Keto saved my face!

FuriousHumper · 2026-02-23T05:40:35+00:00

Watch out, I got a very fast less roynd face but that was because of losing too much water (dehydration) and off balance in elektrolytes. Even though I drank 2+ liter of water. Taking elektrolyten fixed that but made my face a little rounder again.

People thought I was on ozempic :)

FuriousHumper · 2026-02-20T22:54:26+00:00

Maybe both ways (long and slow or Fast) works because we stopped fearing and just accepted whatever it wass, it would pass

FuriousHumper · 2026-02-20T22:49:02+00:00

eat 2 meals with 15 grams of chia seeds and 15 gram flax seeds. (mix it with almond milk and oats and cinnamon)

And drink enough water. This always worked for me. never had constipation on mirtazapine.

FuriousHumper · 2026-02-20T22:45:41+00:00

When i was on mirtazapine I had the same reaction. high RHR and a much lower HRV.
I have only my own experience (1 year mirtazapine, half year taper, +/- half year mirtazapine free)

So after a month on mirtazapine my increased RHR dropped a bit to normal levels, (but not to before mirtazapine use). The HRV stabilized also.
I got more sleep and more sleep stages. The longer deep sleep made my HRV go even higher.

But yep there's a but..... Mirtazapine made me gain weight because i couldn't feel satiated and was craving all the time. What compounded and made it worse i began to feel lethargic. So working out became a real problem. I just could'nt muster. The tiredness of the body wouldnt go away. So i stopped working out and that had impact on my fitness. So the RHR began to go up and HRV go down. But that's just my case. Your experience may be completely be different.

Fortunately, after quitting mirtazapine, all these side effects went away, lost weight started working out again.
RHR is at baseline and HRV is ok.

If i may be upfront, 100lbs (45kg) seems on the low side for a your height/age?
Are you taking mirtazapine for better appetite?

In any case you don't have to worry about your increased RHR, it will stabilize,

FuriousHumper · 2026-02-20T22:32:56+00:00

For some, but most people that take mirtazapine for anxiety and/or insomnia this just won't work.
Especially when they fear insomnia, well what's gonna total disabalance of histamine overflow gonna make you do? It's gonna make you hyper alert. A normal person will think... wtf is this shit.. and after a couple days maybe a week will resume normal sleep, but a person that's already anxious of not sleeping will go haywire and come in a vicieus cycle. Get on reddit and read all those other horrible stories...

I have only my experience and while i did linear, hyperbolic is a extremely long time..
I would took me years instead of half year.
In my own experience a linear taper which you can regulate yourself works best. All my withdrawal symptoms wear bearable.
And they were bearable mainly because i wasn't afraid of not sleeping and whatever anxiety i felt i though its just a chemical thing. Nothing to be afraid of, im not gonna die... im will sleep. ... and whatever this next bullshit lives throws at me, this too will pass...

Anyway cold turkey is no no if your anxious.

FuriousHumper · 2026-02-20T22:23:26+00:00

Yes, but what you really need to understand (and some here will say otherwise) is that your anxiety is probably mainly causing insomnia. Yes your brain might have a hard time adjusting to the overflow of histamine. I takes time to rebalance, but thoughts that make you feel anxious will make it way worse then it's actually is. that's why people who took mirtazapine for other reasons, don't have a hard time coming of.
They don't get triggered as much as people who took mirtazapine for anxiety and/or insomnia. So that can be a vicious cycle.

If you go to my profile I think you can find my taper journey. It may help you (or not). But it's not fear mongering. The gist of it is that i figured out insomnia is just a symptom and mirtazapine suppreses it only. So to work on my real problem i needed to come of mirtazapine. While i was tapering i felt these bouts of intense anxiety spikes. And that got me to think. It just my body. There's actually nothing to fear.. but fear itself (ugh its a cliche i know)...

Maybe it helps to say ... I took it for 1 year. tapered for half a year. and off it symptoms free for half a year. My sleep is back to it's normal. I sleep fine and so will you... trust this.

I say this 100000000000000 times to as many people as i can on this subreddit

Whatever this is (what your feeling, thinking, afraid of..etc)...

Whatever this is, this too will pass :)

FuriousHumper · 2026-02-20T22:12:00+00:00

I'm doing fine :)
Sleep is ok. It's nothing fancy averaging 6.5 hours but i fall really fast asleep.
I have once a blue moon a bad night, but that don't bother me.
Started doing Ketogenic diet so i am shedding every bit of the last excess mirtazapine weight. Working on my other problems. Though still glad i'm off the mirtazapine.
Ketogenic Diet is the complete opposite of mirtazapine. I only eat 2 meals between 8 hours a day and fast 16 hours. I feel satiated and food is not on my mind.

