Headache / fuzzy headed

[hysteria]

I was just looking through another thread where the poster showed some of the same symptoms I've been having during induction - but I also get a whopper of a headache - and it tends to be in my sinuses.
Once I eat someting a little carbier, I almost immediately feel better (this has been a couple strawberries, handful of nuts, or a tbsp of natural peanut butter).
I went to my PDoc Friday - she swtiched me to Armour thyroid meds and we are waiting on the results of a blood work-up. She is all on-board for LC - I told her about the headaches & fuzziness - she wasn't concerned, so I am really not - told me to keep taking my multi-vit and listen to my body. I also mentioned my not-so-nice reaction to magnesium (stomach cramping and muscle weakness) - again, not much concern - told me to stop taking the extra supplement & we'll see if anything is off in my blood work.

Oh - normal day of eating:
b - 2 eggs (scrambled, boiled, fried) / bacon (3 slices) or 2 slices of lunchmeat
l - 6/8 oz grilled / baked meat, 2 cups green veggies w/ ranch dressing
snack - 1 serving almonds
d - recently, lc spinach lasagna w/ side salad & ranch dressing

[amandawald]

I was just looking through another thread where the poster showed some of the same symptoms I've been having during induction - but I also get a whopper of a headache - and it tends to be in my sinuses.
Once I eat someting a little carbier, I almost immediately feel better (this has been a couple strawberries, handful of nuts, or a tbsp of natural peanut butter).
I went to my PDoc Friday - she swtiched me to Armour thyroid meds and we are waiting on the results of a blood work-up. She is all on-board for LC - I told her about the headaches & fuzziness - she wasn't concerned, so I am really not - told me to keep taking my multi-vit and listen to my body. I also mentioned my not-so-nice reaction to magnesium (stomach cramping and muscle weakness) - again, not much concern - told me to stop taking the extra supplement & we'll see if anything is off in my blood work.

Oh - normal day of eating:
b - 2 eggs (scrambled, boiled, fried) / bacon (3 slices) or 2 slices of lunchmeat
l - 6/8 oz grilled / baked meat, 2 cups green veggies w/ ranch dressing
snack - 1 serving almonds
d - recently, lc spinach lasagna w/ side salad & ranch dressing

Hi there (I'm sorry, but I can't address you as 'hysteria', it sounds almost insulting!!!)

What kind of magnesium were you taking? That sounds like an odd reaction to it. Unless it had maybe wheat in it and you are gluten intolerant. Do you have Hashimoto's? If you do, you could also have celiac disease (or some kind of gluten intolerance), which could mean you would be very low in magnesium.

When I first had adrenal fatigue, this brain fog was one of the worst symptoms. It was linked to low magnesium more than anything else, in my humble opinion, as it started to go when I finally started taking a decent magnesium supplement.

However, my sister, who is taking some kind of anti-depressant, had a bad reaction to Mg citrate, and told me it made her feel more anxious, rather than less. Are you taking any other medications that the Mg maybe disagreed with?

I also used to get sinus problems all the time and these have also gone since I started to take magnesium (and some other supplements) and treat my adrenal fatigue. I hear that adrenal problems are common with thyroid issues. I read about it on one of the thyroid forums somewhere. I can look for it if you're interested?

I wonder also if you should just up your carbs a little. It's what Atkins recommends, too, in DANDR, if you find yourself feeling weak and so on. The menu you list above has hardly any carbs at all. If you do have some underlying adrenal fatigue, a very-low-carb (VLC) diet might not be the best thing right now... I'm not saying you should go out and gorge yourself on carbs, but you could gradually go up and see how you feel. Some potato or rice, or some berries, banana or apple might make you feel a whole bunch better.

Oh, and by the way, did you go off caffeine cold-turkey? This can cause bad headaches, too.

Let me know if you want me to look for that article and what kind of magnesium you were taking (citrate, oxide etc), I'd be curious.

