Hi, I have had a rather strange experience dabbling with carnivore. I tried it after going keto a few months ago. I had been doing keto for maybe a month, then I tried zero carb after hearing about Mikhaila Peterson curing her depression with it. She also had joint problems before trying the diet which was her main reason for doing it. I have never had joint problems but I was hoping it would cure my depression and anxiety problems. It did in fact lift my depression, it was amazing how instantly happy I was, but I also had really bad diarrhea. So bad that I gave up. When I quit though, I actually had a ridiculous similar experience to what she mentioned having from before that got worse coming off the diet. Suddenly, like her my joints felt like they were seizing, inflamed and were extremely painful. I also got itching all over my body and rashes (more symptoms Peterson also had) and the depression was worse. I was in so much pain I could hardly move the affected joints (mostly arms and legs but later my hip and shoulders were hurting too). I tried going on AIP at that point and I was worried carnivore had caused this (I was thinking maybe it was gout? but I realized that didn’t make sense when I got these problems a couple of days after I quit).
That was when I discovered that nightshades were the problem. I cut out nightshades. Boom- no more joint issues, no more rashes/itching and though the depression and anxiety is still there it is MUCH better. Like 75% better. A few days ago I had some nightshades (stupid I know but I miss them and was hoping I could handle a little) and what do you know- I had bad cramps/general digestion problems for 2 days, my finger joints are swollen and painful, then I was itchy, and then I had a depressive episode. So now I am 100% sure I have a nightshade intolerance of some kind. Did I cause it by not eating them, like maybe killed off some gut bugs that help digest them or something? What is so strange is that nightshades were never a problem before and I come from a culture that eats tons of them. Now I have such an extreme reaction and the exact same symptoms Peterson had but I never had anything like this before the diet, unlike her (other than the depression).
So now I am kind of torn on whether or not I should try carnivore again because mood wise I was still happier on carnivore than I am now back to my normal diet - the nightshades but I don’t want to make anything worse either. I am pretty confused as to what happened here so now I don’t know what to do. Has anyone had something like this happen to them? Does anyone know if I could have caused these issues by going on this diet?