I don't think that people are choosing not to believe you, the information everyone is getting is written right in your own posts... sometimes we can forget how things actually went. Just do a search on your own username and reread your own posts. I think the info about switching back and forth came from your post on page 5 of the "How often do you cheat" post.

I am sorry to hear that you are having health problems, but I do agree that you *may* have had some underlying heath problems that LCing just brought to the fore front.. you mentioned high BP very early into the diet. I think that indicated a possible problem from the begining that I would have been concerned about and certainly bone density testing is not routine for a young person (even a smoker) unless the doctor already suspects a bone problem. If you don't believe that LCing is best for you and your health, that is fine.. but for many others, it has saved their lives! Though I do find it odd that you are soo quick to blame all your health problems on low carb WOL. BTW, I totally agree with you that veggies and fruits are great. I am on LCarb and I eat lots of wonderful veggies and fruits in moderation every day! I am glad that you don't eat lots of raw sugar, but remember that carbs are sugar too.

Good Luck with your health and your new way of eating. I hope that the doctor finds the answers for you and that you can live a healthy and full life.

But I doubt that your test results will show that LCing for a short period of time many months ago is behind your condition...

...I hope you'll share with us (as much as you are comfortable) what you learn. I fear that your subject line and generalizations will bring on needless worry among the people who read here...

I hope you'll be feeling better soon.

Donald

LC isn't right for everyone and maybe not for you...for many of us it's just right...we just all hope that those for whom it is not right don't villify LCing and don't discourage others from trying just because it didn't work for them.

That being said, I've had many of the same problems you mention starting about 5 weeks into LCing. I had heart palps, headaches, etc. Although my BP is usually at the bottom of the "high" spectrum, it's now normal. I got checked out by the Doc and EKG was normal, blood minerals, liver func, and lipids were normal...but Kidneys func was slightly abnorm...nothing in the scary range...just abnorm.

DE-HY-DRA-TION. I was drinking well over 100oz of fluids a day, at least half was always H20, and my mouth was no more dry than usual. Could I possibly be dehydrated anyway? YOU-BETCHA! I started drinking water until it hurt...2 pints when I wake up in the morning (it takes one just to take my vitamins) 2 pints at lunch, 3 pints during and right after dinner and 3 pints about 45 minutes before bedtime. I drink other fluids (including water) throughout the day. Sometimes it's hard, but always worth th effort.

What I've figured out: (1) The "64 Oz rule" is a guide and some people just need more (2) Water underlies so many functions in the human body that dehydration (and not minerals deficiency, low blood sugar or fatty diet) is quite frequently the root cause (3) you don't have to have a dry mouth to be dehydrated.

As I said at the beginning, everyone is different so maybe you are/were getting enough water...but if you are having palps and headaches you might want to try this: drink at least 100oz of water per day. Unless your Doc has explicitly forbidden this, there is virtually no danger. I'm NOT suggesting you start LCing again...but I know how all-consuming and scary heart palps and headaches can be...if dehydration is the source of the palps (and it definitely CAN cause palps and arythmias) they could go away as quickly as within 1-2 hours of serious rehydration (by serious I mean 3 pint in about an hour)....but they will come back if you don't keep it up and work at it.

I can't guarantee it will improve your problems...but the risk is minimal as is the cost...not many things you can say that about...and definitely follow your Docs advice.

I also think the title of this thread could be very misleading. You say you followed Atkin's to a T yet in other posts you went from Atkin's to BFL to Protein Power and admitted you cheated every saturday and went back to induction levels every sunday.

Where is this type of behavior of the diet plan written in Dr Atkin's book? Maybe I missed a chapter or a few pages.

There are specific rules for doing low carb diets for very specific reasons. High fat diets in the present of high carbs as well are putting yourself at a high risk of heart disease for the wrong reason.

I think Wa'il and others are making sure that if anyone sees the title of this thread they want to make sure that the reader knows all the facts to base a decision on if this diet is actually harmful or if someone could have followed it incorrectly and hence caused the majority of difficulties.

