Low Carb Dizziness?

I recently tried the Atkins Induction phase and only lasted 4 days on it! Not because I was craving carbs on the contrary I was so nauseous I didn’t want to eat anything. The big thing is that I became SOOO extremely dizzy I could hardly get around. I was tired and out of it and a little depressed, oh and awful diarrhea (sorry TMI) . Maybe this was a withdrawal of some kind or maybe my brain was not getting enough serotonin but I wish the diet didn’t effect me so much so maybe it could help control some of the dizziness. Some on the internet say the MORE your body reacts to low carb low sugar the more you can benefit from it after it adjust. I just didn’t think the dizziness would ever stop though. I ate some cereal and a banana for breakfast and the extreme dizziness is gone. I don’t get it??? Can anyone relate??

I went on the low carb (Atkins) when I started taking the nori… about 3 1/2 weeks ago. I’ve lost 12lb. and I’m feeling less dizzy each day. I don’t know if I can attribute that to the diet, or the meds as I am also taking vitamin supplements, magnesium, and 5-HTP, and an occasional Ativan if I’m stressing out. My only food trigger (that I’m absolutely certain of) is red wine, although an over-load of Chinese food (mega MSG) is suspect. It’s unusual to get diarrhea on a diet that has so little fiber in it, especially at the beginning (induction phase). Is it possible you had something else going on with your system?

The reasons that I went back on the Atkins diet was:

  1. after my first vertigo attack in 2010, I read that a low carb diet worked for some people to reduce or eliminate vertigo and I could afford to lose the weight :slight_smile: It appeared to work as I was symptom free - no spins - for 10 months. Over that time I started adding back some of the foods I always used to eat (breads, small amounts of sweets, and a lot of fruit). Then in April/May, I developed a sinus infection and the vertigo returned with a vengeance… and the dizzies have continued.
  2. one of nori’s side effects is weight gain & I didn’t want or need to go there as I had successfully dropped 30 lb. and felt better, much better!
    Obviously this way of eating is not for everyone. I will continue as it seems to work for me and I don’t miss the sugar; only the fruit, and I will start reintroducing it when I feel it’s appropriate for me (minus the red grapes, and any dried fruits).
    Cat

Cat,
I know its weird how dizzy I got thats why theres got to be something to it for me???

We’re all different. :slight_smile: now I’m drooling.

Have you tried the migraine diet? All fresh foods? Perhaps that is what you should be doing instead of low carb.
Cat

I did read someplace that an Atkins diet is not good for someone with Depression…and it had to do with serotonin. I know it takes protein to make the amino acids that turn into sero, but there was some other correlation. I know that people have carb cravings when they feel depressed…since MIgraine has such a serotonin connection, my guess would be that’s what made you dizzier. IFthat makes any sense! Not that any of this stuff does! Even on the med info it always says, “the exact way this medicine works is not known”…
Kelley

Hi All,

My PhD was centred on carbohydrate and CVD risk – namely high GI carbs. In the biochemistry department part of the courses taught were about the different “diets” out there and what, if any, was the evidence for them.

Low carb diets – Atkins style – do cause rapid weight loss but, over time, they are not sustainable. People almost always fall off the wagon and regain weight. And who wouldn’t? A life without carbs is too hard and not something I would wish on anyone. The initial weight loss that many see is water loss. Every molecule of glycogen (a glucose polymer and analogous to starch) is attached to a water molecule as it sits in the skeletal muscle tissue. When you starve your body of brain fuel – i.e. glucose – the glycogen stores in your muscle is depleted to very low levels. And so you lose a lot of water which makes for instant weight loss. It’s water at first.

I would never recommend this diet to a person with MAV, that is to the extremes of Atkins. It’s just too upsetting for the body. People without migraine can experience fatigue, dizziness, and constipation in the early induction phase too.

What I would suggest if you want to lower glucose spikes in your blood, lose weight, and eat better overall, is to follow a low GI diet. It means you can adjust your carb intake from between about 40–60% overall. Low GI carbs break down more slowly and are more satiating (filling) and you will eat less by default. It’s all evidence based with hundreds of studies on it now.

Finally, a low GI diet is simply one tool of many to lose weight and stay fit. You’ll never see many diet books discussing exercise yet it’s CRITICAL. We’ve all got to keep moving, especially for migraine prevention.

These were the 5 goals for diabetes prevention in a program I was coordinating last year. Again evidence-based and stuff we’ve all heard before.

The motto was EAT LESS, MOVE MORE.

Scott 8)