All of a sudden I am experiencing water retention and constipation
klaak
Posts: 47 Member
Hello fellow Keto-peeps 
I'm just starting my 3rd week with the Keto WOE. I think I might have felt 1 day of the keto flu, if that, but otherwise my experience has been great! I only lost about 4lbs initially, but it made a big difference in how my body feels so I was very pleased with that to start.
This brings me to yesterday and today....I feel awful
I am so bloated and constipated, I look 5 months pregnant and I feel swollen in my legs, face and all over, like I am retaining water. Mind you, this is how I used to feel/look all the time before keto. It started yesterday and today is even worse. I've been taking extra magnesium to try to combat the constipation naturally, but I am so miserable all I can do is lay in bed. I'm drinking extra water thinking maybe I was dehydrated, but nothing I've done lately has been different so I am not sure what the problem is. I just want whatever it is to balance out and go away so I can feel good again.
Has anyone else experienced this? Thoughts, advice?
I'm just starting my 3rd week with the Keto WOE. I think I might have felt 1 day of the keto flu, if that, but otherwise my experience has been great! I only lost about 4lbs initially, but it made a big difference in how my body feels so I was very pleased with that to start.
This brings me to yesterday and today....I feel awful
I am so bloated and constipated, I look 5 months pregnant and I feel swollen in my legs, face and all over, like I am retaining water. Mind you, this is how I used to feel/look all the time before keto. It started yesterday and today is even worse. I've been taking extra magnesium to try to combat the constipation naturally, but I am so miserable all I can do is lay in bed. I'm drinking extra water thinking maybe I was dehydrated, but nothing I've done lately has been different so I am not sure what the problem is. I just want whatever it is to balance out and go away so I can feel good again.Has anyone else experienced this? Thoughts, advice?
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Replies
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I used to have issues with bloating and constipation which at the time I blamed on cheese and protein. It was only upon trying a carnivore style eating that I realized it was veggies that does it for me.
I've also realized recently that if I really want a big plate of veggies that I need to take a few doses of apple cider vinegar to help it digest over the next day or so. I seem to be able to avoid the issues if I do that.
Before I learned that about myself though, I actually found that espresso really helped move things. lol
Along with magnesium and water of course. But for some reason I could drink coffee all day at home and not get the bathroom urgency but get an americano with an extra shot at Starbucks and things would move along in an hour or so. Lol3 -
Have you considered keeping a food diary WITH your symptoms in it to see if you can spot a pattern to what effects you?4
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Sunny Bunny it us SO funny you say that...i have been increasing the veggies to fill up some carbs the past couple days, I wonder if that is what's doing it??? How crazy to think that used to be the bulk of my diet and yes I was constantly bloated and constipated. Interesting. Here's hoping things will work themselves out tomorrow and I will try the acv trick.
Bonny, yes great idea! I actually started a Google sheet tracking stats for each day with notes like my 'female' concerns, what exercise I did, food, supplements, tummy health, mind clarity, general feeling etc a couple months before I started keto. I was at a loss trying to figure out patterns lol. Now with logging mfp, I've neglected my Google sheet so thank you for bringing that up!!!1 -
Sunny Bunny it us SO funny you say that...i have been increasing the veggies to fill up some carbs the past couple days, I wonder if that is what's doing it??? How crazy to think that used to be the bulk of my diet and yes I was constantly bloated and constipated. Interesting. Here's hoping things will work themselves out tomorrow and I will try the acv trick.
Bonny, yes great idea! I actually started a Google sheet tracking stats for each day with notes like my 'female' concerns, what exercise I did, food, supplements, tummy health, mind clarity, general feeling etc a couple months before I started keto. I was at a loss trying to figure out patterns lol. Now with logging mfp, I've neglected my Google sheet so thank you for bringing that up!!!
It is awfully coincidental!
