KETO / LCHF RASH - How to get rid of it?
anacrisg
Posts: 39 Member
Hello everybody! 
So, my SO and I adopted the Ketogenic Lifestyle 3 weeks ago. Our goal for our macros were 75% fat 25% Protein and 5% Carbs, trying to not exceed 20 grams of carbs every day. He has been very good at following that ratio and I've been around 67% fat...
We had a few days of low energy and feeling dizzy, so we started increasing our sodium intake, and taking Magnesium everyday. After a couple of days, Keto was the best thing that had happened to us! We felt great! I lost weight and looked leaner, we felt more energized, more focus and of course the food is amazing!
After 10 days of starting, he started a rash on his back, we weren't sure what it was and let it pass, it got worse... And worse... And worse... To be honest, it was awful, red, itchy, he was going crazy, he couldn't concentrate, it look horrible
We researched and found it was the Keto Rash, and "that it was very rare" and "nobody knows why it appears and there is no cure" and we found a very helpful page theketorash.com/ and we thought with Spirulina and Chlorella he could control it. 
I was TERRIFIED and felt so lucky that it wasn't me the one with the rash. So he started taking them but went to the doctor too. The doctor said he had never seen a low carb related rash. He gave him a prescription of a topical corticoisteroid and referred him to a dermatologist. 
The cream helped a lot with the inflammation but the itch was still there... So 3 days after, at the dermatologist, she says there is no relation of skin problems and digestion. She has two theories:
1. The additives that the vitamines and supplements have can cause allergies, or
2. The body went under a lot of stress by not finding carbs that reacted like that.
Earlier that week, I started going back to the gym, I am very intense and I go for 2 hours (cardio and other exercises) I shower immediately. I also started fasting. Well, on Thursday, I started showing signs of a rash!!!
Like, really? Wasn't it super rare?
Anyways, I've been trying to control it with spirulina and chlorella and maybe because my macros are not that extreme, I don't have it that bad... But I am afraid it might get worse.
There are so many theories... It's caused by sweat, it's toxicity in your body, it's candida, it's... whatever!... The only cure seems to be to increase carbs
We DO NOT want to increase carbs. We don't think antibiotics are the solution either.
I would love if someone could share with us how to cure it !!!!!
Please, help!
And thanks for reading my post, I know it was long !
So, my SO and I adopted the Ketogenic Lifestyle 3 weeks ago. Our goal for our macros were 75% fat 25% Protein and 5% Carbs, trying to not exceed 20 grams of carbs every day. He has been very good at following that ratio and I've been around 67% fat...
We had a few days of low energy and feeling dizzy, so we started increasing our sodium intake, and taking Magnesium everyday. After a couple of days, Keto was the best thing that had happened to us! We felt great! I lost weight and looked leaner, we felt more energized, more focus and of course the food is amazing!
After 10 days of starting, he started a rash on his back, we weren't sure what it was and let it pass, it got worse... And worse... And worse... To be honest, it was awful, red, itchy, he was going crazy, he couldn't concentrate, it look horrible
We researched and found it was the Keto Rash, and "that it was very rare" and "nobody knows why it appears and there is no cure" and we found a very helpful page theketorash.com/ and we thought with Spirulina and Chlorella he could control it. I was TERRIFIED and felt so lucky that it wasn't me the one with the rash. So he started taking them but went to the doctor too. The doctor said he had never seen a low carb related rash. He gave him a prescription of a topical corticoisteroid and referred him to a dermatologist. The cream helped a lot with the inflammation but the itch was still there... So 3 days after, at the dermatologist, she says there is no relation of skin problems and digestion. She has two theories:
1. The additives that the vitamines and supplements have can cause allergies, or
2. The body went under a lot of stress by not finding carbs that reacted like that.
Earlier that week, I started going back to the gym, I am very intense and I go for 2 hours (cardio and other exercises) I shower immediately. I also started fasting. Well, on Thursday, I started showing signs of a rash!!!
Like, really? Wasn't it super rare?Anyways, I've been trying to control it with spirulina and chlorella and maybe because my macros are not that extreme, I don't have it that bad... But I am afraid it might get worse.
