Feeling light headed and dizzy on keto

[CJ_SPARTA]

Holy hell its hard to type this.

I have been on the keto diet for about 4 days now and I am noticing I am getting dizzy spells and almost blacking out. I am having problems walking to the bathroom its that bad. My heart feels like its racing and Im out of breath.

has anyone experience anything like this on keto? is this normal?

should I stick it out guys or start intruding carbs back into my diet?

its kind of scary :s

any advice is appreciated.

[Grifts]

Holy hell its hard to type this.

I have been on the keto diet for about 4 days now and I am noticing I am getting dizzy spells and almost blacking out. I am having problems walking to the bathroom its that bad. My heart feels like its racing and Im out of breath.

has anyone experience anything like this on keto? is this normal?

should I stick it out guys or start intruding carbs back into my diet?

its kind of scary :s

any advice is appreciated.

You can try and stick it out. Keto flu is a common thing, especially if it is first time. Your sugar might be low and body hasn't adapted yet.

The first time is always the roughest.

You can either

A) Abort
B) Have SOME carbs, like broccoli/cauliflower
C) have some fats, especially MCTs like coconut oil
D) A combination of B and C like nuts/seeds

Either way, don't do anything dangerous like drive a car if you feel like this.

[GTO91]

Drink chicken broth! It has done wonders for me, salt is so important, especially when you just started.

[CJ_SPARTA]

Thanks a lot guys

much appreciated

reps on recharge!

[eyewant2bemd]

Hey, man. Best of luck with your ketogenic diet. I assume you're doing this in a slight caloric deficit. Although I'm only a medical student and not a true physician up to this point, here are a few thoughts.

1) Drink plenty of water: You mentioned you felt dizzy and had difficulty walking to the bathroom; I assume this happened after sitting for a while. If you're not properly hydrated, then you may be hypovolemic. In a nut shell, you're dehydrated and your body is having difficulty transporting blood properly throughout your body. Your blood pressure will drop and your heart beat will increase to compensate. You'll be fine, just drink tons of water while on the keto. Also, drinking chicken broth helps because it is high in sodium. Sodium via osmosis will assist in holding water as well. If you're on keto to "cut" and dry out I'd suggest no chicken broth and just tons of water. Otherwise, the scale will play games with you since you're putting on tons of water weight while at the same time trying to cut fat weight.

2) Induction Period: The intuit population (think Eskimo) relies upon a keto like diet - high fats, meats, and low carbs because of their environment. However, for most populations and respective persons keto is a "shock" to your metabolic homeostasis.

BOL. Good luck getting shredded.

[LiftThenRave]

Supplement with magnesium, potassium and salt. You're low on electrolytes.

You're likely becoming hypoglycemic. This happens to me when I'm super deep in ketosis during summer cuts. Eat more fat, or some carbs + the above.

[KaydenBGrabarek]

Holy hell its hard to type this.

I have been on the keto diet for about 4 days now and I am noticing I am getting dizzy spells and almost blacking out. I am having problems walking to the bathroom its that bad. My heart feels like its racing and Im out of breath.

has anyone experience anything like this on keto? is this normal?

should I stick it out guys or start intruding carbs back into my diet?

its kind of scary :s

any advice is appreciated.

I tried a Keto diet and I'd definitely either

A. Add some broccoli
B. Add some fats such as nuts/seeds
C. Drink alot alot alot more water
D. Sprinkle a few pitches of salt on your tongue (helped me quite a bit)
E. combination of all or a few of the above.

[Adamjay2]

Holy hell its hard to type this.

I have been on the keto diet for about 4 days now and I am noticing I am getting dizzy spells and almost blacking out. I am having problems walking to the bathroom its that bad. My heart feels like its racing and Im out of breath.

has anyone experience anything like this on keto? is this normal?

should I stick it out guys or start intruding carbs back into my diet?

its kind of scary :s

any advice is appreciated.

Hi CJ, I experienced the exact same thing, still do to a lesser extent. I did some reading, and it seems that the Ketogenic diet leads to a drop in blood pressure, causing these dizzy spells. One solution I found, which works for me, is to up the salt intake. Soup stock is a good way to go.

[fabiocaptain]

First I ever dieted with keto,I had some dizzines on the 2nd day.I had one small orange and all was ok You should stick with it,once you're keto and getting your calories in,you'll experience non of these symptoms.It is really important to eat enough though!

[tmxt7893]

I reduced by carb intake 8 days ago to nearly zero. (Maybe 2-4 grams per day in my salad.) I am a "walker", and over the last year have walked over 1000 miles, one mile at the time and up to 6 miles per day. I sensed that my glycogen levels were used up in about 3 days. I got a glucometer and ket strips on the 4th day of this, and measured 1.3. (Glucose reading was 101.)

Following the 3rd day I started getting episodes of light headedness. It wasn't all that bad, but it was very noticable. All I generally had to do was stop any activity and it would go away. I started reading online, and some folks say it's a lack of salt, some say its dehydration, and there are other guesses involving protein and a lack of carbs. My hydration was good, my salt intake was good. I decided it must just be a factor of adjusting to the low carbs. There is a site that mentioned reactive hypoglycemia due to the suddenness with which I stopped all carb intake. That might be related.

On the 6th I measured blood ketones and got a reading of 2.0. Still dizzy a bit. For some odd reason I felt the need to walk more even as of the 3rd day, and have been walking from 8 to 10 miles per day (one or two miles at the time).

Today is the 8th day. The dizzy spells have eased off. Weight is hovering about 2 pounds less than the least its been in 5 years.

All seems good at this point. I seem to be sleeping better. Breathing better. Going to the bathroom to pee less often. etc.

[NovusAnimus]

Holy hell its hard to type this.

I have been on the keto diet for about 4 days now and I am noticing I am getting dizzy spells and almost blacking out. I am having problems walking to the bathroom its that bad. My heart feels like its racing and Im out of breath.

has anyone experience anything like this on keto? is this normal?

should I stick it out guys or start intruding carbs back into my diet?

its kind of scary :s

any advice is appreciated.

Keto flu hits some people harder than others. Personally as someone who's used ketosis to recover from 10 years of sugar addiction, I went through similar symptoms. It'll pass.

People in this thread are correct in their recommendations for vitamins, minerals, electrolytes, etc. Make sure to get your salt (sea salt IMO), and eat some dark leafy greens like spinach, chard and kale to get your magnesium and potassium. This will eliminate those as factors. If you're still suffering that bad even after adding these, it's just that you are not keto-adapted yet. It takes different amounts of time for different people.

You can make your body adjust to ketones faster by eating food that increase ketone totals in the blood. Coconut oil is very popular for this, and its numerous health benefits, but anything super high in fat (with no carbs) will work.