Working with Your Clinician Checklist
This checklist details the non-negotiable clinical support required for your journey. It is absolutely mandatory to work closely with a qualified medical professional because The Circle’s Quiet Diet Meal Plan is a powerful metabolic intervention. This is especially true if you are managing chronic diseases or taking prescriptions.
Serious symptoms, such as hallucinations, delusions, suicidal thinking, or severe eating disorders, are not do-it-yourself projects. This integrated approach is vital because, under the theory of brain energy, mental disorders are metabolic disorders of the brain, linking disciplines like psychiatry, neurology, cardiology, and endocrinology.
The Core Safety Imperative: Medication Management
The central safety imperative is the proper management of prescription medications, as health improvements can happen very, very quickly. Your clinician must monitor your journey to safely adjust or reduce dosages for medications like insulin, blood pressure drugs, statins, and other prescriptions.
A Critical Warning for Psychiatric Medications: If you are taking psychiatric medication, it is critical that you never stop abruptly. These drugs must be tapered down slowly and carefully under professional guidance. Stopping suddenly can cause severe withdrawal symptoms, including dizziness, electric shock sensations, agitated depression, or seizures.
The Clinician’s Role: Data-Driven Baselines
A critical part of your clinician’s role is to use a data-driven approach by ordering essential metabolic tests and establishing your baseline metrics. These tests should include key indicators of insulin sensitivity and inflammation:
- Fasting Insulin: A highly valuable test. While conventional labs may list up to 25 µU/mL as “normal,” levels in the high teens or twenties compromise metabolic health. Your goal is below 6 µU/mL.
- Glucose Ketone Index (GKI): To track your therapeutic state.
- Full Thyroid Panel: This includes TSH, Free T3, Free T4, and Reverse T3.
- Nutrient Status: Deficiencies in nutrients like B12 and iron are common culprits in mental health problems and should be monitored.
Your Role: Building a Collaborative Partnership
Your role begins by initiating a collaborative partnership with your current healthcare provider. It is recommended to approach them with specific questions, such as:
“Would you be willing to partner with me to monitor my lab work and help me safely adjust my medications as my health improves?”
If your clinician is uncomfortable with low-carb or ketogenic diets, ask if they are open to learning more, noting that resources are available for health professionals. If a clinician is unwilling to engage or adapt, they may become obsolete, and you should seek a new medical partner for your benefit.
Resources for Finding Support
If you cannot find a supportive local clinician, you can seek remote or specialized support.
- Clinician Directories: Resources like the Ketogenic Diets for Mental Health Clinician Directory (from Dr. Ede) or the DietDoctor.com list can connect you with knowledgeable professionals.
- Coaching Services: You can also consider one-to-one coaching services for integrated guidance. However, coaches are not substitutes for medical doctors in medication management.
Your Journey: The Captain and The Navigator
This checklist is like a ship’s manifest, listing the professionals and supplies (medications, tests) needed for a long and potentially stormy voyage.
As the Captain, you must maintain control of the course. But your Navigator (your clinician) is essential for safely charting the rapids and ensuring the ship doesn’t sink due to the rapid, unexpected changes in your health.