There are so many theories... It's caused by sweat, it's toxicity in your body, it's candida, it's... whatever!... The only cure seems to be to increase carbs
We DO NOT want to increase carbs.
We don't think antibiotics are the solution either.I would love if someone could share with us how to cure it !!!!!
Please, help!
And thanks for reading my post, I know it was long !
2
Replies
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Why not raise your carbs a little and see if it goes away. Calories are king when it comes to weight management.17
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Some ideas provided in the link. Also consider..if you do follow the suggestions in the link and the rash continues you'll have to start looking for other culprits for the cause. The 'keto rash' is quite rare & being that both of you have it, it's very likely to be something you have both come in contact with.
https://www.dietdoctor.com/keto-rash-people-itch-low-carb5 -
Tiny_Dancer_in_Pink wrote: »Why not raise your carbs a little and see if it goes away. Calories are king when it comes to weight management.
My first thought as well. If the rash only appeared after go so low carb, raising carbs might fix it. I will say as someone who gets mystery rashes, the body doesn't whatever it wants. Even if you raise carbs or stop eating keto-type macros, you might still have the rash.2 -
Literally had the same thing happen to me. I had a random rash that started as a small group of red bumps that's I disregarded as body acne. A couple days later I was all over my stomach and going up into my neck. In a nervous panic I went to the doctor and he prescribed me a steroid cream that took care of the rash in about 2 weeks. I have no idea why it appeared to begin with but I have never experienced anything like it. It wasn't painful or caused any discomfort but it was ugly haha. I've been doing keto for the past 50 days straight and I believe that rash had something to do with the diet change. Who knows the exact reason. But I'm alive and well3
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Edit: I stared taking spirulina around the time the rash first started to develop. I don't think it had anything to do with it. I'm still using it everyday.1
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If it's that rare and you both have it, have you considered environmental triggers? New detergents, soaps? Something at the gym (I assume you both go) ?7
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I do not understand why they say this is rare. Of the people that I know that have done keto about half end up with this rash. That's not "rare" in my mind. If they stick it out it eventually goes away but that can take a long while. Of those I've known that have had it, it has taken as long as several months to go away. I'm not a keto person but from what I've seen, it's harmless.4
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Both of you? Wow. That is unusual. I would look at environmental triggers or illness too. Roseolla or fifth or other rashes.
From what I've heard is that the rash will pass, but I don't know a lot about it.
Good luck.1 -
Tiny_Dancer_in_Pink wrote: »Why not raise your carbs a little and see if it goes away. Calories are king when it comes to weight management.
Thank you for your reply! Yeah, he will start eating carbs, just a little bit and see how it goes. My rash doesn't give me any problems so far, but if it gets worse, I will increase the grams of carbs and keep an eye on the calories!0 -
StargazingGirl wrote: »Some ideas provided in the link. Also consider..if you do follow the suggestions in the link and the rash continues you'll have to start looking for other culprits for the cause. The 'keto rash' is quite rare & being that both of you have it, it's very likely to be something you have both come in contact with.
https://www.dietdoctor.com/keto-rash-people-itch-low-carb
Thank you for your time and for the information, yeah, it's very weird! Maybe something we're eating...0 -
Tiny_Dancer_in_Pink wrote: »Why not raise your carbs a little and see if it goes away. Calories are king when it comes to weight management.
My first thought as well. If the rash only appeared after go so low carb, raising carbs might fix it. I will say as someone who gets mystery rashes, the body doesn't whatever it wants. Even if you raise carbs or stop eating keto-type macros, you might still have the rash.
Yeah, I would try to find the perfect place between carbs and being in ketosis if possible! Thanks for your reply!0 -
Literally had the same thing happen to me. I had a random rash that started as a small group of red bumps that's I disregarded as body acne. A couple days later I was all over my stomach and going up into my neck. In a nervous panic I went to the doctor and he prescribed me a steroid cream that took care of the rash in about 2 weeks. I have no idea why it appeared to begin with but I have never experienced anything like it. It wasn't painful or caused any discomfort but it was ugly haha. I've been doing keto for the past 50 days straight and I believe that rash had something to do with the diet change. Who knows the exact reason. But I'm alive and well
Thanks for sharing your experience! I will continue taking spirulina and chlorella just in case!0 -
Heather4448 wrote: »If it's that rare and you both have it, have you considered environmental triggers? New detergents, soaps? Something at the gym (I assume you both go) ?
