• Guest - w'd love to know what you think about the forum! Take the 2025 Survey »

What to do?

Kerry20208

Member
Messages
14
I was recently diagnosed with pre diabetes about 6months ago. Until then I didn't even know what a carb was. I started attempting to follow a Keto diet. I ended up back in the Dr's this week as my migraines have gotten worse and more frequent. Apparently this is because of not enough carbs. So on one hand I've got the threat of diabetes looming and on the other I have severe migraines. I actually don't want either. Anyone out there suffered similar? What did you do or could advise me to do? TIA
 
There is a theory that the brain needs a supply of glucose (from carbs) to function properly and that would explain the headaches.
However, carbs are not an essential macronutrient and your liver will produce glucose for the brain if you don't ingest carbs. Many health practitioners unfortunately believe the urban myth that carbs are essential.
Far more likely is that a sudden change in diet has caused your problems, or not enough water or salt.
Read around the forums on the keto diet and you will see that you can get something called keto flu at the start. Perhaps you need a more gradual introduction.
 

Hi Kerry - What a shame about the headaches.

I'm wondering; did you doctor do any tests to reach his conclusions, or was it purely on your description of the last 6 months?

I read that you were diagnosed about 6 months ago, but when, in the last 6 months, did you embark on the keto diet?

Do your headaches come on at any particular time of the day, or is it any day, any time, no matter what you've been doing or eating?

Final question, honestly! Are you self testing your own blood to see what's happening to your numbers?

Discomfiture, of various sorts, isn't uncommon in the early-ish days of a new way of eating. I'm sort of wondering if that might be the case, for you, but if you could respond to the questions I asked, we might be better placed to comment on your post better.

Welcome to the forum.
 
Quite a few people experience a kind of adjustment to low carbing. I think if you are not yet registering diabetic levels, don't be too severe in how much you reduce. Also be sure to drink enough fluids (I would suggest at least 2 litres a day but we all differ).
 
I have the same problem. Being hungry increases my migraines. And once I have the migraine eating doesn't make it go away. I used to carry a packet of jelly babies with me to work and eat a couple at the first sign of hunger. I didn't know then that I had high blood sugar, but I did know not to eat too many because of insulin spikes. Now I am retired I find it easier to find something suitable to eat.
 
Just before diabetes was diagnosed I had a run of severe migraines, which the doctor later said were likely triggered by high blood glucose. After diagnosis, when bg was at normal levels the migraines just disappeared.

You can get a prophylactic anti-migraine tablet from your doctor. They don't like prescribing it long-term, but if you explain its until you get your diet and bg sorted you should be able to at least reduce the number of migraines.
 
I am not a medical professional but maybe try some middle ground. Cut out the obvious pasta rice bread potato and the really heavy sugar fruit but don't try to go super low carb. There are quite a few members on here that do very well on 50 or 100 grams carb per day. Each of us is different and what works for one will not necessarily work for another. Testing your blood sugars and eating to your meter is the best bet.
 

Hi there. As a long-term chronic migraine sufferer I can completely empathise. Like you, when I started low carbing (20g or less a day), my headaches got worse. However, a few months in and they had dramatically improved. 10 months later I am virtually headache free - have gone from treating between 6-8 migraines a month to having taken no migraine medication (or indeed any medication at all) in over 3 months. So the theory about carbs and migraines doesn’t hold true in my case. My migraine consultant is going to be stunned when I next see him!

I would say that I have also increased exercise- nothing drastic, just a lot of walking built into my daily routine- so that could also be helping.

My advice would be to persist with the low carbing if you can bear it - controlling your blood sugars will have so many other benefits. Feel free to PM me if you want.
 
Thank you for that goonergal. At the moment I've gone back on a normal diet but plan to reduce carbs a bit slower. I have already taken steps to be more active and have gone from about 2000 steps a day to 1000. But as you know when a migraine hits it knocks me off my feet. I will persevere though. It's good to know it can work.
 
I was diagnosed 6months ago, and started Keto about 4months ago. Didn't actually notice when the migraines actually started to increase. It was my friends who noticed they were more frequent. Any time of the day lasting for 3/4 days then coming straight back again. I have never tested my bloods since diagnosis as my diabetic nurse told me I don't need to retest for a year. As for the Dr he didn't do any tests he just said I have to start eating carbs and upping them.
 
I have upped my water intake to 2litres a day and I have become a lot more active than I was. I have gone back to a normal diet for now and do a slower reduction of carbs and see how I go.
 
Kerry20208 said:
I have upped my water intake to 2litres a day and I have become a lot more active than I was. I have gone back to a normal diet for now and do a slower reduction of carbs and see how I go.
Click to expand...

I reduced mine slowly and had no ill effects at all. I started at about 120g and worked my way down gradually to my current level of 30 g.
 
I suffer from ocular migraines (visual disturbance/nausea/dizziness/mild but persistent headache) which seem to be linked to my hormonal shifts. When I first went very low carb they did seem to increase in frequency but I found that upping my magnesium supplement (350mg am/350mg pm) has helped - low carb can mess with electrolytes it seems. A word of caution - magnesium can cause bowel issues so if you're going to try it you might want to increase doses slowly!
 
I used to get migraines back before low carbing, but have not had one since - over 40 years ago.
As you have no idea what your blood glucose levels are when you get a migraine due the advice given by your nurse - how can your doctor know that your migraines have anything to do with your carb intake?
I'd suggest that you get hold of one of the low cost meters and strips so you can check just how effective your diet has been and perhaps check if there is any food which might possibly trigger the migraines.
Personally I have found that doctors are willing to blame low carb eating for anything at all which goes wrong, or might go wrong.
 
I was told by a doctor when dealing with a clients migraines that chocolate, peanut butter, and cheddar cheese were the most common food triggers. Turns out for him that the cheese was the culprit. Cheese is often a staple with low carb. Just a thought.
 
Alison Campbell said:
Hi @Kerry20208

Can I ask what your HBA1C was or what test results led the doctor to diagnose prediabetes?
Click to expand...
I actually can't remember but I'm now on a 9month group course for prediabetes people. But as I'm away from home I've had a few weeks off.
I was originally admitted into hospital with pneumonia and they sed when I'm discharged to go for a diabetes test as my blood sugars were reading too high. I had a fasting blood test and it came back as prediabetes.
 

The hospital stay and the pneumonia will almost certainly have contributed to your high blood sugar levels at that time, and probably impacted on your diabetes tests if it was an HbA1c. The HbA1c measures a sort of average of your blood glucose levels over the previous 2 to 3 months. I do suggest you contact your surgery and ask for a print out of those tests so you know what you had and what the results were. Have you had any further blood tests for diabetes?
 
I didn't go straight to the Dr's wen I got discharged. I waited a couple of months til I was well enough. But wen I get back home I will talk to the nurse.
 
I didn't go straight to the Dr's wen I got discharged. I waited a couple of months til I was well enough. But wen I get back home I will talk to the nurse.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Menu
Log in
Register
Cookies are required to use this site. You must accept them to continue using the site. Learn More.…