Why the Newcastle Diet?

Okay, so a new blog. I've never written one of these before, but I guess the obvious things to do first are answer a few questions.

1. Why am I writing?
2. Who is my audience?
3. What do I hope to achieve?

I've decided to write a blog detailing my imminent experiences as I go through the Newcastle diet to try and rid myself of Type 2 Diabetes, or at least get my blood glucose under control. This is partly so that I have a record, partly in case it helps other people, and in some small way, a final few words in case the experiment should claim my life.

Why should it? Well, the diet itself is less than six-hundred calories a day, which is pretty daunting. Luckily for me, I also have bipolar disorder, and this diet is pretty much all that has sustained me in the past during hypomanic and manic episodes. That said, it's extreme, likely dangerous, and I've already been advised by one of my doctor's not to attempt it.

In going against the advice of my doctor, I should say that the reason I've decided on this course of action is because I have been told I cannot be given blood glucose testing strips. To the uninitiated, these are clever little things that you slip inside meters then use with a drop of your blood to test it for a dangerous level of glucose.

Because I have no opportunity to test my blood regularly, any normal diet I try for my diabetes will likely be very hit and miss, and it may take months and months to realise if the things I do aren't working to reduce my blood glucose as they should. As I am only 36 years old, I don't relish the thought of my body falling to bits in ten years time. Hence, drastic action that can be relied upon to have some effect.

I am not completely stupid, however, and have bought a pack of these test strips myself in order to check my blood glucose for going too low (diabetic coma). I'll bet you didn't know that a diabetic coma can also occur in high blood sugar (Type 2 Diabetes) hyperglycemia. I'll be testing regularly and posting my results on this blog along with my thoughts, moods and physical symptoms. I'll explain what the levels mean at that point.

That's the why out the way. The other two questions should be much easier to answer.

My audience is of course anyone who is thinking of trying this for themselves. Obviously, nothing on this blog constitutes medical advice of any kind whatsoever. It is just a diary of someone in desperate straits, trying to replicate a supervised clinical trial, against the wishes of doctors, in the hope of improving the situation. My words here may be taken as experience or a warning. They will never be instructions.

To conclude this first entry, I hope to achieve at best a remission of my Diabetes Type 2 that will enable me to live a somewhat ordinary life, without the spectre of blindness, kidney failure and loss of lower limbs down the line. I will be happy with a normal blood glucose result from clinic.

Tommorw, I will begin. I will post what I eat/drink, and when. I'll also go into more detail about me and my situation.

Thank you for reading.