I seriously blamed cheese and protein for months for my issues. Somehow through my tracking and trying to put the pieces together, I guess every time I was consuming higher amounts of those things I was also getting more veggies. I just never suspected the veggies because... "they're good for me" right?!? Apparently not!
Now I hardly ever eat any and I never have the problem anymore. Well, except when I cheat and chow down on broccoli! But luckily I learned the ACV helps. I still don't think they're really great for me but I really do like veggies and sometimes I just want to eat them dang it! I freakin love salad too! I am glad I can solve the digestion issue so easily though.
And a tip on taking ACV. Buy the kind with "mother" for the probiotics and I like to add some sea salt and a little water to about a tablespoon or so and drink it that way instead of a straight shot. It has a pickle juice kind of flavor and doesn't burn your throat.4 -
Funny this is a topic today, I'm literally 3 weeks in and the same thing lol!
Today I had a big breakfast taco with lots of veggies (celery, onion, mushroom. Red pepper, spinach), today tho is the first time I've felt bloated and constipated and gassy (sorry tmi). So I was thinking it was the new fat bombs I made to try. But now, I'm thinking the veggies are suspect!!!
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So glad I posted the question!! This is great info and feedback. I still have a hard time wrapping my head around the idea that veggies are the culprit LOL3
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So glad I posted the question!! This is great info and feedback. I still have a hard time wrapping my head around the idea that veggies are the culprit LOL
I know what you mean! As someone that always took fiber supplements for IBS, I never suspected that the lower I would go on fiber with low carb, the better I would feel. Lol
But, I guess that fits in with the rest of the backward nutrition beliefs I had always heard.0 -
I'm with Sunny on the acv with salt. I drink that stuff by the quart!!!! To my taste, it's amazingly delicious. 4
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I am glad to have found this. I have been bloated like crazy (no constipation issues) and am actually up 4 pounds since this time last week...I too have had more veggies recently. Interesting. Maybe I will cut back a bit and see if that helps.1
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I just bought a magnesium suppliment called calm plus calcium that you just add into water, I feel a lot better once I drink it and you only need a tsp per day. I eat a lot of veggies too, maybe I need to add in ACV with my meals. Thanks for all the ideas!1
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Hello fellow Keto-peeps
I'm just starting my 3rd week with the Keto WOE. I think I might have felt 1 day of the keto flu, if that, but otherwise my experience has been great! I only lost about 4lbs initially, but it made a big difference in how my body feels so I was very pleased with that to start.
This brings me to yesterday and today....I feel awful I am so bloated and constipated, I look 5 months pregnant and I feel swollen in my legs, face and all over, like I am retaining water. Mind you, this is how I used to feel/look all the time before keto. It started yesterday and today is even worse. I've been taking extra magnesium to try to combat the constipation naturally, but I am so miserable all I can do is lay in bed. I'm drinking extra water thinking maybe I was dehydrated, but nothing I've done lately has been different so I am not sure what the problem is. I just want whatever it is to balance out and go away so I can feel good again.
Has anyone else experienced this? Thoughts, advice?
@klaak, if you're actually retaining water, before or otherwise, increase your sodium - and cut back on the water. Sodium, magnesium, water, and potassium must keep a balance (ratios are different for each). If you have too much of one, the body will try to dump it (like water, making you pee more often), but that can actually worsen the other deficiencies. Make sure you're getting enough sodium (generally 5000 mg daily to replace what is lost by nature of eating less carbs), make sure you're getting potassium in your foods (90% of labels don't track it because it is not required to track, but sites like USDA.gov and fatsecret.com will show you a better pictures - most chicken has you covered here)... If not, your body will steal these things from your bones to keep balance, and none of us needs weaker bones.
Also, unexpected swelling can be a sign that your adrenals and thyroid are excessively stressed. If you haven't had this tested, I recommend talking to a doctor about it. TSH is not a sufficient way to test thyroid function. Total and Free T4 numbers, Free and Reverse T3, and preferably the antibodies tests give the best picture. There are additional tests that can be run on adrenal function. Any dramatic shift of diet and/or metabolic effects can tax these systems, so be sure to be checked. It can take 10-15 years for a thyroid problem to show up on the standard TSH tests...