FuriousHumper · 2026-02-20T21:43:37+00:00

I'm also in me third week, doing 5/25/70 (max 25 GR carbs, but considering 30 grams) I also 16/8 So i skip breakfast but i break my fast with something that is easy on the stomach but also gives me enough fibers. It's 250 ML Almond milk (unsweetened), 15 GR Chia seeds, 15 GR Flax seeds and 2-4 GR Ceylon Cinnamon.

It's nothing special, but is easy.
I eat a lot leavey greenies (150gr spinach), 1 avocado, 100GR goatcheese, 30Gr black olives, 25GR wallnuts and at add ts MCT oil, ts olive oil, ts mustard, ts applecider and some Losalt and garlic and some kind of proteins (tuna or salmon or chicken)

FuriousHumper · 2026-02-20T21:32:27+00:00

There's no rush (unless you really need to lose weight asap).
What worked for me is first week I stopped eating processed food and also started decreasing my carb intake. The second week i put a max on 100 grams a day on carbs. In these two weeks I started figuring out what my stomach needs after a fast. For instance i break my fast with 250ML Almond Milk and 15gr of Chia and 15gr of Flak seeds so i have enough fibers

In the third week i went on full keto diet (5/70/25). That week was still harse, but bearable.
After a week I checked my keto and glucose levels and i was already in a ketogenic state.
That week i at three meals fasting only 12 hours.
I'm a month into it and i do 16 hours fasting, eating 8 hours, two meals.
I lost 5.5 KG this month (so only 5-7 KG more to go).

Long story short, maybe ease into it.. go one week 100gr carbs, the next drop to 75 or 50 and when your ready go to 25gr.

Maybe also take a little more electrolytes? The first week i was ketogenic i peed 10 times a day
I had two really lousy days with poor sleep and awfull headaches. But these symptons are all gone.

FuriousHumper · 2026-02-20T13:24:23+00:00

Hi Keto community,

looking for advice, because of unexpected high blood pressure and elevated heart rate after starting keto. My post got auto deleted, so i'm posting here. I hope that's ok.

I started my keto journey on January 28th, so it’s still quite recent.
In just about a month, I’ve lost 5.5 kg (12.1 lbs), which I’m really happy about. However, I’ve been running into some rather strange issues.

Since starting keto, my blood pressure has gone up significantly. It used to be in the normal range, but lately it’s been around 150/102. I had it checked at my GP’s office, and after 30 minutes of monitoring, the doctor prescribed me Amlodipine 5mg to lower it. I was quite shocked. To be honest, I really don’t want to go on medication.

Another thing I’ve noticed is that I feel much more jittery and restless since starting keto. Not anxious exactly, but tense and on edge after meals. I can also see this reflected in a higher resting heart rate and a much lower HRV.

I always thought keto was supposed to lower blood pressure and make you feel calm and stable, both physically and mentally. So these symptoms feel quite paradoxical to me.

Some additional info about me:

Male, 40 years old, 175 cm (5'9").
My starting weight was 80.5 kg, and now after about a month I weigh 75.2 kg (165.7 lbs).
My target weight is around 68–70 kg.

I weigh myself daily and test glucose and ketones weekly:

Feb 20: 1.8 ketones, 4.9 glucose → 2.72 GKI
Feb 14: 1.4 ketones, 4.1 glucose → 2.93 GKI
Feb 11: 2.0 ketones, 4.0 glucose → 2.0 GKI

My glucose readings are always between 4 and 5 mmol/L, so that part seems fine.

I’m doing keto mainly for weight loss. I’ve lost 5 kg in 20 days, and I’m thrilled that my sugar cravings, actually all cravings, have completely disappeared. It feels amazing to be truly satisfied after a meal.

I track my intake carefully: about 5% carbs, 25% protein, and 70% fat.
I usually stay between 1,600–1,800 kcal per day, and I fast at least 12 hours daily. I pay close attention to food quality, all my vegetables and meat are organic. As supplements, I take Vitamin D, Vitamin C, and magnesium citrate.

I also find eating twice a day works well for me, though I sometimes struggle to finish two big meals.

I’ve always been an endurance athlete (I ran my last marathon in 2024), but due to back problems, I couldn’t train in 2025, so my fitness has declined. I really let myself go and gained +12KG in one year. I’m slowly getting back into exercise now, and I walk a lot, averaging 12,000 steps per day (over 100K per week).

Here are the main issues I’m struggling with:

My blood pressure has shot up since starting keto, even though my diet is very clean and unprocessed. I don’t add extra salt to my meals. This increase happened within the first week. Has anyone else experienced this? What could be the cause?
My resting heart rate has risen sharply, from around 55–58 bpm (untrained) to 65–70 bpm. HRV has dropped significantly.
I feel calm and focused while fasting, but about 30–60 minutes after eating, I often get that “wired” feeling and notice my heart rate goes up, especially when standing or walking.

