I started my Keto journey almost 3 months ago.I started as low carb but found out about Keto and Ketosis and for almost two months have stayed below 20 net carbs and within the last few weeks I’ve dropped to 1,200 calories.At first I dropped a lot of weight but I have since plateaued.I felt great at first but then I started getting major head aches and sometimes they start after I work out and go away after I eat,so I figured it was my blood sugar dropping,but now I am having them frequently and not just after working out heavy.I am using Magnesium supplement and a Potassium supplement.The muscle cramps went away but not the head aches.Not sure how much salt to increase? Also,I have almost all really loose stools if not just straight diarrhea and I’ve had that since I started.I need help.Going to my doctor soon but these head aches won’t go away no matter what I do??
Help! Still have head aches after two months
Sarah
Welcome! I am sure you will get a few responses with a variety of ideas. Me first:
- Headaches are very often simple dehydration. Your description makes me immediately think you are dehydrated. I suggest for the next 3 days drink a lot of water. See if that helps.
- Salt. I know you said you had some electrolytes, but are you eating enough basic salt. I would be adding a lot of salt to your food for a few days (much more than normal) and see if that helps.
Cheers
Alec
Taking too much magnesium can cause the diarrhea. Try 2/3 or 1/2 your current dose. are you hydrating enough and getting enough salt?
Balancing electrolytes can be tough at first. If you have a headache, dehydration feels possible; drink water to thirst.
Salt, potassium and magnesium are always important - and salt is the key because it regulates potassium and magnesium. You will likely need more salt than you think you do if you are coming off a standard way of eating.
This is nowhere near enough food. The focus with this way of eating lowering carbohydrates, not calories.
I realise that’s a scary thing to read. When I first came across the keto diet, I restricted calories because I didn’t believe it was possible to lose fat without calorie restriction. I can reassure you that calorie restriction - especially to such low levels - is entirely unnecessary.
All you’re inadvertently doing is warning your body that you’re in a situation where food is scarce, so it becomes unwilling to use its stored resources.
To clarify, I’m guessing you mean Sodium salt here, considering potassium and magnesium intake are also salts?
@Sarah_Wells Welcome and congratulations on getting started … but not clear yet as to what your objective(s) are?
Yes, as noted by others above, head ache is a common sign of dehydration in the circumstances you’re describing.
Magnesium is an important electrolyte in proper dosage. It’s also what you take to prepare for a colonoscopy … so please don’t overdo it 
[sorry, bad pun, but important point.]
What concerns me also is that you are severely restricting your caloric intake…
… and this will prove to be counterproductive if it hasn’t already. Your body will revolt against starvation and it will undermine everything you’re likely trying to accomplish - both internally and externally.
Much better to diligently restrict the carbs as you are, but eat as much healthy animal fat (and prudent amounts of protein for your body weight) to satiety. Do not starve yourself. This would be an unsustainable way to achieve whatever those goals of yours might be (unless your goal was to shut down your metabolism and become unhealthy!)
Yes, table salt, otherwise known as sodium chloride.
There is also what is called “lite” salt, which is half sodium chloride and half potassium chloride, which Dr. Phinney recommends as a good way to get potassium into one’s diet, if needed. As for magnesium, he recommends a product called Slow-Mag, but I’m not clear if that product is available outside the U.S. and Canada.
Yes. For clarity, I used the same language the OP - as have most people who have responded to try to help. It would be a little odd if they were talking about salt and I suddenly started calling it sodium chloride.
I also thought it was fairly clear from the context, given that sodium chloride is nearly always colloquially referred to as salt, and given that I specified magnesium and potassium by name.
Apologies that you were unable to discern the meaning yourself from the context without additional clarification.
??? They talked about Magnesium and Potassium suppliments, mentioned it helped some things but not everything and then questioned saying they don’t know how much salt to increase. That sounds like they were referring to Magnesium and Potassium as the salts they weren’t sure about how much to increase (they’ve done some but not sure it was enough) considering those are both the salts mentioned. You listed 3 items as separate things ‘Salt, Magnesium, potassium’, which is what seemed odd to me here since the later two items are salts as well (and seemed to have been referred to as salts already, as they should be).
