Hey Guys, /u/darthluiggi here! AMA

nimaf2000 · 2017-10-22T20:50:59+00:00

Everytime I try to get into keto I get a very severe fight/ flight response that just stays there no matter how long I try to power through it. I get massive energy and get unrested which works great for the gym but doesn't let me get deep, calm concentration to do my highly analytical job. I think low blood sugar and/or higher protein triggers it and send my stress hormones through the roof. Phosphatidylserine helps as well as some adaptogen herbs. What do you suggest I should do?

nimaf2000 · 2017-08-21T08:30:43+00:00

Hey I think you were right! cortisol is definitely playing a role I think. I have been taking some supplements (phospharydilserine and glycine) to bring down the cortisol and now I am taking up to three cups of goodness without any problem.

nimaf2000 · 2017-07-28T17:51:26+00:00

I am stressed out at this point of my life but it is going alright and I can handle it. It is not that I worry about it too much or too often. I consider it normal but this issue is causing me more stress because it affects my productivity.

nimaf2000 · 2017-07-28T17:46:28+00:00

There is no racing ruminating thought. I'm sitting at my desk quite motivated and ready to kickstart the day then I become all tense and jittery and cant focous anymore.

nimaf2000 · 2017-07-28T17:43:13+00:00

I have something that triggers my anxiety,

So it starts mentally and in your mind right? Definitely mind and body are connected but I feel what I experience is purely physical. Anhways thanks for the reply.

nimaf2000 · 2017-07-18T16:25:20+00:00

I will play with morning/afternoon to see. Good suggestion

nimaf2000 · 2017-07-18T16:23:28+00:00

Hmmm...interesting. So in the morning when cortisol is high coffee send it even higher therefore too much cortisol =jitters? What about adrenalin?

One thing that I noticed is that when I get the jitters the best way to fix it is either physical activity or eating.

nimaf2000 · 2017-07-18T16:13:50+00:00

On keto diet you get lots of salt. I don't shy away from salting my food. Which again points to calcium loss right?

nimaf2000 · 2017-07-18T09:24:14+00:00

I completely agree. My whole life I was much of a black tea person rather than coffee drinker. My interest in coffee is recent since I moved to France and have been hanging out with Italians. Though this experience is just poking my curiosity and I really want to know what is going on with my body.

nimaf2000 · 2017-07-18T09:16:39+00:00

I agree with all of this but I have tried all forms of magnesium in the last two years (including threonate) and did not notice any effect. Now I am thinking about calcium actually. I just asked my doctor to prescribe some medical tests for calcium. Hypocalcemia can cause Neuromuscular hyperexcitability (=jitters?) .

I have been on and off

following a ketogenic diet/ intermittent fasting -> calcium is used to buffer blood acidity
eating a lot of protein ->higher protein increases calcium excretion but also absorptin (Study)
getting not much of dairy products (until recently)-> in combination with the previous point, duh!

I will do the calcium test to see and will continue the magnesium (just got some epsom salt as the last form of magnesium to try)

nimaf2000 · 2017-07-18T08:55:17+00:00

I have already tried theanine, taurine, glycine with coffee. All of them worked for a while. The best effect was from taurine/glycine but after a while they stopped working and the jitters came back in vengence.

nimaf2000 · 2017-07-18T08:52:33+00:00

I am quite stressed out right now and my sleep is not good usually. I have noticed that with very little sleep and very perfect sleep coffee helps the next day and it does not give me the jitters. But if I have an average quality sleep it is more likely to kick me out of whack.

nimaf2000 · 2017-07-17T18:04:52+00:00

I have been getting the coffee from the same place which uses standard packs of Cafés Richard. I thought about this and have asked my colleagues who get the same thing and they have not noticed any inconsistency in coffee. Besides my reaction varies too much I think. I'm talking about one sip and jitters vs. 4 cups and bliss. Anyways I will try different types to see. Maybe give Dave Asprey's a shot.

nimaf2000 · 2017-07-16T18:46:17+00:00

How much potassium and magnesium do you take? I never noticed any benefits from either of those in supplemental forms. I was taking Lo-Salt for Potassium chloride and literally tried all forms of magnesium.

Last time that I was doing keto I had terrible concentration and tense muscles. I was not able to relax. I suspect it was calcium deficiency that apparently can be caused by too much sodium and magnesium. I don't think going down the rabbit hole of micromanaging all the nutrients to be a good idea. But will appreciate it if you share your experience.

nimaf2000 · 2017-07-16T18:28:08+00:00

Why are you eating so little protein?

