Headaches
knorris84
Posts: 141 Member
Okay guys here we go again!
I am day 68 keto and trying to still figure out all these electrolytes. I went way over board a few weeks ago and tried to supplement when I didn't really need it. I got myself back to feeling better thanks to all of you wonderful people. I am still adding 1tsp of pink salt to either a Powerade zero or actually lately a crystal light water daily. I've had a day here and there where my legs kinda ached some and added a magnesium at night and would be fine. I have woke up every day since starting keto with a headache, but it usually goes away after a few minutes and a couple sips of coffee. The last few days though it hasn't went away at all. My sleep isn't the best right now with my toddler. Tcunbeliever has mentioned decreasing my calorie deficit by 300, which I've done and so now I'm only at a 200 Cal deficit. I also added breakfast this morning in case it was blood sugar. The headaches are just getting worse each day. Today I noticed if I sat there for a while it would subside a lot but as soon as I stood back up and started doing anything it would imediately come back. I did take some magnesium today about lunch and the headaches went away until about 6:30 tonight. I'm doing a migraine journal to see if a certain food or something could be triggering them. My question is how do you know when to take magnesium or something before it's too late and it gets to this point? And since it helped for half the day and is now back was it even that? Should I take one like every 3 days or so just to keep it on board? I even checked my blood pressure to make sure and it was 109/74. Ladies, if you have them due to hormones, is there anything you can do for that? If it's hormonal migraines does that mean just that or is it typical to have a food trigger also? Thanks in advance!
I am day 68 keto and trying to still figure out all these electrolytes. I went way over board a few weeks ago and tried to supplement when I didn't really need it. I got myself back to feeling better thanks to all of you wonderful people. I am still adding 1tsp of pink salt to either a Powerade zero or actually lately a crystal light water daily. I've had a day here and there where my legs kinda ached some and added a magnesium at night and would be fine. I have woke up every day since starting keto with a headache, but it usually goes away after a few minutes and a couple sips of coffee. The last few days though it hasn't went away at all. My sleep isn't the best right now with my toddler. Tcunbeliever has mentioned decreasing my calorie deficit by 300, which I've done and so now I'm only at a 200 Cal deficit. I also added breakfast this morning in case it was blood sugar. The headaches are just getting worse each day. Today I noticed if I sat there for a while it would subside a lot but as soon as I stood back up and started doing anything it would imediately come back. I did take some magnesium today about lunch and the headaches went away until about 6:30 tonight. I'm doing a migraine journal to see if a certain food or something could be triggering them. My question is how do you know when to take magnesium or something before it's too late and it gets to this point? And since it helped for half the day and is now back was it even that? Should I take one like every 3 days or so just to keep it on board? I even checked my blood pressure to make sure and it was 109/74. Ladies, if you have them due to hormones, is there anything you can do for that? If it's hormonal migraines does that mean just that or is it typical to have a food trigger also? Thanks in advance!
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I get hormonal migraines. They're very regular and i know exactly what caused them because of what day of the month it is. 4 , 100 mg advil is the only thing that takes the edge off those. I just have to deal. They last about 24-36 hrs and then are gone.
What your desribing happens to me as well though, if I'm salt deficient. It's my first sign I'm salt deficient. So, if it were me, I would start and end my day with a salt supplement.
I take Calm at bedtime and I add salt to it. I wake up with a small glass of salt water. I increase both slightly if I'm getting headaches. 4 years in I still have to monitor salt intake and ensure I'm getting enough. It changes all the time for me. So don't feel bad you haven't "nailed it" yet.1 -
I've never had to supplement magnesium, so I can't help on that one.
I would recommend trying more sodium throughout the day and see if it helps.
I'm also not a huge fan of pink salt -- it can be high in fluoride, for one thing. So I would recommend trying some regular salt, Redmond Real Salt, whatever you have that isn't pink. And see if you notice a difference.0 -
You will always get different opinions, but there isn’t one right way for everybody. Everyone has to find what works for them, that’s why you take each recommendation and find what works best for you (N=1).
In my case I take magnesium citrate 400mg twice a day, everyday. Then I use salt tablets (since I don’t care for the taste of salt) to supplement my sodium intake. If I get a headache during the day, or leg cramps at night I will drink a shot of pickle juice, and that seems to work for me.0 -
I usually get foot or calf cramps if my magnesium is low so my first symptom is not a headache. I take one VitaCost Magnesium Ultra daily, and will take them twice a day or two at a time if I am crampy...my husband takes 2 a day to help with his mood/depression, but both of us also strength train which boosts your need for magnesium, so I don't know what is a "normal keto dose":
https://vitacost.com/vitacost-magnesium-ultra-300-mg-180-capsules
For what it's worth, you can't get too much topical magnesium, your body won't absorb more than it needs via skin, so maybe switching to something topical would be better. Not sure if you have time for a daily epsom salt bath with a toddler, but it would ensure plenty of magnesium without the side effects of too much magnesium.