I don't think anyone is attacking you on a personal level, I just feel they want no misunderstandings to other readers. Afterall they do have a responsibility to make sure people get all the facts. There is enough misinformation out in the media currently that we don't need more.

You say you are having tests run, but do not have the results yet, so how do you know it was low carb? It very well could have been a prior existing condition that low carbin brought to the front.

I do hope you feel better soon. I would also like to know exactly what your doctor has to say is the cause of some of the problems you are experiencing.

Take care

Hi all,

Just a couple things I have also noticed on lc.

Dizziness- Heart Palps

According to a trusted pharmacist/practioner......the combination of lc which has a diuretic effect, combined with intake of coffee and tea(also a diuretic effect) and the increase in water, which also serves to eliminate excess water retention.......can contribute to dizziness and hear palps.

Classic signs of dehydration.

Personally, I have found that if I drink tooooo much water, and coffee, and tea,,,, I pee ALOT and tend to feel weak and dizzy.

Also, I raised my carb level a little bit...more veggies, cutback on too much caffeine, and have felt alot better since,

I eat a fruit at breakfast now, usually a banana-for the potassium
and for the rest of the day, I stick to lean meats, lots of veggies, salad, and the occasional 1 small scoop of rice.


It works for me!!

I read this thread very carefully because I was also skeptical about the program, yes, it seems foreign to everything I've read. I have high cholestertol (349 at this date 5/5/02 and of course I was worried about eating meat, eggs, etc.

I recommend and offer anyone with concerns ask their doctor, be seen regularly and if you have kidney disease don't do the program.

But what harms kidneys are things many do in excess, too many soft drinks with caffeine, too much salt, diurectics such as coffee and the like and yet this diet does allow everything only low carb.

I thought low carb meant I'd have no energy and yet before I started induction I was sleeping all day now I cannot stop cleaning my house.

Many before the program are eating just as much protein only they have bread around it daily called a sandwich.

Excess weight can kill us through a h ost of problems. Too much of anything is bad. If this diet said no carbs at all I would not be sitting here typing.

I am open minded just feel there is more to your history of medical programs than you knew at the begining. I hope you do not continue to have problems and wish you success in whatever program you choose!

hi smiley

You're right .. dehydration, and low levels of certain minerals, in particular potassium and magnesium, can lead to the weak dizzy feelings you describe. First thing is to correct the dehydration .. by drinking more water, and cutting back on the caffeine and other known diuretics, as you have done. The diuretic nature of a ketogenic diet will balance itself over time, as the fat cells releases their stored water along with the fat.

You're smart also to increase the carbs by eating more veggies ... Dr ATkins recommends this .. it's called OWL However, rice has a high glycemic value, causing blood sugar and insulin to rise quickly. In fact, white or brown rice has a higher glycemic value than white sugar!! (124 vs. 92)

As a source of potassiium, bananas aren't that great, especially considering the high carb content ... 24g digestible carbs for a small one, and approx. 350mg potassium. On the other hand,

• 2 cups of broccoli has only 5g digestible carbs, and 572mg potassium.
• 1 cup of cooked spinach has 2.5g net carbs, and 839mg potassium
• 1 medium California avocado has 3.5 net carbs, and 1,097mg potassium
• 4 oz beef sirloin has 0 carbs and 409mg potassium
• 4 oz sliced mushrooms has 3g digestible carbs and 397g potassium
• etc, etc

A spinach or mushroom omelet for breakfast might be a better bargain for carbs and potassium, and less likely to cause blood sugar and insulin surges and dips ... which are also known to cause dizziness and palpitations.

Doreen

hopefully, everyone, including the young lady who is struggling with these maladies have learned much from this as I have.

Hi Smiley!

I think one of the reasons that Dr. Atkins says no caffeine during induction is because of the diuretic effect that it has. Since low carbing is diuretic by itself, adding more diuretics on top of it could cause some problems as it seems you've discovered.

Doreen

It would take every ounce of strength to eat broccoli or spinach in the morning,,,,,,,,,as it took every ounce of strength just to eat breakfast period before the start of this WOE
LOL LOL

Thanks for the info on the potassium levels though,I will make sure to eat more broccoli at dinner, I love it then!

