First let me say that I was diagnosed with fibromyalgia a few years ago. It wasn't fun, but I was getting by with just a flare now and then. Manageable. Things got noticeably worse in January and there were more bad days than good. Fast forward to the beginning of April and I decide that low carb is the only way to stop the scales from going up and up and up. Since that time I've had maybe one good day. One. The few times I've crashed on the lc diet and have fallen off the wagon, I've felt better. Marginally better, and very temporarily better... but better. It's been eight weeks and I'm way past the "carb flu" stage of things. Everything I've read says lc is the way to go for fibro and everyone feels loads better. Why not me? I lost a quick ten pounds in the first week and have been fluctuating a good pounds around that since then. I seem to be able to maintain on lc and feel lousy, or feel a tad better now and again on a typical American diet and look like the Stay Puft Marshmallow Man. What the heck? Does anyone have any words of wisdom? I'm ready to chuck the whole thing!

I have seen my pcp and am waiting for a referral to a fibromyalgia specialist. In the meantime...

What do you eat when you low carb?? maybe give an idea of your daily menu??


Jo xxx

4 things:

1. I agree with JoJo. Could you post everything you have eaten and drunk in the last week or two, please.

2. If you've fallen off the wagon so soon after starting the diet, then your body will not have adapted to proper fat-burning mode, leading to you feeling tired and also not losing weight.

3. Low-carb doesn't suit everyone, but generally I'd say that people with auto-immune conditions thrive and improve on low-carb. I have an auto-immune disorder and I too feel better with a sugar fix.. but it's a short-term benefit. The best thing I ever did for my condition was reading Dr. Atkins' New Diet Revolution and adopting all his advice. My quality of life is immeasurably better.

4. You've lost ten pounds! Why are you considering giving up? You seriously need to review your expectations because losing weight and keeping it off is not an overnight accomplishment. It requires commitment and staying power. For one thing, the weight you lost at the beginning of the diet would have been water weight, and the fluctuation thereafter is a result of your body gradually replacing the fluid. You have probably been losing 1lb of fat a week, otherwise your weight would have gone back up when the water got replaced. It's all part of the process of getting your body set to lose serious fat, so stick with it.

Good luck. Stick around, revise your expectations and start recording everything you eat in your journal, including all the cheats - if you're truthful, you'll soon see where you went wrong.

As Kirsten's #2...you are not past the LC flu stage because you have "fallen off" and re feed your carb cravings...constantly restarting in effect. Also if you don't eat enough fat to get into fat-burning mode, you can be stuck in that LC limbo land and never get to that feel good, great energy and lack of hunger place. Dr Eades explains it well in his First article here, tips on Starting. http://www.proteinpower.com/drmike/...-low-carb-pt-i/

Since you have been diagnosed with what many consider auto-immune related symptoms, there could be many foods you need to give up beyond just lowering carbs. I'd suggest you look into any of the popular Auto-Immune Protocols (AIP) and give a true elimination diet the full test, and be very conscious of the re-introduction of foods.
This is a summary of one of the best known:
http://www.thepaleomom.com/autoimmu...immune-protocol

This is a personal story of someone using Various LC, Paleo, GAPS and AIP diets to heal her RA.
http://www.phoenixhelix.com/about-eileen/
I have seen similar AIP healing diets for Fibro but haven't bookmarked those. At the very least you should eat LC with absolutely no grains or sugar, and quite likely no dairy. So many processed foods have hidden wheat products that need to be eliminated to be really gluten free. The fact that you say pain has increased leads me to think that a food you have been eating more of on LC is one you need to eliminate. First guess is more dairy. Second would be more eggs. Third would be more of some nightshade vegetable.
Since you will be going to a new specialist, Keep an excruciatingly exact food dairy in conjunction with a symptom tracker, and you may find the trigger foods yourself.
This all probably sounds overwhelming, but LC after eliminating food sensitivities can work.