Also, some people have to supplement potassium - that's not one I have ever needed to worry about so I don't know much about the symptoms of low potassium...and I think that's another one where you don't want too much.
Maybe eating more potassium and magnesium rich foods would be a good option?0 -
I used to get regular migraines before keto. Completely stopped. It was after a week of cheating at xmas that I could feel them coming back, so it was definitely a high-carb diet doing it. Could be that was due to all the sugar or the hormone levels rising from said sugar.
Keeping a migraine diary is good. Being so long into keto, I wouldn't have thought it was flu. Your diary looks good to me. Are you drinking enough plain water throughout the day? Getting the headache in the morning could be overnight dehydration.
The caffeine and salt you consume can dehydrate you also so just make sure to keep drinking. Burning fat for energy uses more water than burning carbs. So again, you need more than the average person.
Electrolytes are lost in the all the water flushing but your supplementation should regulate that. I do fine on just diet. If I get some occasional low electrolyte symptom like muscle cramps or weakness, then I'll eat something high in magnesium or potassium that day with more salt. Only thing I supplement currently is folic acid as a blood test showed I was low (despite having plenty of eggs and leafy greens).
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I get hormonal migraines. They're very regular and i know exactly what caused them because of what day of the month it is. 4 , 100 mg advil is the only thing that takes the edge off those. I just have to deal. They last about 24-36 hrs and then are gone.
What your desribing happens to me as well though, if I'm salt deficient. It's my first sign I'm salt deficient. So, if it were me, I would start and end my day with a salt supplement.
See my neurologist is certain they are hormonal and even suggest that I change my birth control. I talked with my gyno and he agreed to stop it until now could see him. I have an appointment on the 29th. Since stopping the pill I haven't had shark week yet. I know it's all thrown off and I did have a few days of I knew it was coming bc I had all the symptoms so bad I couldn't get out of bed but it went away after a few days and it never actually came so now I don't have anything to go by to even know.
I think I will divide my sodium for morning and night so it's not all at once. Maybe that will help keep it stable.1 -
cricketpower wrote: »I've never had to supplement magnesium, so I can't help on that one.
I would recommend trying more sodium throughout the day and see if it helps.
I'm also not a huge fan of pink salt -- it can be high in fluoride, for one thing. So I would recommend trying some regular salt, Redmond Real Salt, whatever you have that isn't pink. And see if you notice a difference.
Ya know I just started doing the pink salt a few days ago. Before that I was just doing plain ol table salt. I may go back to that until I can go get a better quality of salt. I haven't even thought about that.0 -
You will always get different opinions, but there isn’t one right way for everybody. Everyone has to find what works for them, that’s why you take each recommendation and find what works best for you (N=1).
In my case I take magnesium citrate 400mg twice a day, everyday. Then I use salt tablets (since I don’t care for the taste of salt) to supplement my sodium intake. If I get a headache during the day, or leg cramps at night I will drink a shot of pickle juice, and that seems to work for me.
Thank you so much! You're right I'm getting different opinions but that's great bc I can try different things and see what works. I love the support here. It really is amazing!0 -
tcunbeliever wrote: »I usually get foot or calf cramps if my magnesium is low so my first symptom is not a headache. I take one VitaCost Magnesium Ultra daily, and will take them twice a day or two at a time if I am crampy...my husband takes 2 a day to help with his mood/depression, but both of us also strength train which boosts your need for magnesium, so I don't know what is a "normal keto dose":
https://vitacost.com/vitacost-magnesium-ultra-300-mg-180-capsules
For what it's worth, you can't get too much topical magnesium, your body won't absorb more than it needs via skin, so maybe switching to something topical would be better. Not sure if you have time for a daily epsom salt bath with a toddler, but it would ensure plenty of magnesium without the side effects of too much magnesium.
Also, some people have to supplement potassium - that's not one I have ever needed to worry about so I don't know much about the symptoms of low potassium...and I think that's another one where you don't want too much.
Maybe eating more potassium and magnesium rich foods would be a good option?
