Keto flu - do I have it?

fit_elliex

Hi all

I'm asking because today is day 5 and I feel bad.
The first 2 days I was under 40g of carbs and last 2 under 20g. Last night I felt physically sick in the toilet. I just felt really yukky thinking about all the fat I was eating. I cannot stomach any more coffee with double cream and I was seriously craving fruit.
Today I woke up really really tired. I couldn't sleep last night much - I don't know why.
My breakfast was 3 egg and cheese omelette. Lunch was LC salad with olive oil and smoked salmon. So all day meals came to 8 carbs.
After picking up my children from school and cooking dinner for family I went to bed. I slept from 5pm until 9.30pm (I'm in UK so there's time difference).
I must admit that I gave in tonight and ate choc bar and a biscuit.

Is it Keto flu in your opinion? Will it pass?
I don't want to give up but I hate feeling like this especially feeling sick from eating fat! Or maybe it's all in my head?

Thank you all and have a great weekend! X

ms_smartypants

You need to up your sodium that will eliminate the keto flu...salt your food , drink bullion...put 1 tsp in water ....drink pickle juice if you can stomach it .....eat olives ....try to get between 3000 to 5000 mg per day ..wishing you the best

fit_elliex

It's funny that... I was craving salt today! I will definitely take your advice tomorrow, thank you x

ms_smartypants

You're more than welcome

Sunny_Bunny_

Keto flu isn't caused by Keto. Or even low carb, really. It's caused by dehydration and electrolyte loss from losing a lot of water which takes your sodium with it. Once sodium gets low, your body will try to maintain a minimum amount and instead start dumping magnesium and then potassium. By the time you even feel any symptoms at all, you're no doubt already low on all 3.
You need to do more than just salt your food, especially now that it's too late for just trying to maintain. You have to fix the deficiencies that were caused by not getting enough sodium the first 5 days. You need to get around 5000mg of sodium the next couple days. You will need to drink some broth or eat a bunch of pickles or both, plus salt all your foods to get that much. You should also get a magnesium supplement. Magnesium glycinate or citrate or any form of magnesium that ends in "ate" is best. You will need around 600mg just to stay level, but more could be beneficial. Also, look for potassium in the form of a salt substitute that you can also add to foods for a little supplementation. Some brands that I know of are NuSalt, Lo Salt or Lite Salt.
Going forward you should get between 3000-5000mg of sodium a day. "Keto flu", I hate that term because it blames Keto, which is just silly, can happen anytime because it's not related to being Keto. It's because of low electrolytes. It just happens that when you're Keto, you don't hold excess water and you're getting rid of all that water retention from high carb eating in the beginning causing the imbalance.