Exhausted on keto

[dawnmc]

OK, so I've been eating extremely low carb for the past 3 weeks. The problem is I'm feeling totally wiped out. I don't want to exercise and probably don't have the energy, feel as though I'm between a rock and a hard place. Carbs don't agree with me and little to none don't either. What on earth do I do.
Had one of those lung scans too and now got atherosclerosis, and obviously said the dreaded word statin, which I'm loathe to go on. Any advice?

 

[Jasmin2000]

Just a question from a novice, but how do you know you are actually ketogenic, do you test for ketones?

How many carbs are you eating? I'm on 50g/day and generate sufficient BG from proteins. I can gauge when the glucose from different protein sources will peak. Btw, I accidentally strayed into keto recently for 6 hours - ketones up by 10x, a smell of antiseptic fruit in my sweat, headache and upset stomach, so it's a no thanks from me!

 

[Antje77]

OK, so I've been eating extremely low carb for the past 3 weeks. The problem is I'm feeling totally wiped out.

Have you made sure you are eating enough and are not accidentally in a calorie deficit? That would make you feel tired.

A sudden change from a higher carb diet to one low enough in carbs to make you go into ketosis can cause something called 'keto flu', feeling rubbish while your body adapts to ketosis.

How has your BG been doing?
If the sudden change in diet has significantly lowered your numbers, you may be experiencing something called 'false hypos', where your BG is fine but lower than you're used to, making you feel rubbish.

 

[dawnmc]

Have you made sure you are eating enough and are not accidentally in a calorie deficit? That would make you feel tired.

A sudden change from a higher carb diet to one low enough in carbs to make you go into ketosis can cause something called 'keto flu', feeling rubbish while your body adapts to ketosis.

How has your BG been doing?
If the sudden change in diet has significantly lowered your numbers, you may be experiencing something called 'false hypos', where your BG is fine but lower than you're used to, making you feel rubbish.

Could be, my hba1c isnt great, lapsed big time, stopped monitoring, and yes I'm probably not eating enough, but it's 3 weeks now. Thanks for your input, will go buy another monitor now.

 

[dawnmc]

Just a question from a novice, but how do you know you are actually ketogenic, do you test for ketones?

How many carbs are you eating? I'm on 50g/day and generate sufficient BG from proteins. I can gauge when the glucose from different protein sources will peak. Btw, I accidentally strayed into keto recently for 6 hours - ketones up by 10x, a smell of antiseptic fruit in my sweat, headache and upset stomach, so it's a no thanks from me!

No idea if I'm in ketosis, I just dropped the carbs drastically, having headaches etc, just I feel I'm alone really, dietician was useless, thanks though, I will up my carbs a bit and see if that makes a difference.

 

[Antje77]

Could be, my hba1c isnt great, lapsed big time, stopped monitoring, and yes I'm probably not eating enough, but it's 3 weeks now. Thanks for your input, will go buy another monitor now.

Monitoring your BG can be a great help!
But if you're not eating enough, you may have found the cause of feeling wiped out, can't expect your car to run without fuel.

If you lose the calories from carbs, you'll need to replace them with fats and/or protein, or you're basically on a starvation diet.
Have you read this already? It's written by one of our members: https://josekalsbeek.blogspot.com/2019/11/the-nutritional-thingy.html
If you are looking for ideas on what to eat, this thread in the low carb secion of the forum may be of use: https://www.diabetes.co.uk/forum/threads/what-have-you-eaten-today-low-carb-forum.75781/page-3167

 

[dawnmc]

Monitoring your BG can be a great help!
But if you're not eating enough, you may have found the cause of feeling wiped out, can't expect your car to run without fuel.

If you lose the calories from carbs, you'll need to replace them with fats and/or protein, or you're basically on a starvation diet.
Have you read this already? It's written by one of our members: https://josekalsbeek.blogspot.com/2019/11/the-nutritional-thingy.html
If you are looking for ideas on what to eat, this thread in the low carb secion of the forum may be of use: https://www.diabetes.co.uk/forum/threads/what-have-you-eaten-today-low-carb-forum.75781/page-3167

That's great thanks again.

 

[ajbod]

If you've drastically dropped carbs, you're probably experiencing electrolyte problems ( Keto flu), lack of salt, potassium and magnesium. Low carbing means the body doesn't need to retain as much water as before, (this is the initial boosted weight loss) unfortunately this means peeing out some of those electrolytes as the excess water goes. It may be a good idea to try some supplements and drink plenty of water. It's temporary but it's incredible how a small difference in electrolyte levels has an apparently devastating effect on how we feel.