Good luck finding your balance.2 -
Sunny_Bunny_ wrote: »I used to have issues with bloating and constipation which at the time I blamed on cheese and protein. It was only upon trying a carnivore style eating that I realized it was veggies that does it for me.
I've also realized recently that if I really want a big plate of veggies that I need to take a few doses of apple cider vinegar to help it digest over the next day or so. I seem to be able to avoid the issues if I do that.
Before I learned that about myself though, I actually found that espresso really helped move things. lol
Along with magnesium and water of course. But for some reason I could drink coffee all day at home and not get the bathroom urgency but get an americano with an extra shot at Starbucks and things would move along in an hour or so. Lol
It's funny you mention the Americano - I had a similar experience with Starbucks ordering their blonde roast coffee. It didn't happen with their medium or dark roasts, only blonde. The barista said the more caffine is in the coffee, the speedier it will move things along. The blonde has the most caffine out of the three roasts, and I suspect the Americano has more than your home brew.1 -
What I have found to be kind of incredible is... there will be a thread on what I am experiencing just in that moment. I have been "failure to produce" for 4 days and feeling like a Macy's balloon...3
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Coffee was the best cure I had for those issues as well. Broccoli is one of the worst culprits... but also one of my favorites. I have never tried the ACV beforehand, but after reading this I will be giving it a try. 1
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There's a reason they call coffee Nature's ExLax. My body just doesn't tolerate coffee in any form...1
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Fiber was only mentioned once in this thread so far. What has your fiber intake been looking like for the past week or so? I've been using the 14 g fiber per 1000 kcal guideline as a starting point. You should be able to view the fiber intake in the reports section of MFP if you are recording your meals closely.
I was personally feeling constipated sometime during the beginning of keto. I don't think I voided my colon in about 72 hours, which was very unusual from my normal habits of 1 time per day. I don't think I noticed any swelling and only had very mild bloating though. Anyway, for tracking, I just add an entry to my calendar every time I'm sitting on the porcelain throne - I usually have my phone with me anyway. I seem to regularly go every 2-3 days on a 500-1000 kcal deficit keto and I've gotten use to it.0 -
KnitOrMiss wrote: »Hello fellow Keto-peeps
I'm just starting my 3rd week with the Keto WOE. I think I might have felt 1 day of the keto flu, if that, but otherwise my experience has been great! I only lost about 4lbs initially, but it made a big difference in how my body feels so I was very pleased with that to start.
This brings me to yesterday and today....I feel awful I am so bloated and constipated, I look 5 months pregnant and I feel swollen in my legs, face and all over, like I am retaining water. Mind you, this is how I used to feel/look all the time before keto. It started yesterday and today is even worse. I've been taking extra magnesium to try to combat the constipation naturally, but I am so miserable all I can do is lay in bed. I'm drinking extra water thinking maybe I was dehydrated, but nothing I've done lately has been different so I am not sure what the problem is. I just want whatever it is to balance out and go away so I can feel good again.
Has anyone else experienced this? Thoughts, advice?
@klaak, if you're actually retaining water, before or otherwise, increase your sodium - and cut back on the water. Sodium, magnesium, water, and potassium must keep a balance (ratios are different for each). If you have too much of one, the body will try to dump it (like water, making you pee more often), but that can actually worsen the other deficiencies. Make sure you're getting enough sodium (generally 5000 mg daily to replace what is lost by nature of eating less carbs), make sure you're getting potassium in your foods (90% of labels don't track it because it is not required to track, but sites like USDA.gov and fatsecret.com will show you a better pictures - most chicken has you covered here)... If not, your body will steal these things from your bones to keep balance, and none of us needs weaker bones.
