I started keto on the 13th of June. Everything was going great until day 8, where I had an onset of diarrhea. I didn’t think too much of it at first, and figured it would pass. I am now on my fifth day of diarrhea. I’ve been adding in varying amounts of fiber for two days, gave Imodium another shot this morning as I have literally been having to clean clothes due to this - the stuff is literally just flowing out of me, no substance, just liquid, very light in color. Today I added in digestive enzymes but still feel no change. I’m not eating much because I still feel a loss of appetite, but I am still making sure to maintain my macros in the little calories I am eating. I’m chugging water like it’s going out of style, have tried chicken broth as well, am drinking beverages that are zero calorie but high in electrolytes. I don’t know what to do at this point or have optimism that this will go away. I haven’t seen any improvement. Has anyone had to quit the keto diet because of something like this? How long do I wait for these symptoms to go away before I throw in the towel?
Diarrhea - Neverending
Wendy,
I have done MTC oil in my coffee about 3 times - not regularly. The day I came down with this I was drinking MTC oil in coffee and some mineral greens. I have been avoiding coffee since this started up altogether (don’t need another diuretic in my system).
Ok, just wanted to make sure that isn’t it, and I assume you’re not eating maltose sweetener. It could of course be a bug or something you ate had too much bacteria, or Giardia. 
Thanks Wendy : ) no, I’ve been avoiding sugar as well aside from liquid stevia. Shortly after this started I did try and do some research and one of the things I found was to try and keep my fat intake to naturally occurring fats in foods. I’ve basically cut out cream cheese, butter, and oils like you mentioned. Getting fats from things like nuts, cheese, hummus, etc. I do hope that once my body adjusts I can add those back in.
I have wondered whether it’s a bacteria… I’m really crossing my fingers that that is what it is.
Every once in awhile I’ll get a bought of diareah but it has never lasted too long. I try to eat a little Greek yogurt each day, full fat no sweetener. You may just need to let your gut rest but if it continues get it checked out. You never know what you may pick up out there.
One of my biggest pet peeves is the crunchy granola idiot types that say, your body is releasing “toxins” or you’re “detoxing”, as if we don’t have immune systems. However, there’s a kernel of truth in that,if you’re like me, you were eating the absolute s**t diet that the world recommend to us and it wasn’t good. Going to something healthy takes some adjustment and retraining.
So… Unfortunately, I started fasting, 5 days fasts right out the chute before doing keto. So my experience isn’t quite the same. But, 3 days into a fast I’d have horrible diarrhea for a day. Then I’d be chained to a toilet the day I decided to refeed. Still have the refeeding problems, but it’s only a few hours now. But the other diarrhea problems have gone away.
What kinds of fats are you getting? Back off from the MCT oils and coconut oils for now and slowly reintroduce when you firm up. How bad is the diarrhea? Because you have to be aware of dehydration risk. Have you tried some fiber like psyllium? How about fibrous veggies like celery, or cheese to firm you up? Also Wendy’s caution above about sweetners is excellent. Cut them out if you are getting them.
What’s your salt intake. You want about 1.5 to 2tsp. Too much will flush you out, too littles a problem too. You mentioned drinks with electrolytes, what is it and how much?
Stevia is a very likely culprit and is very reactive to spiking insulin. Hummus is loaded with carbs. While it’s got a lot of great health benefits, probably should try to stay away from it until you’ve regained a bunch of insulin sensitivity. Cream cheese and butter are great, no reason to stay away. Nuts can be great, but too many can irritate some people’s stomach and some nuts have quite a few carbs. Remember, you shouldn’t be snacking at all, get all your calories in your 2 or 3 meal windows and eat enough to carry you to the next meal. So are the nuts part of a meal or are they a snack?