The only thing new is that we both started the ketogenic diet. I go to the gym, he works out at home. What I think is that he doesn't eat enough so that stresses his body, and what I THINK triggered my rash is that I started fasting and working out on keto which 'stresses' the body... Who knows :S
Thank you for your reply!0 -
ronjsteele1 wrote: »I do not understand why they say this is rare. Of the people that I know that have done keto about half end up with this rash. That's not "rare" in my mind. If they stick it out it eventually goes away but that can take a long while. Of those I've known that have had it, it has taken as long as several months to go away. I'm not a keto person but from what I've seen, it's harmless.
Yeah, I hope it goes away too!! Out of that, keto is great!! Thank you for your answer!0 -
Both of you? Wow. That is unusual. I would look at environmental triggers or illness too. Roseolla or fifth or other rashes.
From what I've heard is that the rash will pass, but I don't know a lot about it.
Good luck.
I hope it passes soon! His rash is waaaay worse than mine, mine is just little pink spots on my rib cage and it doesn't itch... his is on his lower back, belly, armpits and it's red and swollen and very itchy!! The only thing that changed is that we started going keto but we have been eating different things and he's more strict with the macros. Thank you for your support!0 -
Have you ever tried just a low carb diet? It has some of the benefits of Keto (so I'm told, I've never done Keto.) I would think that adding lots of veggies to your diet would be good for your skin.1
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I've been keto for several years, and I remember having some itchiness in the early days. I read somewhere it was something to do with the fat excreting from your skin creating a histamine effect when you first switch from sugar burning to fat burning. It didn't last long though, and I think adjusting my macros a bit for more protein and a little less fat helped.2
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CynthiasChoice wrote: »Have you ever tried just a low carb diet? It has some of the benefits of Keto (so I'm told, I've never done Keto.) I would think that adding lots of veggies to your diet would be good for your skin.
Yeah, after reading all this it got me thinking... Maybe I should increase carbs little by little, just enough to keep ketosis, one thing that I am sure is that I will keep an eye on the carbs the rest of my life 1 -
EbonyDahlia wrote: »I've been keto for several years, and I remember having some itchiness in the early days. I read somewhere it was something to do with the fat excreting from your skin creating a histamine effect when you first switch from sugar burning to fat burning. It didn't last long though, and I think adjusting my macros a bit for more protein and a little less fat helped.
Yeah I also read that some foods, like mushrooms, that we include in the diet are high in histamine and since your body is low in carbs, somehow it can't fight it as well and it causes the rash, lol! There are so many theories! And your idea of increasing protein is great! I don't understand why people increase carbs instead of protein... But I hope you are right and it goes away!! Thank you sooo sooo much !0 -
EbonyDahlia wrote: »I've been keto for several years, and I remember having some itchiness in the early days. I read somewhere it was something to do with the fat excreting from your skin creating a histamine effect when you first switch from sugar burning to fat burning. It didn't last long though, and I think adjusting my macros a bit for more protein and a little less fat helped.
Yeah I also read that some foods, like mushrooms, that we include in the diet are high in histamine and since your body is low in carbs, somehow it can't fight it as well and it causes the rash, lol! There are so many theories! And your idea of increasing protein is great! I don't understand why people increase carbs instead of protein... But I hope you are right and it goes away!! Thank you sooo sooo much !
It's largely because proteins can drive the insulin response similar to carbs, and there is a huge fear that protein (as it can convert to glucose) will kick you out of ketosis. But I think it's more fear than reality because most people can definitely hit 1g of pro/lb of lbm without an issue.
Also, most people (not all) can increase case to about 40-50g and still stay within ketosis, especially if you are working out.5 -
EbonyDahlia wrote: »I've been keto for several years, and I remember having some itchiness in the early days. I read somewhere it was something to do with the fat excreting from your skin creating a histamine effect when you first switch from sugar burning to fat burning. It didn't last long though, and I think adjusting my macros a bit for more protein and a little less fat helped.
