasant. One could always reduce more slowly.
Carnivore is a subset of keto