First Ketosis, then ..... poison ivy eruptions?

#1

Hello all. I’m a happy ketone camper, two month-ish in, and suddenly, dormant poison ivy, cold sores and weird glucose readings crop up. Care to weigh in with your experiences? My guesses:

  • Ketosis has lowered overall cortisol production and what was suppressed is breaking out.

  • Despite ketone readings between .9 and 1.7, my fasting glucose was 125. Blood pressure up 148/98. Maybe eating too much protein or eating too late in the evening.

Anyway it is an interesting blip, but not the first time for second-hand poison ivy for me.

(Jody) #2

I always thought you had to go strolling in the poison ivy to get it. It stays in your system?

#3

Yes I haven’t been strolling lately but the blisters of PI have been appearing on my hands and toes. I got cortisone prescriptions in the past to get rid of the outbreaks.

(Jody) #4

I had no idea! My Son was notorious for running through fields of poison ivy when he was younger and the drugs to fight it were pretty harsh, not to mention the scarring on his legs. But I don’t think I’ve ever seen him get a recurrence. Luckily he’s driving now. :grinning:

(squirrel-kissing paper tamer) #5

My son glued a bunch of poison ivy to a canvas once and painted it. He didn’t know what it was and paid for that one. Another time he and his friends burned it in a camp fire and we ended up in the hospital. His eyes swelled closed and his face was gigantic. He carries an epi pen now.

I get one cold sore when my body is stressed. It hasn’t happened since keto but it used to erupt during PMS and if I was getting a common cold. Is it possible you’ve got something else going on and you body can’t fight everything so it’s exacerbated?

(Eric - The patient needs to be patient!) #6

This is called the dawn affect and I had that. I’m 4+ years into keto lite (<50g/day) and no budge on fasting BG (120->130). Now 10+ months into strict keto (<20g) and a more rigorous exercise program (resistance training+). Fasting BG went from 120ish to 102 or so about 6 months in. In recent two months it is falling to high 80’s most days.

I have lost 45+ scale lbs and gained some muscle so I assume actual fast loss is >45lbs. My insulin resistance is finally reversing. So on that front be patient. I did not see BG drop until I started to lose belly fat. Adipose fat is supposed to be the most insulin resistant fat in the body. Of course I lost weight everywhere else before my belly.