Yeah I also read that some foods, like mushrooms, that we include in the diet are high in histamine and since your body is low in carbs, somehow it can't fight it as well and it causes the rash, lol! There are so many theories! And your idea of increasing protein is great! I don't understand why people increase carbs instead of protein... But I hope you are right and it goes away!! Thank you sooo sooo much !
It's largely because proteins can drive the insulin response similar to carbs, and there is a huge fear that protein (as it can convert to glucose) will kick you out of ketosis. But I think it's more fear than reality because most people can definitely hit 1g of pro/lb of lbm without an issue.
Also, most people (not all) can increase case to about 40-50g and still stay within ketosis, especially if you are working out.
It makes sense to me... I'm going to try it this way !! Thanks again !!! 0 -
psuLemon beat me to it.
I can be around 40 and still be in Keto. The wiggle room is admittedly really really nice. ;D Good luck!!!! 2 -
It could be coincidental?0
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I would say stop the diet for a couple weeks and see if it goes away. Is the seriously diet more important than getting rid of the rash? If it doesn't go away then you can go back to the diet and the fern will have more info to help find a solution.5
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crooked_left_hook wrote: »I would say stop the diet for a couple weeks and see if it goes away. Is the seriously diet more important than getting rid of the rash? If it doesn't go away then you can go back to the diet and the fern will have more info to help find a solution.
I ’d like to reserve adding carbs back into my diet as a last resort because of all the benefits I've seen in my body, mood, energy, focus... and I've lost 8 pounds in 3 weeks eating delicious things! My rash doesn't bother me and it's small... My bf's rash is very very bad, and huge and everywhere, he feels the same benefits too with the diet, that's why we were looking for alternatives... He will increase carbs
1 -
crooked_left_hook wrote: »I would say stop the diet for a couple weeks and see if it goes away. Is the seriously diet more important than getting rid of the rash? If it doesn't go away then you can go back to the diet and the fern will have more info to help find a solution.
I ’d like to reserve adding carbs back into my diet as a last resort because of all the benefits I've seen in my body, mood, energy, focus... and I've lost 8 pounds in 3 weeks eating delicious things! My rash doesn't bother me and it's small... My bf's rash is very very bad, and huge and everywhere, he feels the same benefits too with the diet, that's why we were looking for alternatives... He will increase carbs
Keep in mind the first several weeks is largely going to be glycogen/water depletion...
But you can definitely add a bit of carbs back into the equation to see if it helps... but you still have room to stay in ketosis.5 -
Incidentally, I did under 20g of carbs for about 4 years. In the last 3 months I've increased it to a 40g target, but under 50g as a hard target. I am still in ketosis - probably because I've been fat adapted for so long but it means I can spoil myself with a few things like pumpkin and blueberries 2
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What? No. The fact "Keto rash" is rare means it is less likely that this rash has anything to do with your diet, and more likely that it's just a coincidence. Rashes just happen randomly. If people in our household started getting rashes on their backs around the same time, the first suspect would be the laundry detergent. Manufacturers change recipes sometimes without warning and they can cause reactions. It's happened to us more than once. Or perhaps you're adding more detergent than you need to the wash, or the machine isn't rinsing properly.
It's a big assumption that the Keto diet is the cause, imo. You seem very convinced that it is but I can't see why.4 -
CattOfTheGarage wrote: »
What? No. The fact "Keto rash" is rare means it is less likely that this rash has anything to do with your diet, and more likely that it's just a coincidence. Rashes just happen randomly. If people in our household started getting rashes on their backs around the same time, the first suspect would be the laundry detergent. Manufacturers change recipes sometimes without warning and they can cause reactions. It's happened to us more than once. Or perhaps you're adding more detergent than you need to the wash, or the machine isn't rinsing properly.
It's a big assumption that the Keto diet is the cause, imo. You seem very convinced that it is but I can't see why.
Yes, I'm convinced that is related to Keto, although our rashes are different, the only thing we have change is the food... He does his laundry and I do mine we don't mix it either, same detergents, same amount, machine is relatively new... And we've researched a lot and people gets rid of it by increasing carbs 0
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