Cured a large ovarian cyst with keto and IF

Respected Dr. Berg, I’m Chukka, from India. I’m a 31-year-old female, and I weigh 56kg now and my height is 1.54metres. All my childhood I was suffering from Bronchitis.

When I was 11, I started my period. And right on my third cycle, I bled for 50 days straight. I didn’t know what a normal period was and didn’t tell anybody. In Indian households, there isn’t much education about periods. I also had a bulge in my neck right before starting my periods. But that was dismissed as a hereditary trait acquired from my grandmother. Finally, when I was pale from all the excessive bleeding, my mother took me to a gynaecologist, and there I was given oral contraceptive pills for the first time. But I happened to read the entire leaflet in the box and I was scared and didn’t take them. All this when I was still 11.

When I was 15, I started having brain fog and felt sleepy from 8 AM to 10 AM. Which meant, I wasn’t able to concentrate in my school. My grades were dropping and my father panicked. He took me to a general physician and a gynaecologist and they ran some tests for thyroid and pelvic scan and found out that I had Hypothyroidism, anemia, PCOD. At the same time, I started craving sweets which were very unusual because I hated sweets before and even now. I was then put on oral contraceptives and T4 25 mcg and this time, I took them despite reading the leaflet. I thought my periods were regularised.

6 months later, I was asked to discontinue and my periods became whacky again. This continued for all this while until a man by the name of V. Ramakrishna popularised the keto diet as a cure for diabetes and other hormonal disorders. I had an ovarian cyst of about 6 cm before starting the keto diet and was told that I needed to be operated upon to remove it. I carefully followed the diet and also simultaneously discovered Dr. Berg on Youtube. There was no turning back from then.

I was finally able to get rid of that cyst in 3 months time of keto and IF, and it healed my Staph infection, got my natural period which only lasted 4 days, acne cleared up, I lost 16 kg weight and had more energy, no more brain fog and no more postponing things, had better eyesight, and my body pains were nowhere, no water retention like before. I just cannot explain the hell I went through all those years I didn’t know about keto.

I was always a mild eater. Typically our diet consisted of rice, lentils, vegetables, fruits, fish and chicken, deer meat and lamb, seafood, refined oils. I never drank sodas or ate sweets or fried food. There was absolutely no junk food in our diets. No processed food too. But after switching to keto, I started eating more good quality protein, leafy greens, raw vegetables, apple cider vinegar, extra virgin coconut oil. Absolutely no junk. I also took some supplements during the healing process of ovarian cyst, which was Icelandic sea kelp by Dr Berg. One capsule each day for 90 days. I continue to take it now. I also take Thorne B vitamins, pycnogenol, cod liver oil, T4 T3 combination pill for my Hashimoto’s, vitamin B12, D3, Ashwagandha, Indian gooseberry powder, Triphala churna, Pushyanug churna, Evening primrose oil, Guggulu, Iron Bisglycinate, Betaine HCL with pepsin and probiotics.

My TPO antibodies were 2000 plus when I was first diagnosed with Hashimoto’s and now they are below 500. I still have a long way to go but I believe I’m getting there. I still have frequent urination at night although my blood sugars are on the lower side of normal. Fasting is 71 and postprandial is 108. HBA1C is 4.8. I do have a lot of stress at work though and take magnesium to cope. I also do breathing exercises and go for 1.5 hours of walks in the morning sun. I work with my functional medicine practitioner who doses me for T4 T3 combination pills and only T3 in the afternoons. My TSH is now 1.1 and I feel great. At my worst, it was 90.

In conclusion, the ketogenic diet helped me in my Hashimoto’s and PCOS journey. I also happened to read Isabella Wentz Hashimoto’s protocol and she also advocates keto or paleo for Hashimoto’s. But I’m keto for life. I have attached before keto and after keto ovarian scans and also keto before and after pictures of myself. Also, I have attached the report I wrote to my functional medicine practitioner.