Tiffany I have never thought about soaking in the tub. I could definitely start doing that some maybe at night after I get him to bed. I always have epsom salt so that would be an easy fix. Thanks for that suggestion! I have been trying to eat more foods with potassium and magnesium in them.0 -
Larkspur94 wrote: »I used to get regular migraines before keto. Completely stopped. It was after a week of cheating at xmas that I could feel them coming back, so it was definitely a high-carb diet doing it. Could be that was due to all the sugar or the hormone levels rising from said sugar.
Keeping a migraine diary is good. Being so long into keto, I wouldn't have thought it was flu. Your diary looks good to me. Are you drinking enough plain water throughout the day? Getting the headache in the morning could be overnight dehydration.
The caffeine and salt you consume can dehydrate you also so just make sure to keep drinking. Burning fat for energy uses more water than burning carbs. So again, you need more than the average person.
Electrolytes are lost in the all the water flushing but your supplementation should regulate that. I do fine on just diet. If I get some occasional low electrolyte symptom like muscle cramps or weakness, then I'll eat something high in magnesium or potassium that day with more salt. Only thing I supplement currently is folic acid as a blood test showed I was low (despite having plenty of eggs and leafy greens).
That makes sense! I am a terrible drinker. I may get a cup of coffee, a bottle of crystal light water mixed with the salt, maybe another bottle of water, and occasionally a diet drink at nap time, if it's been one of those days, and sometimes a little Powerade zero. I have never been one to drink much even growing up my parents were constantly forcing me to drink. I bet that may have a lot to do with it since most of the time it does go away after I've had some coffee or something. My bladder is tiny or I think it is bc like one 16oz drink and I'm going to the ladies room every 5 min so that usually deters me from wanting to drink and I definitely try to stop a little while before bed or I'm up all night. I will try to incorporate more water daily. Thank you!0 -
Btw: The body only absorbs the amount of magnesium it needs. When you get too much you will have loose stool (think Milk of Magnesia and what it’s used for). If that happens you then know to take less. You’re body doesn’t store the extra you might take.1
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Btw: The body only absorbs the amount of magnesium it needs. When you get too much you will have loose stool (think Milk of Magnesia and what it’s used for). If that happens you then know to take less. You’re body doesn’t store the extra you might take.
Oh! I did not know this. That's a really good to know. I may need to take a little more then bc I am not very regular at all. I've always had problems with it but I think it's a little worse since keto and I eat my veggies.0 -
Very few people don’t need it. Most have to take it in some for every day or the symptoms return (do for me!). Plus as a population we are chronically low in magnesium anyway. Our foods have been depleted of natural minerals from overuse of the soil for growing crops. We just don’t get them from our foods like they did just 50 years ago.3
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You need to take salt every day. Always. 1tsp isn’t enough.2
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Very few people don’t need it. Most have to take it in some for every day or the symptoms return (do for me!). Plus as a population we are chronically low in magnesium anyway. Our foods have been depleted of natural minerals from overuse of the soil for growing crops. We just don’t get them from our foods like they did just 50 years ago.
I will start taking one at night and see how that goes and then adjust from there. Thank you so much!1 -
Sunny_Bunny_ wrote: »You need to take salt every day. Always. 1tsp isn’t enough.
So much much would you recommend? I did a half tsp this morning, 1/4 tsp late morning, and another half around 3 bc my head started hurting again. I have used more cooking today too. I also around 6,000 as of now. Should I do more before bed?0 -
Lots of great tips to try here. I second a soak with Dr. Teals epsom salts. But, I've never needed to supplement while eating low carb either. I am wondering if you've considered your sleep contributing to your headaches? I can wake with a severe headache if I've slept wrong, have snored a little, or have a slightly blocked sinus. My neck can be the slightest out of alignment to not cause pain, but give me bad headaches as well. It's good to hear you've been in contact with a doctor about it. Keep reaching out until it's resolved. You deserve to feel good.1
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So I woke up feeling much better this morning. I ended up taking about twice the sodium I was taking, I took a 250 magnesium last night, and I got more sleep. My son was only up for a little over an hour instead of 3 during the night. I also got in a little more to drink yesterday too. I'm honestly not sure what helped but my head is just barely hurting. I went back to my bulletproof coffee this morning bc I wasn't really hungry and if possible I'd rather not eat breakfast. I starve all day when I eat in the morning. Plus, I have gotten so used to my coffee like this I can't drink it the other way. Like I got maybe half a cup down yesterday morning and was so nauseous. We will try and see if I can skip breakfast again but I kinda still think some could be blood sugar or something. Maybe I can do some nuts or something in a little while to get me to lunch. I'm still hoping I'm not having food triggers too but the way it is all the time I dunno. I'm still keeping a journal just in case. Thank you all so much for your help and advice!1
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Sunny_Bunny_ wrote: »You need to take salt every day. Always. 1tsp isn’t enough.
