3 weeks in, I’m miserable!

keto
newbies
(Sheila) #1

Hi there!

Total newbie. I’m 3 weeks into keto, starting my 4th, and I feel miserable. All the time.

  • I’m sick for the second time in 3 weeks.
  • I’m on my second period of the month. And it’s going on day 9. (This is my biggest concern so ladies, any help here would be great.)
  • I’m ALWAYS exhausted. And I’m getting more than enough sleep.

I have no idea what’s I’m doing wrong. I’ve been pretty strict with my diet staying under/around 25g a day. I’ve been testing my levels with urine strips and for the most part, have shown good numbers.

I’m beginning to think this just isn’t right for my body. I drink tons of water. My calories the past 2 days have been a bit low but nothing crazy. Other than the past 2 days, calories have been good.

I do not drink coffee so the whole coffee/butter/oil thing isn’t in my diet. Just thought I’d throw that in here!

Any tips, tricks, ANYTHING would be helpful!

(John) #2

Sounds like you are missing a lot of electrolytes, you didn’t mention them. You need a lot of salt, especially with the amount of water you are drinking.

I salt everything and still need more so I drink Powerade Zero quite a bit and even add some salt to that.

(Omar) #3

I would say I do not see anything unexpected.

Your body want to learn how to burn ketons.

This will take some time ( 2 to 3 weeks) and it can be different from one person to another.

#4

Like others have said electrolytes (VERY important)! Lots of us ladies have irregularities when starting keto. Your hormones are regulating. Hang in there.

(Hyperbole- best thing in the universe!) #5

Many women have crazy periods at first because estrogen is stored in fat so gets released when you use your body fat. Search for it on the forum and you’ll find a lot. It usually evens out and becomes better than before in time. Menopausal women often complain they get a bonus period when they thought they were done with that nonsense.

(Katie) #6

Electrolytes as others have said, also how much fat are you eating? Especially in the beginning adding fat is important to help the body adjust.

(Michelle) #7

This. If you have a lot of body fat to lose or if you have PCOS, your periods will likely get crazy. Fat actually produces estrogen. It is released when you burn fat. Your body thinks it’s another cycle. It will eventually even out. The periods will eventually get regular and a reliable duration. I was bleeding every 18-21 days for an entire week at a time beginning a week into keto. I’m at 3.5 months keto now and have moved up to a 24 day cycle. I see it as a visible sign that I’m doing things right.

#8

Wow! Thank y’all! I have been having irregular bright red spotting on and off since I started Keto 2 weeks ago, and couldn’t figure out what was going on. It definitely makes sense!

(Linda) #9

I spotted for several months while losing 50 pounds and I was 15 years past menopause. I’m glad I looked it up and learned about fat releasing estrogen, or I might have ended up being advised to get another uterine biopsy. Trust me, if you’ve never given birth you only let them do that to you once. :scream:

#10

Hi Sheila,

When I was 4 weeks in I felt absolutely awful! I was miserable, tired and angry all the time. I’ve never felt that way in my whole life, it was just horrible!

What worked for me was upping my carbs a bit. A lot of people will probably disagree, but adding more vegetables and nuts made me feel sooooo much better! I felt like a different person. I doubt I’m in ketosis, but I feel better and I’m still losing weight and don’t have any cravings. I’m going to try and reduce my carbs again and see if I cope better, but at the moment I’m just happy that I don’t feel awful!

As for the period, I’d personally see a gynaecologist just to be safe, especially if you’re losing a lot of blood. That on its own can make you feel tired and unwell.

Take care!

(carol mclintock) #11

Thank you for this - I came to the forum looking for info on just this today and you have set my mind at ease.

I am 10 weeks eating Keto and had my first period for 9 months (and it was doozy) and today feel like I’m about to get another one (bloat, tiredness and short tempered), so this has set my mind at ease as to why this could be happening, as I have just completed all my Well Woman checks and all was well there.

(Hyperbole- best thing in the universe!) #12

Glad to put you at ease… of course use your common sense and listen to your body if you feel like something is wrong. I’m sure that goes without saying! But sometimes things that go without saying need to be said.

(Anne Brodie) #13

About six weeks in I had a short, regular period for three months after having only spotting for the year before that. Reading this I noticed I have not had one for a couple of months again so I think it has settled out. I had heard that estrogen is stored in fat and when fat is burned it is released, but it was kind of amazing to see results of it happening.

I hope you feel better very soon. For me it helped to be much more limited at first, eating unlimited meat, cheese and eggs to handle cravings. Adding in more veggies made me want to overeat other things. But as we know we are all different and the best answer is what works for each of us.

(Shawna) #14

You could have some underlying thyroid or adrenal issues. Leanne Vogel has a podcast geared towards Keto for women. Talks a lot about thyroid, hormones and such.

(Taleisha Collins) #15

This helped me a bunch when I was first starting Keto :slight_smile: Women need to do keto different than men due to our hormonal differences.