Hypoglycemia issues after cutting carbs/calories?

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Kinnheidi
Kinnheidi Posts: 7 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
Hi everyone! So Ive been trying to cut back on the carbs and calories recently and always about 5 days into it I start getting really shaky, headachey, and other hypo symptoms. So that usually ruins it and I go back to more carbs... I read online that that happens quite a lot to people at the beginning of lower carb diet changes till your body can set itself right again. Just curious, has anyone else run into these issues and did it get better on its own? I'm really hoping it does since I want to get off all these carbs and heal my body!

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  • Lietchi
    Lietchi Posts: 6,172 Member
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    There's a thing called keto flu. It's not from being hypoglycemic, I think, but more from your electrolytes being out of whack. Upping your sodium intake should help.

    This is just info I've picked up from reading the forums here, others with more low carb experience will hopefully chime in.
  • kshama2001
    kshama2001 Posts: 27,969 Member
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    Kinnheidi wrote: »
    Hi everyone! So Ive been trying to cut back on the carbs and calories recently and always about 5 days into it I start getting really shaky, headachey, and other hypo symptoms. So that usually ruins it and I go back to more carbs... I read online that that happens quite a lot to people at the beginning of lower carb diet changes till your body can set itself right again. Just curious, has anyone else run into these issues and did it get better on its own? I'm really hoping it does since I want to get off all these carbs and heal my body!

    It could be the carbs OR the calories. Need more info:

    1. How many carbs were you eating and how many are you eating now?
    2. What weekly weight loss goal did you set?
    3. How many pounds do you want to lose total?
  • Kinnheidi
    Kinnheidi Posts: 7 Member
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    Lietchi: Thanks! I doubt its the keto flu cause I havent cut them "that" drastically... like I havent gone keto just lower carbs then normal.
    Kshama2001: Its hard for me to answer those since I didnt record my previous eating...but it prob was a crazy ton of carbs. Ate sweets and pasta/rice almost constantly as meals. I dont count carbs since Im not really going for keto but I cut them at least by half I'm assuming since ive been more concentrating on healthy fibers and proteins. So I prob was eating around 3000 calories a day and then the worst symptoms came when I cut them to around 1500. Mind you, I have upped my calories to around 2000+ recently and Im not losing a single pound. I know I have a host of hormonal issues. I was starting to lose at the 1400-1500 mark but then the hypo symptoms was also getting me. I find it weird tho... since Ive started eating a nice breakfast like 2 boiled eggs or whatever...on the weekends If I dont get up and eat breakfast the hypo symptoms are horrendous. Im thrown off by that since I thought hypo mainly gets you in between meals vs morning times. Total Id like to lose 100 lbs. Im stuck at 270 now so Id honestly be happy to get to 170.
  • PAV8888
    PAV8888 Posts: 13,739 Member
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    Stay at 2000 (not necessarily ++ if you're in the house not having an active day) with no symptoms and no losing (but implicitly no gaining either) and continue to monitor.

    Wait two or three weeks and collect information such as daily weight ins and info such as what you're eating and how to log well.

    Experiment with potatoes and/or apples as some of your carbs. Both seem to be disproportionately satiating for their stats for some people. That would not necessarily be deep fried potatoes, just saying!

    You're realistically looking at a couple of years of losses and 2-3 years of appreciable post loss vigilance... so start thinking in 5+ year chunks when it comes to choices you're making... exploring is good!

    A few weeks in you can consider lowering calories again.

    Note that if you're active at your current weight 2000 can be a more than 1500 deficit.... which is way large.

    So I would be expecting you to show appreciable losses throughout the next few weeks at 2k
  • kshama2001
    kshama2001 Posts: 27,969 Member
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    Kinnheidi wrote: »
    Lietchi: Thanks! I doubt its the keto flu cause I havent cut them "that" drastically... like I havent gone keto just lower carbs then normal.
    Kshama2001: Its hard for me to answer those since I didnt record my previous eating...but it prob was a crazy ton of carbs. Ate sweets and pasta/rice almost constantly as meals. I dont count carbs since Im not really going for keto but I cut them at least by half I'm assuming since ive been more concentrating on healthy fibers and proteins. So I prob was eating around 3000 calories a day and then the worst symptoms came when I cut them to around 1500. Mind you, I have upped my calories to around 2000+ recently and Im not losing a single pound. I know I have a host of hormonal issues. I was starting to lose at the 1400-1500 mark but then the hypo symptoms was also getting me. I find it weird tho... since Ive started eating a nice breakfast like 2 boiled eggs or whatever...on the weekends If I dont get up and eat breakfast the hypo symptoms are horrendous. Im thrown off by that since I thought hypo mainly gets you in between meals vs morning times. Total Id like to lose 100 lbs. Im stuck at 270 now so Id honestly be happy to get to 170.

    Ok, so likely your symptoms were from too few calories. I weigh a lot less than you and would minimally have the symptoms of hanger on 1400-1500 calories :)

    Weight loss may not should up immediately on the scale. See Pav's post above and be patient :flowerforyou:

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