So much much would you recommend? I did a half tsp this morning, 1/4 tsp late morning, and another half around 3 bc my head started hurting again. I have used more cooking today too. I also around 6,000 as of now. Should I do more before bed?
Minimum is around 2tsp a day in addition to salting all food but you could need even more. Drinking a lot of water increases your sodium need. So does sweating or physical activity.
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Sunny_Bunny_ wrote: »Sunny_Bunny_ wrote: »You need to take salt every day. Always. 1tsp isn’t enough.
So much much would you recommend? I did a half tsp this morning, 1/4 tsp late morning, and another half around 3 bc my head started hurting again. I have used more cooking today too. I also around 6,000 as of now. Should I do more before bed?
Minimum is around 2tsp a day in addition to salting all food but you could need even more. Drinking a lot of water increases your sodium need. So does sweating or physical activity.
First of all reading back over what I posted...wow I really need to re-read before sending Ha! I did end up doing another 1/4 tsp last night so that put me at 1.5tsp. I think I have it planned out to 2 for today. I do have to say tho the more I have drank today, the more I have peed (seriously every 5-10min) and that's when my head starts hurting more. Ugh, I dunno if I will ever get it right. Maybe I should just add 1/4 tsp to everything I drink? Or just do the salt by itself not mixed in anything?0 -
Just to be sure, are you suffering from any allergies/sinus issues, or possibly tension headaches?
I can usually zero in on sinus pressure if I look hard left/right or up/down with just my eyes. If the pain increases, then it's sinus pressure. Sudafed (or generic) + ibuprofen works great for those.
If it's tension, it's usually just a constant pain in either just the temples, or reaching from my neck over the top of my head. Ibuprofen again to the rescue.
Hope you get relief soon! Constant headaches are miserable......
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VictoryGarden wrote: »Just to be sure, are you suffering from any allergies/sinus issues, or possibly tension headaches?
I can usually zero in on sinus pressure if I look hard left/right or up/down with just my eyes. If the pain increases, then it's sinus pressure. Sudafed (or generic) + ibuprofen works great for those.
If it's tension, it's usually just a constant pain in either just the temples, or reaching from my neck over the top of my head. Ibuprofen again to the rescue.
Hope you get relief soon! Constant headaches are miserable......
Thank you so much! You better believe I tried you little test too 😀. It's not sinus I don't think. I haven't taken anything for it bc I didn't know to if it was possible something was triggering it. Didn't know if that would just cover it up or not? 🤔0 -
It’s a vicious cycle. The more you drink, the more you pee. The more you pee, the more sodium you lose... I would supplement with everything you drink until you consisfeel better and at least until you’ve ruled out any other cold or sickness that could be causing it. But, if it gets better after the sodium intake, I would bet it’s the need for it consistently. You just went so long in a deficit that you’re having to play “catch up”. I did the same thing four years ago. It takes time to accept that we need these supplements (that go against everything we’ve ever learned about eating!) and by the time we do we really need them. You will find your balance and you will feel great when you get there!2
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It’s a vicious cycle. The more you drink, the more you pee. The more you pee, the more sodium you lose... I would supplement with everything you drink until you consisfeel better and at least until you’ve ruled out any other cold or sickness that could be causing it. But, if it gets better after the sodium intake, I would bet it’s the need for it consistently. You just went so long in a deficit that you’re having to play “catch up”. I did the same thing four years ago. It takes time to accept that we need these supplements (that go against everything we’ve ever learned about eating!) and by the time we do we really need them. You will find your balance and you will feel great when you get there!
This makes total sense! Thank you so much for saying this. I kept noticing I'd get a little light headed when I stood for a couple weeks there, but I was doing sodium (just not enough) and I wasn't eating breakfast so I honestly just thought I couldn't physically skip a meal. I used to have blood sugar issues. I noticed increasing the sodium has helped a ton but then as the day goes it starts getting bad again so the fact I'm peeing it all out makes since. I agree I think I should add a little sodium into everything for the time being. I've also been taking a 250 magnesium every night and I think it's helping too. Still not regular yet so I actually may have to increase that too to get me back on track... replenish. Thank you so much for taking the time to help me out!1 -
When our sodium level is down, our body begins to leech out the other electrolytes as well. It will tank your mag and potassium. If sodium is up, the others will eventually replenish through intake. The funny thing is that a lot of things constantly deplete your mag level as well. Coffee, certain sodas, exercise, stress. I do all 4 of those daily, and if I don't do both topical and mag pill I get Charley Horses in my feet.
