Feeling unwell and lethargic. Shaking during exercise

#1

My brother has been doing keto for five months now. He’s 55, 5’8’ and weighed 172 to start and and he lost ten pounds. He’s been feeling unwell for a while now, lethargic in the afternoon and sleepy, but today he found his blood ketones 3.8 and is particularly unwell.

This is his message to me: “I am not feeling well. I am lazy (lethargic) and yesterday evening I played a tennis match with my daughter against another father/son team and I was shaking a little after some time in the match. What should I do? Should I reduce my fat intake and increase carbohydrates a little bit. Last evening, I ate 3 pieces of fathead pizza and some salted Pecan + full fat yoghurt. Last lunch, I ate zucchini with mozzarella and a piece of duck breast + some hazelnuts & walnuts. In between the two meals I didn’t eat anything. Your advice is needed.”

What do you think? All advice is gratefully needed.

(the cheater) #2

He sounds like he’s eating WAY too many carbs and is not reaching that fat adapted state. The shaking sounds like low blood sugar. Why is he doing keto? If it was just to lose weight, then he should go back to a normal diet if he’s reached his goal - but he needs to do it right if he’s going to do it.

My advice would be to go back to the basics. figure out his caloric needs, figure out his protein needs, reduce carbs to 20g (he’s WAY over based on what you’ve said), and then eat fat to satiety. Track everything - at least until he’s got a grip on it.

Just sounds like he’s lost his way a little - KCKO!

#3

I thought so, too, but how is he in such deep ketosis with 3.8 blood ketones if he’s eating too much carbs?

(Ron) #4

Electrolyte imbalance? Dehydration?

Suggest he drink lots of water and increase salt a little.

(LeeAnn Brooks) #5

I just discovered that having high ketones also means your body is depleting sodium more. I have this issue a lot. Try more sodium.

(Tricia Roth) #6

Is he eating enough?

(Bunny) #7

He really should check with his doctor and I would suggest having creatinine levels checked? Look for dark urine?

#8

What would cause a rise in creatinine level in his case?

(Bunny) #9

Not sure, but that shakiness thing during/after physical exertion is a good indication that there is something going on with creatinine? It can be life-threatening! Get him to a hospital ASAP!

#10

He told me he ate more carbs today and felt better. Not completely, but better. He even played another tennis match! This doesn’t sound like he has a creatinine problem, does it?

(Ron) #11

This ^^^^^^

(Bunny) #12

When is the last time he had blood work?

#13

A couple of months ago. The only abnormalities were in his cholestrol levels.

#14

He had lots of worries about his blood lipids, also had constant heart burn and flatulence (and eating keto for the first couple of months treated that) He was never really overweight, but had been adding fat around his waist, and this also went away with keto. It’s only been in the last month that he began complaining from afternoon lethargy and this latest complaint.

(Ron) #15

My speculation from the information you have supplied is that he may have never reached fat adaption in the previous 5 months (due to hidden carbs, high protein consumption, etc) and was probably restricting calories in an effort to lose the weight he was noticing. While this will lose weight , it is not going to allow the body to convert into a fat burner. Now he is possibly starting into the transitional stage and finally experiencing the “keto flu” that happens during this period.
Ask him if he has ever experienced reduced physical abilities before since starting his keto journey? This might give some insight to progression and maybe answer some questions.

#16

I will. But I believe he mentioned early on that he wasn’t able to exercise as usual, but probably as the time went on, he got out of ketosis or stopped being fat adapted, especially since he’s surrounded by people who are totally against keto and not helping him at all or even trying to sabotage his efforts. With his very busy schedule, and no support, he eats what he can from their SAD diet that he considers most keto-like.

I also figured that now he’s lost all of his internal fat, and not getting enough external fat in his diet, his body reverted to glucose burning. And though he eats enough carbs to stall fat burning, it’s not enough to sustain his blood sugar level, so he’s in a sort of limbo.

(Ron) #17

I would totally agree. If he has reverted to lazy keto and is operating on glucose again, he is going to experience exactly what he seems to be. Sounds like you might have known that all along.:face_with_raised_eyebrow::smirk::+1:

#18

I hope that’s all there is to it!