Headaches
BogQueen1
Posts: 320 Member
Has anyone had any experiences with raging headaches while on low carb? Monday the 6th, I woke up with a sharp headache that just didn't go away. It ended up mostly lurking above my left eye and was especially bad between 2 and 3 in the afternoon. Aleve, Advil, Tylenol, NOTHING touched it. Finally I went to the doctor last week. He thought it was a migraine that wasn't giving up, gave me Imitrex and Topamax (which I'm not supposed to take on low carb). Still the thing clung on. Finally yesterday, after working 12 hours at the office and not getting home till almost 9pm, I just gave up and had some BBQ chicken pizza.
Today? No headache.
I'm not sure if there's correlation. Causation. What. Also, the first couple months of low carb, just about every Sunday I was eating a couple big handfuls of dried cranberries, which would easily be 50-60 carbs. Since the bag ran out, I just haven't been eating anything like that.
I do know I've been doing 'lazy low carb' to an extent and consuming too many Atkin's products (sugar alcohols). I was also eating a lot of processed meats (lunch meat, Arby's roast beef, no bun, Jimmy John's Unwich, so probably getting too many nitrites/nitrates, another headache trigger.
Has anyone had a headache that won't go away from staying too low carb? I've been taking magnesium supplements and using lost of salt and potassium salt on my food, so I don't know that it's electrolyte problems.
I'm currently still fasting, I haven't eaten since dinner last night at 9:30, so I'm at 15 hours post food, well except for this coffee I'm drinking. I'm trying to decide how to proceed with this before I just go eat a sandwich. I think for certain I want to up my carb intake. I don't want to abandon low carb because I've got PCOS, and I've got to have fertility treatments to have a baby, but I need to lose 50 more pounds (30 down) before my BMI is where they will work with me.
I think I'm going to start targeting 10-15 grams of net carbs per meal, focusing on vegetable carbs. Also, focus on eating real actual food, not the Atkins shakes and lunch meat. I may add back in some small portions of higher carb foods too, like beans (and hummus, yummmmm) and sweet potatoes, some berries and melon. All I know is I can't function with a month long headache, my brain was starting to feel like a lump of clay sitting in my skull.
Any other advice, or have a similar situation? How did you manage it?
Today? No headache.
I'm not sure if there's correlation. Causation. What. Also, the first couple months of low carb, just about every Sunday I was eating a couple big handfuls of dried cranberries, which would easily be 50-60 carbs. Since the bag ran out, I just haven't been eating anything like that.
I do know I've been doing 'lazy low carb' to an extent and consuming too many Atkin's products (sugar alcohols). I was also eating a lot of processed meats (lunch meat, Arby's roast beef, no bun, Jimmy John's Unwich, so probably getting too many nitrites/nitrates, another headache trigger.
Has anyone had a headache that won't go away from staying too low carb? I've been taking magnesium supplements and using lost of salt and potassium salt on my food, so I don't know that it's electrolyte problems.
I'm currently still fasting, I haven't eaten since dinner last night at 9:30, so I'm at 15 hours post food, well except for this coffee I'm drinking. I'm trying to decide how to proceed with this before I just go eat a sandwich. I think for certain I want to up my carb intake. I don't want to abandon low carb because I've got PCOS, and I've got to have fertility treatments to have a baby, but I need to lose 50 more pounds (30 down) before my BMI is where they will work with me.
I think I'm going to start targeting 10-15 grams of net carbs per meal, focusing on vegetable carbs. Also, focus on eating real actual food, not the Atkins shakes and lunch meat. I may add back in some small portions of higher carb foods too, like beans (and hummus, yummmmm) and sweet potatoes, some berries and melon. All I know is I can't function with a month long headache, my brain was starting to feel like a lump of clay sitting in my skull.
Any other advice, or have a similar situation? How did you manage it?
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Replies
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It's usually been due to low sodium for me. Salting your food may not be enough. How was your BP when you went to the doc? If lower than usual, that would point to sodium.
Above the eye could also be a sinus headache. Carb levels seem to change the mix of bacteria and fungi. Did your doc check for sinus inflammation?3 -
What wab said. Also, ditch the sugar alcohols, that's probably your next biggest problem. If you're always eating them, then you're always triggering your headache.
I concur that the most likely culprit is lack of sodium (and possibly lack of water in general), especially since two different NSAIDs (Aleve and Advil) didn't touch it, nor did the analgesic (Tylenol), which points to a different cause for the pain.
Try drinking salty broth. That will get you a good sodium hit, as well as some extra fluids. Don't forget to drink water throughout the day, too. Also consider actually supplementing sodium (despite popular belief, sodium deficiency is actually a thing).2 -
Why can't you take Imitrex or Topamax on low carb? I'm on Topamax and just changed from Imitrex to Relpax.0
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I haven't heard that about Imitrex (which I do take), or Topomax. Was, also, wondering about the reasons for believing this.0
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Agree with @Dragonwolf and @wabmester sounds like headache is constant so like you are doing, I would be adding more Magnessium, potassium and sodium salts with bone broth and a multi mineral capsule. Hydration is a key, especially if exercising. My husband and I get headaches from sweeteners so I would ditch those too.
