Hi Rick,

Thank you for your kind words. I'm not sure how courageous I am, since I have no choice but to live with this disease. I suppose there's always the option of ending it all, but as dark as things got for me in the first several months and couple of years, and as much as I didn't want to be living my daily life with this disease, I never really had suicidal ideation. Among other things, like you I had and still have people for whom I'm responsible. I've done the best I can and ever since I've been on carnivore I've felt more positive, energetic, and happy. A great part of that is how much better I feel. Even if my nerve damages doesn't regenerate, these days I barely notice much of it. That's partly due to time, and getting used to living with all the weird symptoms, but it's mostly because my symptoms are significantly reduced with this way of eating and living. I just had to focus very hard to see if my feet have that vibrating sense and I barely noticed it. In my hands, I notice nothing as hard as I am trying right now. It's just an example.

It does sound like your diet was better than mine overall. I drank quite a bit of beer and some wine, and I'm sure that contributed to the onset of my neuropathy. I'm glad you're now on carnivore and doing better. I read your other comments after your response to me and I'm even happier that you decided to do the so called 'lion diet'. Ruminant meat is really the healthiest thing you can eat and after several months you can start reintroducing things slowly, perhaps one a month, to see how you do on them. That's at least what I plan to do in the new year. Until a few months ago I only ate meat, salt, and drank water. I've since reintroduced eggs which would make my neuropathy much worse and so I hadn't eaten them in many years. Now I do just fine on eggs, even when I eat a dozen in one day. However, at some point in the new year I plan to go back to ruminant meat only and do a very serious elimination diet, even so much so that I'll introduce ruminant meat one at a time, begging with beef and moving on to lamb, etc. As much as I love eggs, I need to do this to see what is most optimal for me.

I also think it's prudent to at least try the diet for 6 months before deciding anything. I know there are all sorts of influencers who advocate for a 30 day carnivore challenge and the like, but that's not enough. It took me 3 months to become properly fat adapted where I had the high energy levels that I now have. I felt better immediately don't get me wrong, and with each week I noticed more improvements, but it wasn't until 3 months in that I started feeling like superman. If wasn't until several months after that my sleep became well regulated. I was still sleeping alright, but not enough, though I still had plenty of energy during the day because on carnivore I have so much more energy and so little pain if any. The sleep problems were partly because I had histamine issues. Things significantly improved once I addressed that and also made sure I was eating enough fat. As some like to say, this diet isn't really the carnivore diet but the fativore diet. It's essential to be getting at least 70-80% of your calories from fat.

It does sound like you did your research, and I hope you're keeping that up. This is the way to go. Did your initial issues improve? You should be well on your way now. I'm not surprised that your symptoms got worse initially because it's a stress on your system to radically change your diet. Carb withdrawal is a serious thing and I've seen it crush family members who went keto. My own father looked and felt like he was dying the first few weeks because he's a huge carb addict or was. Either way, the change will create dramatic changes in your body and can cause some temporary inflammation among other things. It could also be oxalate dumping depending on how oxalate heavy your diet was. Most of us over-consume oxalates so it's no surprise. Oxalate dumping often present more like a rash, but anything is possible. I possible had it a few weeks in when I had a rash on the back of my leg, behind my knee. It lasted a few weeks and then subsided to never return.

Your supplements sound good too. These days I just eat some liver, either cod or beef, and call it day. But I still do occasionally take B12, D3+K2 given the winters here, and Benfotiamine. Next year I'll likely come off all supplements, but one at a time and see how my body responds. My B12 numbers are a 1000+ these days. Right now you should make sure you feed your body everything it needs and supplements can help with that. I would recommend keeping an eye on your iodine and omega 3. If you're eating grass fed and finished/100% grass fed ruminant meat, you'll get your omega 3s no problem, but grain finished is depleted of this essential fatty acid. I also eat a can or two of sardines a week, cod liver from time to time, and a piece of wild salmon now and then. But when I go full ruminant next year it'll all be 100% grass fed to ensure I'm getting the essential DHA. As for iodine, if the animals you consume graze near the ocean, you should be good, otherwise you will likely have to supplement. Iodized salt is rarely sufficient without eating wild seafood, etc.

I really hope the carnivore way of eating and living helps you. Do your research like you're doing and reach out to me if you think I can help. I'd be happy to do so. I'll keep an eye out for any comments or private messages. Good luck!