Around ketogenic areas I’ve ever been in (including here) salt tends to refer to all salts, at least all the salts we consume (Sodium, Magnesium and Potassium salts).
If you look, I was able to discern the meaning, hence my request for clarification included the correct meaning, however if someone is struggling with a problem, and because I’ve many times run into issues where between different minded people and especially people just learning new things not understanding each other when using mixed terminology, I figured it was a good idea to be clear on the matter, hence seeking clarification.
Thanks for the explanation. I hope you’re now satisfied that I was referring to sodium chloride, as explained by both myself and Paul, and that other posters in this thread who also used the term ‘salt’ were likely referring to the same substance.
If that’s the case, hopefully we can now get back on topic and try to help the OP with the problem they’re experiencing. I’m sure they’d be appreciative of your help and advice if you have the time to offer some assistance to them.
Around ketogenic areas I’ve ever been in (including here) salt tends to refer to all salts, at least all the salts we consume (Sodium, Magnesium and Potassium salts).
I’ve never known this to be the case, salt has always just meant sodium to me with magnesium and potassium being referred to separately. When I say salt it’s sodium I’m referring to. They’re three different things.
They are indeed 3 different things, but all are salts (different salts).
When I looks at food tracking systems, nutritional labels, or listen to doctors talk about the levels needed, they talk about sodium intake, potassium intake, magnesium intake, and may talk about all three as “salts” because they are all salts.
Sorry, I don’t share your pain. I’m one of those fortunate folks who don’t get ‘headaches’ unless there’s something extraneous stuck in my head - you have checked, I presume. Aside from the various suggestions about mineral intake, balance and supplementation, I offer the following possibility.
Pre-keto your brain was running on pretty much 100% glucose. All of a sudden, lifetime-wise speaking, you began to give your brain a fuel it hasn’t seen since you were a young baby - ketones. The reaction could simply be “What is this stuff… what the heck do I do with it? Where’s my glucose?” If so, it will pass and your lucky brain will figure it out soon enough. If the headaches persist, however, I would visit a doctor to determine whether or not something more serious is going on. Best wishes.
We have to distinguish between the scientific terminology and the everyday usage. Yes, they are all salts, in terms of chemistry, but in our daily lives when we say “salt,” we mean “table salt,” which is sodium chloride.
Just as when when we colloquially say “sugar” we mean “table sugar” or sucrose, even though glucose, galactose, dextrose, maltose, lactose, fructose, mannose, and the like are also sugars, from a chemical point of view. Or just as when we say “fruit” in colloquial speech, we mean the sweet fruits, and don’t intend to include tomatoes, beans, peas, maize, and so forth, even though they are all the fruits (seed-bearing structures) of the plants they come from.
It works the other way, too, sometimes. For example, β-hydroxybutyrate is not a ketone, according to the definition used by chemists. But when we are being casual, we call it one, because it is produced by the liver during ketogenesis and, like acetoacetate and acetone, which are actual ketones, it is both a fuel and a signalling hormone. This is why people who are speaking and writing more precisely will use the term “ketone bodies” to refer to all three as a group.
@Sarah_Wells I only get exertion headaches when I’m overtraining and need a rest.
None of those examples correspond to how I speak of things, nor how I’ve typically read or listened to ketogenic researchers or others doing keto refer to things, so… I guess they are lost on me. I refer to all the salts as salts, and I’ve seen that usage here and in other keto sources as well. When I talk about sugars, I don’t mean just granulated cane/beet sugar or whatever, or just sucrose, but I do include glucose, fructose, etc. as well, as do others I’ve talked to. And absolutely the same with fruit within my family at least, though fruit don’t come up much, other than all the grains/legumes you mentioned as they are, well, grains / legumes. They are are the seeds themselves, from my understanding, typically. Likewise, I’ve always considered β-hydroxybutyrate a byprodect rather than as a ketone…