Side effects.

TwizzleBit

I'm about 5 or 6 days in....and I'm having some weird side effects. I know I've reached keto because the stix tell me so. I've moved up the scale from pale to about 4. Its getting darker by the day.

The one that's the most uncomfortable is the heat! I feel hot all the time and on the verge of sweating. Or a full out sweating if i do anything physical. Sleeping is an uncomfortable experience. lol.

I know it's not low salt, because I've added some back into my food. The heat and sweat is especially bad if I eat or drink water.

Has anyone else experienced this?! If so, it does stop, right? Right!?!?!?

At least I don't smell weird. That's something.

persistentsoul

I am new to Ketogenic way of eating. I have been doing it 17 days and I had really bad hot sweats and flushes for first 10 days. I was in full ketosis after 3 days. I am feeling lots better now though and am glad I stuck with it. I ate a lot of carbs before so it has been a dramatic change in how I eat. I think it is natural for some side effects to happen while body adapts to new way of doing things.
I was also constantly in bathroom having to pee every half hour. I was drinking loads, sweating loads and peeing loads. I lost a stone in first few days that was just fluid. I started at 23 stone. I have had issues with water retention for ages, swollen feet , swollen tender abdomin, general puffyness all over. It was all just fluid and Ketogenic switch over took care of that very fast, all swelling gone. In my case I think I probably have a gluten issue or something similar causing the fluid retention maybe, or my body just really really was not meant for sugary diet. Whatever the explanation I feel much better now and the best side effect is all food cravings are gone. It is so much easier to eat healthy when cravings are gone. My skin has also gone super soft and someone I know said i looked younger and radient.

TwizzleBit

My symptoms have eased a bit. The scale hasn't moved, but we all know the scale is a lying b@st*rd. My mother-in-law actually commented that I'm looking better these days. Face isn't swollen and angry.

I'm glad the sweating has stopped though. I don't think I'm a person cut out for carbs/gluten/dairy either. Once I started keto and cut grains for a couple of weeks, the itchy patches I'd get on my face haven't come back.

Now I'm at the end of week three. I can't tell if I'm in ketosis..my tinkle sticks aren't really registering anymore, but that could be the amount of water I'm drinking.

I have lost an inch around my hips and bust...that's something. I think my body is just restructuring a little bit. My arms are getting smaller and my ankles too.

I don't really have cravings as such. I do still feel hungry at times, but definitely satisfied.

I'm grateful for the energy that I have gained because of keto!
KCKO!

persistentsoul

Glad you are feeling better now. I agree scales are not always best way to tell if changes are working. I have decades of practice doing battle with my food issues. 23 stone was my highest and 12.5 stone has been my lowest. About 5 years ago I lost 8 stone in 8 months on a supervised controlled diet. I do tend to lose fast when I eat healthy because I start out so big and have binge eating disorder. I probably actually have a very fast metabolism.
Anyway when I lost the 8 stone years ago I was checking scale once a month because that was how I was instructed to do things. My food intake and activity level was similar whole time but I would 7lb one month and then 21lb the next month. It was like that all the way a good loss one month and a super good lost next month, 7,21,7,21,7,21 ect. I noticed that on the months I lost less I toned up loads. My body is a bit of a freak of nature but it shows bodies do odd things. Even though scales don't always show a drop body composition can be changing and losing inches as lose fat , gain muscle. It will show on scales eventually.

I have also cut out all dairy. I have known for years grains and dairy don't agree with me but I liked eating them too much and could not get rid of cravings so always piled all the weight back on again. I am loving the cravings being gone. My keto sticks went light pink after 24 hours and then dark pink after 3 days and have stayed dark pink. The weight was falling off for first two weeks then stabilised which is probably for best as was 2 stone down in two weeks. Would be great if next 10 stone could be gone in 10 weeks but that won't happen. My skin would be a loose mess if it did anyway. Makes me appreciate my how hard my poor body works. It is clearly very eager to shed the excess baggage and was sufferingmuch more inflammation and water retention than I realised. I knew it was bad but 2 stone of inflamed water retention !! It is wonder I was still walking around. Sorry body, I will keep being nice to you now and feed you the keto food you like and not the junk I was so addicted to.

