Headaches, dizziness, thirst at night, problems sleeping

[djay]

Hello. This is a long post, but I like this diet and want to get these problems resolved, so I'm giving lots of information.

I'm on day 4 of clean induction, but day 7 if including thee days I wasn't strict. Those three days I had the carb cravings and the withdrawl symptoms. By the start of the clean induction, the carb cravings were gone.

The last three days, I felt good. Not hungry, and not sick or anything unless I went more than three hours without eating.

The last two nights, and today, I was and am having problems.

The last two nights, I woke up in the middle of the night very thirsty, with my mouth, throat, and eyes very dry. My eyes felt like they were burning. This is despite drinking lots of water in the day - about 6-8 full "glasses" from a glass size that holds about 2.5 measuring cups.

The first night of this, I got up, had water (about 2.5 cups), and felt better. I went back to sleep OK.

Last night, I had water, and that made the thirst better, but I also had a headache that kept me awake in bed for hours. After a few more hours, I had a handful of walnuts thinking maybe food would make me feel better (though I wasn't hungry). That didn't work, and I still had the headache and couldn't sleep for a few hours.

The headache was sharp and pretty intense, and at the top of my head toward the front mainly, and at times going down behind my eyes and to the front of my head as well. (I almost never get headaches normally - maybe once a month a dull headache if I've gotten less than 5 hours of sleep.)

I ended up taking two OTC potassium tablets. This was because I had a cousin on a doctor-supervised low-carb low-cal diet, and she had mentioned needing to take lots of (perscription dose level) potassium. It was also because this didn't feel like the carb withdrawl, and I figured something out of whack with nervous system chemicals was likely to be involved. It worked, and the headache drastically reduced in about 30 minutes, to almost gone. I was then able to sleep.

Well, when I got up I was feeling dizzy and mildly headachey again (not the same sharp headache). I had two more potassium tablets with breakfast. The food and tablets made me less dizzy and headachy, but both the dizzy feeling and the headachey feeling are still there, and I don't like it.

Is this common? Does anyone know why this is happening? Does anyone know if it is a vitamin/mineral issue? Or is it a calorie reduction issue? Or, what? I'm doubting it is a carb issue - I'm not having cravings, and this just feels different than the carb withdrawl did.

I suspect it is vitamins and minerals, and maybe water. I am used to eating a lot of veggies and fruit and beans, before starting Atkins: all these have water and minerals I'm not getting the same way now. I didn't take a multivitamin, and I didn't get head achiness and dizziness like this (but, of course, I wasn't losing weight either, and was hungry much of the time).

I don't really want to take a multivitamin, because I've heard of recent studies saying that the labeling on many brands is false, and that some brands actually contain toxins. (I didn't bookmark this article and can't find it now; if I remember correctly, the study was done by Consumerlabs.) However, maybe I have to to stay on the diet without feeling sick?

Does anyone know of this study? If so which brands did it say were OK in their labeling?

Thanks much for any replies - I want to stay on Atkins as I want to lose weight. It is keeping my apetite down, and I'm already fitting into my clothes better, and the scale is already going down. But, I can't put up with feeling sick like this for long.

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Edit for more info:
I found the article about multivitamins that I was thinking about. It is here: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/16655168/

[boonie stomper]

Re: Headaches, dizziness, thirst at night, problems sleeping

Hi - I've posted on this subject before so I'll be quick here, you can search up the others. You can lose a lot of electrolytes / minerals due to the diuretic effect of induction. This not only makes you need a lot of water and potassium, but other mineral salts as well that help your body retain a normal fluid balance. Too much potassium is VERY dangerous! Please be careful!

Try adding naturally salty foods like shellfish, not table salt; you want to get calium and magnesium. You could try OTC Mg & Ca or Epsom salts (a pinch dissolved in H2O) and food with soft-cooked bone or shell content (ie., sardines, anchovies, etc) & DRINK THAT WATER!

If problems persist or get worse, seek medical advice


As for multivitamins, I take them religiously- I always make sure the brand is reputable, not some internet fly-by. You be the judge - the air you breathe, food you eat and water you drink frequently contain toxins as well....

[djay]

Re: Headaches, dizziness, thirst at night, problems sleeping

Thanks! It is VERY useful to know that this is the problem.

I'm going to add a multivitamin, especially now that I've found the study and know to avoid the brand in which they found lead.

I don't like shellfish, but I'm going to try sardines. Also will try epsom salts, or else otc Ca and Mg along with the K (and I will keep the K low: each pill has only 3% of daily recc value).

And I'm keeping up on the water! (I'm usually peeing clear, with all the water I need just to not be thirsty.)

Will see a doc if this all doesn't help. I don't want to do it yet because I'm concerned the doc will just tell me to get off the diet.

Hi - I've posted on this subject before so I'll be quick here, you can search up the others. You can lose a lot of electrolytes / minerals due to the diuretic effect of induction. This not only makes you need a lot of water and potassium, but other mineral salts as well that help your body retain a normal fluid balance. Too much potassium is VERY dangerous! Please be careful!

Try adding naturally salty foods like shellfish, not table salt; you want to get calium and magnesium. You could try OTC Mg & Ca or Epsom salts (a pinch dissolved in H2O) and food with soft-cooked bone or shell content (ie., sardines, anchovies, etc) & DRINK THAT WATER!

If problems persist or get worse, seek medical advice


As for multivitamins, I take them religiously- I always make sure the brand is reputable, not some internet fly-by. You be the judge - the air you breathe, food you eat and water you drink frequently contain toxins as well....

[djay]

Re: Headaches, dizziness, thirst at night, problems sleeping

For the record, in case this thread comes up in a search by someone with the same problem:

This problem is now gone.

It was worst the night and day after a day on which I exercised a lot and didn't eat so much.

I've since made a point to eat a bit more. I've also added a daily multivitamin, a daily Ca/Mg combo vitamin, and daily Potassium vitamins (a low dose per day, mere 6% of recc daily intake).

This seems to have solved it!

[Elizellen]

Re: Headaches, dizziness, thirst at night, problems sleeping

Thanks for the update!

I am glad you are feeling better now