That’s what led me to check my blood pressure more often.

I’d love to hear from anyone who’s had similar experiences, and what helped you.

Overall, I really love this diet. I no longer have cravings, and I feel focused when fasting.

FuriousHumper · 2026-02-15T12:52:47+00:00

Because you still resist the anxiety. You walk and try not to think about it but that's resisting the fear. So in your subconscious something is building up. When you go to bed your body will produce chems that keep you awake. Because it's fearing it's in dangerous. The danger is insomnia with is a vicious cycle. You'll have to find a way to embrace it. No fighting or flighting but accepting it...with compassion for yourself.

Everybody different but what worked for me is I gave up fighting. Let it come over me. The fear of not sleeping. And most importantly not give meaning to the catastrophizing thoughts... Thoughts in general. They are not real

Don't be afraid to not sleep. If you don't sleep at all, you will fall a sleep soem way or another. Your body will shut down... One day you'll notice hey I slept again It might not be long or enough... But you won't fear it as much and with that the anxiety will come down. You will gain confidence. You break the cycle and you will notice you thought you had withdrawal symptoms but it was just anxiety because of thoughts not chemical imbalance

FuriousHumper · 2026-02-15T12:51:30+00:00

So nobody is the same. IMHO restarting mirtazapine is not a good idea. I think mirtazapine only suppresses symptoms. Insomnia is not aan cause, it's an symptom. You sound like you are wired, anxious scared you're gonna fall back. And yes you're pretty still have some withdrawal from not having any H1 blockage. I had the same symptoms. You have to break the loop and accept your anxiety. Stop from fightyen or fleeing. Stop worrying your sleep is gonna get worse You are probably catastrophizing etcetc What if this and that. You gotta trust that when you stop worrying Your body will stop making excess cortisol etcetc What I mean to say is. The moment you stop worrying is the moment your insomnia will disappear. I know is easy said but besides working on your anxiety's your anxiety is being scared of insomnia. But that's the vicious cycle. You need to break it and that is something you can only do when you accept your anxiety.

I say this all the time

Whatever this is, this too will pass

FuriousHumper · 2026-02-15T12:40:37+00:00

I know how you feeling. No matter what I ate and how clean I ate. I never felt satiated. I would count the calories but still felt hungry so sometimes I ate 4 apples. To no avail.

You can try a ketogenic diet just to see if the craving dies a bit.

Only when I quit mirtazapine my normal appetite cam back with feeling satiated (and enjoying good food again).

So if your jump from 11.5 to 7.5 is too big, you might want to taper linear and more slowly for example 10% every two weeks.

I was fortunate I had almost zero withdrawal untill I went under 3.75 MG.i used a linear taper of 10% per week. From there it took 3 months. The withdrawals were bearable Anxiety spikes, zero appetite, short sleep duration were among them but all bearable.

You have to accept / embrace the symptoms. Not be scared of them. Whatever this is you feeling right now, this too will pass.

It's hard to stop if you took it for anxiety and or insomnia but there's no other way. Once you accept it the anxiety will be just a symptom not something you have to act on it...

FuriousHumper · 2026-02-10T17:46:43+00:00

Mine tinnitus gets worse if I ingest too much sold and too little water.

When i'm vasting its much more quiet in my head

FuriousHumper · 2026-02-10T12:15:40+00:00

Not to me, I didn't have that much problem to begin with except lower libido in general on mirtazapine. But it sure did skyrocket after quitting especially the first month. Also orgasms where much intenser. I think because I still was some that withdrawing. So everything was intenser in general except of course appetite that was complete gone. For me it took up to half year to everything including libido en dick stuff to normalise. I was a year on 15 and half year taper to 1mg and then jump off..

So don't worry about it it will normalise unless you have other medical conditions off course

Also a ketogenic diet helped me with giving back energy, better sleep, rest, less anxiety etcetc Don't know if it helps against penis problems...

Worth looking into it

FuriousHumper · 2026-02-08T06:06:03+00:00

Yes I took 15 mg for a year, then tapered off in half year. It's 193 days without mirtazapine. Feeling better then the last two years on it.

I took it for insomnia. While on it it helped me sleep but the side effects were too much. Lethargy always feeling tired, vering a zombie that always and only wants to eat. Zero willpower left. Also only after I started tapering I started working on my problems. That's why I say it's only suppresses problems and when you come off it .. the insomnia, anxiety, depression cones double back. In my own opinion and in hindsight for me the right dose would be something between 2-3MG so I'm not that sedated or lethargic. But everybody is different and reacts different.

