From Wheelchair Predictions to Walking Again: A Nurse’s Carnivore Journey
Renee, a nurse with 22 years of experience in allopathic medicine, found herself at a breaking point in January 2024. Diagnosed with chronic inflammatory demyelinating polyneuropathy (CIDP) in 2020, she was walking with a cane, experiencing uncontrollable nerve pain, and had been told by her neurologist that she would likely need a wheelchair by age 50. Her medical journey had been costly and frustrating – with treatments including high-dose IVIG infusions costing approximately $200,000 annually for five years, along with multiple medications that barely touched her pain.
A Desperate Decision That Changed Everything
“I was over it,” Renee recalls. After another bout with COVID in February, she reached her limit. With a history of depression and previous suicide attempts, she told her husband she couldn’t continue living with such debilitating pain. Her husband suggested she look into the carnivore diet. After spending a day watching videos about the diet, Renee decided to give it a try.
On March 20, 2023, she embarked on a lion diet – consuming only beef, water, and salt for 60 days. The results were remarkable. Within weeks, her previously uncontrollable pain became manageable for the first time in five years. “Even if I don’t gain my walking back completely, I would do this forever just to have the pain gone,” she told her husband.
Medical Professionals vs. Personal Experience
As a healthcare professional, Renee initially struggled with the concept. “The nurse in me fought this because I was taught that’s not a healthy diet,” she admits. When she informed her neurologist about trying carnivore, he told her she “knew better” and refused to support her decision.
Despite this opposition, Renee persisted. By September, she no longer needed her cane. By December, her EMG (electromyogram) tests returned normal results, and her antibody levels dropped to zero. Her neurologist declared her in remission, calling it a “miracle” despite her explanation that diet had been the key factor.
Beyond Neuropathy: Resolving Multiple Health Issues
Remarkably, the carnivore diet resolved more than just Renee’s neuropathy. She had also suffered from idiopathic gastroparesis since 2010, a condition where the stomach stops moving properly. Previous dietary approaches, including Mediterranean, paleo, and vegan diets, had failed to help her digestive issues.
“Not one single eating way that we did helped my gastroparesis,” Renee explains. Since adopting carnivore, she experiences “zero symptoms of gastroparesis now. I have no bloating, no nausea, I haven’t vomited… nothing.”
Additionally, Renee’s lifelong mental health struggles improved dramatically. Her depression vanished, her severe flying phobia disappeared without medication, and the obsessive-compulsive tendencies she’d experienced since her teenage years resolved completely.
A Family Transformation
Renee’s husband has experienced his own health transformation. After years of following his wife through various diets, including veganism, he had developed type 2 diabetes, gained significant weight, and struggled with energy and mood issues. Since joining Renee on the carnivore diet, he has lost 40 pounds, eliminated his need for metformin, normalized his blood sugar levels, and regained his energy.
From Disease Management to True Healing
Having retired from hospital work, Renee has no plans to return to allopathic medicine. “We never were healing them,” she reflects on her years of treating patients with chronic conditions. “I truly believe a hospital should be for trauma and acute illness, and that’s it. We shouldn’t be having to treat chronic illness in hospitals.”
Instead, she has completed training in functional medicine and is working toward becoming a board-certified nurse coach. “I intend on spending the rest of my nursing career helping others find healing instead of controlling symptoms,” she says.
For Renee, the carnivore diet represents more than just symptom management – it’s been the key to reclaiming her life from what appeared to be a progressive, incurable condition. Her neurologist may call it a miracle, but Renee knows it was simply the right nutritional approach for her body.
