As one who is on Zocor for cholesterol at a relatively young age, I decided weeks ago to become vegan after a lifetime of eating meat, milk, cheese, etc.

This was done strictly for health reasons, sans political jargon (as my avatar prolly signifies ).

I have had panic disorder for 14 years and also take meds for such. Since starting this new venture, I have noticed that my PD meds don't seem to work as efficiently as they used to.

I will have lipid profiles done this week to see if the cholesterol (which has been borderline for 2 years) is any better.

I know this is a broad question but how much of an effect does diet really have on meds? Has anyone else made such changes and have there been any major effects?

Thanks,

Hog

I started on a diet program 2 weeks ago, myself. I'm using two things: NATURHOUSE (This is the only link I could find...) and the new 'Alli' pills (http://www.myalli.com/).

I'm a male, fairly young, and I am not grossly overweight, but I could do to lose about 15 pounds.

The Naturhouse program is based on the 'Mediterranean Diet' their service consists of weekly personal consultations and check-ups for only the cost of the dietary supplements ($35-40 a week so far). They have outlined a basic daily diet for me and I just take some herbal syrup diluted in water twice a day before meals.

Alli is an OTC diet pill which is taken 3 times a day with meals. It works by preventing a portion of the fat you eat from being digested.

So far, I've lost 5 pounds in two weeks - without even incorporating an exercise program.

I take Propecia, Inderal, Zoloft, and Klonopin's daily. So far I've noticed that...

On the plus side:
- I'm calmer and more easy going
- I have a sense of well-being (nothing wrong with being healthy :))

The downside:
- I can't drink beer (even though I'm not supposed to with my medications, it's nice to have one or two once in a while).
- I feel more tired than I used to and sleep longer (apparently this can be very common when losing weight as your body is losing stored energy).
- Feeling hungry sometimes and having to restrain myself. Naturhouse recommends drinking lots of water (2 liters a day is recommended for anybody, but few follow it) as it helps you to feel full.

As for my medications:
The first few days I felt my Zoloft more intensely (similar to the feeling I would get when drinking grapefruit juice on an empty stomach).

That's about it. Overall, I'd say that diet does not effect meds very much. I'd say the things that do would be when you take the med (time of day and/or with food or not), how much your TOTAL weight is (some meds are affected by your total body mass).

Are you having any negative side effects from the Alli? I've heard some horror stories of the leakage type...

I have about 35 pounds I would love to drop. I've started doing some light exercise, I eat healthy already and drink about a gallon of water a day but I usually just go up and down about 5 pounds.

Yes and no. I have experienced the so-called 'leakage' but frankly it was my own fault. The pills specifically state "Do not eat more than 15g of fat in one meal while taking Alli". Taking too much fat is difficult for the pill to handle and as a result you get the leakage. I've experienced it twice, and again, both times were because I felt I could splurge and go have a Big Mac and Fries, lol - which is literally 35g+ of fat. Sticking to a healthy diet, I didn't experience any problems (I eat a lot of "Healthy Choice" frozen dinners - which offers a nice range of meals too).

Interesting, my daughter has the same symptoms as you and she went vegan last month. She is doing much better with anxiety issues and panic issues. It could be the diet or possibly the discipline of the diet helps in other reaches of her mind.
Good subject! Art

Sincerest congratulations on your achievement of 26 posts. You really were quite clever to figure out a way around the posting system, huh?
Atta boy.


Admin comments: he is a deleted member now... not clever... posting 26 silly posts will not get any poster PM priviledges... but you should not reply to people that break the Rules... best is not to reply and to Notify the Moderator.

You are what you eat.
What you eat is very important but people do not seem to agree on what is a good diet

I think you can find a very good diet in the Diamond "Fit for Life" book series. I do not follow the diet but the recipes taste great and they are vegetarian and the author claims they fight cholecterol...
Can not imagine how a diet like that, or just picking some of the recipes, can be bad for anyone or not good to keep cholesterol down...
Worth trying!

I have given up red meat and eat chicken and mostly vegetables. I am allergic to fish.

I saw my cholesterol drop way down just fron eating a bowl of oatmeal every morning. I do not buy instant oatmeal. I get the big round box you cook on the stove. It made a huge difference. I had not stopped eating red meat but my number still went down. Right now my blood work is fine.

I also drink green tea and juices with anti oxidants.

Fast food is not good for us.

really. Thats good news.....are you saying that instant is not that good? How long on this diet? Before it want down?