Hi...I'm new here and I have a question....

I'm only on day 4 and doing pretty well (no cheating/4 lbs gone !)
but I seem to be having a constant headache. Nothing bad...just a constant dull one. Could this be sugar withdrawal ? I've not completely let go of the caffein yet, so its not that. Maybe just allergies and not realated at all to the diet.

Anyone experience anything similar or have any suggestions.

Thanks
Deb

Yes, that's carb withdrawal. It goes away, pretty soon actually. 3rd day is usually the worst. Make sure you're drinking your water and taking a good multi vitamin. Supplements like calcium and magnesium and some potassium would be a good idea as well.

Potassium you can get cheap in a product called "NuSalt". You take 1/8th teaspoon and mix it with a very large glass of water. This will give you 300+ mg of potassium. Do this 2x a day during Induction and once a day thereafter.

Mag/Cal you want in the same pill (ration 2:1, 333 mg calcium / 167 mg magnesium) take one with each meal and one an hour before bed. the RDA for calcium is 800 - 1500 mg and for Mag it's 400 - 500 mg. Be sure you get a chelated supplement as they are better absorped by the body.

Potassium will aide with fatigue / dizziness and Magnesium will help with muscle cramping which often accompanies LCing. Magnesium before bed will also greatly increase the quality of sleep.

HTH
Nat

Just wanted to say U arent alone...day 2-6 was a killer for me but I got alot better after that. I was drinking 2 pots of coffee a day and cut that out on day 2 so may I suggest U cut back slowly..lol

OMG that must have been tough! My hat goes off to you.

Nat

LOL yes it was vry hard but I didint reaized how fatigued I was from the coffee. Sure it gave me the initial boost but then I would crash. Now I stay even thru out the day.

I just started the Atikins program this week and suffered from the same systems - dull headache - but after 3 days its all gone and so are 3 lbs.! and I feel so much better. I'm really getting into this - its amazing. I have some of those keto-sticks - but they are not showing any changes - Am I too early to try or maybe the sticks or too old -(i've had them for quite a few years). Maybe I'm just jumping the gun here. Any feed back would be helpful.

With the weekend starting - I'm a little nervous - I need to stack up on some good - legal snacks - any suggestions.

Thanks in advance to all who help!

charyl

Charyl, those sticks are only good for a limited time. there's usually an expiration date on them. The date is for an unopened bottle, however. If you've opened them they last about 6 months. Best to keep them someplace cool and dark (I store mine in the fridge with the butter )

Eventually you'll be able to tell you're in ketosis just by the taste in your mouth. There are other signs, loss of appetite, different smelling urine but the fruity / sucking on a bandaid taste in your mouth is the easiest to detect.

HTH
Nat

Thanks - boy am I looking forward to that experience!!! Yuk! But you're right, I do have a bad taste in my mouth - any way to disguise it from others???

I guess maybe there are sugar free mouth mints out there?

I guess I'll give up on the keto sticks - they're very old!

Thanks for the info.

Charyl

charyl, my stix often dont turn color cause I drink so much water. Even during days when I eat mostly protein and fat. As for snacks this weekend: what about looking for a sugarless salsa and pork rinds or make up a bunch of little meatballs that are full of spices, they should be sure to quench you appetite

Thanks for the suggestions - I love pork rinds - I'm still having trouble getting over the old fashion guilt trip though about eating this way - its seems so ooooo illegal !

Sugar fress salsa huh? I'll have to hunt my markets for that one - hope its easy to find, cuz what a great idea.

Thanks - now I'm looking forward to my weekend!

Charyl

Thank you everyone, for all you help!! Nat.... I went right out and got the calcium/magnesium supplement in addition to potassium. I've discontinued taking my BP & cholesterol meds and am going to make an appt with my Dr in another week or two for a work-up. I've also added fish oil caps to my supplements for the rather obvious reason...but I don't see much improvement. Anyone have any feelings one way or another on the benefits of the fish oil? Headaches are still present...but subsiding some. However, I'm also working against a cold and TOM.

I wonder when the "pizza nightmares" are going to start

Deb

Are you sure you should be doing this? (discontinuing your meds that is) I would keep taking those until after I'd seen my doctor to discuss things.

Nat

Read something about BP med blocking potassium and causing too high a level. Concerned me. BP is something I will monitor myself daily and if it goes awry... I'll drop the potassium and go back. I guess I'm not expecting much enthusism from my dr about the choice of new "lifestyle"..but I hope to prove to him in the test results. If it doesn't work out that way...then we'll see

hehehe Gee I can't wait to taste that sucking on a bandaid taste heheheh

I have suffered from headaches for four years. - daily headaches - sometimes migranes.... Yikes! The doc put me on sinus meds and "stress release" pills. That helped most of the time, but I still had to carry "emergency" migrane meds (tranquilizers).

Today - -
I am still having 1 1/2 cups of coffee in the morning - I was a pot a day girl...

I have lost my headaches - I guess mine were previously caused by the carbs...

I made my kids lunch today and noticed (guiltily) that they have all carb meals PB&J sandwich on wheat, bag of chips, apple, and capri sun.... Any suggestions for kids lunches? I don't expect them to joing the diet brigade, but they would surely benefit from a lower carb lunch !!!

TTFN
Good luck w/ the headaches :-(

Mary