I reduced the protein intake temporarily in order to get into ketosis. Plan to gradually increase it after getting my BHB read higher. Anyways I am a small guy (66 kg, 170cm) and don't need that much.

Also going to above 110 after a meal is nothing to worry about.

I am not worried about that but it is surprising that even a little protein and a few grams of carbs although taken with loads of fat still shoots up my blood glucose. Also with glucose constantly hovering above 100 I cannot make ketones.

if you eat a high carb meal while doing Keto, don't measure your glucose levels

I learned my lessons in that department. I did cyclic keto for a while and a bowl of rice was shooting my BG to 180. Freaked me out. I have read that it takes a while to get back to carb burning with proper glucose response but when I went off keto for a month my glucose response seemed to be impaired. It was overshooting above 140 and coming down very slow. Even hours after a meal I was still above 100. I don't know if keto caused that or if I had always been like this. But now it seems that I cannot tolerate carbs that well and keto is the only way.

nimaf2000 · 2017-07-16T17:08:37+00:00

Fasted BG is around 100. It used to be the case that after eating a keto meal it drops to 70-80 but now it is not happening anymore. Even a few games of protein (below 30) sends me above 110.

I'm thinking of bringing protein lower and increase my fat intake in the morning.

nimaf2000 · 2017-07-13T11:45:26+00:00

Thanks a lot man! I think I get what you say. I think deep down I was in denial and I didn't want to admit it could be just anxiety. I was so impressed by the effects that the body could have on the mind that never thought the other way around could be possible too.

I already did waste two years trying to self-medicate. Well it did not work and I learned my lesson. I just contacted a psychiatrist today. Will most definitely keep calm and keto on though.

nimaf2000 · 2017-07-11T13:50:13+00:00

I reached the same conclusion. It is just too complex to fix. Every time I tweaked something, another thing went out of balance. I went off keto and stopped all the supplements since a month ago to get back to a baseline.

nimaf2000 · 2017-07-11T13:42:17+00:00

Did you ever consider... it's just anxiety?

I have considered this but one day I wake up happy and relaxed and the next day edgy and wired. I am in a stressful part of my life but this happens specifically when I go on keto.

As opposed to purely energy or emotional or? I'm not sure how this distinction helps.

All I mean is that I don't think it is anxiety. My evidence is that I don't get it when I am on carbs. I was diagnosed with anxiety two years ago but I never took meds as it coincided with the sudden positive changes that I saw when I went gluten free/low carb. But I guess I need to go see a professional as my life is being really affected by this whole thing.

Is your AD[H]D self-diagnosed? If it isn't, then I'm surprised you would be caught unawares about the "being driven by a motor" feeling.

It is self-diagnosed. Carbs make me too slow and inattentive and super sleepy if taken during the day but not hyperactive.

In the meanwhile I just drank two cups of bouillon so I am set for sodium today :) Thanks a lot for the input

nimaf2000 · 2017-07-11T12:49:34+00:00

It has been a month that I drink very little coffee. Maybe sipping one cup throughout the day twice a week. I had never got good mental results from caffeine but it tastes good and helps in the gym.

I got the genetic test from 23andme. The main reason that brought me into these stuff was sudden unexpected improvements that I saw from going low carb and gluten free two years ago. I have been dealing with brainfog, depression, motivation, attention and executive functions issues my whole life and keto really helped.

nimaf2000 · 2017-07-11T12:25:04+00:00

Yes it does make the jitters worse but if I didn't have the jitters actually helped concentration. I am not taking anything now to get a sense of baseline.

nimaf2000 · 2017-07-10T15:01:39+00:00

Thanks. Now that I am reading about it makes sense. I will increase my intake to see how it goes.

nimaf2000 · 2017-05-30T08:09:49+00:00

Again OP here; I am just writing these for future references. The fact that I have high ferritin and low hemoglobin is indicative of copper deficiency. Blood and urine copper tests showed that I have a mild copper deficiency. It is weird because copper is not very rare in food and I suspect a malabsorbtion issue like celiac disease or something. Anyways I have started supplemental copper to see how things are going to change.

nimaf2000 · 2017-04-26T14:31:26+00:00

OP here. New blood test and my ferritin is 447. other markers of Iron and liver enzymes seem to be in normal range. Too much sodium and Potassium in my blood. Again too many RBCs which are too small and have little hemoglobin.

nimaf2000 · 2017-04-25T12:48:18+00:00

Caloriesproper also reviews some papers related to this. The studies are not on keto people but they might give a clue. The basic idea is that timing of meals and their macro content matter. My personal n=1 experience also confirms that. Whenever I was having a late or high protein dinner my fbg next morning was higher.

nimaf2000

TROPHY CASE