Frustrated, ready to call it quits. Help please
aprilsun66
Posts: 13 Member
Hi Friends,
5 weeks keto, 4 pounds down, not feeling well at all. I've increased my sodium (around 2200 per day, hard to get it much higher), feeling nauseous, dizzy, extremely fatigued. Having a hard time getting my calories much above 1000-1200. if I eat anything too high in fat in one sitting I feel very ill. Any advice to feel better quick. Should I just suck down a tsp of salt? Your advice is greatly appreciated.
5 weeks keto, 4 pounds down, not feeling well at all. I've increased my sodium (around 2200 per day, hard to get it much higher), feeling nauseous, dizzy, extremely fatigued. Having a hard time getting my calories much above 1000-1200. if I eat anything too high in fat in one sitting I feel very ill. Any advice to feel better quick. Should I just suck down a tsp of salt? Your advice is greatly appreciated.
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Replies
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p.s. not sleeping well either. Feeling sleep deprived.0
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Dill pickles and pickle juice.3
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Sometimes it's a mineral issue (keto flu).
You can fix up your own recipe: 1 teasp No salt (potassium chloride) or Nu Salt; 1 teasp epsom salt; 1 teasp good Himalayan salt in 12 oz of water. Sip it until it's gone. That should help. And, in a pinch - boil a potato and drink the broth with some salt - it will help almost immediately if it's mineral related.
Here's another recipe here: https://wellnessmama.com/2575/natural-sports-drink/
Also, how much water are you drinking? What kind? Are you drinking a mineral rich water?
Are you dehydrated? How fast did you go keto? How long have you felt this crummy?
Also - there is a regular malaise going around.
I just found this: http://paleomagazine.com/what-is-keto-flu-how-to-cure-keto-flu
Feel better!1 -
I put a half teaspoon of pink salt in a pint of water and drink it down. You sound like you're sodium deficient. Seriously, get the sodium UP.6
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@Sunna_W
about 4-5 cups of water a day, Poland Springs bottled. Yes, slightly dehydrated, I went into keto in about 5-6 days. I've been feeling this way off and on (mostly on) since I started.
Thank you, and everyone who replied. :-D
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Your profile indicates something to the effect that you have lost weight many times only to gain it back so I'm thinking that the other ways of eating did not make you "nauseous, dizzy and extremely fatigued" and you were able to adhere to them more easily? You know the discomforts you are feeling are symptoms of electrolyte imbalance and you have tried to remedy the situation but find it "hard to get it much higher" (in sodium). You've indicated if you eat anything too high in fat in one sitting you feel very ill.
I'll go out on a limb here and speak the unspeakable on a low carb site of which keto and/or LCFH are a part....perhaps another method of weight loss that has worked for you in the past will be more effective? No matter what method you choose for weight loss, principles other than those that caused you to regain, will have to be applied in order to maintain the loss. You're best served by finding a way of loss that you can carry over into maintenance.
I lost all my excess eating @ the high end of low carb without need to increase sodium since low sodium was also a part of my weight loss plan due to being on blood pressure medication at the time. I maintained the same way. I now maintain via keto and am one who chooses to "eat all the fat" yet do not really favor meat fats. I have many choices for fat that suit me: avocados, nuts, unsweetened coconut, cream cheese, a little mayonaise, full fat yogurt, etc. This way I get the fats I want/need and don't feel like I have to bathe everything in butter and eat the skin of the chicken (which I personally don't like). I also rarely eat bacon. Imagine that.
There are many ways to lose weight. You have already found that to be true. Try another way. If you want, you can surround yourself with friends who eat low carb, just not LCHF or keto. JMO.
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If you are not getting sea salt but are using table salt, it can actually worsen dehydration in small percentage of people. You can take sea salt crystals and swallow them like a tablet. I'd recommend trying to increase things slowly, both the salts and the fats... Also, if you have other digestive issues along with the nausea from fats, you might look into whether digestive enzymes might help. Many of us have other issues that contribute to low stomach acid (reflux and such is generally the overproduction of the wrong kinds of acids in and attempt to compensate for being low in a specific key acid, hence you need to add the right one in to balance it out, rather than take acid reducers to lower the levels, etc.).
Good luck.4 -
You have GOT TO up your sodium. This is not just for LCHF, but for everyone. Research shows we need a MINIMUM of 3000 mg a day.
http://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMoa1311889
Between 3000 and 6000 is how we function best. If you are LCHF, some of the short term symptoms are more pronounced like sluggishness, constipation, poor sleep, muscle cramps, etc. Understand this is a good thing. Long term problems of not getting enough is premature DEATH. I would much rather have this immediate feedback from my body to let me know I need more sodium than just find out when I end up have CVD or other potentially terminal issues.
