Feeling super irritable on low carb

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gnarlycarly227
gnarlycarly227 Posts: 3 Member
in Motivation and Support
Hey MFP! I have a question. So I've started a lower carb diet.. Yesterday was my first day and I felt extremely depressed/ irritable/ moody etc. Also I had such a hard time falling and staying asleep. is this normal? I just need to get through the first few days before I start feeling better right? Thanks in advance for all your help! x

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  • cathipa
    cathipa Posts: 2,991 Member
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    How low are your carbs?
  • jkwolly
    jkwolly Posts: 3,049 Member
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    Is there a reason you're doing low carb?

  • nutmegoreo
    nutmegoreo Posts: 15,532 Member
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    I'd be irritable too on low carb. It wouldn't work for me, because I wouldn't stick with it. I'm sure others will be along shortly to give advice on if this is normal and how to manage it. There is also a low carb forum that has a large number of active members. I just wanted to pop in and say that it isn't necessary to go low carb to lose, but if it is what you want to do, it can certainly be done.
  • Annie_01
    Annie_01 Posts: 3,096 Member
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    One day is usually not long enough to judge if a certain way of eating will work for you. If you really want to eat low carb I would give it a couple of weeks. Look up "carb flu".
  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,868 Member
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    How low? You can low carb without doing keto...
  • amusedmonkey
    amusedmonkey Posts: 10,330 Member
    edited January 2017
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    If you are prone to depression I would highly recommend against going low carb. It messed with my brain in odd ways when I tried it, and it did not get better with time (in fact it got worse). If you wish to give it a fair try before deciding if it's for you, see if you can last a couple of weeks. That's when most of the symptoms are supposed to ease up. If, however, at any point you feel suicidal or unable to function stop immediately.

    There is nothing wrong with giving any way of eating a fair try to see if you thrive on it. There is also nothing wrong with stopping if you decide something is not for you. There are many approaches for controlling your calorie intake, no one approach is absolutely necessary for weight loss, and no one approach works for everybody.

    ETA: make sure you are eating enough salt. It could make some of the symptoms better.
  • gnarlycarly227
    gnarlycarly227 Posts: 3 Member
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    hi everyone, sorry for the delay! i had 73g of carbs yesterday (which isn't even that low but its just different from what i'm used to i guess), 50g of fat, and 61g of protein. also, thanks so much everyone for the advice!! carb flu seems interesting. i sometimes find that i only lose weight when i reduce my carb intake. though it usually does eventually come back.. you think two weeks is enough time to decide if it makes sense for me to continue?
  • kgeyser
    kgeyser Posts: 22,505 Member
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    If my math is correct, you only ate 986 calories. I wouldn't say "carb flu," it's likely that undereating is the cause of your symptoms.
  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,868 Member
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    gnarlycarly227 wrote: »
    hi everyone, sorry for the delay! i had 73g of carbs yesterday (which isn't even that low but its just different from what i'm used to i guess), 50g of fat, and 61g of protein. also, thanks so much everyone for the advice!! carb flu seems interesting. i sometimes find that i only lose weight when i reduce my carb intake. though it usually does eventually come back.. you think two weeks is enough time to decide if it makes sense for me to continue?

    73 grams of carbs is low...and also, this adds up to only about 1,000 calories which could be a large component of your issues.
  • thegreatcoyote
    thegreatcoyote Posts: 76 Member
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    low carb makes me pretty mean, even if i'm getting enough cals from fat and protein, could be low carb isn't a good fit.
  • jkwolly
    jkwolly Posts: 3,049 Member
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    thegreatcoyote wrote: »
    low carb makes me pretty mean, even if i'm getting enough cals from fat and protein, could be low carb isn't a good fit.
    Ditto, I legit become a ravenous B.
    Carbs are life. <3
  • SolotoCEO
    SolotoCEO Posts: 293 Member
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    I've done the low carb...the weight generally does come off fast - and comes back on just as fast. I've found that balanced eating works best for me. From a nutritionist perspective - it takes 6-8 weeks to really see if a new eating plan is going to "work". Two weeks of low carb will get rid of some water - but not much else.
  • for_ever_young66
    for_ever_young66 Posts: 2,878 Member
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    SolotoCEO wrote: »
    I've done the low carb...the weight generally does come off fast - and comes back on just as fast. I've found that balanced eating works best for me. From a nutritionist perspective - it takes 6-8 weeks to really see if a new eating plan is going to "work". Two weeks of low carb will get rid of some water - but not much else.

    ^^^^^THIS^^^^^

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