A little help please

(Bonnie Bruno) #1

I am doing my second round of keto. First in 2017 with great success of feeling great, mental clarity, emotional balance with about 50 lbs of 100 lost.

I am retuning now since some bio markers are not favorable and I’m back at my 265 lbs at 5’ 3".

I have been keto for about 30 days.
Done with the “flu” and the keto rash.

I eat red meat, chicken and pork and eggs and yummy bacon.
Olive oil, cheese, butter, and cook in pork fat and beef tallow.

Zucchini, cucumbers, cabbage and some salad and avocados. Dairy and decaf tea and blueberries.

Shoot for about 20/25 carbs.

I drink at least 30 Oz of water daily with Redmond salt. I’ve had to cut back on the salt as my lips were getting dry, burning and chapped and that has improved.

I am on some supplements thru a functional medicine woman. She says none would impact my kidneys.

I have lower back pain that is new and I think is my kidneys.
I am having a urine test done soon.

My stomach feels bloated.
My fingers are swollen and joints still hurt a bit.

I feel a bit worse since I started keto and feeling a bit anxious as this time is not feeling at all like 2017…

I have used the search funtion but not finding anything that resonates.

What am I missing?

Thanks for taking the time to respond…

(Robin) #2

Hi Bonnie, not sure I have much to offer in advice. Others will be along soon to contribute.
I seem to remember someone experiencing pain around their kidneys not long ago.

If are you are staying at 20-25 g of carbs every day, you are doing great. Make sure you count those veggies and berries correctly… they add up quickly.

The only thing that stood out to me is your water intake. I drink about 2-3 times that amount.

And be sure you are eating enough calories. This is not the time to send famine messages to your body.

Glad you’re back with us, and good luck.

(Megan) #3

Hi Bonnie, welcome. Your water intake stood out to me too, it’s only 0.85 of a liter. I imagine your kidneys are very busy as you transition from an unhealthy diet to keto? I also ditto Robin on the carbs. With a BMI of 47 you may also be so insulin resistant now you need a lower carb intake than 20-25 at the moment.

How did your stomach and fingers/joints feel prior to keto? The bloating may be the result of your digestive system getting used to a different way of eating. That’s just a may be tho.

I took a 5 month break from carnivore and continue to scratch my head and feel frustrated regarding why my experience this time is quite different from the 1st time. If anyone ever figures out the human body, please let me know!

Have you noticed any improvements since restarting keto?

Lastly, and it’s a well worn tune, it took time to get to where you are at, it’s going to take time to get to where you want to be. It’s awesome you’ve decided to embark on the journey again! All the best and keep us posted.

(Diana) #4

Water way more water.

Could also be your body getting rid of toxins that are stored in the fat cells. Some experience this earlier others later, depends on your own body.

And learn from me….carb creep is real. Weigh anything with carbs.

(Bonnie Bruno) #5

I cut back on water as my urine was clear even with supplements, which I found odd and I was feeling a bit light headed and nauseated. But I will keep and eye on the water. And with the pain, I was thinking I was drinking too much and taxing my kidneys…

I agree on the calories and that was a challenge in 2017, as I am truly not hungry…but I am not trying to be calorie deficient…I like to eat😁

Yeah, I’ve been thinking about dropping the berries as I use them as a treat heated wit butter.

Thank you.

(Bonnie Bruno) #6

Thank you. I shall as I am finding I am really needing community this time around🙂

The benefits of keto blew me a away in 2017, so I am not giving up! KCKO!

Good point that my fingers were swollen prior and I was looking forward to that going away…currently my wedding ring is not coming off…not even for garden work!

My A1c on 6.25.24 was 5.8…so I was thinking that insulin resistance wasn’t too bad along with my FMW saying I’m catching things early.

I’m not a fan of veggies…it’s a mental thing, so I’m cutting the berries and have my eye on the greens like :face_with_monocle:

Thanks again…

(Edith) #7

I won’t comment on the water since everyone else already has. :blush:

Your menu seems pretty good to me, but it’s possible something that you are eating is causing your inflammation. For example, I cannot eat dairy. It gives me scaly itchy bumps and makes my joints hurt. Since your swollen joints were pre keto, I would maybe try removing the dairy from your diet and see if that helps. It is very possible to do dairy-free keto.