For Inspiration here are 166 comments on the Wheat Belly FB page of Fibro cured with his program. https://www.facebook.com/OfficialWh...731134093599817

In addition to Jey100's always excellent resources, you might have yourself tested for the MTFHR genetic mutation. I know two people who have CFIDS/Fibro, one of them my husband, and they both had some variation of it!

http://mthfr.net/

In addition to a low-carb diet, there are some supplements that can help a lot. And gluten-free gut healing is absolutely something to look into.

Artificial sweeteners, for instance, are considered "allowed" on an Atkins plan... unless they stall people or otherwise cause problems. And you say Atkins-ish. Let me just guess you aren't a strict meat & vegetables person?

That alone might be a problem in adapting to your new, more healthful, regimen.

You didn't really tell us what your symptoms are. Assuming they're the usual lack of energy ones, it could be sodium depletion. It is very common on LC.

Take a look at the Salt Thread in my signature.

If it is that your fibro is flaring, then I agree that you might want to look into the auto-immune protocols.

You have to really stick by the rules for the first 2 weeks - after that you should feel much better. Honest!

What I eat when low carb: meat veggies, dairy, eggs (I haven't kept a daily menu for the past couple of weeks). Breakfast might be eggs with a slice of cheese, lunch chicken and veggies, dinner, meat, veggie, salad.

I didn't fall off the wagon until about three weeks in. I went through the keto flu... this isn't it!

I'm seriously thinking of giving up because I thought I would feel SO much better eating this way and I feel worse! Worse to the point where there are days when I do not get out of bed. Ya, the only losing weight in the first week stinks, but I could and definitely would stick with this WOE (because it makes the most sense!) if that were the only issue.

Ita that I may need to further eliminate foods. I'm not eating any more or less of allowed foods than I was before starting. We have chickens and constant access to eggs. I'm actually eating *less* dairy than before (keeping it to the 2-3oz/day) and haven't changed the amount of nightshades, either. I'm at a good level with fats, too. An elimination diet is probably the next (and yes, horribly overwhelming) step.

My main symptom is pain. The fatigue, yeah, it's there, but it's the increased pain that's kicking my butt.

Thank you all, for your replies. I'll plug away until I see the doc and see what he has to say about diet for fibro. If he doesn't have anything to say about diet I'll gear up for AIP.

and how long do you rigidly stick with it before you hit the carbs??

Jo xxx

For about five weeks.

Well I cant imagine why you're feeling like this. There is no reason at all. I think after about 5 weeks you should have been pretty much into it. Personally I wouldnt stop - carbs are of no use to anyone - sugar is the worst. Were you definitely in ketosis??

Jo xxx

I can't figure it, either! I never used the keto strips, but, going by the taste in my mouth and my breath, I'm gonna say yes!

I'm fighting with myself! I've been eating carbs for two days now and am experiencing less pain... but I don't *want* to eat this way! Ita that carbs are crap.

Here's hoping my appt with the specialist happens soon!!!

I think that some of us may not be able to handle a very low carb diet. What is your carb level at now? I can't eat less than about 50g of carbs, or I get severe insomnia (or should I say, my sleep problems get worse?). You don't have to get carbs from grains if you want to eliminate them, they can come from fruit or starchy vegetables. Perhaps you could try eating very low carb during the day, and add a few more carbs in the evening--this works well for many people. Of course you may not lose weight as fast, but for me, being healthy and energetic is more important than losing weight. I think health has to come first, then weight loss.

There is an entire section on Fibromyalgia in Atkins book called "Vita-nutrient solution.
It's a ton of info and too much to type but you might order a used copy from Amazon.
One thing it does talk about is taking a lot of vitamin C.
The section before FM is about Chronic Fatigue Syndrome(which he says is treated simularly) where he talks about possible yeast die off as possibly being one problem. Yeast does love carbs and sugar...

I try to keep my carb level between 20-30, but find if I go much above that it turns into an uncontrollable carb fest.

Which Atkins book? I have DANDR (I think).