One Week Today, Still Sick

[meows]

Well, today's day #7, I've lost 4.5 lbs and was hoping I'd be feeling better by now. I still feel dizzy/lightheaded/hungry/crabby and have tension headaches. I'm drinking tons of water, taking Atkin's recommended Daily 3, Oils, and one to help curb cravings.

I get to the point I feel like I'm going to faint, and I have been taking my blood sugar:
before breakfast: 115
before lunch: 127
before dinner: 126

My sugars are lower than they were before starting, but I sure don't feel that way--I feel like I'm seriously missing something. I am getting discouraged because I don't know how long I can keep feeling so crummy...am I doing something wrong? Would appreciate any advice...I've logged everything into FitDay for 6 days...can you tell me what you think? Thank you very much for any help.

http://www.fitday.com/WebFit/PublicJournals.html?Owner=meowsnpurrs

[kasethope]

Just don't give up! Are you getting enough rest. If not, that could play a huge part of it all. I'm interested in hearing what other people advise. I too am a newbie. I've lost 14 lbs since beginning. There have been times I wanted to give up or just have a taste. Sometimes I even catch myself (out of habit) "nibbling" from the kids snacks, etc., however, it has not effected my results. Everyone I've talked to that have tried LC have ALL stated that the first 2-3 weeks are the hardest. Stick with it. You'll be glad you did.

[watersidhe]

Wow, darlin'.... I checked your fitday, and you are putting way too much of the 'artificial' into your system! My guess would be that you are 'phasing' yourself into induction level carbs.... that is okay, but you are still getting far too many sweets and, IMO, that is why you are still feeling crummy. Stick to the foods on the induction menu ONLY, and you will probably see an improvement within the next few days. The muffins, fruit, lc bread, and Atkins shakes are what is doing you in! Save them for OWL or later, and remember to always use the low-carb versions!

I would guess that you have also been subtracting fiber and sugar-alcohols? Fiber is fine, but know that sugar alcohols, in some people, are metabolized just like regular sugar.... meaning you will have unstable blood sugar. It might be worth it to cut sweeteners all-together for induction, then keep them to a bare minimum later.


I am sorry to have to tell you what I know you didn't want to hear.
:( You can get through this!

I hope you feel better soon!

[meows]

Thanks for the advice, I was adding those in after a few days of feeling terrible 'cause I just felt like I was going to fall on my face every time I stood up. I am now fully following induction menu and phased out those extras. I think I'm going to get those vitamins with calcium/magnesium/something else, I have to look at book again. Still feel like something's not quite right-maybe that will help!

[LilaCotton]

Hi, Meows! You want my honest opinion? I felt just like you're describing for the first 3-5 days of Induction, then after that it got better and felt that way only sometimes.

What I found, though, was that the sometimes I was feeling that way I wasn't eating enough. I know I haven't been at this for a long time, but considering my own experience, I would try upping the calories by a couple hundred and see if that helps.

I have blood sugar that likes to play games, too, and whenever I try to cut down too much on my calories, I suffer for it. Hope this helps!

[pixy_nixy]

Hi looked into your fitday. And for alot of it, it looked like you were teasing yourself. Are you sure you are in ketosis? The atkins breads, imitation cheese, muffin, and shake just aren't meant for induction. You could be drawing it out longer than you need to be. Withdrawl from a high carb diet is not always pleasant and add to that if you were a heavy coffee drinker, the caffeine withdrawl. You'll be hungrier and your body is used to depending on sugars for energy, but you haven't really eliminated them from your diet long enough to switch over and get into ketosis. I think you're teasing your body, be nice to it. If you feel the need to increase your carbs, do it Atkins friendly--> broccoli and other vegs work great and are legal!!! Caffeine withdrawl for me, consists of headaches and nausea. I choose to only go through one at a time. Get into ketosis and then phase back my caffeine.
Anyway good luck!!!!

[meows]

You're both right on, I wasn't getting enough calories, and I was coming off of caffeine, was PMS'ing plus the normal bad effects of detox were just flooring me. I'm feeling so much better and plan on staying on induction for quite some time - don't have any plans of adding anything to induction foods except some more veggies in a week or two.

I'm lucky that I've never been a sweets junkie, so I don't have any cravings for them now, but I'll tell ya, my mouth waters still when I see commercials for pasta! hehe (going to make spaghetti squash tomorrow night...yumm)

Lost 1" off of hips
1.5" off of waist http://hstrial-inajjar.homestead.com/smileyclap.gif

Thanks for the responses ;)

[lkonzelman]

My observation is that you aren't eating enough either.

Clean your body from the phoney foods for the next week and see how you do.

Also, are you taking a decent multi vitamin with food (if you don't with food you pee it all away).

Take care and stick with it!

[meows]

Ty lkonzelman, I'm taking 3 of Atkin's supplements, including Basic 3 and Oils, plus I got a high quality calcium/magnesium/potassium vitamin today. My friends at the health food store think I'm just taking longer to detox from all those years of stored up sugars in my body, so I'm just gonna grin and bear it w/o cheating :)

Cheers!

[Lisa N]

Meows...what were your blood sugars running before you started low carbing? The reason that I'm asking is that if your body was accustomed to a higher blood sugar, even though it was damaging your body, you can actually feel like your blood sugars are too low when they really aren't once they start getting closer to the normal range again and can produce a lot of the symptoms that you were reporting. Combine that with eating a lot of frankenfoods and not enough calories and I'm not surprised you were feeling like something the cat dragged in and then dragged back out again! :p
I agree with everyone else...ditch the bars, shakes, etc...(things we refer to as frankenfoods because they're so highly processed) and eat whole unprocessed foods for a few weeks. I'd be willing to bet you won't believe the difference in how you feel. :)

[meows]

Hi Lisa, yes--my sugars were higher--not sure exactly what daily readings were, but my ha1c was like 6.7 (was working on it and it was higher before and I got it down a bit before that last blood test and before Atkins). I'm sure that is also playing a big role...never heard about it making you feel so sick if you've reduced it, even when it is still a wee bit high.

Thank you for that input-makes alot of sense now.

[LilaCotton]

Hi, again, Meow! (Cute kitty, BTW!) You say you want to stay on Induction levels for a while. I thought I wanted to do that, too, but after reading a lot of advice from fellow forumers decided against it. I'm currently keeping my carbs between 20-30 a day and have found that adding nuts and berries has been a good thing. Both contain quite a bit of nutrients AND fiber.