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Lightheaded + head rushes


fmb16

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Hey all,

I'm on day 3 and everything's going pretty well (except for some headaches), but I've been getting very lightheaded, especially in the morning. I've been getting head rushes to the point that I get tunnel vision and have to hold onto something for a couple seconds every time I stand up in the morning. I have always had very low blood pressure, but I haven't had problems with lightheadedness for a while. I've been drinking plenty of water (at least 2 liters plus herbal tea per day), salting my food quite a bit, and drinking my normal amount of caffeinated coffee...so what gives? Is this a typical symptom of carb flu/will it go away? Is there anything I can do about it? Thanks!!

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I felt this exact way my first week. I posted a couple day's worth of meals and discovered I wasn't eating enough. When you normally diet, you reduce the amt of food you eat... this is more like adjusting WHAT you eat... I had a hard time wrapping my mind around it. 

 

Breakfast is my most important meal. It was typically very carb-laden (oatmeal, english muffin, yogurt, etc) and I think my body was really used to that. Adding slices of potatoes to my eggs (and adding another egg) helped me within about a day. 

 

Hope you feel better soon! 

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If it helps, it happened to me, too, day 14 - 21 was the worst of it. It did subside slowly (just finished and I am a very healthy 50 year old woman, for correlative purposes). It's possible I was drinking too little water or too much caffeine. It affected my ability to exercise (my legs also felt weak). 

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  • 2 years later...

Lisa iris this is happening to me too, on day 14 and it has been since about day 9 or 10. Thanks for posting your comment because I thought it was weird that it was happening to me later in the program. I really thought I was doing everything right following the template but I think I might just need more food than your average bear? Hopefully that’s it or else this is just not working for my body :(

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@Kimiora - are you following the meal template and including proper portions of protein at each meal? Earlier you'd indicated you were not planning to do so at all meals. If you are and feel you are able to make it 4-5 hours between meals easily, we could take a look at what you've been eating and provide some recommendations and see if there are any small tweaks that you can make to help you feel better. 

Right around Day 10-ish if you have been under eating, it catches up because nutrition is cumulative............so my guess would be the same as yours, you just need more of everything.

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Hi ladyshanny, thanks for responding! I didn’t mean to say I wasn’t going to eat so much meat in that earlier post, just was having an ethical dilemma about it (but thanks for remembering me!). You know I truly thought I was following the template - I have 2 eggs plus sweet potato plus greens plus coconut oil for breakfast, and palm-plus of meat plus starchy veg plus nonstarchy veg plus coconut oil or olive oil and often avocado for lunch and again for dinner. But I have felt weak, shaky, nauseous, inability to concentrate and what feels like...hot flashes? for several days now, along with deep deep exhaustion and sadness :(

I feel like the amount of fat is thumb-size each meal but I will pay closer attention to that for sure. I also have noticed I can’t do without sweet potato pretty much every meal (still a sugar-burner??). I’m recovering from an injury so I’m not very active but have usually had a “high metabolism”, I run hot, etc. 

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@Kimiora Are you staying satisfied for 4-5 hours between meals? Not, can you white knuckle through and manage to 4-5 hours without passing out, but you should just be starting to be hungry around the four hour mark or so. 

Eggs, when they're your only protein, should be as many whole eggs as you can hold in your hand -- for most people that's 3-4. If you don't want to add another egg, you could add a bit of some other protein -- some leftovers from dinner the night before maybe. 

Are you salting your food? Too little salt can definitely cause the inability to concentrate, and there's not salt on eggs, meats, or vegetables unless you add it.

For fat, add at least one serving from the options on the meal template in addition to what you cook your food in. So, cook your eggs and veggies in coconut oil, and then serve them with half to a whole avocado, or a handful of olives, or a dollop of mayo. 

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Hi Shannon, Thanks for those suggestions - it's super helpful to have those details. I think I was counting the fat I cooked in as the "thumb-sized portion of fat" so I will add an avocado or similar in addition to that.

I also figured out yesterday afternoon that the culprit was not the diet at all but something going on with some medication I am taking (long story). I was thinking I was experiencing hunger in a different way on this diet (feeling weak, shaky, inability to concentrate, etc), but it turns out it was an unrelated medication issue. Phew!

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  • 3 weeks later...
On 12/13/2017 at 10:50 AM, Kimiora said:

Hi Shannon, Thanks for those suggestions - it's super helpful to have those details. I think I was counting the fat I cooked in as the "thumb-sized portion of fat" so I will add an avocado or similar in addition to that.

I also figured out yesterday afternoon that the culprit was not the diet at all but something going on with some medication I am taking (long story). I was thinking I was experiencing hunger in a different way on this diet (feeling weak, shaky, inability to concentrate, etc), but it turns out it was an unrelated medication issue. Phew!

yes! the change in the way i experience hunger has been one of the most interesting things about doing W30! I don't crave food anymore (I mean, sometimes, but not like before). Now, being hungry feels like needing to eat versus wanting to eat. A little fatigued, headachy, off. It took me a few weeks to realize this was my body's new way of saying, "hey, eat something." 

Glad you're feeling better!

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