If your headache response varies with food types eaten then I would look into oral allergies, histammines, and gut bacteria imbalance as candidates, but sort electrolytes and hydration first. On sorting gut imbalance @DittoDan is one of our gurus.0 -
PS.. tension from tight shoulders /neck or grinding teeth is another cause I would loook at. Can cause major headaches, in my experience.1
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Ketogenic diets are actually listed only as a relative contraindication to Topamax, because of an increased risk for kidney stones. Drinking plenty of water and avoiding dehydration are usually all that is needed. If you have a history of kidney stones already, your urologist might prescribe potassium citrate for you or might suggest that you give one or the other (Topamax or ketogenic diet) up. Check with your neurologist on this.3
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KetoneKaren wrote: »Ketogenic diets are actually listed only as a relative contraindication to Topamax, because of an increased risk for kidney stones. Drinking plenty of water and avoiding dehydration are usually all that is needed. If you have a history of kidney stones already, your urologist might prescribe potassium citrate for you or might suggest that you give one or the other (Topamax or ketogenic diet) up. Check with your neurologist on this.
Thank you for the info seeing a neurologist in a few weeks so I'll be sure to check.2 -
Aschindler412 wrote: »Has anyone had any experiences with raging headaches while on low carb? Monday the 6th, I woke up with a sharp headache that just didn't go away. It ended up mostly lurking above my left eye and was especially bad between 2 and 3 in the afternoon. Aleve, Advil, Tylenol, NOTHING touched it. Finally I went to the doctor last week. He thought it was a migraine that wasn't giving up, gave me Imitrex and Topamax (which I'm not supposed to take on low carb). Still the thing clung on. Finally yesterday, after working 12 hours at the office and not getting home till almost 9pm, I just gave up and had some BBQ chicken pizza.
Today? No headache.
I'm not sure if there's correlation. Causation. What. Also, the first couple months of low carb, just about every Sunday I was eating a couple big handfuls of dried cranberries, which would easily be 50-60 carbs. Since the bag ran out, I just haven't been eating anything like that.
I do know I've been doing 'lazy low carb' to an extent and consuming too many Atkin's products (sugar alcohols). I was also eating a lot of processed meats (lunch meat, Arby's roast beef, no bun, Jimmy John's Unwich, so probably getting too many nitrites/nitrates, another headache trigger.
Has anyone had a headache that won't go away from staying too low carb? I've been taking magnesium supplements and using lost of salt and potassium salt on my food, so I don't know that it's electrolyte problems.
I'm currently still fasting, I haven't eaten since dinner last night at 9:30, so I'm at 15 hours post food, well except for this coffee I'm drinking. I'm trying to decide how to proceed with this before I just go eat a sandwich. I think for certain I want to up my carb intake. I don't want to abandon low carb because I've got PCOS, and I've got to have fertility treatments to have a baby, but I need to lose 50 more pounds (30 down) before my BMI is where they will work with me.
I think I'm going to start targeting 10-15 grams of net carbs per meal, focusing on vegetable carbs. Also, focus on eating real actual food, not the Atkins shakes and lunch meat. I may add back in some small portions of higher carb foods too, like beans (and hummus, yummmmm) and sweet potatoes, some berries and melon. All I know is I can't function with a month long headache, my brain was starting to feel like a lump of clay sitting in my skull.
Any other advice, or have a similar situation? How did you manage it?
How much carbs are you eating atm? net or total. Are you sedentary or physically active ?
In the transition to keto-adaptation in fall 2014, I had crushing headaches for a couple of weeks. Whenever I flirt with my individual carb threshold...headaches out of the blue is a sign for me that I'm overstepping my limit.
If you have your electrolytes in order, I'd try either lower or elevate your carbs a bit. Experiment to find your sweet spot
Also...IME, carbs are NOT created equal. Filling my carb quota with sugary stuff is more prone to give me a headache. I don't get headachy from vegs. Some in this group also report sweeteners as a possible culprit. Hope you can sort it out. 1 -
I'm honestly not even sure it is the carbs, the lack of carbs, or the sugar alcohols. Any of it. This happened again a couple summers ago, only coupled with random falling and my arms and legs going numb. No low carb involved at all there. It might just be my really sucky pathetic lot in life that I get really severe headaches in summer. Especially since I spent two whole months on low carb. The day after the pizza, even though I woke up with no headache it was back before noon. So no solution there. Maybe I just need glasses lol.
All I know is I stepped on the scale and after pizza one night, and about a quarter cup of beans in my Qdoba salad, followed by some breaded chicken for dinner, the scale had shot up 7 pounds. So not down for that. Back to the drawing board. I just need to figure it out.0 -
@Aschindler412 What? Headaches accompanied by random falling and numbess in the arms & legs? What came of your workup 2 years ago? That is definitely not "keto flu" or anything related to it.1
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No, two years ago it was diagnosed as migraines. I haven't had the falling or anything this year, but I've had a lot of that uncomfortable feeling in my hands and tingling toes. Doctor I went to said it was probably migraine flare which is why we went with the Imitrex and Topamax, but part of me was worried that it was stemming from eating low carb crappily. Not to mention the fact even on the drugs he prescribed it's still lingering.