All the best,

amanda

[hysteria]

Idk what the reaction to magnesium is about truthfully. My blood work didn't come in (yet), but the supplement I was taking (from Wegmans) left me worse off. Not only did it cause my bowels to completely loosen, my resperatory system would slow down & I would feel physically weak.

I made sure to have a serving of stawberries today and haven't had any issues.

[amandawald]

Idk what the reaction to magnesium is about truthfully. My blood work didn't come in (yet), but the supplement I was taking (from Wegmans) left me worse off. Not only did it cause my bowels to completely loosen, my resperatory system would slow down & I would feel physically weak.

I made sure to have a serving of stawberries today and haven't had any issues.

Hi Beth,

Could you look at the packaging and see what it is exactly? I don't live in the USA so Wegmans doesn't mean anything to me.

But loose stools sounds like Mg citrate or Mg oxide.

amanda

[hysteria]

Hi Beth,

Could you look at the packaging and see what it is exactly? I don't live in the USA so Wegmans doesn't mean anything to me.

But loose stools sounds like Mg citrate or Mg oxide.

amanda

Thanks for checking back Amanda - I will take a look and post what it is tonight...Wegman's is a mid / upper scale grocery store & most of the vitamins I buy say 'organic' & 'all natural'.

[Requin]

Don't take this the wrong way, but if you're on induction why are you going to non-induction veggies for carbs? Carmelized onions, bell peppers, spaghetti squash, pumpkin, even tomatoes are a little higher in the carbs than just the lettuce, but are induction friendly. Nuts aren't induction friendly either- so I'm a little confused.

Are you doing 'induction' or just doing an 'under 20g of carbs' diet?

[black57]

Idk what the reaction to magnesium is about truthfully. My blood work didn't come in (yet), but the supplement I was taking (from Wegmans) left me worse off. Not only did it cause my bowels to completely loosen, my resperatory system would slow down & I would feel physically weak.

I made sure to have a serving of stawberries today and haven't had any issues.

There are various forms of magnesium. Magnesium oxide is the worse when it comes to proper absorption. But let me tell you what the reaction to magnesium is truthfully. I use it instead of tylenol if I should get a headache. This tells me that headaches my headaches were telling me that I had a magnesium defiiciency. Now, I had also heard that headaches were a symptom of insulin resistance so when I developed pre-diabetes I thought that there might be a connection. So I researched magnesium to find out what it actually did. What is the job of magnesium? Well, it regulates insulin AND glucose...that's its job. Soooo, I began using it regularly to see if it would help my normalize my blood glucose. Low and behold, that's exactly what it does. My fasting blood glucose is generally above 105-115. With magnesium, it is below 90. I had to shop around for the right magnesium. As a matter of fact I found a rather good chelated magnesium oxide. I have been using ionic magnesium which has been wonderful. I absorb it well and my blood glucose is under 90. I also incorparated more foods that are rich in magnesium.

Here is an observation I would like to share. I had developed a headache around noon today. I was bummed because I had not taken my morning dose of magnesium. What is interesting is my headache dissapeared within an hour and a half, if that long. If a doctor had given me a mdedicine that performed like this, I would believe that he gave me a miracle cure.

I have also been taking my vitamin D and I discovered that magnesium among other things, is need for proper synthesis of vitamin D.

So if magnesium deficiecy is what you are encountering, you need to research, shop around for ideal mag supplements and increase your dietary intake of magnesium rich foods.

[Neanderpam]

The mention of Wegman's makes me homesick. But your reaction to magnesium was quite the same for me. I had to build tolerance to even 100mg. of it at first (and it was mag citrate). I started LC'ing before being dx'd hypothyroid, but I'm allergic to corn, so was also allergic to Synthroid (made from good ol' corn) and have been on Armour (ERFA now) for over ten years.

It took me a good month to tolerate anything over 250mg. of magnesium. Even now, if I take my 500mg. it's before bed and by morning it's 'to the potty' right away. Can't tell ya why, it just hits me that way everytime. But it also calms me and makes me sleep better too.