 

[JoKalsbeek]

No idea if I'm in ketosis, I just dropped the carbs drastically, having headaches etc, just I feel I'm alone really, dietician was useless, thanks though, I will up my carbs a bit and see if that makes a difference.

Try not upping the carbs... You're 3 weeks into it, and going from the assumption that a lot of this is keto flu, you'd possibly undo the work you did these past weeks by upping them again, when you're almost at the other end of it. Reducing your carbs gradually might've been the better way to go, but you're here now, might as well finish it when the end is in sight, IF this is why you're feeling bad. Like others said, going low carb can result in keto-flu, and that can take a few weeks... Or a month. Fatigue, joint pain, headaches... You're likely dehydrated and missing electrolytes, so a supplement and lots to drink should help you through the last bit of this. At the same time, you could indeed be missing nutrients because you're not eating enough. I mean, if you nibble on lettuce all day long for instance, you'd be keto... But you'd also be starving, which would be bad, right? This is a diet that should be sustainable for the long run, so make sure you get your fats and proteins in.

Don't give up, just look at your diet again and see where it can be improved. And get some bone broth or coconut milk into you, if you can't get an electrolyte supplement at short notice. Those should help too.
Hugs,
Jo

 

[dawnmc]

Try not upping the carbs... You're 3 weeks into it, and going from the assumption that a lot of this is keto flu, you'd possibly undo the work you did these past weeks by upping them again, when you're almost at the other end of it. Reducing your carbs gradually might've been the better way to go, but you're here now, might as well finish it when the end is in sight, IF this is why you're feeling bad. Like others said, going low carb can result in keto-flu, and that can take a few weeks... Or a month. Fatigue, joint pain, headaches... You're likely dehydrated and missing electrolytes, so a supplement and lots to drink should help you through the last bit of this. At the same time, you could indeed be missing nutrients because you're not eating enough. I mean, if you nibble on lettuce all day long for instance, you'd be keto... But you'd also be starving, which would be bad, right? This is a diet that should be sustainable for the long run, so make sure you get your fats and proteins in.

Don't give up, just look at your diet again and sc, comeee where it can be improved. And get some bone broth or coconut milk into you, if you can't get an electrolyte supplement at short notice. Those should help too.
Hugs,
Jo

Thank

Try not upping the carbs... You're 3 weeks into it, and going from the assumption that a lot of this is keto flu, you'd possibly undo the work you did these past weeks by upping them again, when you're almost at the other end of it. Reducing your carbs gradually might've been the better way to go, but you're here now, might as well finish it when the end is in sight, IF this is why you're feeling bad. Like others said, going low carb can result in keto-flu, and that can take a few weeks... Or a month. Fatigue, joint pain, headaches... You're likely dehydrated and missing electrolytes, so a supplement and lots to drink should help you through the last bit of this. At the same time, you could indeed be missing nutrients because you're not eating enough. I mean, if you nibble on lettuce all day long for instance, you'd be keto... But you'd also be starving, which would be bad, right? This is a diet that should be sustainable for the long run, so make sure you get your fats and proteins in.

Don't give up, just look at your diet again think and see where it can be improved. And get some bone broth or coconut milk into you, if you can't get an electrolyte supplement at short notice. Those should help too.
Hugs,
Jo

Thanks Jo, hoping that's all it is, done keto before and never felt like this, just seems to be interminable, will start with broth etc, come to think of it did drink it last time, will carry on and report back how it's going.

 

[Resurgam]

Can you get hold of a copy of Dr Atkins New Diet Revolution? - it should guide you from really low carb to what you can eat if you add in a blood glucose tester. It has lots of lists, recipes and menus and suggestions about what to do if you are experiencing various problems. It also has the various stages of reintroducing carbs after going down to 20gm a day which could be fairly relevant to your present situation.

 

[dawnmc]

Can you get hold of a copy of Dr Atkins New Diet Revolution? - it should guide you from really low carb to what you can eat if you add in a blood glucose tester. It has lots of lists, recipes and menus and suggestions about what to do if you are experiencing various problems. It also has the various stages of reintroducing carbs after going down to 20gm a day which could be fairly relevant to your present situation.

Got all the books, need to reread them I think. Not eaten today and was 8.1. Frustrating isn't the word.

 

[Resurgam]

Got all the books, need to reread them I think. Not eaten today and was 8.1. Frustrating isn't the word.

But if you don't eat your liver releases glucose so you can chase down something edible.
I would that my blood glucose stopped going up after I decided to eat breakfast with a small amount of carbs - no more than 10gm deemed to do the trick.
I then find I can go all day and eat in the evening, with no more than 30gm of carbs being a good level for me.