In my mind it sort of goes 'I had no headaches, and I was eating dried fruit a couple times a week (higher carb intake), now I am not eating that dried fruit, my carb intake is super low, and the carbs I am eating are from sugar alcohols/fiber almost exclusively, and I've got this headache that won't quit, so is this migraine resurgence triggered by poor diet habits'?0 -
Aschindler412 wrote: »The day after the pizza, even though I woke up with no headache [...]
All I know is I stepped on the scale and after pizza one night, and about a quarter cup of beans in my Qdoba salad, followed by some breaded chicken for dinner, the scale had shot up 7 pounds.
Anytime your weight moves by an amount that large in such a short time, it's guaranteed to be due to water weight.
Your blood volume was low. You can fix it by eating a ton of carbs, as you discovered. Or by increasing your sodium intake. Your call. 2 -
Some people's migraines are triggered by sugar alcohols and other artificial sweeteners, as I am sure you already are aware of. Maybe that's it.0
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Agree with the others. Eating carbs or increasing sodium will fix your electrolytes. In the long run I would go with extra Na, K, and Mg though since I also had headaches from varying blood sugars.2
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Aschindler412 wrote: »The day after the pizza, even though I woke up with no headache [...]
All I know is I stepped on the scale and after pizza one night, and about a quarter cup of beans in my Qdoba salad, followed by some breaded chicken for dinner, the scale had shot up 7 pounds.
Anytime your weight moves by an amount that large in such a short time, it's guaranteed to be due to water weight.
Your blood volume was low. You can fix it by eating a ton of carbs, as you discovered. Or by increasing your sodium intake. Your call.Agree with the others. Eating carbs or increasing sodium will fix your electrolytes. In the long run I would go with extra Na, K, and Mg though since I also had headaches from varying blood sugars.
Yes and yes!
Since I don't consider carbs food, I stick with sodium. Just a matter of correcting low blood volume (when it's in fact what the cause is)1 -
Just had to let you know that I got raging headaches when I first quit aspartame. Then as a reward for losing 7 pounds, I had 3 glasses in one day. The next morning I was in so much pain I couldn't believe I use to drink 3 glasses of diet coke a day. Not only did my head hurt worse than a hangover but my joints ached and my muscles were sore. I thought I was getting the flu but since it slowly faded and I never did aspartame again, It was pretty clearly due to the diet soda.
So if you are taking any artificial sweetener that you have not used before or stopped and started one, you may want to experiment with taking it out of your diet for good.3 -
I would think the scale increase is from the inflammation from whatever is causing the headaches. The body will retain water when this happens, which is how you can "gain" seven pounds so quickly.
I have had headaches, and migraines since I was a teen (I'm 48 now). I get Botox for migraine prevention every 3 months, and I also take Keppra (similar to Topamax, but the Topamax made me ill), and Imitrex when they do break through. After beginning LCHF in april, 2015, I had a surge in headaches that I brought to my Pals here (as you have), and got the same advice. I admit that I was reluctant to add salt. I had lived years with terrible edema in my feet, and legs, and was on blood pressure medication, and didn't want to make that worse! Plus, I hate the taste of salt!
I did get me some magnesium citrate supplements (I bought the oxide type at first, then learned they were the worst for absorption!), but the headaches were still bad! Reluctantly, I got me some sodium chloride tablets. The headaches have been better (not gone because of chronic conditions)!! I still use them, and wish I had added them sooner! The edema in my feet has been gone, and only swells if I don't get enough sodium now. I'm off of blood pressure meds (was able to get off of them last August, I think it was)!!
It's still a daily balance based on the foods I eat.
On a side note: for the headaches I've also been taking Inositol and Choline supplements that were recommended by a dear pal here. These help support the central nervous system. I do still take the Botox, because I can see a great increase in headaches when it's close to being time for them again! The need for Imitrex has been hugely reduced too! I have magnetic necklaces that I wear too!
Also, lazy low carb can be very confusing to the body. It doesn't know what to do when it receives confusing fuel sources. Try to remain at a steady level of carbs, and watch the sugar alcohols (artificial sweeteners too) intake. As mention before, these can be awful headache triggers!
Hope you feel better!
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I've been 3 days now with no 'lazy low carb' trying to eat real foods, getting carbs from veggies, not eating heavily processed (deli) meats with nitrites, and avoiding artificial sweeteners. Finally finally, the worst of the headache is clearing out. I can still feel it playing about up there, but it's more of an annoyance then debilitating. Thanks for all the advice. That weight though. That'll probably take a month to clear out.
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At least the headaches are improving. Stay the course and that weight from the inflammation will go away quicker than you think. Continue taking care of yourself! You deserve it! 0
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Some great advice here. @Dragonwolf @baconslave - Maybe enough good discussion for a Launch Pad item?0
