Hi All...

I've been low carbing since 12/6, and I've noticed a couple of things that may have something to do with my new way of eating. I was wondering if anyone else had these problems.

First of all, I have the most difficult time getting to sleep at night. It's like my mind won't shut down so I can sleep. My body is tired, but my mind is like a hamster on the wheel ~~> running and running and running. This isn't really a problem right now, because I'm on vacation. But...come January 6th, I'm going to need my sleep. My principal would probably not like it if I fell asleep in front of my third graders.

The second thing I've noticed is that my skin feels itchy and prickly. I've finally figured out that my skin is dry (this is not a problem I've had before). Last night, not only wouldn't my brain shut up, but my skin felt like it was crawling. Freaky feeling!!

Has anyone noticed that their skin is drier than before?? If so, does drinking even more water help? Oh well, maybe I'm molting like a snake...off with the old and on with the new!!

Grateful for anyone's opinions on these things I've noticed

TTFN!!

I'm sure someone else can give you a more scientific answer, but I can give you my experience.

On sleeplessness, the same thing happened to me. It lasted for nearly a week. I'd have no energy during the day and be rather listless, but come 11:00 p.m. I'd be excessively awake -- exactly as you describe, with a racing mind. It just went away. One of the suggestions you'll read here and elsewhere is to take magnesium. It helps prevent constipation and helps sleep.

On the skin, most people seem to report the opposite, so I wonder if you're not drinking water. Eight eight-ounce glasses of water a day is a MINIMUM. There are others who say you must drink one ounce of water for each kilo of weight -- which in your case and mine is about four quarts! Otherwise, you'll be dehydrated and have dry skin and other nasty symptoms

Hi Alto...

Thanks for answering my questions!

I know that I'm probably not drinking enough water. It's something that I struggle with constantly. I'll start cutting back on my tea intake and substitute water instead. Maybe if I add some lemon, it won't be so nasty.

TTFN!!

I second Alto!

Drink lots of water! I didn't use to have dry skin, but when I changing my eating habits, I too noticed I had drier skin. Turns out, nope wasn't drinking enough water. Now my skin is back to being soft and not flakey and all those weird skin problems (patchy skin type) cleared up.

No more snake lady for me!

I have rosacea (reddening of the skin on cheeks and nose), and dry skin on my face as well. Since I started drinking a lot more water, my face is clearing up and not nearly as red or dry. Methinks we're onto something here

Sh'ra

as well as the water, you may be deficient in essential fatty acids. I've had dry skin for years, which didn't improve on this diet (despite heaps of water) until I started taking Flaxseed oil, GLA and fish oils.
I think in Canada and the States you can get the right mix in something called Udo's oil? Doreen, Karen or Nat would know.

Hi,

I was freaking out this morning. Thought I was delusional. Day five of Atkins and couldn't sleep, felt tiny bug like things all over...very wierd...what is that???

I was just curious about something

If you have been low carbing since 12/6/01, why have you lost only 11 pounds?

Or is it that you havent updated your stats as of yet?

Cause I was thinking if you been on this diet for 7 months and only completed 9% of your weightloss, you may be doing something wrong (which would explain for the itchiness)

I took that to mean June 12, not December 6.

The first post is dated Dec 13th.

Teach hasn't posted since 04/14/02, so I'm not sure she's still visiting our board. Some people DO lose very slowly, though, despite doing everything correctly. A lot of different factors influence how easily and quickly each of us loses weight. If I were to lose 10 lbs this month and another member 2 lbs it wouldn't necessarily mean that the member who lost less weight was doing something wrong or cheating. Sometimes it just happens that way.