pgrn1

I've been keto for 3.5 weeks now and am stilled feeling foggy headed and tired. My carbs are consistently under 50gm/day and the rest is 60% fat and 20% protein. I keep careful counts of my nutritional status. Will this ever end?

mckaytobe

pgrn1-I have also been on the keto woe for almost 4 weeks and I am still feeling foggy headed and headachey. It is not consistent during the day...either before my next meal and directly after it. I am drinking heaps of water-probably 20 something glasses per day. I am sluggish during exercise-even running for 30-40min is really hard for me at the moment whereas I was running for 60min or more 4-5 times per week. I hope I can get some energy back soon...

persistentsoul

From what I have been reading about ketogenic trouble shooting the energy loss is often down to not having enough salt, magnesium, potassium. Especially early on a lot of fluid is lost and with fluid vital salts etc also go out and need replacing. People recommend adding more salt. Bone broths apparently are very good. Do some googling

mckaytobe

I take a magnesium tablet every morning and I get a lot of salt from my diet as well as adding salt to my meals. I think it's just a matter of my body getting used to a change in the way its being fuelled. Hopefully it will come right soon. It's hard to suddenly go down hill with fitness when you've worked so hard to get to that level of fitness.

pgrn1

I've started taking a multivitamin and that has helped a little. I drink between 32-64oz of fluids per day. I've had severe muscle cramping on 2 occasions which was quickly helped by Gatorade. (I don't like sports drinks but I keep them around for occasions such as this and in case someone gets a GI bug.) I continue to ride my bike 30-60 mins a day. Hope this ends soon. Helpful to know someone else has the same experience! Thank you!

gwen707

At the start I was getting muscle leg cramps at night. I increased both my potassium and magnesium at night and they went away. I also noticed that the keto stix would change thought out the day. morning light, afternoon med., evening dark. This was telling me that my liver is working hard during the day to process the fats I have been eating. You may want to check and see when you liver is most active via the keto strip. The fogginess started to go away after about three weeks.

Ladylouwolf

My fogginess and feeling hot(not in a good way) comes back after 2 months of Ketosis so I am drinking Boulion 2x a day and taking Magnesium and Potassium and Pink Salts. It helps so much. At first I thought it was from too few carbs. and because I finally got rid of my swollen joints on LC was afraid of the salt but it helps sooooooooo much!!! Having to take more magnesium for leg cramps down here in hot Florida. Hope this helps some of you. I leave everything out on the kitchen counter for now so I do take it!!!xo

pgrn1

Well, right about 4-4.5 weeks my side effects subsided. Only occasional headaches, starting to loose weight, no more foggy thinking or lethargy. I think I'm on my way! Carbs down to 25 per day or less.

whywait2loseweight

Hi. I am new to all of this. I decided to give this a try because people have raved about it because of the weight loss and just feeling better. I am just 4-5 days in and I have had night sweats, no hunger (weird for me) and I just bought some keto sticks and it looks as though I am in a moderate level of ketosis. I thought that it would take a while to get into that but...I am peeing ALOT!!!! Hopefully the sweats stop soon and I get more energy....feel a bit lethargic but I heard that Bulletproof ( a concoction of coffee with cream, coffee, butter and I think MCT oil) really amps up your energy! So, I will give it a try...I am confused about the amount of grams of each (fat, protein and carbs) that I should be eating. I am tracking my food now but not sure what I should be aiming for in terms of grams of each...although my carbs I believe are good (around 25g)...can anyone shed some light on this...I feel a bit overwhelmed but I don't want to give up...thanks!

La5Vega5Girl

i am currently on day 5 day and i feel like dog crap! i had night sweats all night, woke up feeling horrible. my brain is foggy. I WANT A BANANA!!! i am craving things like oranges, bananas, pineapple, lettuce. i thought i was doing well but it all hit last night.

if i see cheese, i might punch someone square in the face!!!

engineergirl1

Standard macros for keto are 65% fat, 30% protein, 5% carbs. Some people for more fat less protein and some go to 10% carbs. So you could do 70% fat, 20% protein, 10% carbs if you like. In general make sure you are below 25 g of "net carbs" which is carbs minus fiber. I stay safe and only eat low carb veggies like broccoli, cauliflower and spinach.