Prediabetes Nightmares and Palpitations.

Most on keto take electrolytes for that reason.

Honestly, keto is quite harsh and not necessarily needed. A low carb diet can work for you just as well and is more sustainable I’d say.

Doireallyneedanams said:

Honestly, keto is quite harsh

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? Interested to know what you mean by this.

One other question - do you take any medications?

I have found that if you don't eat four hours before sleep, you will have a better sleep.
My dreams come in full Technicolor and I remember them distinctly.
Since being in ketosis, the dreams are very few, that I can remember and I sleep a lot better.
Drinking coffee or tea and of course alcohol can be a cause of your symptoms as your blood glucose levels and your hormones keep responding through the night.
I found that having stable blood glucose levels instead of the spikes and crashes throughout the night.

Keep safe keep Keto.

bulkbiker said:

? Interested to know what you mean by this.

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It’s a harsh lifestyle to adapt to, and it’s not necessary to be that strict to reduce glucose levels from the prediabetic range.

I also don’t believe it’s sustainable long term for the majority.

Doireallyneedanams said:

It’s a harsh lifestyle to adapt to, and it’s not necessary to be that strict to reduce glucose levels from the prediabetic range.

I also don’t believe it’s sustainable long term for the majority.

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What do you do when you find, like a lot of diabetics that they are carb intolerant?
And eating too many carbs will lead to health problems that you see every day in hospital.
And it has been proven that you don't need wheat, grains, starchy vegetables, rice and so on. Even long term, because I was part of a trial, on very low carb, to see the effects, my condition caused. I have a food diary goes back to pre diagnosis, when investigating, why I produced too much insulin.
Followed up by glucose tolerance tests to see if a drug would help me stop having hypos and improve my initial insulin response. It doesn't stop hypos but it eases the impact of a blood sugar crash. My endocrinologist published a paper about the tests.

Of course most T2s can just reduce the carbs and it will improve their health.

Stay safe

Lamont D said:

What do you do when you find, like a lot of diabetics that they are carb intolerant?
And eating too many carbs will lead to health problems that you see every day in hospital.
And it has been proven that you don't need wheat, grains, starchy vegetables, rice and so on. Even long term, because I was part of a trial, on very low carb, to see the effects, my condition caused. I have a food diary goes back to pre diagnosis, when investigating, why I produced too much insulin.
Followed up by glucose tolerance tests to see if a drug would help me stop having hypos and improve my initial insulin response. It doesn't stop hypos but it eases the impact of a blood sugar crash. My endocrinologist published a paper about the tests.

Of course most T2s can just reduce the carbs and it will improve their health.

Stay safe

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Absolutely agree low carb is the way to go for diabetics and non diabetics alike.

The ketogenic diet is not the only way to do this though. If it works for you then that’s great of course!

Doireallyneedanams said:

It’s a harsh lifestyle to adapt to, and it’s not necessary to be that strict to reduce glucose levels from the prediabetic range.

I also don’t believe it’s sustainable long term for the majority.

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Disagree.

I remain totally unconvinced that eating freshly prepared single ingredient foods is "harsh". Probably takes about a month to adapt fully if you can give up the bad stuff and don't try to replace them (which I think is the key).

I find that I recommend eating a wide variety of low carb veges quite frequently, as many people see a low carb diet as restrictive - and then eat small amounts of high carb foods with little nutritional value.
It isn't their fault - low carb is described as restrictive all the time, the media described the Atkins diet as one perpetual fry up.
Eating low carb, particularly early on, can result in loss of electrolytes, so a good wide spectrum vitamin and mineral tablet several times a week is a good idea.

Red__Ped said:

Hi,

I’ve recently been diagnosed as pre-diabetic. My doctor advised a low carb diet and through some of my own research my partner and I have recently begun the keto diet. We’ve had great success with it so far with both losing a stone in weight in approx 7 weeks. However we have noticed that we’ve been going through a lot of symptoms. Mostly regular when we’ve looked them up online. But recently I’ve began to have palpitations of a night time often waking up in the night with my heart racing. Now the past week or so they’ve been coupled with the most horrific nightmares. Having looked online I noticed that the palpitations and anxiety maybe adrenaline running through my body. But I’m not 100% sure. I’ve also noticed I’ve had cramp this week during the night which I read as a lack of potassium, sodium and magnesium. Could that be linked in any way??

Thanks,

Peter.

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I have this problem when doing keto as well. Over the last 2 years since I started doing it, I would always know when I was in ketosis because I couldn't fall asleep and would be up till 2 or 3am, and sometimes I'd have this rushing buzzing sensation through my limbs, as well as heart palpitations. The energy rush from keto is great in the daytime but I don't enjoy it at night and it always makes me go and do the following, which I find does help:

-Take an electrolyte (or make your own using no more than 1/4 teaspn Lite Salt, which contains more potassium than sodium)

-Take Magnesium (I have 300mg at night when I feel like that and sometimes and extra 150mg the next morning). Magnesium helps with sleep, cramps and helps get things moving on the loo.

