I am desperate to lose *at least* 30lbs - my self- esteem is shot, owing to having no hair at the moment, and not being able to wear my contact lenses - eyes too dry/ watery alternately - so being like a beached whale doesn't help
(I'm larger than I've ever been in my life).

I tried the Atkins diet 18 months ago and lost over a stone (and I weighed a stone less then, too) in a month, but then lapsed. I am worried that the dietary ketosis might adversly affect my blood readings. Before you have chemo they test your blood, to make sure your red, white and platelet counts are acceptable. I don't want to do anything that will delay the chemotherapy treatment.

However, I'm sure if I ask the doc, he'll just say "no" to the diet because it's rather frowned on by the medical establishment here in the UK. And he doesn't understand how desparate I am to lose weight.

Is there anyone who has been in this position, or anyone with the knowledge to advise me on this?

-First of all, our prayers for you that your chemo does the job!

Second, there is quite a bunch of evidence that glucose promotes tumor growth, so long term a low carb diet should be good for you. However, this diet isn't a quick fix to lose a couple pounds. It's a long term commitment that means changing the way you eat forever. If you low carb and then go back to your regular eating patterns you will gain all the weight back plus more.

There is no data that I know of about chemo and low carbing and I have been reading Medscape and other medical sources for 3 years. Since chemo does intense things to your body, you would probably be smart NOT to start rearranging your biochemistry at this time. If you have been gaining weight during chemo, the chances are that it isn't what you are eating but is the effect of the toxic chemicals on your body. Plus, intense low carbing is known to work against tissue healing and chemo does damage your body in ways that require that it be able to heal afterwards. It is also possible that low carbing could slow down your thyroid and make it harder to grow hair. Some low carbers report losing hair and I personally have found mine starts to fall out if I low carb too strenuously.

The smartest thing you could do for now would be to eat a gentle, modified non-ketogenic diet of 100gms a day with lots of healthy veggies. Cut out junk food and trans-fats. Be sure you are getting lots of nutrients in your food. Concentrate on healing yourself. You can and will get the weight back off when you are done with treatment--people do.

-I would so not worry about weight loss right now. May a I do a little net psychoanalysis?

Cancer often makes patients feel they have no control. The one thing you feel you can control right now is your weight, even if you cannot control that which is occurring in and out of your body. Please think about this before attempting a weight loss diet.