Fasting and Migraines

(Shayne) #1

I made it a goal this year to do alternate daily fasting, but it seems that my body just isn’t ready for that as each of the last few times I’ve attempted to go over 24 hours, I get a migraine and the only thing that helps is eating (no, my blood sugar doesn’t go too low… I checked).

I read on another forum (thanks Google) that this could be caused by cortisol or thyroid issues (which my doctor suspects I have both and we’ll be testing soon).

Have any of you heard of or experienced anything like this?

(Liz ) #2

I have had migraines & headache with each of my extended fasts, up to 72 hours. I get plenty of electrolytes. It’s very frustrating! I get hormonal migraines once or twice a month anyway, triggering one with a fast doesn’t add to my usual number, it just makes fasting more of a drag. So I don’t have answers for you but I’m commiserating & following this thread to see if anyone has insights/solutions.

(Sarah Bruhn) #3

Fasting for more than 48 hrs triggers migrains for me too which is annoying because keto basically illiminates them except for this.

(Laura) #4

I tried doing a 36 hour fast for the first time this week and woke up with a pounding migraine. I’m wondering if I will be able to fast more than 24 hours. I am on preventative meds on a daily basis as well!!

#5

Are you keeping your sodium & water up when you’re fasting? I find sodium helps with mine unless they’re hormonal or weather related.

(Laura) #6

Still a work in progress… I don’t like salt in my water. I’ve been trying pinch on my tongue, and bought some pickles today, going to start drinking picke juice👍🏻
Still trying to figure out how much my body needs.
I frequently get a weird headache in the back of my skull, thinking it might be a sign that I might need to add some salt.
Going to experiment and see what happens.

#7

Good luck with it. There are quite a few migraine threads floating around so you might find some more tips if you use the search function :slightly_smiling_face:

(Laura) #8

Ok… thanks. I’ll search around :heart_eyes:

(Nicole Sawchuk) #9

I swear I am the only person who’s migraines have gotten worse going keto and fasting. I used to only get them once a year. Now its every few months. I have been keto for 4 years now and they have gotten progressively more frequent in that time. I’ve tried all kinds of electrolyte formulas, fasted all kinds of lengths, and tried cutting out food (to the point where I am essentially carnivore right now) to no avail. Just had one last week and it was painful despite the copious amounts of salt under the tongue! Other wise I feel great with lots of energy, great sleep, balanced hormones and I lost all my weight…but the migraines. Nope - no help there.

I’ve come to the conclusion its partly based on hormonal fluctuations, viral infections (I haven’t gotten sick in like a year but when my kids are fighting colds and I start fighting it off, it seems to trigger them) and the extreme weather changes. Each one individually doesn’t trigger it, but a random combination of two or three of them does. Therefore, they are hard to predict and prevent them. I have yet to find any solution.

Sometimes I wonder if exogenous ketones would be helpful?