Keto Rage

(lou) #1

hi all

sorry if this is in the wrong section. Not new to keto but new to this lovely place!

A short history to open, im a 51yo female, hypertension but no health issues but this is a basic food history to get you warmed up…

0-20 - ‘clean your plate’/meat & 2 veg/tea & 2 sugars /‘bread and butter with every meal’ generation

20-30 - die-hard vegetarian but bacon broke me

30-40 - a plethora of clubs and schemes to lose weight gradually built to around 230lbs

40-48 - the Slim fast/Cambridge carousel and a sprinkling of military/egg/cabbage/soup diets and a disastrous Zumba session that ended in a broken wrist (not mine but my fault!), but I had crawled down to 188lbs

48-50 - found keto - lost 35lbs in 2 years

50-51 - lost keto - gained 35lbs in 1 year

17th July - 188lbs, kickstarted keto using the fast 800 method for the first 7 days. Lost 9lbs in 3 weeks, now back on full keto, -15g carb, happily making my own mayo and bacon is still my drug of choice!

I had really bad keto flu the first time round, I wasn’t smart with my electrolytes but this time, no flu, just a minor headache. What I did have though was bordering on homicidal rage. I was a simmering pot of pent-up anger, so much so that on day 4, my other half cracked open the bedroom door as i was slamming drawers and cursing for no reason, threw a packet of cheese slices on the bed and ran for his life.

woke up day 5, the worst of it gone, but I’m still struggling with the temper 3 weeks in. I’m normally one of those annoying laid back, everything will be ok kind of people but I’m finding I have a Jekyll/Hyde side now, plotting the downfall of everyone in range when it descends.

I’m drinking plenty, taking electrolyte powders, magnesium, I’m not hangry, bloods show im not menopausal, etc., but will this pass?

Also, I’m getting a euphoric feeling after eating (fasting till 12 with a 6-hour eating window), like a sugar rush, then an energy drops about an hour later. I’m not eating processed foods so nothing hidden… but please don’t say it’s my bacon!

(Robin) #2

Well, it’s not your bacon! :+1: Do you eat much fruit?
I have not heard of this, but am sure others will have input.
My only question is are you in menopause or do your hormones fluctuate?

(Joey) #3

This is priceless.

I regret that I have no actionable advice (other than @robintemplin’s questions above which, as a grownup male, I know better than to ask).

My suspicion is that, whatever is affecting your mood, will likely stabilize over time. Many folks have strong emotional attachments and reactions to foods (e.g., bacon?) and withdrawal from glucose can be a traumatic experience for some. Messing with such things, especially at certain stages in life, can upset one’s inner apple carts.

Stay the course and try to love your other 1/2 as best you can when the mood permits. :vulcan_salute:

(lou) #4

Thank you for the reassurance. I’m keto for the long haul so time will tell :grimacing:

(lou) #5

Not menopausal and hormones ok according to bloods, though I know the estrogen release might not help, but I expected crying not murder!

(Bob M) #6

I can say that I’ve intermittently had some anger (as a male), for reasons I did not, and still don’t, understand. I’m primarily happy, content, no anxiety, no depression, so this anger comes seemingly out of nowhere. Goes away though.

(lou) #7

I wasn’t sure if it was because of the low calories to begin with but feel OK otherwise

#8

Hubby had unprecedented anger one day - and it was caused by an antibiotic he could not tolerate. I had never heard of such a reaction to antibiotics. Nor have I ever heard of anger being connected to Keto.

(Joey) #9

FWIW, the only anger I’ve felt as a result of keto has been directed at those in government who make up those nutrition guidelines. Apparently, they don’t care enough to apply science - or to change their guidance when new facts emerge and corporate funding is exposed.

That really pisses me off.

#10

Why are you low calorie on Keto? Do you eat enough fat?

(lou) #11

I started on the Fast 800 keto plan, I thought it would be better than the 24 hour fast and the beef and butter I did last time. It was only for 5 days, I’m back up to full macro’s now

(lou) #12

Oh yes, those outdated figures they use to determine how ‘overweight’ an 8 year old is!

#13

Honestly unless you come from a family where menopause is really early or late, you have probably been in perimenopause for a number of years (can precede menopause by a decade) and this may be a symptom, and not related to keto. However, I never assume anything is related just because of age

I have fallen off keto a number of times and only had keto flu the first time I tried keto, never after that. However, if I have a really important meeting where I have to be nice and patient, I do not do it during a fast because I have noticed I can get really aggressive. The most memorable one was I had just started fasting and was on day 2. I had gotten 20s from the bank ATM and when I got back to the car (10 feet away) I realized I needed 5s for something. I literally needed to change 1 $20 for $5s. I went to the teller after leaving my purse in the car and when she asked for ID I told her that I had just gotten the $20 out of the machine and really why do I need ID for change of a $20 that they had provided. Suffice to say I was not as polite as I usually am

(lou) #14

Women in our family don’t hit it till 55 so I have a few years for that pleasure! But keeping an eye with regular blood work.

How long do you fast for at a time?

#15

Often by the time actual menopause hits the symptoms might be over. I had some minor weird sweats and things in my early 50s before but not recently. I found Keto at the same time and all the horrors everyone told me about did not happen.

I have been trying an experiment where I stop eating by 5PM and that is making it harder to fast for reasons I do not completely understand. Last week I fasted from Tuesday at 5PM to Thursday at 6PM. Then had a business dinner and did not have the patience to keep fasting. I have gone as long as 5.5 days. I do have coffee with cream and water. Normally I eat between 12-9 and have no trouble fasting. Usually I will fast for 42 hours and barely notice it (lets say Tuesday at 9PM until Thursday at 2PM). This one I really noticed, I felt like I was fasting for days even though it was almost the same time period.

(Betsy) #16

Anger and flying off the handle is related to the liver.

Taurine plus choline or TUDCA might help you get through this.

There are some herbs, too, if you are interested.

(lou) #17

Is it the ketones affecting the liver?

Rather herbal than chemical so any advice would be welcome

(You've tried everything else; why not try bacon?) #18

First, stop fasting for now. That can wait until you are keto-adapted again. Second, eat more. Your body is in turmoil, and it needs the energy. Eat until you are not hungry. Then you won’t need to eat again for several hours. When you are hungry again, eat again. Do not worry about portion control.

When we give our body enough of the right kind of food (i.e., very little carbohydrate, plenty of everything else), our appetite hormones will signal how much food we need. Your mental state will be better, because your brain will be well-fed on ketones, and your serotonin and dopamine will be circulating properly, and you will have enough cholesterol to enable your brain to think clearly.

So stop trying to dominate your body. Instead, listen to it, and give it what it wants.

(Betsy) #19

I’m not sure why you are having this response now, this didn’t happen when you started keto before, did it?

Let me think about what might be causing it.

Oh, just remembered, losing weight really quickly can cause gall bladder issues, and gall bladder issues can cause back up in the liver.

(lou) #20

Not before but last time I had full flu. Felt awful for more than a week, it really floored me