This is science. The government recommendation to stay below 2300 mg per day has absolutely no science data to support it. Historically speaking (looking back hundreds of years) we had much higher intake of sodium due to preserving so much food using salt. It wasn't until refrigeration came along that our sodium intake went down.
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One other suggestion, rather than completely switching back to "regular" carb intake, consider using the glycemic index to guide what you eat. For example, grapefruit (one of my fave fruits) has a GI of 25 (low) a Glycemic Load of 3 but carb value of 11. Presently I am doing low-carb (<50g/day) but I use the GI to guide my fruit choices.3
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aprilsun66 wrote: »@Sunna_W
about 4-5 cups of water a day, Poland Springs bottled. Yes, slightly dehydrated, I went into keto in about 5-6 days. I've been feeling this way off and on (mostly on) since I started.
Thank you, and everyone who replied. :-D
Sodium pills are also an option if you can't take the salty water or bone broth with extra salt. Knitormiss brought up the issue of sea salt vs. table salt, that is something to keep in mind as well.
It will get much better once your minerals are back in balance. Best of luck with your weight loss Journey.4 -
Up the salt! There's a thread somewhere on the forum about ways to do so. All your symptoms are classic for low sodium.1
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cstehansen wrote: »You have GOT TO up your sodium. This is not just for LCHF, but for everyone. Research shows we need a MINIMUM of 3000 mg a day.
http://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMoa1311889
Between 3000 and 6000 is how we function best. If you are LCHF, some of the short term symptoms are more pronounced like sluggishness, constipation, poor sleep, muscle cramps, etc. Understand this is a good thing. Long term problems of not getting enough is premature DEATH. I would much rather have this immediate feedback from my body to let me know I need more sodium than just find out when I end up have CVD or other potentially terminal issues.
This is science. The government recommendation to stay below 2300 mg per day has absolutely no science data to support it. Historically speaking (looking back hundreds of years) we had much higher intake of sodium due to preserving so much food using salt. It wasn't until refrigeration came along that our sodium intake went down.
YES!
If you don't make replacing your lost sodium a PRIORITY you are literally risking your health.
It's not keto that's making you feel ill. It's the severely low sodium. It's not optional.
If you can't get the required sodium to sustain health on keto, then you NEED to stop eating so few carbs. You're going to end up in the hospital with severe dehydration.1 -
Agreed. You might need potassium and magnesium supplements now too since you've had low sodium for a while.
3000mg - 5000+ mg is where you should aim. It's looking like 5000mg is the ideal for everyone now.
1 teaspoon of table salt is 2300 mg of sodium. Add a teaspoon of salt to water and chug it down. Salt tablets will work, and so will broth.2 -
an easy way for extra sodium - i place a chicken bouillon cube in a bottle of water at night. the next day, i periodically sip on it at work.2 -
I'm blown away by the difference sodium has made for me. I know my sodium is dropping when my back starts hurting BADLY out of the blue. I throw a quarter tsp to half a tsp salt in a shaker cup, fill it with water and a couple squirts of Mio and chug it. I start feeling better within minutes. It's crazy. So grateful for this group because otherwise I never would have known.3
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Your profile indicates something to the effect that you have lost weight many times only to gain it back so I'm thinking that the other ways of eating did not make you "nauseous, dizzy and extremely fatigued" and you were able to adhere to them more easily? You know the discomforts you are feeling are symptoms of electrolyte imbalance and you have tried to remedy the situation but find it "hard to get it much higher" (in sodium). You've indicated if you eat anything too high in fat in one sitting you feel very ill.
I'll go out on a limb here and speak the unspeakable on a low carb site of which keto and/or LCFH are a part....perhaps another method of weight loss that has worked for you in the past will be more effective? No matter what method you choose for weight loss, principles other than those that caused you to regain, will have to be applied in order to maintain the loss. You're best served by finding a way of loss that you can carry over into maintenance.
I lost all my excess eating @ the high end of low carb without need to increase sodium since low sodium was also a part of my weight loss plan due to being on blood pressure medication at the time. I maintained the same way. I now maintain via keto and am one who chooses to "eat all the fat" yet do not really favor meat fats. I have many choices for fat that suit me: avocados, nuts, unsweetened coconut, cream cheese, a little mayonaise, full fat yogurt, etc. This way I get the fats I want/need and don't feel like I have to bathe everything in butter and eat the skin of the chicken (which I personally don't like). I also rarely eat bacon. Imagine that.
