M:
I hope you are better!
Being sleepy and not being able to stay up day or night, was the worst of my Thyroid problems/symptoms.
It is impossible not to have any carbs--even the fruits of veggies have some carbs eg: an apple has 20 g of carbs--unless you are starving yourself. But if you don't eat enough carbs (I don't know your body weight but some uses at least 60 g of carbs as a bench mark per day, some 20), your body will produce ketons in order to fuel the brain and body and give you some energy to keep you alive. We burn ketons when we fast--that's how some people that are protesting for one reason or another for several days or a couple of weeks, don't die. It is the Creator that was smart to build us able to cope with starvation. WE have 2 mediums from which we can take energy: fat OR carbs/sugar/glucose. When we have a balanced or low carb diet (as long as it is not too low), the body takes its energy from the carbs, which are converted into sugar/glucose. Our ketons are low and are stored in our body in the event of a rainy day/starvation and then used, when the time comes. Then our own body fat is turned into ketons. Without enough of a carb diet, we have to switch our fuel to fat. What worries me is that you are not getting enough of neither, maybe? YOur body will turn into burning the fat you already have on your body, to make ketons, but you are forcing it to do this and it won't feel good. That is probably why you feel so bad! It takes about
3 days to go into ketoses, if you don't eat enough carbs or any carbs. Some people fast with no food for these 3 days. Some people take a less drastic approach and eat but limit their carbs intake--it is almost impossible to eliminate carbs from your diet unless you starve and eat nothing; almost everything has some carbs. But I don't know how many carbs a day you are eating and that is the key.
Despite the myth that eating fats make you fat, eating fats while limiting carbs intake makes our body to produce energy and if you move around and consume/burn that energy/fat, it does not make you fat. Well, it depends how many fats we eat, of course! It has to be balanced based on body weight.
"So, I'm really confused about diet! Carbs or no carbs? Fat or low fat?" It has to be balanced and you have to eat enough to produce fuel for your body AND BRAIN! No fuel or not enough fuel, you don't get far, just like a car :) In a state of ketoses, you will lose your apetite and that is what made me think this is what may be going on with you. BOdy odor is also a sign of it--especially bad breath which is most common. Some people that want to go on a low carb or keto diet, do not do it for long, because of breath odor--they can't stand it.
I was always starving before I had my Thyroid meds. But people that turn into a ketoses state are not hungry and that is why I suspect with you, but of course, I could be wrong. I insisted for you to eat because if you don't, you can't get the fuel necessary for your body, weather is in the form of fat or carbs (sugar). There is not other way! Another option is protein but that is another story with its own problems, it can lead to kidney stones if not consumed in moderation. If you don't eat enough carbs, you are forcing your body to produce ketons. People that go into this diet are usualy supervised into a clinic, precisely because of sugar levels swings in their blood. It is not recommanded to start on your own and you may have started it without even realizing it.
If you have blood sugar swings maybe is because you eat a little, your blood sugar goes up, but then it drops because you are not eating again for too long of a time?
To reach a state of ketoses, one must consume no food (fast) for a 3 days or very little food with very low carbs. People that go on a keto diet and reach a state of ketoses do so under the supervision of a doc or dietician and they are pretty much starved for 3 days. Everything has to be calculated based on your body weight after that. The slightest mishap already gets you out of ketoses. Also, the keto diet is used successfully to prevent seizures and it does work well for over 30% of people with seizures that can't be controlled by meds. But the slightest mishap (eg falling out of keto state) brings the seizures back and they are much more severe.
Here is an article, it is not very scientific, but the scientific ones seem to be harder to understand, and I don't want to give you a headache. You can brouse through it if it is too long for you to deal with at this time. Most of the stuff I learned is from a neuroscientist that has done a lot of research paid by different sources including the government, to study and find a diet that produces endurance and stamina for the military, even if and when the solders don't eat often, which I assume it can come up quite often during wars. He has long videos on youtube and he works for the University of Florida, and is interviewed by other people including Dr. Mercola, but he is very technical and it took me days to study the terms to understand what he was saying, when I started to look into this. But this is simple and I don't think you will have problems understanding:
http://www.livestrong.com/article/542205-ketogenic-diet-body-odor/
I hope it helps :) Hugs and please eat. Please don't get too worried about this diet or that diet right now, just eat. Otherwise you are training your brain not to eat and you won't be hungry and this will create a vicious cycle and you won't feel good for a while because you are pushing your body to do this and it has to work harder. If you eat over 60 g of carbs per day, you will most likely stay on a regular diet and not reach ketoses. Please check your carbs intake on the products you buy or on the internet and try to stay above 60 g of carbs per day, every day, until you talk to your doctor. They can measure your ketons through a simple urine test and if the doctor has a kit at his office, I think you will find out the results right away.
I hope you feel better soon.
Post Edited (Simela1) : 3/26/2015 1:04:03 AM (GMT-6)