hi - I never posted about this but thought I would ask as it seems every time I go low carb my fingers swell up, as does my face. Just water retention - no allergy swelling. It doesn't go away. Recently I have been on and off low carb but before I was doing LCHF for YEARS and the retention never went away. Any ideas? Thanks! I always keep well hydrated and have a good intake of all the electrolytes.

Wish I knew too. In my early low carb days, 10+ years ago, I would lose a dramatic amount of fluid. But a decade and three kids later, that's not the case. I swell up and even get a puffy face. My ankles have indents and my rings hurt. But since my newest restart, that hasn't happened. The only difference this time has been that I'm on a low dose of thyroid medication. Maybe that's an issue for you? My is hereditary and thought to have been induced by pregnancy. But I have heard that very low carb intake is associated with a slowing of the thyroid.

Very odd, that's the opposite of what happens for most folks. I guess the biggest question I have for the OP is are you eating something now you didn't eat before? It is possible you might have a food sensitivity or allergy.

You may also be one of the rare few that needs to NOT increase your salt intake.

yes I had thought it was dairy as I do supposedly have a casein intolerance. However after being on a plan that included both fruit and cheese, the retention never happened. In fact I would say that the more fruit I eat, the less puffy my fingers and face. But then I start to have blood sugar issues and....well....I am insulin resistant so sugar from any source is probably not a good idea.

I did have my thyroid tested - everything came back fine. Unfortunately detailed thyroid testing like free T3 and RT3 is not available.

Maybe you are right about the salt. But I like salt on my food! I have grown accustomed to it I am afraid!

My TSH was always in the normal range, until recently and even now, it's just barely out of range, but my T4 was super low and my T3 was low as well. Because no doctor ever checked my T3 and T 4, my sluggish thyroid went undetected. I hope that's not an issue for you too. But honestly, this is the first time in 7 years that I've been able to low carb without swelling up.

Hope you find your solution too.

I don't think you'll be able to address the issue without being willing to try a few things.

It could be:

Food sensitivity
Salt sensitivity
Meds
Thyroid
Some undiagnosed disease

I'll just throw those things out there and you can see if there's anything you might want to experiment with.

For me it turned out to be a food sensitivity. I had swelling of my feet & muscle aches off & on for years. It wasn't until I went LCHF that I was able to figure out that the swelling & aching happened only when I overate cheese - any kind. Probably any dairy would have the same effect in large doses, but cheese is the one I binged on.

thanks. It could well be cheese, or pork for me, or salt - but why don't those things make me swell up on a mixed gluten free diet?? I don't really get it.

Fluid retention could also be kidney or liver issues.