(Bonnie Bruno) #8

Dairy was a big part of what got me thru 2017, though I can live without it; I am a cheese fan in my omelets but not going back to dairy heavy recipes, they just don’t resonate with me now. But for now…I’m going to keep the cheese omelets…but once I finish up my decaf tea stores…I’m giving up the 2tbsp of am half and half. And if I have too…I will test cheese…:unamused:

My wife gave up dairy and her longtime skin issues cleared up! She’s never going back to dairy and doesn’t miss it. She is low carb not keto and has great bio markers with a calcium score of zero for the second time in seven years.
My score was 13…

Thank you for your input :slightly_smiling_face:

(You've tried everything else; why not try bacon?) #9

Keep track of your salt for a while. Recent studies have shown that the most healthful sodium intake is 4-6 g/day, which translates to 10-15 g/day of table salt (sodium chloride). This amount includes sodium/salt already present in our food. The symptoms of low sodium are headache, dizziness, and constipation; the symptoms of excessive sodium are a bad taste (that means we’ve had a lot more than we need) and diarrhoea. You will quickly find what works best for you. You don’t need to force fluids, but drinking to thirst is very helpful.

The advantage to getting the right amount of salt is that it helps our body to properly regulate potassium, magnesium, and calcium as well. The normal rate of sodium excretion is slowed down by excessive carb intake, partly because of water-retention caused by glucose, and partly as an effect of the raised insulin caused by the carb intake. The result is that when we cut our carb intake, our kidneys return to excreting salt at the proper rate, which means we may have to work a bit to increase our salt intake to compensate. This is not a big deal, but it does require some attention.

I don’t know how long you’ve been on a keto diet, but women often find that there hormones take a while to re-regulate themselves on keto, and this can be somewhat uncomfortable. Be sure to give yourself at least three or four months on a ketogenic diet, before deciding that it’s not working for you. Good luck!

(Peter - Don't Fear the Fat ) #10

You did mention salt, Paul did too and it’s worth an experiment.
Going by personal experience, you can overdo it.
I know salt is important and not enough may cause headaches but too much causing dehydration can cause headaches too!
I’m going through an experiment of not adding any salt. May be worth a try?

#11

Total opposite, at 30oz, you’re dehydrated, that’ll mess your kidneys up way worse. If you overdo it, you’ll just flush, but that’s not a real stress on them, being dehydrated is a huge one.

One of the first signs is water (retention), which also lines up with the bloat and joints hurting. The drinking more water to hold less water is real.

(You've tried everything else; why not try bacon?) #12

I don’t get dehydrated when I eat too much salt, because I am drinking to thirst. However, the salt takes some of that water with it when it gets excreted out the colon, with predictable effects! :rofl:

(Marianne) #13

I agree with Robin. Assuming you are eating enough, sounds like you’ve got this. I would also suggest that you aren’t drinking near enough water. If you can, cut out everything except coffee, if you drink it, and I’d say get at least 60 oz. of plain water a day.

Best to you!

(Marianne) #14

I think that is dehydration. I’d drink at least 60 oz. for a start.

#15

Everyone has already given fantastic insight.

I’ll just add that it has been 7 years since 2017. That’s a long time and at our age significant. Your body is a lot different today than it was in 2017, and depending how long you stuck with this way of eating at that time it could have created worse issues in your body today if it was short lived. Ketosis has taken me two years to heal all that was wrong with my body, and it’s not done healing yet.

Are you pre-menopause, in menopause, or past it? Pre- and menopause can cause a very different experience than the first time you did Keto, so you might not be comparing apples to apples.

For myself, because I never want a single pound to ever be regained, I have been very determined to make this my permanent way of life. Our food supply cannot be trusted and returning to eating any of the products I used to will unravel all that I’ve accomplished. I don’t believe Keto should be used as a stop-gap measure. It’s a permanent lifestyle change, and if you go off of it I’m pretty sure the past will come back but worse than where you started. (That’s true of any “diet” of course, if you treat it as a “diet”.) Hopefully you can find a way to treat this as a way of life. :heart:

(Bonnie Bruno) #16

Thank you for your thoughts.

(Ethan) #17

Tri-Salts is something I take every day and it may help you too with what you’re describing. It will balance the sodium you’re taking and may help remove the bloating. Easy to take and I wouldn’t want to be without it. It’s also pretty cheap. Very easy to drink w/ water. I also add a little vanilla flavoring with stevia and its pretty good that way.

tri salts ecological formulas powder

  • calcium carbonate
  • magnesium carbonate
  • potassium bicarbonate
(Bonnie Bruno) #18

Thank you

(Bonnie Bruno) #19

Good to know that kidney function came back fine, so probably still just adjusting to keto with some aches and pains and swelling.
More salt and water is not helping with swelling, so just waiting it out.

If anything I would say when I add salt to my water I tend to find my legs cramp at night while sleeping…?

(You've tried everything else; why not try bacon?) #20

Magnesium might help with the cramping. You can take an Epsom salt bath (the magnesium will be absorbed through your skin), or take it as a supplement. But if the latter, start with a small dose and work up, because magnesium in quantity is a laxative.