Another newbie question here. On the morning of the 2nd day (yesterday am), I woke up with a severe headache behind both eyes and over my forehead.

Last night, at 2am, I was woken from a dead sleep with another severe headache. I tried to just go back to sleep, but ended up taking two advil (no carbs, I hope ) and that took care of it.

I do suffer from migraines, but these two headaches were not migraines.

I can handle it if they will stop after a few days. Is this just part of getting use to a new way of eating?

Any advice is appreciated!!!!

Hi Wendy:

As a fellow migraine sufferer, I understand your concern. Make sure you're drinking plenty of water.

I have seen some reports that indicate a low-carb diet will help with migraine but it does not seem to be conclusive. Since starting Atkins about 8 weeks ago, I have had only one moderate migraine and only a handful of tension headaches. I have kept a headache diary for over five years and I usually average 4 severe migraines and 8 moderate migraines per month, so it's been great. I'm not ready to attribute the lack of migraines to Atkins yet because I have had rare periods of 2-3 months without migraine in the past, but I am hopeful.

I hope you'll visit my journal and keep me posted on your headaches. Good luck!

Did you recently give up caffeine? Atkins advises people to, but it is the one induction rule that most people break. Caffeine withdrawal will cause major headaches. BTW, I never gave up caffeine and it hasn't hindered my progress at all.

I never had a migraine issue. When I started Atkins, I had wicked bad headaches and felt weak and blah. In my case, I think it was a combo of sugar adn caffeine withdrawal. By the end of a week into it, I was ok again.
Yours might be the same. Or if you have added new foods that you didn't eat before, it might be related. THe best thing is to keep a journal or everything you consume and how you feel. Also consider seeing a doctor if you think so

Hi Wendy,
Your headaches might be the result of lowered blood sugar. I am hypoglycemic, and I get awful headaches if I do not eat a relatively high-protein food every two hours because my blood sugar crashes. I'm wondering if you could be experiencing the same thing. I've never had nighttime headaches like you described...when I crash during the night, I have a terrible time getting up in the morning. The solution to that is to eat a protein snack before bed. Why? Because your blood sugar lowers a few hours after you fall asleep, and if you have protein--which metabolizes at a slow rate--it evens out the blood sugar. This is assuming your headaches could be from LBS. Try it and let us know if it works!

I felt really bad the first day: nausea, headaches. I almost ralphed in my office. Very bad. Then I just got myself an Odwalla and drank a little bit. My headache and nausea went away. Now I was going through caffiene and carb withdrawl. And I think it was all to much for me. So the first day I wasn't able to stick to under 20g a day (ate 70g), but the second day I made it to 30g. And next day made it to under 20g. I don't know why Atkins is so strict saying that you MUST stick to below 20g a day. I think it would be easier just to have a few sips of juice when feeling really sick. Maybe it inhibits future weight loss, but I can't see how. I'm on day 4 now and have lost 4 lbs.

I figure withdrawl is withdrawl, you can do it slowly or go cold-turkey.

Nick - Glad to hear that your migraines are less since you started this! That's encouraging.

The headaches I have had in the past 2 days were definitely not migraine, so I'm hoping it's just getting use to the new foods I am eating ( and, as saltnpeppa said, sugar withdrawal).

Atriana , no I did not give up my morning coffee - can't - won't - NEVER!!!

Eekauppi, I have not been eating anything after about 7pm. Maybe I will try to eat some cheese or something before bed and see what happens tonight.

Hairpin - glad to hear that someone else felt/feels as rotten as I do. (kidding) Congrats on your loss!!!!!!!!!! I'm day 3/3lbs lost. That's why I don't want to give up!!!


Thanks for all your thoughts!!!

I had headache auras for the first 4 days of the induction period and had not given up caffiene yet. I was scared that if/when I did that it was going to turn into the mother of all headaches. I grew out of migraines when I left puberty behind and was terribly frightened that I would experience the near pain of one if I cut out the diet soda.

Well, I trashed my coffee and quit the soda completely. I make sure that I have a meat in every meal (almost always chicken or fish) and the headache auras have gone away. Who knows why, but my fear of giving up caffiene was squelched when I just did it, and it was not so bad.

I knew if I tried to wean myself I would dangle on the end of a caffiene noose forever. For people who consume A LOT of caffiene though, it may be the best way

AS far as the latenight headaches go, if lots of water (or a bedtime protein snack) doesnt straighten that out and you know its not a migraine or tension headache, then talk to your doctor.

I had headaches (which I almost never get) days 2-6 of induction. They go away, don't worry.

I can confirm the headaches likely being due to caffeine withdrawal as I once had this problem (and I was only trying to give up caffeine, I wasn't doing Atkins then!) The headaches went away after a few days. And I wasn't drinking a lot of coffee/cola to start with, so you don't necessarily have to be taking in huge amounts to get withdrawal symptoms.
On the other hand, those headaches behind the eyes etc sound to me a lot like "sinus headaches" ie due to infection of the lining of the sinus cavities, which are located in the facial bones above and below the eyes and also in the lower back part of the skull. I once had such bad headaches there, I couldn't find any painkiller strong enough. It turned out to be a sinus infection, cured by prescribed antibiotics. Have you had a cold, sore throat or similar recently? Go and see your doctor if they don't go away very soon.
Good luck!

I think mine are mostly b/c I don't eat enough. I have started induction several times over teh past few months, and the headaches get so bad I start eating sugary snacks to make it go away. And this is after a week or more! I amy be more addicted to carbs than I think, but I believe after reading this board, I need to eat more frequently, Lo carb and hi protein. I start tomorrow. Wish me luck!

Glad to hear that others are feeling the same. I can't seem to get past day 3-4 of induction because of the weakness and headaches. Even my voice gets weak! Please tell me this is normal and how soon does it go away? It scares me when I feel that bad and I end up eating more carbs to feel better.

Kymmy, me too! I'm on Day 5, and so tired I've already taken a nap! Queasy and lightheaded too!

It will get better, right? right???
Pam

Just wanted to share that I also felt like complete CRAP for the first three days of induction.....very weak, queasy, shakey, just plain SICK. It was very hard, but I knew it would pass and it has. After the third day I started feeling MUCH better. Have the occasional headache but nothing too bad. I'm on day 17 - cheat free - and am feeling really good now. Just need to make sure I eat regularly and don't skip meals. Stick with it and it will get better! Good luck to you!
~Cappy~