Anyone had any side effects from lowering sodium or carbs?

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JAT74
JAT74 Posts: 1,078 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
A few weeks ago on the recommendation of someone here I dramatically reduced my sodium intake because I was having problems losing weight and the suggested it might be down to having to much sodium and water retention. Anyway I stopped using salt on foods and in cooking and my daily intake went from around 2000+ mg per day to 500-1000mg.

At about the same time or maybe just before I also started lowering my carb intake to 50-70g rather than the 800-130g I'd been having before. My weight started moving again but for the last week and a half on and off I've had dizzy spells and a kind of vertigo feeling, especially after exercise. I've also be drinking loads of water during this period, especially for the last few days due to the heat. My blood pressure was normal during this period.

So today I started getting worried and made a docs appointment but this afternoon I decided to include more carbs, some salt and also some sugar in my days food plus I cut down on the water and I have felt 80 pc, better then I've felt in days.

I'll see how I am tomorrow and decide whether to see the doc but is it possible that I was eating too little salt or sugar/carbs and the extra water was closing out what little I did have in my body? Anyone else had side effects like this?

Replies

  • lilRicki
    lilRicki Posts: 4,555 Member
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    the worst I've gotten was the carb flu for a few days. Not so much dizzy though. Just super tired, and mentally fuzzy.
  • WiDale
    WiDale Posts: 8 Member
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    too little carbs can definitely make you dizzy after workouts until you adapt because your blood sugar will drop.

    eventually your body will start to use fat for fuel instead if you keep your carbs low enough. Your body will also adapt to having lower blood sugar levels.

    For me, the sweet spot seems to be around 10% of my daily calories from carbs.

    *not a doctor - don't construe this as medical advice, just what works for me. YMMV
  • FFfitgirl
    FFfitgirl Posts: 369 Member
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    I was told to up my salt to help with my dizzy spells.

    Do you drink coffee? I found out the potassium can help with dizziness. It helps me some
  • JAT74
    JAT74 Posts: 1,078 Member
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    I do drink coffee but that hasn't helped. Maybe I need to eat more salt for a few days and see if it helps.
  • holly77az
    holly77az Posts: 17 Member
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    I started a low carb (50g a day) a week and a half ago and the first day I got so dizzy I thought I was going to passout and it lasted about 20 minutes, I got so scared I told a co-worker to keep an eye on me but then when I started getting better I ate a piece of chocolate and that seemed to help. ( I was also watching my sugar intake so it might have been that) the rest of the week I still got dizzy but never as bad as that first day. I was very fuzzy headed and forgetful for the week too but this week I seem better although I have upped my carbs to about 75g a day.
  • BluejayNY
    BluejayNY Posts: 301 Member
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    I tried lowering my carbs and also just gluten in general. I ended up feeling dizzy and not good for several weeks. I love my gluten and am keeping it in my diet. My body obviously has no issues with it and prefers whole grain carbs.
  • wannabhealthy50
    wannabhealthy50 Posts: 67 Member
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    Yes, my feet and hands were not as swollen and the pounds are melting off
  • DopeItUp
    DopeItUp Posts: 18,771 Member
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    500-1000mg of sodium a day can be dangerously low. Whoever gave this advice is clueless. Shoot for 2000-2500ish and you'll be fine. Excessive sodium just causes water retention which has nothing to do with fat loss. So even eating 10000mg a day will not affect your fat loss at all. Be careful of terrible advice on these forums, you can die from drinking tons of water and too little sodium. The dizziness is a warning sign!

    Lowering carbs can make you feel funny too as people have mentioned. Your carb intake doesn't appear to be too low at a glance, however. I would worry about the too-low sodium first. Lowering carbs isn't going to change your fat loss either, unless you're also lowering your overall calories. Find a balance that works for you, low carb is definitely not necessary for 99% of people out there.
  • jayrudq
    jayrudq Posts: 475 Member
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    It could be potassium. I doubt that low sodium diet would cause dizziness (think of all the people who are prescribed a low sodium diet), but low postassium certainly will. There are supplements or you can eat high potassium foods.
  • MsEndomorph
    MsEndomorph Posts: 604 Member
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    A few weeks ago on the recommendation of someone here I dramatically reduced my sodium intake because I was having problems losing weight and the suggested it might be down to having to much sodium and water retention. Anyway I stopped using salt on foods and in cooking and my daily intake went from around 2000+ mg per day to 500-1000mg.

    At about the same time or maybe just before I also started lowering my carb intake to 50-70g rather than the 800-130g I'd been having before. My weight started moving again but for the last week and a half on and off I've had dizzy spells and a kind of vertigo feeling, especially after exercise. I've also be drinking loads of water during this period, especially for the last few days due to the heat. My blood pressure was normal during this period.

    So today I started getting worried and made a docs appointment but this afternoon I decided to include more carbs, some salt and also some sugar in my days food plus I cut down on the water and I have felt 80 pc, better then I've felt in days.