There are many ways to lose weight. You have already found that to be true. Try another way. If you want, you can surround yourself with friends who eat low carb, just not LCHF or keto. JMO.
While switching to a different plan is an option, I'd argue that they, or something about them, wasn't successful if the OP stopped and regained the weight multiple times. Additionally, hitting a common newbie pitfall doesn't really justify abandoning ship just yet. Besides, at this point, she'll need to do some supplementation to get balanced, regardless of how she continues.
Whether someone needs to supplement sodium or specifically seek it out is pretty individual. A good example is my son and myself. I can go zero carb and do just fine with salting to taste (which isn't often). My son, however, gets deficient to the point of sleep and mood issues, despite consuming sodium rich foods and consuming many more carbs, without seeking out extra salt. His lunches for spring break camp right now are literally Gatorade, salted peanut butter, salted chips, and salted veggie straws, just to keep up with his electrolyte needs, and that's after adding a bunch of salt to one of his drinks to raise his levels the last time.
Trying to greatly increase fats quickly is also known to cause digestive issues, especially in people who have historically restricted their fats. Getting sick from them is a common newbie issue, as well. For some people, it's better to start lower and work their way up, not everyone has to dive head first into keto, even if that's their ultimate goal. Likewise, not everyone needs to go keto at all. While we generally believe around here that limiting carbs is good for most people, we believe that each person has their own level that works best for them, and that level may be higher for some than others.
If you've been low fat, low sodium for decades, you're not going to be able to switch overnight without some adjustment. Supplement sodium now, to correct the balance, and work to get the necessary amount through food, over time. It's a learning process. Just like learning anything else, it's not always going to be a walk in the park.5 -
I'm low carb not keto. I go in and out of keto. I felt so sick the first couple months I blamed it on low carb but I found out I was anemic, vit d Def and b12 was Def. I do best at 100 carbs but no wheat no sugar keeps hunger at bay but I like to have fruit in moderation I stay away from grains and I fit starchy veggies in my macros. I can tolerate carbs but not refined ones. if my hunger is high I lower carbs more.2
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Perfect timing as I had a question about electrolyte imbalance!
Yesterday sucked until I got some salt(s) into me. I'm not sure how I let myself drop the ball on that (we have been fighting influenza a at work and home so maybe??) but holy cow when it goes it really goes! Thank you all for your great insight!! 1 -
aprilsun66 wrote: »Hi Friends,
5 weeks keto, 4 pounds down, not feeling well at all. I've increased my sodium (around 2200 per day, hard to get it much higher), feeling nauseous, dizzy, extremely fatigued. Having a hard time getting my calories much above 1000-1200. if I eat anything too high in fat in one sitting I feel very ill. Any advice to feel better quick. Should I just suck down a tsp of salt? Your advice is greatly appreciated.
@aprilsun66 the first six months was hard for me but I started out as a very sick old man. I read and read so I knew Keto was working for millions of other. What kept me in the game was in just the first 30 days Keto had cut my body inflammation level so much that after 40 years of very high pain levels of like 7-8 it was down to 2-3. As I have learned more my pain level 2.5 years later is more like a 1.
Strange but I have learned more about how to cut inflammation/lower my pain even more in the last 6 weeks than in the last 20 months.
I have been at 2000-3000 calories the whole time. I wonder how you may feel if you ate 2000 calories for a few days even if it meant not being LCHF. When I have a 3000 day it will mainly be from nuts often. I still eat Keto types of food (no sugar or grains in my case) so the higher carbs are not the kind that creates a lot of inflammation in my body.
If I drink less than a gallon of water a day I still get in all kinds of trouble.
Best of success even if it is hard to see/feel today.1 -
BedsideTableKangaroo wrote: »an easy way for extra sodium - i place a chicken bouillon cube in a bottle of water at night. the next day, i periodically sip on it at work.
Is this just like a "Stock" cube? I am in Australia and I haven't heard it called bouillon over here before.
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the_new_mark_2017 wrote: »BedsideTableKangaroo wrote: »an easy way for extra sodium - i place a chicken bouillon cube in a bottle of water at night. the next day, i periodically sip on it at work.
Is this just like a "Stock" cube? I am in Australia and I haven't heard it called bouillon over here before.
Yes Stock cube, I use beef but you can use the chicken ones as well 1 -
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I feel horrible if I'm bloated/backed up. Are you digesting well?1
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