-Eat a small amount of carbs before bed (and skip the carbs with your other meals if you want to be stricter). I might have half a cup of cooked rice (I was just reading that leftover cooked rice might be better than freshly cooked to increase resistant starch and not affect your blood sugar as much - haven't test yet though to see if it make any difference for me.) Some might eat a piece of fruit instead. I've been known to eat dried apricots out of desperation because they are high in potassium, but also high in sugar so probably not ideal. But when I'm experiencing those symptoms, things are not right in my body so if eating a few carbs are the only thing that helps, I do it, because in the short term, being able to get some sleep trumps everything else.

If you've gone back to a few carbs and have fallen out of ketosis, try having the potassium and magnesium on hand as you go back on keto and see if that helps you avoid the symptoms next time.

Personally, I've only ever managed to cycle in and out of keto so I have to keep trying at it myself.

A friend of mine with what I think is a bit of an eating disorder, was trying keto and she was already underweight before, and she was getting a really bad racing heart waking her in the night as well, and after I told her what I did she tried eating a banana before bed and felt it helped. But I think she was literally starving herself eating no carbs and not enough of anything else either.
I, on the other hand, eat plenty of protein and fat when I try keto, but I still will have those symptoms if I don't watch the electrolytes.

bulkbiker said:

Disagree.

I remain totally unconvinced that eating freshly prepared single ingredient foods is "harsh". Probably takes about a month to adapt fully if you can give up the bad stuff and don't try to replace them (which I think is the key).

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Keto feels harsh to me too when I get symptoms like the ones the OP mentions. I feel being in ketosis amplifies things somehow - greater energy during the day, which can be put to good use, but nervous energy at night. It could be down to other lifestyle factors as well that I could change that might make being in ketosis more comfortable, once the deficiencies are dealt with. Personally I don't do enough physical exercise and spend too much time on this screen at night, so that probably adds to the problem. But as far as being able to adapt to a single ingredient meal, I think if you are able to do it, you have extra willpower that an ordinary person might not have. I never considered my previous eating habits as being a food addiction. Most of my life I was never overweight, yet I know that the carbs I was eating were actually something that I was addicted to (sweet tooth related), and overcoming addiction is not something that everyone manages to achieve, although we should never give up trying I guess.
I do manage to have single ingredient breakfasts of just eggs, or just a scotch fillet steak, so I know I can do it sometimes, but for every meal, for the rest of my life?? Not sure, maybe I would need that kick up the bum diagnosis to get me there.

Food has so much to do with culture, so it's like you are stepping out of life to eat differently from most other people. But when you realise your culture is what's killing you, then stepping away is what you have to do, right?

Sometimes I have to stop myself now from approaching strangers to talk to them about what they are putting into their mouths. If only they knew!

And if they do know and are still eating like that, well, you can't save them, can you?

Resurgam said:

I find that I recommend eating a wide variety of low carb veges quite frequently, as many people see a low carb diet as restrictive - and then eat small amounts of high carb foods with little nutritional value.
It isn't their fault - low carb is described as restrictive all the time, the media described the Atkins diet as one perpetual fry up.
Eating low carb, particularly early on, can result in loss of electrolytes, so a good wide spectrum vitamin and mineral tablet several times a week is a good idea.

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Funnily enough I was thinking about taking a multi vitamin. I’ve been feeling quite bleugh over the last week, partly because of a bad stomach but I eat tiny amount of veg many once a week at the most. Most of my diet is dairy or meat. I am wondering if I’m lacking in something because I don’t feel overly amazing.

Cocosilk said:

Keto feels harsh to me too when I get symptoms like the ones the OP mentions. I feel being in ketosis amplifies things somehow - greater energy during the day, which can be put to good use, but nervous energy at night. It could be down to other lifestyle factors as well that I could change that might make being in ketosis more comfortable, once the deficiencies are dealt with. Personally I don't do enough physical exercise and spend too much time on this screen at night, so that probably adds to the problem. But as far as being able to adapt to a single ingredient meal, I think if you are able to do it, you have extra willpower that an ordinary person might not have. I never considered my previous eating habits as being a food addiction. Most of my life I was never overweight, yet I know that the carbs I was eating were actually something that I was addicted to (sweet tooth related), and overcoming addiction is not something that everyone manages to achieve, although we should never give up trying I guess.
I do manage to have single ingredient breakfasts of just eggs, or just a scotch fillet steak, so I know I can do it sometimes, but for every meal, for the rest of my life?? Not sure, maybe I would need that kick up the bum diagnosis to get me there.

Food has so much to do with culture, so it's like you are stepping out of life to eat differently from most other people. But when you realise your culture is what's killing you, then stepping away is what you have to do, right?

Sometimes I have to stop myself now from approaching strangers to talk to them about what they are putting into their mouths. If only they knew!

And if they do know and are still eating like that, well, you can't save them, can you?

Click to expand...

I actually said single ingredient "foods" not meals..