Carb overload body shock


(Adriana) #1

Good evening everyone,

Something happened to me today that I have not experienced before, at least not in this magnitude, and I am wondering if it has happened to anyone else and if that’s a normal body response.
So today my morning started at 5:30AM with my keto tea(cream, 3 TBS of mtc oil), drove three hours, went to a trail and walked for 3 hours and a half, munched on cheese and a handful of cashews, had my electrolytes and water. After the walk I drove for 44 minutes to a Chinese buffet; which of course was not a good idea but anyway, I figured I’ve been good for 3 months and one carb meal was not going to spoil my progress. At 4pm I started eating. I ate a descent amount of carbs for the main meal, but then I decided to have dessert and to finish it off one expresso with one sugar(have been caffeine free for 4 months) . I was feeling ok when I got out of the restaurant and started heading home, within 20 to 30 minutes my vision started to feel a bit blurry and my heart rate started raising, suddenly I felt this weird sensation and my hands started sweating and shaking, I felt like I couldn’t breath, I’m driving still at this point and I’m trying to psych myself to calm down, I was on the freeway and couldn’t really get out, thankfully I managed to control myself as much as possible to be able to drive until the next exit. I stop and asked my sister to drive, as soon as I got out of the car my whole body was shaking and my mouth went desert dry. At first I thought I’m having a panic attack, which I’ve only had once long time ago and nothing like this. But then I wonder if I had loaded my body with too much sugar at once after the day I’ve had and of course the caffeine.
After 1 hour and 45 minutes I started to feel better, it’s been 4 hours and I’m back to normal other than feeling super tired.

Was carb overload what I expirienced?


(Full Metal KETO AF) #2

Well I’d vote yes on that. You aren’t used to that sugar load anymore which is good. Stay with KETO should be your takeaway from the experience. You probably won’t feel quite up to snuff tomorrow. You may temporarily gain water weight. I can get away with some extra carbs and still feel fine but not a Chinese Buffet worth! :cowboy_hat_face:


(Susan) #3

I think it was. Hopefully this experience will stop you from cheating again and keep on track =). Next time you want to go off Keto, remember how you felt today. Keto for the win =).


#5

Sounds like carb & sugar poisoning for sure - but the rather extreme kind that comes from processed foods and sky high glucose and lots of incretin! Carb hangovers, sugar hangovers, are common with overindulgence - but are the worst when from a highly processed “binge”.

And all the concentration & brain energy required for driving probably made it way more stressful and noticeable with symptoms than if you would’ve just crashed out for a nap at home for a few hours and woke up with a dull headache, etc. Well, a good thing to learn from, and thankfully you were able to pull over and had your sister with you!

But the complicating factor that sped you to panicky, blurred vision, and dry mouth could well be the high amounts of MSG that were likely at the buffet. Chinese restaurants are reknown for MSG as a basic ingredient, and/or cooking with sugar + salt in most every dish, plus all the white flour in dumplings and noodles… So, that was a huge amount of glucose for your poor brain to cope with, esp while driving!

After becoming fat-adapted via keto, it really shows us how actually intoxicating the high glucose state is.

Good that it’s passing - keep up the electrolytes as you detox, and you should be back in ketosis within a few days or sooner of LCHF/keto eating and/or IF. As the seasons pass, you’ll increase your tolerance for carbs - but that’s different than a processed carbs & MSG binge which is what the typical Chinese buffet in the west offers. Sounds like you hit the 200g+ mark of carbs or something crazy like that - which is easy to do with lots of processed noodles, white rice, sneaky MSG in everything, sugar cubes, sugary plum sauce, etc. But oh the woe, oh the woe!

Feel better and better :sunflower:


(Ken) #6

Sounds like a combination of things, with the emphasis on the Expresso. Not having caffeine for so long makes your body very sensitive to it’s effects. Especially if you were dehydrated. You’d probably have been OK if you’d opted for regular coffee.


(hottie turned hag) #7

Sounds like hypoglycemic crisis to me.


(Trish) #8

Yeah you overdid it. I had a similar experience. Was several months in with strict keto and decided to have a cheat meal at Japanese buffet. Teriyaki meats, Tempe veggies, and lots of dynamite rolls etc. This was dinner. Felt fine except overstuffed. However, that night I woke up shortly after midnight horribly sick. Violent vomiting and diarrhea, cold sweats, shaking, headache. I thought I was going to die. Ya it wasn’t fun. I was sure I had food poisoning but my son ate exactly everything I did as the meal was all shared and he was fine. It was totally my body revolting and reacting to my bad food decision.


(Lazy, Dirty Keto 😝) #9

Yes it sounds like you overdid it and take it as a lesson learned. I actually almost fainted (literally fell backwards into my bedroom door) about 2 months or so into Keto when a had a piece of my daughter’s Halloween candy. Ever since that, I’ve realized that for me personally, the 5 seconds of joy from eating carbs isn’t worth the aftermath.


(ANNE ) #10

I second at @BlueViolet

I have had similar events after overdoing a big carb blowout, my body over reacted and produced a shed load of insulin to counter the higher blood sugar.
I was at home when it happened and was able to take a blood sugar to confirm. A low of 3.0 mmols. But the same symptoms you describe. Fixed of course by more sugar…
I gave myself quite a fright, I am now much more careful on overdoing the carbs.
Hope you are feeling better.
Take is easy now.


(Adriana) #11

Thank you everyone for your responses, and definitely lesson learned. During the night I sort of woke up and I was drench in sweat, I was too sleepy to note anything else.

I’m back to keto today and never doing that again.


(Susan) #12

Awesome, Adriana, I wish you the much success on your continuing Keto journey =).


('Jackie P') #13

I had this once. As I understand it, your once insulin resistant cells are now receptive. You caused a massive insulin spike and consequently your blood sugar dropped dramatically.
Good lesson learnt I would say :slightly_smiling_face:


(Adriana) #14

it all make sense now, I just wasn’t even thinking anything of it. I have never had that issue before and believe me i used to eat like big time eat at buffets, aftewards I used to just feel sleepy. So I guess it is a good thing my cells are no loner resistant right? it was a terrible way to find that out though.


(hottie turned hag) #15

This makes me think nurse Jackie above is correct!

What you described was textbook hypoglycemic crisis.

That you’re now less insulin resistant is awesome!


#16

I did almost the same today and am sick feeling truly off center I was sick for a week just fasted while had cold was not hungry no problem but after I had to do errands got in a bind all I could get was a hamburger sense I have no food in a week and body is okay I ate it and two cookies oh I am so nauseous I will learn once in Ketoious We need to stay there our bodies does not like junk I’ll never eat another cookie ever going to eat a spoon full of salt to get the taste out of my mouth oh and you may have had MSG that will whoop on you also


#17

I think it’s not caused by the carbs, but by the caffeine. If you are not used to it and are one keto, you can get VERY sensitive to caffeine. I experienced the same effect, like a panic attack, as I got off caffeine and on keto for a while, and then drank one cup of mild coffee.