Headache and high BP

#1

Hi all. Quick intro: have been keto since feb 2018 and carnivore (roughly 96%) since 1st august 2018. I was never really fat but have lost around 15 kgs and am now at 1.85 cm 75 kg healthy, active 42 yo male.

Love everything about carnivore diet, just ticks all the right boxes for me. However, recently I’ve been having strong headaches just after going to sleep (around 11p.m.) and my BP has risen slightly (was about 135/90 and now is 140/95). My guess is that it has nothing to do with my (awesome!) diet, but was wandering if someone had similar experience or have some knowledge regarding this issue (my understanding reading all the n=1s is that keto and carnivore should resolve these not create them).

Any input is much appreciated.

(Carpe salata!) #2

Do you think your water and electrolytes are good? Are you getting plenty of fat and not too much protein? Have you tried bone broth to boost nutrients? If it doesn’t settle, the doc could check for kidney issues?

That’s all I can think of.

(Edith) #3

Low potassium can cause blood pressure to increase.

#4

Thanks for your input! Thing is I don’t think I’ve changed anything in last couple of months since the switch to carnivore woe. And yet headaches have appeared in last week or so. I’m trying to increase my water consumption just to be sure that I am well hydrated but am not sure if I should increase or decrease electrolytes (because of high BP (and also cause this woe should in theory be sufficient - no supplements required)).

I will do blood work tomorrow and take it from there I guess.

BTW, most days I am eating beef burgers from trusted source (600 grams = 1.32 pounds in a meal) and 4 eggs with some cheese on top. I am probably drinking too much coffee with HWC (4 a day). Also in the last few weeks I noticed that may be I should increase my food consumption because since keto adapting I stopped eating breakfast but I do feel hungry good few hours before lunch (which is my first meal, around 4 pm). Hope this makes sense…

#5

Not that anyone cares but here is an update…

My blood test result are great (well lipids are not :slight_smile: if you look from conventional wisdom pow (ldl is high but trigs/hdl ratio is 1.4 so who cares)), including Mg, Ca, Na, K numbers.

Headaches are almost gone (not completely but much better) and my BP is trending downwards, so I’ll just keep calm and carnivore on.

Probably I’ll take more meat more water more salt approach and monitor BP and subjectively how I feel. Thinking of cutting dairy out just to see if it is beneficial. Certainly going from 96 to 100% carnivore.

Have couple ideas what went wrong but cannot be sure. Could be added stress, could be some (too many?) hazelnuts I had.

(Edith) #6

Well, nuts, in general, are known allergens. Maybe a reaction to eating them?

#7

could be different reaction now that I am mostly carnivore, but did not have nuts reactions ever before.

(Edith) #8

If you are feeling much better on keto/zero carb maybe you just didn’t notice their effect before. Supposedly, there’s a way to test using your pulse. Take your pulse and then eat a food you suspect might be giving you trouble. Take your pulse at 30, 60, and 90 minutes after eating the food. If your pulse goes up by 10 beats per minute of more, you are having a reaction to the food.

I forget the name of the doctor who came up with the test. I will edit the post when I remember.

Edit: it’s the Coca pulse test