Headaches...

[Nanny_B]

Hi, so I've been on my tablets now for a week and am adapting to a LCHF diet...although I'm not doing well on the high fats bit as I'm finding it hard to get my head round it! I really want to lose weight, about three stone so at the moment I'm eating mainly fish, prawns eggs chicken green salad and I have half a protein roll (Lidls) daily.
For the last few days I've had a rotten headache and I'm wondering if it's because I'm not having any sugar?
I'm going to stock up on butter, cream etc when I go shopping later and will check out the diet doctor recipes over the weekend to learn more about what I should be eating.
Tablets I'm taking are Metformin, ciclazide and atorvastatin 20mg.

Also while I'm here... Are sugar free gums OK to have?

Many thanks all x

 

[CherryAA]

https://intensivedietarymanagement.com/how-much-protein-is-excessive/

you might find you are overdoing the proteins if you are still not eating fats - take a look at this !

 

[daisyduck]

Metformin can cause symptoms in some people. I tried it for 11 weeks and had a headache for the first 2
Yes, you can have withdrawal symptoms if you suddenly go low carb after eating a sugary diet. Drink lots of water and it usually passes after a few days.
Don't be afraid of the fat in the LCHF diet. I know it's contra to everything we have been taught . I had spent a lifetime on low calorie and low fat diets and ended up with metabolic syndrome and fatty liver. 6 months on LCHF and my fatty liver was cured and 2 stones lost.

 

[bulkbiker]

Sounds like you may be suffering from the dreaded carb flu as your body switches from running on glucose to fat.
I would try and up your fat intake and maybe try supplementing with some salt as your salt intake can go quite low after cutting out processed foods. Also don't forget to drink lots of water. Hydration is important too.

 

[Freema]

Hi, so I've been on my tablets now for a week and am adapting to a LCHF diet...although I'm not doing well on the high fats bit as I'm finding it hard to get my head round it! I really want to lose weight, about three stone so at the moment I'm eating mainly fish, prawns eggs chicken green salad and I have half a protein roll (Lidls) daily.
For the last few days I've had a rotten headache and I'm wondering if it's because I'm not having any sugar?
I'm going to stock up on butter, cream etc when I go shopping later and will check out the diet doctor recipes over the weekend to learn more about what I should be eating.
Tablets I'm taking are Metformin, ciclazide and atorvastatin 20mg.

Also while I'm here... Are sugar free gums OK to have?

Many thanks all x

I also had some headaces the first week of low carbing , but that went away and haven´t returned

 

[Brunneria]

Drink more! Lots more than you used to, and more than you think you need.

I have been low carbing for years, and I always know that I haven't been drinking enough when a headache starts.

The body handles water and minerals differently when we low carb. Instead of holding onto fluids with water retention due to carb bloat, our kidneys flush water out again on a much quicker schedule, so we need to keep replenishing it.

Good things to drink are herb teas, water, still or sparkling, tea and coffee (so long as you don't muck things up with too many carbs in milk, or chemicals in sweeteners). Drinking broth and bovril will bring you the salt that @bulkbiker mentioned.

If you start getting woozy, muscle weakness or cramps, then you may be lacking in salt. Few people realise how much salt they are giving up when they stop eating bread, rice, pasta and potato.

Hope that helps.

 

[Nanny_B]

Thank you all for your really useful advice, I'm taking it all n board. Any advice re the sugar free chewing gum please?

 

[Freema]

Thank you all for your really useful advice, I'm taking it all n board. Any advice re the sugar free chewing gum please?

well there is also carbs in sugarfree gum , but I must admit I still use it , especially when I have to be really low in calories to stand the many hours of not eating so much....
But I think it will prevent one in getting into the ketone zone ....

 

[Robbity]

Carbs are addictive, and your body is just going through the trials of detoxing itself. But take on board the advice about extra fluids, salt and minerals to help you adjust.

Definitely up the fats and oils, we need them in lchf diets to replace the fuel our body needs for energy that we're no longer going to be getting from carbs. But if you're bit a worried by extra fats - don't be, you can get them in perhaps less obvious forms from things like nuts, avocados, cheese, oily fish - salmon, trout, sardines, mackerel...even a little bit of high percentage (75%+) cocoa dark chocolate. And choose fattier cuts of meat, chicken with its skin still on (e.g. legs, drumsticks), bacon, pork chops, and use the fat and juices from these in sauces or to pour over your veggies.

My mother lived into her late 90s and always enjoyed proper full fat dairy produce, and her idea of heaven was retiring to Cornwall, with a local farm shop selling clotted cream and their own butter. People have eaten fatty food for many 100s of years and not died out, and it's only recently (last 40 odd years) that we've been told to eat the low fat high sugar stuff that can make us diabetic; my belief is that if Nature had intended cows, etc to produce low fat milk she would have designed them to do so. And fat doesn't make us fat - it's all the surplus carbs we've been eating that do that because our bodies are not actually made to handle them very well in large quantities.

( I'll get off my LCHF soap box now...)

Robbity