[amandawald]

The mention of Wegman's makes me homesick. But your reaction to magnesium was quite the same for me. I had to build tolerance to even 100mg. of it at first (and it was mag citrate). I started LC'ing before being dx'd hypothyroid, but I'm allergic to corn, so was also allergic to Synthroid (made from good ol' corn) and have been on Armour (ERFA now) for over ten years.

It took me a good month to tolerate anything over 250mg. of magnesium. Even now, if I take my 500mg. it's before bed and by morning it's 'to the potty' right away. Can't tell ya why, it just hits me that way everytime. But it also calms me and makes me sleep better too.

Hi Neanderpam,

What kind of magnesium do you take? I had daily BM problems for ages and kept putting it down to the magnesium I was taking, but it turns out it was because I was gluten-intolerant and didn't know it!!! Once I stopped eating gluten - in any form whatsoever - the BM problem I had went. Not straight away, but after about five weeks strictly gluten free, my BMs were normal again!!! I can now take 200-300mg at night and it has no effect on the potty regime.

Also, it is not such a good idea to take your entire dose of magnesium in one go anyway. Spreading it out over the course of the day is better for the bowels and for absorption. Most kinds of magnesium will have an alkanizing effect and will lessen the acidity of your stomach acid so they shouldn't be taken before a meal, but between meals. The one exception is magnesium chloride, apparently, because the chloride will break down to help produce hydrochloric acid, which is what your stomach acid is made of.

Are you taking all your magnesium in one go when you take it at night? That might be the cause of the potty problem.

amanda

[black57]

The mention of Wegman's makes me homesick. But your reaction to magnesium was quite the same for me. I had to build tolerance to even 100mg. of it at first (and it was mag citrate). I started LC'ing before being dx'd hypothyroid, but I'm allergic to corn, so was also allergic to Synthroid (made from good ol' corn) and have been on Armour (ERFA now) for over ten years.

It took me a good month to tolerate anything over 250mg. of magnesium. Even now, if I take my 500mg. it's before bed and by morning it's 'to the potty' right away. Can't tell ya why, it just hits me that way everytime. But it also calms me and makes me sleep better too.


Check the type of magnesium. Magnesium oxide for example is not absorbed well. If it is not absorbed well it will be more of a laxative than a nutrient. I do not absorb magnesium citrate very well either. I use ionic magnesium and I absorb it quite well. It is in liquid form and tastes awful. It tastes like poison :Puke: but it works like magnesium should. My glucose levels are stabilizing. The headache that I had yesterday dissapeared without any help from meds. Bathing in epsom salts and applying magnesium on your skin is another way to get your magnesium.

[Neanderpam]

Hi Neanderpam,

What kind of magnesium do you take? I had daily BM problems for ages and kept putting it down to the magnesium I was taking, but it turns out it was because I was gluten-intolerant and didn't know it!!! Once I stopped eating gluten - in any form whatsoever - the BM problem I had went. Not straight away, but after about five weeks strictly gluten free, my BMs were normal again!!! I can now take 200-300mg at night and it has no effect on the potty regime.

Also, it is not such a good idea to take your entire dose of magnesium in one go anyway. Spreading it out over the course of the day is better for the bowels and for absorption. Most kinds of magnesium will have an alkanizing effect and will lessen the acidity of your stomach acid so they shouldn't be taken before a meal, but between meals. The one exception is magnesium chloride, apparently, because the chloride will break down to help produce hydrochloric acid, which is what your stomach acid is made of.

Are you taking all your magnesium in one go when you take it at night? That might be the cause of the potty problem.

amanda

Um, it might be one of the seven meds I take. How 'bout the daily steroids? That is part of it. yes, I take the mag at night and if I ever get to ramp DOWN on the dang steroids, I may not need that, lol.

I can't take it all day...it interferes with my meds planning. No, I no longer HAVE the loose bowel thing, I just had to get 'tolerated' to it, should have explained that I've been maintaining my weightloss for over eight years...so it was a 'starting LC' kind of thing.

Yeah, I WISH I could break up my day with some of my supps...but the only ones I deem 'necessary' are to split my Armour, and to be careful about taking calcium four hours out from that. Thanks for your suggestions.

