No Keto Flu? How unusual is this?

newbies
(Karen) #1

Hi Everyone! This is my first post here although I have been reading a great deal on the site. I am 10 days in to this WOE and have been in ketosis since day three. I’ve experienced no symptoms of keto flu unless I count an afternoon that I wanted to nap (and did). I have been eating well for about five years; no gluten (sensitivity) but have eaten some corn products as in corn tortillas, limited dairy due to allergy (can only tolerate minimal hard cheeses and a splash of half and half in coffee or tea). I buy grass fed meats and pastured products exclusively and eat almost zero processed food. I was eating carbs in the form of sweet potatoes and other roasted root veggies and (confession) french fries too often. I’m 53, 5’4" and menopausal with hashimoto’s. I was stuck with weight loss ( I need to lose 15-20) so I’ve moved to strict Keto eating.

I suppose it’s possible that I have a pretty clean system already and have avoided this transitional flu? Does it ever come in later weeks?

Thanks! KV

(You've tried everything else; why not try bacon?) #2

My understanding is that it generally happens right away, if it’s going to. I had a very mild transition, myself, and I think it’s because (following advice from Dr. Phinney in one of his lectures) I made an effort to increase my salt intake and worked to stay hydrated. I’m glad you’ve been having an easy time of it; others have not been so lucky.

(Duncan Kerridge) #3

I didn’t get any keto flu, but I did make sure I was hydrating / upping my salt etc as recommended.

(Damon Chance) #4

While the Keto flu is commonn don’t think it is something that should happen. Keeping up with electrolytes is important and probably can alleviate most of the symptoms. It was a fairly easy transition for me too.

(Karen) #5

Hey thanks for replying! Yes, I’ve been mindful to get about 70 ounces of water in every day and I’m adding a few tablespoons of pure lemon juice and pink salt. I’m tracking with the Cronometer and everything there looks good except for slightly low potassium intake and a whacky zinc to copper ratio? Suggestions about that?

(8 year Ketogenic Veteran) #6

Not unusual.
Fortunate though.
I was hella sick for 4 days

(8 year Ketogenic Veteran) #7

…but I had little instruction and keto education at the time. That was February of 2014

#8

It sounds like you were already pretty low carb, so not too surprising that you didn’t get keto flu. I wasn’t officially keto when I first starting fasting and I had a really easy time of it, so I’m assuming my body was pretty used to flipping over to using fat for fuel. Even if you had some carbs in the diet, as long as there was some time that you were reliant on burning fat you wouldn’t likely get much in the way of keto flu. Enjoy :grin:

#9

I ate mostly moderate carbs before keto. I did not feel tired at all or flulike. My only problem was that I would sometimes get a little nausea during a fast or after a higher fat meal and other digestive symptoms

(Allie) #10

I never had it.

#11

It is mostly carb withdrawal so it depends on your diet before you started keto. If you are not making a massive change then the transition will be a lot easier. Good for you - best not to experience it!

(Edie Novak) #12

Yes, I am similar, never had keto flu either, my body loves fat, and like you, a girl in her fifties, well, nearly sixty, and would love to lose 5 kg

#13

It is similar for me, where I live I can not find Keto testers yet and amazon does not deliver that specific item don’t know why. I satarted the Keto as far as I notice I had no Keto flu besides some naps which I don’t usually have , I’m wondering if it is because I don’t eat that much carbs anyway I barely use bread rice pasta etc and always eat a lot of vegetables so it is probably that but not sure until i can get my Keto testers

(Tialda) #14

I’m about to go into my second week and have been feeling fine, a little tired, but we have been in a heatwave and it was shark week so I can’t put that on Keto specifically. I was living gluten-free before and never was a sweet tooth or soda drinker so I think that is affecting the transistion. The sugar withdrawal symptoms are like less than they could have been. Also I haven’t restricted my calorie intake, figuring I’ll tackle one thing at the time.

(You've tried everything else; why not try bacon?) #15

If you’re not experiencing the keto flu, it sounds as though you’ve been keeping your salt intake up, which is good. I never really experienced sugar withdrawal, probably because so much else was going on in my life at the time that I didn’t notice.

As for calorie intake, I found that it dropped considerably once I’d been keto for a few weeks. Once my lower insulin level started allowing the leptin signals from my fat tissue to get through to my hypothalamus, my satiety signaling kicked in, big time. Looking back, my guess would be that I needed those extra calories at first, however, to enable my body to heal and to assure it that there was no famine going on.

(Tialda) #16

Yeah that is my reasoning too…

#17

I’ve just started Keto a few days ago. I have noticed a little bit more fatigue and slight nausea but that’s not all that unusual for me anyway. I’m 63 and diabetic. I have noticed that my sugar numbers are going down.
What do you all use to monitor your ketones? I can’t afford anything expensive so I was thinking of the urine strips. Do they work well?

#18

I planned on doing this for a few weeks before starting so I had already slowed down on the carbs. I find it so much easier to simply cook some meat and veggies without having to worry about the ‘starch’ as my mom used to say.

(You've tried everything else; why not try bacon?) #19

Urine strips work, especially at the beginning, but later on they can get frustratingly unresponsive. But people know they are still in ketosis from checking their blood ketones, so our hypothesis is that over time the body becomes better at utilizing ketone bodies and stops excreting them. Blood ketone levels also tend to drop over time, and we hypothesize it’s for the same reason. Unfortunately, there is no direct measure of ketone utilization, so we have to use proxy markers.

If you have a glucose meter, you can buy strips for it that will measure your serum β-hydroxybutyrate (BOHB), They are, however, more expensive than glucose strips.

#20

Thanks for the reply. I ordered urine strips and later on I will probably get the strips for the glucose meter. Didn’t know they made that!