I seem to do okay with chicken bacon and one egg,
It holds me till lunch, in fact, by lunch time I am usually not very hungry after this breakfast but force myself to eat something low carb.

Take care, Smiley

But it's in quiche...
...along with cheese, green onion, sausage (or bacon or ham) and chopped spinach!

It's very, very good, and it freezes well so you can make it in advance and feeze individual servings. Just microwave and you're set.

It's an easy way to get some veggies in at breakfast.

Just a thought...

Donald

Hi Donald

Do you have a recipe for the spinach quiche?




Smiley

Here's the Spinach Quiche recipe I make:

1 doz extra large eggs
2 cups shredded cheese (I use monterey jack and cheddar mix)
2 packages frozen chopped spinach (thawed)
1 pound pork sausage (I use fresh from butcher case)
1 cup(ish) green onion (chopped. mostly greens)
8oz package cream cheese (softened)


Preheat oven to 350.

Cook the sausage, drain, crumble to the size chunks you like.

Drain thawed spinach by squeezing all excess water by hand.

Beat together (I use a hand mixer) eggs and softened cream cheese until smooth.

Add chopped green onions and drained spinach to egg mixture and blend all.

Add shredded cheese and mix.

Add cooked sausage and stir all together.

Pour into 13x9 inch glass backing dish (spray with Pam or grease first).

Cook for 50 minutes at 350 or until knife in center comes out clean.

Let stand for 10 minutes.

This quiche is great served warm with a salad. I also like it cold. I cut mine into 8 portions and freeze the pieces. I thaw them in the refrigerator and microwave them as I want them.

I'm farily certain that you could substitute items to this recipe. I tried it once with chopped broccoli but I didn't like it as well. This is the best way to get spinach into me!

Enjoy!

Donald

Crystal....
I had the same problems as you did/do. I was sooooo tired that I never got anything done. My heart would race, I felt weak and alot of the time I also felt faint. It got so bad that I was blacking out...got myself one hell of a bad concussion just last month as a matter of fact.

I had already started the Atkins plan when I decided I had better get to the Dr. before I really hurt myself. After a number of tests it came back that I was severely hypoglycemic.
Off I went to a dietition...he explained to me (alot of it I already knew) the effect starchy carbs had on my body. He told me that with a single slice of bread...my insuline spiked and my sugar level dropped to dangerous levels. I walked out of his office with my dietition knowing I was eating 20 carbs a day.
They are doing further tests on me, not quite sure what my pancreas is up to.
The bottom line is...I don't dare touch bread, pasta, rice, potatoes or any other high carb food.
He also gave me a HUGE chart detailing what foods cause a higher glucose level for when I want to increase my carbs to 25.

Yesterday I increased my carb count to 25 because with me not cheating...my levels haven't dropped below 4 for over a week. Instead of going through my "list"...I added a extra 2 tablespoons of salsa to go with my pork rinds...today I will add more flax to my flax breakfast to cover my new 5 carb increase.

In the end..whether i am at the pre-diabetes stage...or any other surprise my body is throwing at me...the best thing I can do to keep my insuline at an even level is to stay with this way of eating.

When the Dr. first had an idea of what was wrong with me his first words were...lay off the bread and potatoes and don't even think of touching another candy bar (sugar).


Have a nice day...Cin

I want everyone to understand that I am not blaming it all on low carbing but, I am saying that I did not have any problems before than. I did not cheat in the begin of the lc plan untill I started having problems with the high blood pressure never had high bp before and it does not run in my family. When I switched plans is when I my bp went down. I will have some of my test results back on friday. When I told my doctor that I had been on lc about 6 mnths ago he told me to never go on a diet like that again that it was very dangerous. Maybe it did help some people but it could also have bad effects on some people also. How does eveyone know that it is safe a couple of years down the road you may start to have problems also. I only wrote about my problem because I was concerned about everyone else that is lc I just thought someone would like to hear about it , maybe someone was having the same problems as me.. SORRY IF I OFFEND ANYONE ITS YOUR BUISNESS NOT MINE............. When I get my results I will let everyone know !!!!!!! GOOD LUCK