Sick again

mlinton_mesapark

Hi folks, I'm on my last day of vacation before the big drive home, and I woke up with a severe headache, diarrhea and vomiting this morning. I just got over something similar a week or two ago, so I'm equal parts concerned and frustrated. In between the stomach issues, I've had a sore throat and cough. Basically I haven't been 100% well since I started Keto. I'm wondering whether I can continue to hang in there, or need to add back a few more carbs.


I haven't had bouillon or broth to drink, but I have been liberally salting my food and eating foods that are salty to begin with.

Your thoughts? Is it going to kill my progress to try to eat a bowl of plain oatmeal?

Thanks, as always, for your encouragement!

Mary

wabmester

Headaches can sometimes be due to a Mg deficiency, and people do seem to lose Mg on low carb.

But I can't imagine the diarrhea and vomiting are related to electrolytes (although they will cause you to lose more). Either something you ate or another bug.

I doubt carbs will help, but if oatmeal will make you feel better, don't worry about progress. Your body is still perfectly capable of metabolizing carbs, and you'll be able to re-enter ketosis after a couple days if you want to.

mlinton_mesapark

Thank you @wabmester! I'll try almonds and lettuce, the only high-Mg foods I have around here, as far as I know.

sweetteadrinker2

I know really high salt intake can cause vomiting in some people. Don't know about the diarrhea though.

wabmester

Probably obvious, but make sure you pay attention to hydration today.

CoconuttyMummy

Oh Mlinton, im so sorry to hear you're feeling dreadful again. Sending healing *hugs* your way.

When ive been sick since going keto, if i feel drained and lacking energy, ive upped my calories but kept my carbs low still (30g maximum). Maybe you could try that? Im not sure if eating something very carb heavy will make you feel any better - if anything it could confuse your body and make you feel worse in the longrun - but if you really feel thats what you need to do you can always try it and see.

Id try to get yourself some potassium and magnesium pills - supplementing is the only way i can be sure of a consistent high enough dose, and i do feel it makes a big difference. x

pedidiva

sounds infectious to me. Were you bitten by a mosquito? West Nile, you know.

mlinton_mesapark

Thanks for all your support, everyone!

Just wanted to send an update to let you know I got better, relatively quickly. The GI symptoms went away that morning. The headache lasted two days.

I'm actually feeling pretty good now. Almost home. Can't wait to get back to my normal routine and start exercising again.

CoconuttyMummy

Thats great to hear Mlinton - im so pleased you're feeling good again; long may it last!

Now if only some of your relief would rub off on me - if youve got any to spare please send some my way!

*Hugs*

SkinnyKerinny

It's funny how we think, Mlinton. If you weren't on a LC diet, you probably wouldn't be wondering if you should cut out carbs when you weren't feeling well right!

That being said, I'm on Day 4 and I'm downing minerals and drinking coconut water to get the electrolytes up since I have similar issues going on. I will be making a broth later today (after I have some meatballs with tomato sauce- been waiting all day for those LOL).

I'm so glad you are doing well now. This is such a big change we're going through. I went from a regular diet (not SAD but with healthy carbs) to very low carbs. Now I'm increasing the carbs a little along with drinking a lot more water and upping the salt intake.

What did you end up doing to feel better?

mlinton_mesapark

I forced myself to eat my usual breakfast of bacon and eggs. Couldn't eat much of the eggs at all. Got a piece of bacon down. I tried to stay hydrated and eat salty stuff (lunch meat, cheese, pickles). I did cave a bit and have small portions of fruit. I'm sure my carbs went up a little. I've gone over on calories by 100-150 calories per day, trying in part to give myself enough energy to avoid that awful weak feeling. It's working, I think. I'll find out tomorrow morning if I was able to maintain weight. If I gained, I don't think it was much. I was more sedentary than usual, being stuck in a car quite a bit.

I think allergies may have factored into the lingering headache, but it's been gone for a few days now. I'm home (at last!) and feeling much better. I've done a lot of tidying up since I got home, and I'm sleepy but not exhausted. The lightheaded feeling hasn't returned.

I am going to try to get back under my calorie allowance this week and gradually add back in exercise.