Keto flu or antidepressant withdrawal?

medication
ketoflu
#1

Hey all,

Im 23 years old and have doing the keto diet for about 3 months now… I am also on an antidepressant medication. I am concerned that the ketosis is interacting with my antidepressant (since there both metabolized in the liver) let me explain…
I was starting to have sudden withdrawal symptoms from my medication for weeks at a time with no explanation. Finally I tested my ketone levels and I was at 1.0! I had no idea I was still in ketosis because I had quit the “diet” after feeling ill from feeling in withdrawal. I tried to get out of ketosis and it was hard, it seemed like no matter how much carbs I ate my body kept trying to stay at .6 or .7 ketosis readings for a while. I finally started eating sugar from fruit and coconut water (lots of it) and I got out of ketosis and the side effects stopped. However it didn’t last long tho because after a few days of eating normal by body shifted back into ketosis again (now I’m at around.4 to .6) but I am so confused because I feel horrible in ketosis sometimes because it feels like its making my medication less effective.

Is this possible for ketosis to interact with medication??? I never even considered this even as a possibility before i started keto! I can’t seem to find what enzymes the liver produces in ketosis to see if it interacts with the medicine… or maybe its the interaction of the ketones in my brain in combo with the meds. My medication is fluvoxamine if that helps btw. I feel exhausted from this. It’s gone on for months. I know some may say its the keto flu but I truly don’t believe it completely is because I have been in withdrawal from my medicine before and I know the symptoms.
Any insights would help if possible. Thank you

(Carl Keller) #2

Totally yes. Ketosis is influenced by hormones and medications can alter how our hormones behave. Beyond that, I can’t tell you much.

I’m hoping someone else can come along to offer a better explanation. In the meanwhile, you might try researching “keto/antidepressants”.

(Omar) #3

my experience and many posts here in this forum seem to shed the light on few things related to keto and antidepressants.

that is the antidepressants become more effective with keto such that you need to reduce the dose.

other than that I do not remember a major comment from the forum members.

(You've tried everything else; why not try bacon?) #4

It depends on what antidepressant you are taking. If it is a selective serotonin re-uptake inhibitor (SSRI), a ketogenic diet should help, because it tends to increase serotonin production. The precursor of serotonin is an amino acid called tryptophan, and the types of whole foods people tend to eat on this diet tend to be rich in tryptophan. The problem is that serotonin is very useful throughout the body, so most of the tryptophan we eat gets nabbed and used to make serotonin elsewhere in the body, before it can cross the blood-brain barrier to be made into serotonin by the brain.

Ketone bodies are manufactured in the liver, but they are metabolized in the rest of the body. The one that crosees the blood-brain barrier is called β-hydroxybutyrate. People often find that they are mentally sharper when their brain is running on β-hydroxybutyrate instead of glucose. Β-hydroxybutyrate also helps clear up amyloid plaque between the neurons, which further enhances brain function.

You should not be experiencing withdrawal symptoms from your antidepressant. Your doctor has to have told you how to taper off properly to eliminate the withdrawal symptoms. If you followed the tapering-off instructions and are experiencing withdrawal anyway, something is wrong and you should go see your doctor.

#5

I researched a little on my computer and found some people have the same thing happen because keto sorta “flushes” out medications/toxins. I am going to try to get out of ketosis for now and go down on my meds before trying it again. it sucks because I really wish I could just stay in keto but I have todo what’s best for my health. Its hard tho I realized coming out of ketosis since I’ve been it for a while… maybe my body just needs to adapt?

Thank you all for the responses

(Full Metal KETO AF) #6

I hope you find relief. I was often depressed before keto and have not had a problem with it since I left the carbs behind. Maybe if you quit the drug as you say coming back to keto after you hopefully will get some improvements as well.