    I'll see how I am tomorrow and decide whether to see the doc but is it possible that I was eating too little salt or sugar/carbs and the extra water was closing out what little I did have in my body? Anyone else had side effects like this?

    It's hard to say because you cut out two things at once. I'm going to guess that you cut your sodium too much (that's really low ) and it lowered your blood pressure, but I'm not sure. People who are prescribed low sodium diets are usually dealing with high blood pressure - they wouldn't get dizzy, they'd get closer to normal, and they might even be on some sort of fluid restriction as well.

    After you recover I would choose one change to make and give it a try alone so you can pinpoint how each one makes you feel.
  • taunto
    taunto Posts: 6,420 Member
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    I kinda skin over so please forgive me if you already answered this but how is your activity level and what kind? Others might be able to answer better for carbs however if you're spending great amount of sweating with high intense workout then lowering your sodium is NOT recommended. And by high intensity I mean if you're continously sweating for hours and hours on almost daily basis.

    An example would be when I used to do boxing. We used to do 2 hour s(technically only 1.5 hours) sessions. Had I reduced my sodium those days, I woulda passed out. Some days I used to 2 back to back sessions (so 3+ hours of boxing) in which case coach used to make me drink some powerade or something to bring my sodium level up.
  • nxd10
    nxd10 Posts: 4,570 Member
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    A friend of mine has an odd condition where she doesn't absorb sodium properly. She has EXACTLY your symptoms and then kept fainting because her blood pressure was find but her heart rhythm and arterial flow got funky.

    The solution was eating LOTS and LOTS of salt. You may not have this. But it is not that rare. If you are going to your doctor, ask about it.

    In the mean time, go to normal sodium (1500) I think.

    Low carb was good for me.
  • JAT74
    JAT74 Posts: 1,078 Member
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    Wow I'm shocked, how long should it take to get sodium levels back up? if low potassium is the problem what foods contain pottasium? I may also try adding a little more sugar into my diet but keep total carbs under 75g although last night I had 3 chocolates and still felt awful this morning after my walk. It wasn't until after lunch and some salt on my food and a handful of chips that I felt tons better.
  • kgoodman0108
    kgoodman0108 Posts: 158
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    I think you are feeling unwell due to not getting enough sodium. 500-1000 is a little low, and you are diluting it even more by consuming extra water. I get anywhere from 2000-2500+ of sodium each day, and I'm losing weight just fine.
  • ELEANOR43da
    ELEANOR43da Posts: 166 Member
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    I wasn't on this diet when I first began having problems with those symptoms . We were not salt users and I would drink maybe 12 large glasses of water a day. Finally ended up in emerg one night and they said my sodium was so low they were afraid I was going to seizure. Asked me about my water content and right away told me I was intoxicated on water. For 8 months I wasn't allowed to have any . Had to stick to high sodium powerade drinks. Now I have balanced and very much aware your body needs certain amounts of these things.
  • JAT74
    JAT74 Posts: 1,078 Member
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    Eleanor that's awful, it sounds very similar to my story but luckily for me I've only had low sodium for a short time, although I always previously used low salt in cooking and on food at the table when I eat so maybe I normally get around 1500-2000 and really my body may need even more than that. The difference between now and a few weeks ago is I used to use salt all the time ie. every meal I cooked contained low salt and if I ate out I used normal salt too so with the water I was consuming it wasn't a noticeable problem.

    I guess since it got hot here around 4 weeks ago which coincided with me reducing my use of table salt and buying low sodium water too that didn't help and must have made my sodium levels way too low. I have been drinking 2.5-3 litres of water per day so that's at least 12 glasses I guess.

    I am a little worried still but I've cancelled my doctors appointment as most of the symptoms have got better since yesterday though I can tell they're not completely gone yet. I bought a small bottle of Aquarius today (500ml) which is a kind of low calorie powerade drink and tomorrow when I go shopping I'll get some more. I've also been purposly eating foods with added salt for the last couple of days and hopefully that will be enough.

    It's hot so I'm quite thirsty but I'll also lay off the training for a day or two so I won't be tempted to drink even more and will stop thinking about drinking water all the time as I usually have a full bottle of water with me throughout the day and drink every few minutes. Even without exercise I have been sweating a little so I may be losing sodium all the time. A friend of mine told me to drink fizzy water as that's usually higher in sodium so I might get some of that too.
  • 43932452
    43932452 Posts: 7,246 Member
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    I tried lowering my carbs in the below 70g area. It resulted
    in a carb flu that was so awful. Honest, I rushed to the donut
    shop. Not smart but I was out running errands when it hit me
    and I 'knew' it was my carb withdrawal. Suffice to say I get
    80-120 on my non cheat days. I believe I avg at 96g. I'm happy
    with it and losing again. Each person is different. Maybe try
    carb cycling. It's less rigid.

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