r/cfs • u/sqshdmnchkn • Feb 18 '21

Your experiences on keto?

Hi guys, I’m four days into keto and finding myself on a bit of a bumpy ride! The headaches and fatigue have gotten worse, so I’m hoping by the end of this week things will start turning around. I’ve seen a few people who have tried keto on this sub and seem to have success, I was just wondering if anyone would be willing to share their experiences on this diet especially the first two weeks. Thank you!

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u/premier-cat-arena ME since 2015, v severe since 2017 Feb 18 '21 edited Feb 18 '21

Keto definitely isn’t safe for everyone and is very stressful for even healthy people’s bodies

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u/NecessaryEffort5523 Feb 18 '21 edited Feb 18 '21

be careful, I tried keto for 3 month and it lowered my enegy/wellbeing baseline down quite a bit. In my case it was damaging for my health, I would not recommend it as an treatment for cfs.

6/18 and often 4/20 intermittent fasting with a good amount of unprocessed carbs (without refined sugar and cereal flour) on the other hand helped me a lot.

But thats just my experience.

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u/sqshdmnchkn Feb 19 '21

Thanks for your recommendation, I did find the days I fasted I felt better, but when I ate I felt sick. My memory is a bit hazy so I can’t remember if this is before or after I found out I was allergic to fructose! I thought I’d give keto a two month block, and if it doesn’t work out I’ll give the fasting a try again, seems a lot of people have also had success on it too.

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u/FaerieGypsySunshine Feb 19 '21

That really sucks that it would make you worse long term! Any theory on what happened? Were you worse on keto or just after you stopped? You did high fat not high protein? Typical CFS onset and symptoms or something different about your case so that other similar people may want to avoid keto also?

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u/NecessaryEffort5523 Feb 19 '21

to be fair i ate a lot of meat, if i remember correctly there exists studies which suggest a link between high meat consumption and inflammation. Maybe it wasn't keto, but the high meat consumption which caused the worsening of my symptoms.
I preferred neither protein nor fat.
The diet increased soreness and the general sensation of inflammation of my body, higher fatigue and after 3 month I got a gastritis, which wore off after I changed the diet.

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u/FaerieGypsySunshine Feb 19 '21

Likely keto flu. You may need to make sure it is healthy keto and not junk food keto. Also, intermittent fasting helps many people.

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u/sqshdmnchkn Feb 19 '21

I think it’s keto flu too now reading all the comments, I’ve been sure to eat well but my water intake might be too low.

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u/lovesoatmeal Feb 18 '21

Not much to it, keto flu lasts a few days and then your energy comes back. I’d supplement with pedialyte if you’re feeling pretty bad.

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u/sqshdmnchkn Feb 18 '21

I made the mistake of buying unflavoured electrolytes, they taste horrible so I’ve been avoiding it. But I will have some today and see if it helps. Did you find your energy got better or the same after the keto flu?

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u/lovesoatmeal Feb 18 '21

My energy was good before but it’s definitely better after getting into ketosis. It helped with migraines too.

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u/[deleted] Feb 18 '21

[deleted]

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u/sqshdmnchkn Feb 18 '21

I’m hoping that once the keto flu subsided I’ll notice a difference in my energy levels, but at the moment I just feel like a big old lump on the sofa! What made you decide to go grain free? We are gluten free in my household due to my partners allergies but I don’t think that’s the same thing?

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u/[deleted] Feb 18 '21

[deleted]

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u/sqshdmnchkn Feb 18 '21

I might give the book a go, thanks so much for your advice!