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Well I will give this #askdocs a shot, cause I'm out of ideas at this point.

I've been doing keto since October and it's just been miserable for me... Better 1/2 is doing great.

I haven't had a day without a headache/migraine since day 1, I've never had an issue with daily headaches/ migraines before.

ADHD is completely out of control and I feel pretty dysfunctional. I can't hardly focus enough to put this post together.

I constantly feel dehydrated and hungry, I usually wake up from a dead sleep crazy hungry. I'm at the point of wanting to give up on this because I'm feeling so much worse than ever before and I'm scared cause it feels like my body is just falling apart.

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Discussion

ItsAmongus 10mo ago

are you taking electrolyte supplements? the keto diet can cause you to lose sodium, potassium, magnesium. Even if you're drinking a ton of water, if your electrolytes are low it could cause low blood pressure and give you a headache. a good supplement is LMNT.

Rinkrat 10mo ago 💬 1

I drink an electrolyte drink with apple cider vinegar, lemon juice and keto chow essential electrolytes throughout the day. If I leave during the day I take a big bottle of that with me but if I'm gone longer than expected I use keto chows saltt packets.

I have looked at lmnt packets but haven't tried it yet. Wanted to use up the Saltt packets first.

ItsAmongus 10mo ago

honestly it sounds like something is wrong, keto flu shouldn't last that long unless you are going in and out of ketosis by eating too many carbs regularly.

consider heading to an urgent care or an emergency room for a1c and urine test for ketones to evaluate for diabetes/ diabetic ketoacidosis. I once had a patient end up in the ICU for a few days by doing the keto diet when he had type 2 diabetes. certainly not, but can happen.

sounds like you're doing ok with electrolytes.

it might be good to check a metabolic panel. that will show your sodium and potassium levels, kidney function, etc. If you want to check magnesium levels, that isn't part of the normal metabolic panel, so you'll have to ask for that separately.

if you get checked out and there are no problems with Labs etc, I would reconsider the keto diet. typically when people are having success with it, they feel great, they don't feel hungry, their thinking is clear. this is certainly not the case for you. Even if you're losing weight, you're very likely to gain it all back when you stop.

Rinkrat 10mo ago

I was in the ER for kidney stones last month no major red flags on any of my blood work, just some were a bit more elevated than normal. Na and K are normal, glucose is higher not sure why that's suddenly changed.

It just seems odd that the person sitting next to me is fine but everything #keto is "supposed to" help with has gotten so much worse.

I'm seriously questioning if this is the right thing for my body, if my goal was losing weight I'd probably call it a win. But I was under the impression it would help asthma, ADHD, and pain.

I'm also starting to get more confused about what it is I cut out of my diet that is causing all the issues.

Rinkrat 10mo ago

I will talk to my doc about checking my magnesium. I didn't see it on any of my tests. They did a mess of teats on me besides the metabolic one.

beejay 10mo ago

Carbohydrate withdrawal.

You need to replace the missing sugar and starch with plenty of fats, stick to animal fats, but olive oil (minimal) and coconut oil are OK too. Coconut oil is a medium chain triglyceride that is very healthy.

Good luck and keep the fat high and carbs under 20 total per day 👍

Rinkrat 10mo ago

Yeah I've been doing that, cut out carbs and sugar. Its been months of this, I tried increasing fat but I'm still always hungry and feel like im about to pass out despite eating sometimes every few hours.

I never feel actually full after eating just feel like I might throw up and then hungry again.

I'm missing something, I don't think this is normal, everyone else who is doing keto is happy as a clam.

I have to take ibuprofen all day long for a constant headache. I just feel broken and sick from the diet. Keto flu only last a few weeks not 5 months right?

beejay 10mo ago

I never had it."Keto flu" is electrolyte imbalance combines with carb withdrawal.

What are you eating?

Rinkrat 10mo ago

Grass fed beef, sometimes steaks or some dish with ground beef. Pork and chicken is in the menu a lot. Tons of bacon, wish I had eggs to go with it but refusing to pay $6-8 for $2 eggs. My chicken friends are tapped out of eggs currently too!

All sorts of cheeses and I discovered pork panko flakes. Main oils I cook with are bacon grease and avocado oil.

The person sitting next to me is just fine with the diet, that's really what gets me. He feels great and I feel like I'm going keel over.

The only thing I eat that he doesn't and it is super rare, if im working and absolutely starving. I got emergency chomps beef sticks in my work bag. But its not always, i take a bite or 2 and then get back on the ice. I use to take bacon or an egg with me but I had many technical issues with that.