Jason,
I was getting in all my food in three meals a day before this started happening, so nuts are just as a snack at this point. I basically have no appetite. I’m taking in calories when the thought of eating doesn’t make me nauseous. I wasn’t aware of the issue with stevia, I’ll have to keep that in mind. For electrolytes I started today and have honestly just been drinking Propel- I assume it’s really not the best - just the only 0 carb 0 sugar electrolyte drink I could find at the store quickly. If you have any alternative options let me know. For the past three days I’ve been taking in about 800-1,000 calories a day, sticking around 70% fat, 20% protein, 10% carbs. I’ve lost 10 lbs since I started on the 13th but I have a feeling a majority of that is due to excretion/diminishes appetite and diet.
I’m of the mind that you have a stomach bug and it’s not related to the diet at all.
This sounds strange, but maybe try more salt. It will help you hold onto water. We need about 5g of sodium per day, or a little more than 2 teaspoons of salt. I get my salt through bouillon “tea” or just a glass of warm water with 1/2 teaspoon salt if I’m in a rush. You can also add about 1/8 teaspoon of No Salt to get some potassium. Propel won’t give you enough salt.
I had the runs for many months on and off. The salt and lowering my fat and eating more protein helped until my body learned to process the fats.
Finally, are you eating anything new or way more of a food that you didn’t eat pre-keto? If so, You could have a food intolerance to it.
Good luck, I hope you figure it out.
After 5 days I ould guess you have a GI bug and it’s not keto related.
Nuts can have a very odd GI effect on some people, so would back off on the nuts. also do stop the stevia. I also would get a anti parasite and give it a go,
I was going like a Chirstmas goose five days at the beginning. No virus, just lots of fat not included in my previous low fat diet. I think it was the shift for me. hope it clears up soon. If not, get seen.
K
Propel is full of artificial sweetener that will spike your insulin and be counter productive and the amount of electrolytes in it is next to nothing so there probably isn’t any benefit. I’d stay away. Just make sure you are getting plenty of salt.
That’s not nearly enough calories! You’ll get good weight loss in the short term with such restricted calories but in the long term it’ll slow your metabolism and then it’s a hard uphill climb.
I didn’t even think about the stomach bug angle as folks have mentioned, but that’s actually a very likely scenario.
Thank you everyone for the input!! I wrote this post feeling like I was at the end of my rope yesterday; and even last night things were terrible (actually reached a new ‘worst’), but somehow I fell asleep, slept through the entire night, and woke up with nothing more than a slightly queasy stomach, which has since passed. I’ve NEVER had something so severe resolve itself at what seemed like the snap of a finger but it has… maybe I won’t know if it was keto related or a stomach bug but I’m very happy to be rid of it, and happy to have my appetite back! I think I’ll easily be able to go back to consuming a regular amount of calories each day (shooting for 1500), staying within keto macros, and I am still going to take some of the tips you’ve given me above in mind for keto generally. Thanks all!
CannI suggest that you dial back on the fat? Don’t add extra, just eat ordinary meat and low carb vegetables. Added fat can play havoc with guts and, especially a the beginning, simply lowering the carbs to 20g will do the trick. It’s easy to eat too much fat simply because it’s now allowed. You could just have a day or so only drinking water? Good luck!
It doesn’t matter what you are eating or not eating, this is not normal. This could prove very dangerous as you get more & more dehydrated. I suggest a visit to a doctor or urgent care if it’s not cleared up by a day of nothing but anti-diarrhea meds, a bulking fiber like psyllium in small doses, and lots of electrolytes/fluids. Try to avoid electrolyte drinks with sweeteners. And Propel doesn’t have enough of anything to be beneficial. Taking salt and indulging in Epsom salt baths may be enough on the electrolyte front, but you have probably flushed out a lot of potassium as well. The main thing is to get the flood stopped so you can rehydrate and start to slowly introduce food again.
I had that problem at first as well. I think I was eating way too much fat from dairy, so I cut back. It slowly subsided, and I am now going to see what a month off dairy does to completely resolve it.
If you have not found it yet search the site for KetoAide. Brenda Thorne has created a simple and inexpensive alternative to electrolyte drinks.