Help my mom is diabetic and becoming vegan without Doctors h

[blzambrana]

Dr. McDougall I cannot thank you enough for all the information I have read that has helped me personally.
I hope I am posting this on the correct forum. My mother who is 70 years old has been diabetic for 10 years decided to give this way of eating a try two weeks ago. She refused to go to her doctor to be monitored because she said her doctor would not be supportive and would yell at her. So I have been on my knees asking God to be with her through this and reading everything I could from you to be a support for her.

She is lowing her diabetic medicine about every three days by 2 units 3 times a day. The third night is always very miserable for her as she drops to 100-120. She then is very scared and will eat a little bit of candy and then drop her medication the following morning another 2 units/3 times a day. I am wondering if this is the normal process of getting off of the medication or if you have better suggestions for her. She has dropped about 1/3 of her medication in two weeks and has lost 12 pounds. She feels a lot better until the low blood sugar drop the third night.

She is starting to feel dizzy and I believe her blood pressure is too low. She hasn't stopped those medications. I read somewhere on your website you take people off completely the first day unless it is a beta blocker medication. She is on Amlodipine 20 mg, and Lisenopril HCT2 20-25 mg. Are these medications ok to just stop taking? She lives close to a pharmacy and says she will go twice a day and start getting a blood pressure reading.

I encouraged her to go to your live in clinic and she doesn't have the money to go. My mom is so sick of being sick and has not cheated once on the diet. I have never seen her be so faithful. I can say it is due to feeling so much better.

Any advice you can give me would be so helpful. She has called her doctor now and has shared with the nurse her results and is waiting to hear back from the doctor. But in the meantime she wants to get off of her blood pressure meds.

Thank you so much! You have saved my mother's life,
Sincerely grateful and concerned daughter Brenda

[colonyofcells]

Should be safer to work with doctor on reducing medications. Should be ok to also monitor blood pressure and blood sugar at home to help determine if more medications can be reduced. Most doctors promote lifestyle changes and can always look for doctors who encourage lifestyle changes.

[Melinda]

You could email Dr. McDougall and ask if he knows of a doctor he would recommend near where you live. Best of luck.

[blzambrana]

Thank you for that idea. I just sent an email to Dr. McDougall.

[healthyvegan]

I would tell your mother to lean into this way of life & really get comfortable making the meals, watching videos and reading books about it & get very very very well educated so its not stressful. If you can be there with her the entire time she is making the change that would be best. No one can give you medical advice over the internet. There will be a DR. in your area that will be supportive of the change, just keep calling until you find one.

[bbq]

Hi Brenda,

Welcome! I saw your tweets about those wonderful documentaries and assumed that NYC could be your location.

First of all, please kindly take a look at these articles and maybe you could go through the ideas with your mom as well:

http://www.dresselstyn.com/plant_based_doctor.htm
http://www.jeffnovick.com/RD/Articles/Entries/2012/8/6_How_To_Find_A_Plant-Based_Doctor.html

For a list of plant-based doctors, hopefully you'll find someone who could help your mom with her diabetes:

http://hpjmh.com/md-help/
http://www.vegdocs.com/find.html
http://michaelbluejay.com/veg/doctors.html
http://www.bigtentvegan.com/doctors-dieticians-and-nutritionists/

Carrie Bowler, DO from One Medical Group in located in NYC:

http://www.onemedical.com/nyc/locations/30broad/
http://thevegantruth.blogspot.com/2012/12/plant-powered-professionals-vegan.html

And then there's Dr. Robert Ostfeld in Bronx, NY who might also know someone in your area:

http://www.montefiore.org/cardiacwellnessprogram
https://www.forksoverknives.com/contributors/robert-ostfeld/

That's all I could come up with at the moment, please feel free to let us know if there were other questions.

[baardmk]

Some medicines are life-savers. But many others do more harm than good. I believe many blood-pressure medicines can be of that sort. Thusly, these may sometimes be safer to just discontinue either abruptly or gradually(research). I can give you advice because I'm just a random person from the internet and not medically trained. Do your research. I believe and hope she will do good with time and adherence.

I would of course not advice against finding a responsible/supportive doctor. There should be some of them who are not peddling pills for everything.