I'm Celiac (and taking a mag that is powdered, no gluten) and PAN and have HIE (Hyper IgE Syndrome) and Sjogren's, and RA and I cannot take anything for sleep at night but mag (the sleep meds interfere with some of my other processes).

I can't do baths :) (My skin tends to breakdown with herpetiformis from the HIE). And yeah, I DID start with mag oxide at first (oh my!). I don't tend to have problems at all with loose bowels OR the other way since I went to 3.5 grains Armour and was able to go down in oral steroid (until it goes back up again in the Fall because of my inhalant IgE allergies).

[Altari]

Oh - normal day of eating:
b - 2 eggs (scrambled, boiled, fried) / bacon (3 slices) or 2 slices of lunchmeat
l - 6/8 oz grilled / baked meat, 2 cups green veggies w/ ranch dressing
snack - 1 serving almonds
d - recently, lc spinach lasagna w/ side salad & ranch dressing
Here's my dizziness check-list
1) Did I sleep enough last night (and the night before)?
2) Did I eat enough? (honestly, you're menu doesn't look like enough to me)
3) Did I drink some water within the last hour?

I'd go through those before looking for something more insidious. It's really easy to focus all on diet, but external things can play a part, too. I've had wretched sinus headaches for the last 2 weeks because of the wonky weather we're having.

[Neanderpam]

Altari makes a good point. I also like to 'blame' any constipation on not having the 'right food' when most of the time it's 'you drink enough water ya silly'!

[black57]

I take 400 mgs of magnesium 2xs daily. Once in the morning and once at night.

[hysteria]

Hi Beth,

Could you look at the packaging and see what it is exactly? I don't live in the USA so Wegmans doesn't mean anything to me.

But loose stools sounds like Mg citrate or Mg oxide.

amanda

Amanda - yes, it is Mg oxide & stearate (sp?). Interestingly enough, I stopped taking all my supplements but potassium and have not had a headache or any lightheadedness since Monday.

[hysteria]

Don't take this the wrong way, but if you're on induction why are you going to non-induction veggies for carbs? Carmelized onions, bell peppers, spaghetti squash, pumpkin, even tomatoes are a little higher in the carbs than just the lettuce, but are induction friendly. Nuts aren't induction friendly either- so I'm a little confused.

Are you doing 'induction' or just doing an 'under 20g of carbs' diet?

No offence taken, but if you read my profile to the right, you would see I don't follow Atkins to the letter. I use 'induction' to describe my LC / VLC way of eating.
What veggies are you talking about though? Lettuce & spinach are pretty 'real'-induction friendly. I ate the starawberries to up my carbs b/c of the headache & dizziness. I can't tolerate feeling that way - and IMHO, that IS my bodies way of telling me it needed something. Thinking I was feeling miserable due to a lack of calories, I had tried ridding the headaches with some boiled eggs, or a some cream cheese & splenda to no avail. Upping the carbs with the fruit though DID help.

[Requin]

You went for strawberries- which are not induction friendly for carbs- but as mentioned there's lots of other vegetables that are higher in carbs and induction friendly. But if you're not doing induction, then it doesn't really matter.

[hysteria]

So - I see a couple new threads started about being weak / feeling nasty and thought I would give this a bump because...I did more research and decided to try again, but ordered chelated mag, 100mg - http://www.vitacost.com/Source-Naturals-Magnesium-Amino-Acid-Chelate
I started out with only 100mg and with no side effects, am taking one in the morning and one before bed. Headaches have been non existent and I am sleeping like a baby :)

I will also add that I increased my fat/caloric intake from about 1100 / 1200 to at least 1500 a day. Between the two changes, I am feeling 100% better again!

[cldade55]

Magnesium is used to treat headaches, especially migraines. It is, unfortunately, not easily absorbed. Try eating foods high in magnesium. Also bear in mind that calcium blocks magnesium absorption, so do not expect too much if you eat your magesium rich foods with dairy. Also you need fat to metabolize magesium from food.