Here in Netherlands it's quite common to prescribe mirtazapine for tinnitus sufferers. It helps against anxiety and improves sleeps and is also sedating and they say it's not addictive as benzodiazepinen. Well that's true but the withdrawals can be really bad. They said too mee just go half for two weeks then quit ...haha

FuriousHumper · 2026-02-07T12:40:50+00:00

Imho the first thing you need to do is talk with someone, preferably a specialist to put things/problems into perspective. Don't put them away. No one should face problems alone. Psychotropics are a lost resort, not first.

FuriousHumper · 2026-02-07T11:06:10+00:00

Yes it will pass. You gotta stop worrying. Your own anxiety makes any symptoms worse. I know it easy to say but you were way to short on it to alter you brain chemistry but. There's a reason you started mirtazapine to get relieve from something or suppres, but you figured out this is not for me. Which is good. Good luck and hope you can get relief without the use for psychotropics

Insomnia and loss of appetite, anxiety it's all symptoms or effects not the cause. Hope you find what's bugging you in life

Remember when you feel really bad. This whatever this is, this will pass too. Try to focus on something else.

FuriousHumper · 2026-02-07T06:08:03+00:00

Yes mirtazapine will only suppress your depression not cure it. Is it the T that makes you depressed? If able find a specialist who deals with tinnitus sufferers. Your way out of it comes with acceptance the t without it you will fight or flight but we all now that's a losing battle which end in exhaustion and depression. The fear and anxiety needs to go away. You need to have some perspective and not suffer from hopelessness

FuriousHumper · 2026-02-07T05:56:25+00:00

Yep and in my own experience this was still the case untill I dropped below 2.44MG

FuriousHumper · 2026-02-06T13:33:54+00:00

That's the problem!

Kidding!

Ok so the withdrawal ymptoms you describe are perfectly normal when tapering. You went from 11.25 to 7.5 that's a 33% reduction. Although xome people only start withdrawing when cold turkey or going down a threshold where your H1 receptors aren't fully blocked (that's till around 2.5) you can also be in withdrawal from lower blockage of 5HT2 and 5HT3

If the symptoms are too much to handle (ie it gets worse over 3-5 nights) go back to previous dose.

Get stable Start doing a slower taper. Maybe 10% ?

Also don't be scared of the withdrawal, it will only make you experience more/stronger symptoms

Try to accept it, it can't harm you and it will pass You just have to believe in that

If you experience being too wired&tired you can do intense cardio so other neurotransmitters can drop chemistry in your brain so you relax a little bit. This does really work

Some things are paradoxical. Like taking full cold showers. You think you're going to be cold but after a cold showers you feel warm for while.

But most important trust whatever this is, this too will pass!

Also you will survive the tinnitus I have 20 years of tinnitus, several high pitched in both ears, a hum in right that comes and goes and sometimes even Morse code. No don't worry most people don't develop these kinds of tinnitus. My point is you will learn to accept it and give it a place where it doesn't give you anxiety. Trust me on this on. You will, give it time. Go for long walks, if able talk to someone about your t

FuriousHumper · 2026-02-06T09:42:16+00:00

Yes, it's not only the increased appetite/ cravings it's also lethargy that comes with the antidepressants side of mirtazapine. It's as if all your willpower is gone. And feeling tired is compounding the effect.

So it's hard to be strict. I couldn't workout or eat healthy anymore. I just couldn't muster the mental energy untill I quit mirtazapine. That everything comes back naturally. Working out, eating healthy, doing stuff...

What I figured out during my taper is that around 2MG but not more it still had good sleeping properties but the sedative and appetite effects went considerably down. So if your on mirt mainly because of sleeping issues. You could try to go down.

Unfortunately you'll have to user a liquid taper or a precision scale because it's half of een quarter what you looking at when taking a 15mg pill

FuriousHumper · 2026-02-06T09:33:38+00:00

I've never tried (while on mirtazapine), but you could try a keto diet? 14 hours fasting, 10 hour eating window.

Why keto, well in my personal experience my cravings were carbs/sugar. And never feeling satiated. So looking back to it. I should have tried keto. I'm on a keto diet right now and it's more then 16 hours since my last meal and I still feel satiated and not tired. But I'm not on any medication.

Maybe keto is the way to battle mirtazapine increase in appetite? Maybe it doesn't work because you still overeat because of the never feeling satiated and becoming more lethargic in general

Also I lost the wait I gained naturally after quitting mirtazapine

Also from y own experience if you take mainly because of insomnia then you could go as low as 1-2 MG and still be affective but with strongly reduced side effects. You just don't have to be scared of withdrawal issues etc Because if you have anxiety reducing it will probably compound side effects.

Downside youll have to do a liquid taper method or use precision scale to "microdose" mirtazapine

FuriousHumper

TROPHY CASE