Also, unexpected swelling can be a sign that your adrenals and thyroid are excessively stressed. If you haven't had this tested, I recommend talking to a doctor about it. TSH is not a sufficient way to test thyroid function. Total and Free T4 numbers, Free and Reverse T3, and preferably the antibodies tests give the best picture. There are additional tests that can be run on adrenal function. Any dramatic shift of diet and/or metabolic effects can tax these systems, so be sure to be checked. It can take 10-15 years for a thyroid problem to show up on the standard TSH tests...
Good luck finding your balance.
Hey there KnitOrMiss
Great info!! I'm actually feeling much better today re: the swelling in my legs etc, not perfect but better. Still no movement though, but hopefully that will come with time
So it's interesting you talk about the thyroid, you really know your stuff!!
I do have thyroid issues actually and I've attributed the swelling I've had for YEARS in my legs (and then entire body and then debilitating constipation) to thyroid. However, my docs would just look at me like I'm crazy and shake their head telling me my levels are normal, told me to take Miralax and swelling is not due to thyroid (BS lol). I know this is a story too many of us are all too familiar with. A couple years ago when I was really suffering with physical issues, I went to a naturopath and 1 thing she was able to do for me was test my thyroid antibodies and told me I have hashimotos. Unfortunately, after lots of time and $$$, nothing she recommended helped me feel better, at all. SO disappointing! I've tried on my own to experiment with supplements, diets like whole30 and PaleoAIP but still, not great results at all and antibodies recently doubled (been gluten free for years too). Finally I found a MD that was willing to prescribe me some thyroid meds and after experimenting, we found that Naturethroid makes me feel somewhat better.
Now on keto though, this is when the swelling, bloating actually really disappeared!!! Until the past couple days Maybe I am just having a thyroid flare? I am not sure exactly, but if I have a few bad days here and there I can accept that, as long as they are not ALL bad days like they used to be. Also, I am VERY curious to see if my antibodies decrease now with this new WOE Low thyroid or thyroid issues are no joke though, I didn't feel like myself, couldn't think, didn't care, and could barely function day to day. It was hell, and I was trying SO HARD to figure out what to do to feel better. Thank goodness I finally got some meds and found keto. 0 -
Fiber was only mentioned once in this thread so far. What has your fiber intake been looking like for the past week or so? I've been using the 14 g fiber per 1000 kcal guideline as a starting point. You should be able to view the fiber intake in the reports section of MFP if you are recording your meals closely.
I was personally feeling constipated sometime during the beginning of keto. I don't think I voided my colon in about 72 hours, which was very unusual from my normal habits of 1 time per day. I don't think I noticed any swelling and only had very mild bloating though. Anyway, for tracking, I just add an entry to my calendar every time I'm sitting on the porcelain throne - I usually have my phone with me anyway. I seem to regularly go every 2-3 days on a 500-1000 kcal deficit keto and I've gotten use to it.
Oddly enough, when this happens to me....the more fiber I eat, the worse I feel. That's crazy isn't it??? This is even before Keto when fresh fruits and veggies were the primary source of my diet. Now that I am on Keto, this is my first flare up, and oddly enough it was when I had eaten more fresh veggies than usual since starting. I'm going to wait it out for now and see if I can confirm the correlation. But everyone is different!! For others, maybe it's not enough fiber?0 -
Fiber was only mentioned once in this thread so far. What has your fiber intake been looking like for the past week or so? I've been using the 14 g fiber per 1000 kcal guideline as a starting point. You should be able to view the fiber intake in the reports section of MFP if you are recording your meals closely.
I was personally feeling constipated sometime during the beginning of keto. I don't think I voided my colon in about 72 hours, which was very unusual from my normal habits of 1 time per day. I don't think I noticed any swelling and only had very mild bloating though. Anyway, for tracking, I just add an entry to my calendar every time I'm sitting on the porcelain throne - I usually have my phone with me anyway. I seem to regularly go every 2-3 days on a 500-1000 kcal deficit keto and I've gotten use to it.