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baconslave wrote: »When our sodium level is down, our body begins to leech out the other electrolytes as well. It will tank your mag and potassium. If sodium is up, the others will eventually replenish through intake. The funny thing is that a lot of things constantly deplete your mag level as well. Coffee, certain sodas, exercise, stress. I do all 4 of those daily, and if I don't do both topical and mag pill I get Charley Horses in my feet.
Ouch! That's sounds painful! I've noticed my legs kinda achey from time to time but I haven't really had any cramps in 2 weeks and that was the first time. However, I have a lot of arthritis and joint pain just typically so sometimes it's hard to tell which is acting up, especially during cold, rainy weather.0 -
One teaspoon of salt is only 2300 mg of sodium. Two tsp salt = 4600 mg sodium. Most keto'ers find that they need at LEAST 3000-5000 mg a day.
If you go higher,and it sounds like you should, there is not any real worry about getting too much salt. Unless you have a kidney problem you will just excrete the extra sodium in your urine.
I had the muscle cramps for a few nights a few weeks into ketosis. I just couldn't believe that I needed that much salt. LOL Once I upped salt it was better. I think if you are not sure that it is a muscle cramp, then it probably isn't. I have a lot of arthritis too but when I got my cramps it woke me up and had me flying out of bed hitting and massaging it to try and get it to relax. It must have looked pretty funny.
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One teaspoon of salt is only 2300 mg of sodium. Two tsp salt = 4600 mg sodium. Most keto'ers find that they need at LEAST 3000-5000 mg a day.
If you go higher,and it sounds like you should, there is not any real worry about getting too much salt. Unless you have a kidney problem you will just excrete the extra sodium in your urine.
I had the muscle cramps for a few nights a few weeks into ketosis. I just couldn't believe that I needed that much salt. LOL Once I upped salt it was better. I think if you are not sure that it is a muscle cramp, then it probably isn't. I have a lot of arthritis too but when I got my cramps it woke me up and had me flying out of bed hitting and massaging it to try and get it to relax. It must have looked pretty funny.
That all makes a lot of sense. I've gotten 6,000 or more sodium the last two days and I haven't had a headache at all today! I really was worrying about too much sodium bc I mean that really is a lot but as long as it doesn't hurt me in the long run then I'm good with it. I don't mind it all. That one time my legs were hurting it wasn't a cramp, but they ached so bad that I couldn't hardly stand up and walking was almost impossible. I took magnesium that night and the next morning it was gone. I've been adding the magnesium at night lately to get it all replenished and hopefully it will help with my stomach too. Maybe I won't have to always take it tho. Haha my husband used to get leg cramps when he didn't drink enough in the summer and he jumped out of bed the same way!1 -
I think sodium needs really vary between people and over time. There are some that never or rarely supplement. I seem to need the sodium still, but it works.:)
I've heard of muscle aches as a symptom before. Spasms tend to hit when sodium has been low for a while and potassium and magnesium are getting leached out and low, as mentioned up thread.
Sounds like you are figuring out what you need.:)0 -
Sunny_Bunny_ wrote: »Sunny_Bunny_ wrote: »You need to take salt every day. Always. 1tsp isn’t enough.
So much much would you recommend? I did a half tsp this morning, 1/4 tsp late morning, and another half around 3 bc my head started hurting again. I have used more cooking today too. I also around 6,000 as of now. Should I do more before bed?
Minimum is around 2tsp a day in addition to salting all food but you could need even more. Drinking a lot of water increases your sodium need. So does sweating or physical activity.
First of all reading back over what I posted...wow I really need to re-read before sending Ha! I did end up doing another 1/4 tsp last night so that put me at 1.5tsp. I think I have it planned out to 2 for today. I do have to say tho the more I have drank today, the more I have peed (seriously every 5-10min) and that's when my head starts hurting more. Ugh, I dunno if I will ever get it right. Maybe I should just add 1/4 tsp to everything I drink? Or just do the salt by itself not mixed in anything?
I don’t like adding it to water myself because it’s too much water for me. I just swallow coarse salt crystals like a pill with a small amount of water.0
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