Ketones making me crazy?

(Mandy) #1

Hey yall.

I am roughly 25 days in. I am pretty sure I have my salt in check. I add pink salt to my morning ACV shot. I try to get plenty of green leafies and avocado for potassium and magnesium as well as a multivitamin and magnesium lotion. My question is this. When I havent eaten in hours because of lack of hunger or doing an IF, I notice I start to feel really edgy. Maybe some people call this mental clarity but I cannot imagine anyone linking this to a good thing. I feel like I want to crawl out of my skin. Interestingly enough, when I feel this way, I have tested my blood ketones and they are fairly high on the scale, usually 3.5 or so. No idea if one has anything to do with the other, just an observation. Anything else I should be checking?

Thanks for reading

(Lonnie Hedley) #2

Iā€™ll go out on a limb since I donā€™t test ketones, but Iā€™ve been doing Keto for a while.

At 3.5, your body is still adjusting to using ketones and is not efficient at using them yet. As a guess, Iā€™d say my ketones would test in the .5-1 range because Iā€™ve been doing a Keto variant for a few years so my body knows how to use the fuel Iā€™m giving it.

So the issues youā€™re having sound like your brain is adjusting from glucose to ketones.

Just my two cents. I think this too shall pass.

(charlie3) #3

A radical change in diet might be like quitting smoking or drinking. The response of the body is likely to be strong and variable. Iā€™ve been doing keto for 3 months plus exercise plus skipping breakfast 5 days a week plus one day a week skipping three meals. Iā€™m experiencing all sorts of emotional and physical reactions that change over time. Deciding which ones to ignore and which ones mean something is mostly not obvious.

(I came for the weight loss and stayed for my sanity... ) #4

Might be a need to move because your body is overwhelmed with the extra energy? :thinking: I know I need to get up and ā€œrunningā€ when i EF for several days and my ketones go highā€¦

(Lonnie Hedley) #5

@rhltechie This too. It took years for your body to get into a rhythm, it will take time to adjust to something new.

(Mandy) #6

All of this is really good info. I have no doubt my body is freaking out a little an I do have to admit that I have a history of anxiety so how much of this is a change in physical causing my emotional to freak out a bit. I have also noticed during this time when my ketones are high and i am a bit out of sorts, my face is flushed. My cheeks are red and Iā€™ve been asked more than once if I feel ok cause I look feverish. my temp is a few 10th clicks higher than normal but nowhere near a fever of any sort.

(Lonnie Hedley) #7

Is there a pattern? Have you eaten anything specific around this time? I know for a while I was eating sour cream with EVERYTHING. Eggs, ground beefā€¦as a replacement for ice cream. After eating it my heart would pound out of my chest. Maybe try to trace this to something like that?

(Mandy) #8

I cannot seem to find a patternā€¦ Some days its after I have BPC, some days its after I have nothing in the morning but water. The only real pattern I see is when I am in a mostly fasted state. meaning I have skipped dinner the night before so it would be roughly 15 hours without food.

(Lonnie Hedley) #9

Ok. So you do 16/8 IF? When is your last meal before bed? Are you able to adjust your eating window to start earlier?

(Mandy) #10

If I skip dinner my last meal is usually 1ish. Iā€™m usually sipping bone broth through the day as well. I usually get up at 5am the next day. Lately I am not hungry at breakfast either so I will have coffee with some heavy cream or just water with acv and salt. I will usually eat something around 10 or so.

(You've tried everything else; why not try bacon?) #11

You are doing fine!

Your body has increased its basal metabolic rate because you are giving it ENOUGH CALORIES, YAY! The flush, the warmth, and the emotionality will all calm down soon. Think of it as the neighbors having a noisy partyā€”it wonā€™t last forever (though it will be annoying while it lasts, lol!).

Your body is simply finding its new level. Just give it a couple of weeks. Keep Calm and Keto On!

(Rob) #12

While this is good, note that there is no reasonable amount of either that will give you enough of either mineral. Thank you depleted soils.

With the Mg lotion you are probably OK on that front. K is harder to get (NO bananas :stuck_out_tongue_winking_eye:) so No Salt is good to have around and add to ACV, etc.

(Mandy) #13

This is definitely a yay! After years and years of low fat, low cal, my body is probably rejoicing but very confusedā€¦ Ha. Thanks for the comments. I am definitely going to KCKO. Outside of the edgy feelings sometimes, Iā€™m feeling great!

I find the magnesium lotion has really helped with a few night leg cramps as well as upping my salt intake through the day. I incorporate spinach at just about every meal in some way as it appears to be the miracle food for potassium and magnesiumā€¦ Thanks Popeye!

No salt or light salt scare me for some reason! Not sure why.

(Troy) #14

I will go the other way on this
Ducking for cover, from the replies back
:smile:

This works For me, nothing like some black coffee or an iced americano ( no cream ) and caffeinešŸ˜³
Works for me
ā€”ā€”ā€”Just a suggestion instead of the BPCā€”ā€”

Heading out now for Venti Iced Americano!
Geeā€¦can you guess where?:joy:

#15

I have been having the same experience! The flushing was the first thing that happened and it scared me actually! It has been very mild since, but that first time I was like, ā€œWhoa, this is how I dieā€¦ā€ :rofl:

I also suffer from anxiety, pretty severely, so that feeling you mention, itā€™s like Iā€™m on cocaine! Iā€™m not very fond of it either. But when I feel it, I just get up and move, remind myself to breathe deep ('cause no kidding, I do forget). If it gets really bad, I take a moment go to a dark room and just close my eyes and breathe deep for a minute. I can even do it at work. And it works every time. :slight_smile: Glad I know Iā€™m not alone!

(Mandy) #16

I just cantā€¦ Lol. I wish I was a black coffee type person but alas, I love my cream.

You are definitely not alone. The only thing that helps me is a bathā€¦ Lol. Like laying in a hot soak. Which isnā€™t all that convenient during the middle of the day! I usually just try to breathe through it and remind myself that Iā€™m not dying.

Hahahahaā€¦ Same!!

(Troy) #17

What about an EPSON salt bath?:thinking:
Many others claim that helps w many ailments, stress, or just relaxationšŸ˜„
Plus you get some minerals

(karen) #18

Flushing and anxiety sounds like a hot flash. I wonder if this is related to a hormone fluctuation?

(Mandy) #19

I actually add that when I take a bath. Pretty sure I can use the extra magnesium.

I certainly couldnā€™t rule that out. My hormones have never been what Iā€™d call normal though Iā€™ve never experienced it like this. Iā€™m a bit too young for menopause Iā€™d think but stranger things have happened I guess!

(karen) #20

Not necessarily estrogen. Adrenaline, norepinephrine, maybe cortisol or a thyroid hormone? They say getting fat adapted results in ā€˜rebalancingā€™ of all sorts of hormones, so perhaps this is part of it???