I have lmnt or keto chow saltt for electrolytes I keep in my work bag and my daily driver camelback when I'm out and about.

I tried to avoid packaged things like the chomps qnd electrolyte powders cause in a Ken Berry video he was saying to avoid those.. but I can leave a little snack pack in my work gear for months this way. It doesn't work with bacon and eggs.

beejay 10mo ago

Sounds like you're trying to be more carnivore than keto.

Rinkrat 10mo ago

Not intentionally carnivore, seems as of late it just happened that way. I'm not too sure what I can add veggie wise. It feels like it always changes.

I usually add a little onion and fresh garlic to dishes but not a ton though. I was making some asparagus and brussel sprouts or cabbage.

Haven't had those for well over a week now. I was kind curious if I'd feel better without them, maybe increasing fat a little bit.

There has been no change in how I feel and function eating mostly carnivore lately.

beejay 10mo ago

Salt. Lots of it. Don't be afraid to give into salt cravings. You'll know wren you've had enough. Your taste buds will tell you once somethings too salty, you're good.

Packets of crap are just that... crap.

Look into magnesium, potassium, too.

Add iodine (if you're not eating seafood). I add a couple drops into my coffee. 2% Lugoll's formula is the strength I use (many brands have it on Amazon, comes in a dropper bottle)

Rinkrat 10mo ago

Eating seafood occasionally, not like I use to though. I'm planning on getting some more fish, had mahi mahi recently and I loved it! I do have tuna to snack on I haven't been consuming as much of in the last few weeks.

I have keto chow magnesium drops, but stopped using cause the daily minerals claim to have enough of it. I will look up the Lugolls for sure!

The packets are reserved for mainly emergency situations at the rink. It gets me home and out of the back of an ambulance potentially. My main thing with them is weight and how much it takes up in my bags. Little Ziploc vs a 6pack sized cooler is a big deal with my all my other gear.

You have any recommendations for veggie dishes that would be keto friendly? Like I said the veggies situation has been really confusing at times. I see keto recipes but you look close and they have stuff you're not supposed to have. I definitely have paralysis when it comes to cooking veggies.

beejay 10mo ago

I thought the Brussels sprouts and stuff you mentioned are fine with keto. If you enjoy salads, those are great too.

Obviously, plenty of butter and cream with whatever low carb steamed veggies you like works, too.

I've been keto almost ten years (for diabetes) and I post a daily recipe M-F on nostr, but if you're looking for more ideas, they're collected here: https://ketobeejay.npub.pro/tag/recipes/

Rinkrat 10mo ago

Definitely need to try some of these!! Need to go shopping first, hopefully I can score some eggs.

Hot cocoa one has my attention, I kinda miss having a good mocha on occasion. Really tempted to dump a couple of espresso shots into it.

Rinkrat 10mo ago

I should probably give you a little background on work. It might be a bit confusing hearing "rink days" and whatnot.

I'm a skating instructor/hockey/ goalie coach and off ice trainer by trade, I'm a private contractor in a sense. My job is extremely physically demanding and sometimes I sweat more than my skaters depending on what we do. Some days I pack in as many as 3 hockey bags of gear depending on what I have scheduled, no onsite storage for me.

I have tried to lighten my load as much as possible without sacrificing safety for my skates of myself. I unfortunately have had some mishaps switching to keto and continuing my workload.

My favorite incident was the rink dog stole a Ziploc of bacon and cheese from my bag, just enough of a gap in the zipper for her nose to get in was all it took 😂 and she looked adorably guilty too... She knew.

I was given some smoked meat (dude is full on carnivore) that day by her owner, and a parent brought me a heavy cream latte. Other times im not so lucky though, some days I skate harder than expected and consume everything hours before I get to leave. Those packets of crap have saved me a couple times in a pinch.

I had collapsed 2x on ice and had a bad episode of heat exhaustion and super dehydrated when I started keto. After the 3rd Incident I got the electrolyte powder and a pack of the beef sticks. My emergency pack also includes tea and some packets of powdered bone broth in a freezer bag. I also keep 2 packets of sugar for a couple of diabetic type 1 skaters of they crash (parents can administer those)

Okay so it wasn't a short back story...😳

If you have any suggestions for shelf stable options that can just live in my main work bag please let me know. This is all new territory for me.

Captain Sleepy Head 10mo ago

Beef Jerky might be an option

Rinkrat 10mo ago

Thought about jerky, I will have to look for some little snack packs.

Not ready to dive down the rabbit hole of making my own just yet.