Oddly enough, when this happens to me....the more fiber I eat, the worse I feel. That's crazy isn't it??? This is even before Keto when fresh fruits and veggies were the primary source of my diet. Now that I am on Keto, this is my first flare up, and oddly enough it was when I had eaten more fresh veggies than usual since starting. I'm going to wait it out for now and see if I can confirm the correlation. But everyone is different!! For others, maybe it's not enough fiber?0 -
Don't forget to think about which fresh veggies you've been eating.... raw spinach and kale have lots of oxalic acid, and some times the cruciferous veggies cause certain people problems:
Cruciferous vegetables contain an oligosaccharide (carbohydrate chain composed of 3-9 simple sugar molecules) called raffinose. Humans do not have the enzyme to break down raffinose, so it passes through the stomach and small intestine undigested. One of the primary roles of the large intestine is to absorb the nutrients that are broken down in the stomach and small intestine. So when food enters the large intestine undigested, this is where symptoms can happen.
The large intestine is full of bacteria that don’t normally cause problems. However, when these bacteria are given undigested food, like the above mentioned raffinose component, they ferment (bacteria chemically breakdown substances) them. One of the byproducts of bacterial fermentation is gas, which leads to flatulence and bloating. Those with IBS and other digestive disorders can experience visceral hypersensitivity. Visceral hypersensitivity means that the nerves in the lining of their intestine are extra sensitive. That extra gas production we talked about is enough to cause painful bloating, gas and discomfort in those with IBS.
Also FODMAPs may be an issue: Sources of fructans include wheat (although some wheat strains such as spelt contain lower amounts),[32] rye, barley, onion, garlic, Jerusalem and globe artichoke, asparagus, beetroot, chicory, dandelion leaves, leek, radicchio, the white part of spring onion, broccoli, brussels sprouts, cabbage, fennel and prebiotics such as fructooligosaccharides (FOS), oligofructose and inulin.
Polyols are found naturally in some fruit (particularly stone fruits), including apples, apricots, avocados, blackberries, cherries, lychees, nectarines, peaches, pears, plums, prunes, watermelon and some vegetables, including cauliflower, mushrooms and mange-tout peas. They are also used as bulk sweeteners and include isomalt, maltitol, mannitol, sorbitol and xylitol.4 -
Such a wealth of information!!! Thank you to everyone
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ugghhhh you guys lol!!! I have stayed away from raw veggies, eating mostly fat and some protein....taking extra magnesium, drinking coffee, herbal tea and water with lemon. Still no movement. Oh man, so uncomfortable today it's like my bowels are just gridlocked. I might try drinking shots of coconut oil or something lol. So desperate! 1
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I can't see your diary - are you eating any cheese or dairy?0
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I'll have to figure out how to share that, yes I do eat cheese and dairy though. The past couple days though, I have backed off that somewhat too. But maybe was the trigger? So confused but I can't rule anything out.....once I get past this maybe I will see a pattern/trigger next time? Of course, it would be even lovelier if there WASN'T a next time LOL0
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Dairy causes constipation issues with some people, try cutting it out and see if it helps? I also heard coconut oil can move things along, some people make fat bombs with it 2
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How about exercise? Maybe a good walk would get things moving?1
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I skimmed the replies. But You're sure it's no close to your monthly "time"? Progesterone causes a slow down in transit and can cause serious constipation. I used to get completely plugged every month a few days before
My period.0 -
Doesn't sound like this is your situation, but dehydration has been the source of my worst cases of constipation. It usually happens after I've been out all day hiking, in the sun, and sweating a lot. A couple days of drinking A LOT of broth (for sodium, to keep the fluids in me) and water to actually hydrate my poor shrivelled guts, along with a few handfuls of magnesium pills, has eventually gotten me sorted out.
Hope you feel better soon!2
