The Starvation Chronicles: That's A Wrap!

Yippee, I’ve reached the end of the road of my Fasting Mimicking Diet (FMD). I’ve successfully made it through five days of dramatically reduced caloric intake, and I’m no worse for the wear. In fact, I feel pretty darn good! Of course, it’s still way too early to judge whether the FMD will be successful in positively bending the arc of my Creeping Paralysis. I can at least report that I’ve lost 5 pounds since I started the diet last Friday.

I’d say the FMD regimen was much easier to get through than I anticipated. Day one, during which I consumed 1100 calories, was no problem at all. My caloric intake was reduced to 800 calories on day two, a level that was maintained throughout the duration of the diet. I faced the most difficulty on day three, but even that wasn’t all that terrible, just some pangs of hunger. At no point did I experienced excessive weakness or dizziness, but then again, it’s not as if I’m a whirling dervish of physical activity. I’m sure the diet would be harder on somebody who was more mobile and engaged in a physically active life.

That said, kudos to the company that markets the diet, Prolon. Although the prepackaged foods aren’t cheap (I paid $220 for my five-day kit), and I’m sure the company makes a nifty profit on the deal, the supplied meals did a good job of keeping me from being famished despite the severely reduced daily calorie load. The soups, nutritional bars, crackers, and olives provided in the kit have certainly done a good job of keeping me well-nourished even as they slashed my caloric intake dramatically.

I’m scheduled to have a phone consult with my naturopath tomorrow, and I expect that I will repeat this exercise in dining austerity again next month, and probably the month after that. As I’ve mentioned before in these Chronicles, my naturopath – who works in my MS clinic and specializes in treating MS with natural remedies – has reported very good results in one of the first few patients who tried this diet. Of course, MS is a tricky beast and it’s nearly impossible to pin down just why any individual patient experiences upswings are downswings in their disease state, but sound scientific research does suggest that a starvation diet can trigger beneficial changes in body chemistry and kickstart cell regeneration.

At the very least, committing to the diet and seeing it through has provided me with a perceived mechanism to strike back at the disease, and that alone has given me an emotional lift. I find my mood darkens when I’m stuck in the doldrums between treatment options, and especially when it seems that those options may be running out. By hook or by crook, and with the help of a neurologist who is open-minded and not afraid to experiment, I’ve managed to occupy most of the 14 years I’ve spent dealing with this crap with active efforts to fight back. Unfortunately, none of these attempts to thwart the disease have proven to be of any lasting value, but maybe, just maybe, one of these days my efforts will strike paydirt.

A huge thanks to all the good folks who’ve left comments and sent notes of encouragement and advice these past five days. Despite my propensity for verbosity, I really don’t have the words to express my appreciation to each and every one of the readers who have been my virtual copilots during this flight of fancy starvation.

Finally, since I’m supposed to ease back into a regular diet starting tomorrow by sticking with fruits, vegetables, breads, and pasta, I’m thinking that a simple omelette, some fruit salad, and a bialy with a touch of cream cheese will make for a nice digestible lunch. Later, perhaps some linguine with white clam sauce for dinner. Yum!

Okay, signing off – 5 pounds lighter, with an empty stomach and a heart full of hope…