Primal Journal - Siobhan page 23

[Siobhan]

Well, today was kind of puzzling. About 5 AM I got up to do my morning rounds and felt very dizzy. I mean really, really dizzy, and it didn't clear. I staggered around a bit and then got the idea to drink some goat milk, which I did, and ate a kiwi fruit. Still dizzy. Probably should have taken my blood pressure but honestly, I didn't think of it. Did the morning rounds, which were action packed but went very well. Came home and ate two fried eggs and went to sleep. Had terrible dreams. Woke up very sore on the left side of my back, had trouble getting out of bed. I probably would have called out sick tonight but we already have three people out. Got up and ate freely of primal foods, sweet potato with butter, beef, leeks, leafy greens, smoothie of banana-strawberry-almond butter-coconut oil. Am up to 1400 calories today, bit high on carbs at 120g, around 80g protein, 65g fat if my tracker is correct. Feel a bit shaky. Weighed myself, I am down four lbs since Tuesday, but I'm always suspicious of the scale. Is this the low-carb flu? Did I just not eat enough? No cravings. Would love to sleep some more but I have to start getting ready for work - and I said I would come in early to cover for someone. What a fool I am.

[Sabine]

Siobhan, please be alert to your physical symptoms. Probably just coincidence, but there have been a few people on the forums who have had significant health 'episodes' of various types three of four weeks after switching to a healthy diet. Pebbles is the first one I read about, and twice since reading her experience, I have read someone else's journal and thought, 'hmmm, three or four weeks in, just like Pebbles.'
It makes me feel that as we start healing our bodies, things get 'shaken up' inside, and sometimes there are some negative consequences. Of course, this is completely unscientific, just a feeling, but as soon as I read your post, I thought of it, so I felt I had to say something. Please take care. If only to humor me.

[Siobhan]

Thank you for that, I am very happy to hear from a more experienced person. I think that it is tempting, when one has made a relatively easy switch to primal and is four weeks or so into it, to think that everything is all figured out. I've had a few other minor things that I ignored over the last few days - experiencing muscle fatigue very quickly, such as after going up only one flight of stairs. (I run up and down three flights of stairs several times each evening in the course of my job.) Being able to do only two sets with my very light hand weights. After the huge surge of energy I have felt in the last few weeks this really gave me pause but who wants to be a crybaby? But I will be very careful and maybe throw a couple extra pieces of fruit in. Come to think of it, I have not eaten much fruit at all the past three days or so. I think I see an apple in my future.

[KerryK]

Siobhan, I've been lurking and loving your journal. I'm worried about this. Be very alert and be sure to keep eating a bit more and maybe let someone at work know you're not well if this continues. Sabine may have something there ^ I, too, triggered something 4 weeks into eating primal... a terrible (and very rare for me) Crohn's flare almost exactly 4 weeks (and 25lbs) into my foray into clean primal eating (though before goung primal I'd been eating VERY SAD for a loooong time). I'm only just recovering and emailed Mark a question about toxins released by burning fat though he may not be able to answer it. You arent obese like me, though so i wonder if it might be your carbs were getting too low? From the other journals I've read, I think that for several women they felt unwell from eating too few carbs... many seem to feel/get better after upping their carb intake.

Sorry to leap from the lurking shadows, but I wanted to express my admiration and concern...

Kerry

[Siobhan]

Thank you so much, Kerry! It really helps to have people jump in with their ideas because that helps trigger my own thoughts about what I need to adjust. I looked over my food journal for the last week or so and decided...more carbs...more fat...more protein...more everything. I am also right at that age with the weird hormonal changes looming around every corner, and I believe that fat burning releases hormones, namely estrogen. I also believe with all my heart that women usually have somewhat different needs than men do, i.e. maybe more carbs and slower weight loss. I am really committed to this lifestyle and don't want to screw it up! I think I should also drink more water, flush some of the crap out of my system. I wondered if the back pain is an unhappy kidney?

Eating an apple right now!

[KerryK]

OMGosh... Yes, good idea to increase your water... everything I've read about toxins from weight loss stresses that you need to drink enough water (or green tea) to help your liver and kidneys flush 'em out. I hope things get better soon and glad you're now listening to your body.

Hmmm, I'm going to read up on bad estrogen being released from fat burning...

[Siobhan]

I'm going to read up on it too - I remember hearing somewhere that estrogen is stored in fat and so is released during weight loss - a fact that can be used to good effect when starting menopause (if I ever do) if you can manage to start losing, the released estrogen will ease symptoms. Course maybe I'm crazy!

Feeling pretty good, very, very busy at work, up the stairs, down the stairs, patients all over the hospital. Am going to drink some green tea now.

The goats were so funny today. They look at me with such solemnity. The little white goats walking around in the green field full of dandelions - so pretty. They aren't very energetic, other goats I have known are much more aggressive. These goats might be quite old. I would so love to have some goats of my own.

[Siobhan]

Just ate 6 oz of beef and chix with sour cream. Got this at the food co-op, grass-fed, etc. It was taco day so they had all sorts of lovely braised tender meats. I really like having other people cook up a primal feast for me! The cost is very reasonable considering the quality and there is no waste. Was not hungry but wanted to get my food intake/calories up. Now I'm at 1700 for today.

I've been reading through some other journals and the 4-week crash seems kind of standard for us ladies! Hmmmm. Wonder what is up with that? Would have loved to have taken my blood sugar this morning.

Feeling better although not totally top notch. I will be awfully glad to get home and climb into bed and not have to get out of it for awhile. My cats are being ultra-affectionate lately. Do I smell like meat? They sleep on each side of me. I feel like a cat sandwich.

Having drinks with some friends tomorrow (Friday) night. So looking forward to that! I have some terrific friends, although I am a bit in awe of them. They are all either rich, terribly accomplished professionally, generally both. They are all way out of my socio-economic group. But they are great people and I always feel better after hanging with them.

[Siobhan]

Sometimes it is so hard to keep my mouth shut here at work. I was doing some diagnostics on a patient while the doctor was admitting her - the doctor recommended a low-cholesterol, low sodium diet and ordered her a tray of food. (This patient is not overweight and is quite young.) Someone brought the food - do you know what they gave her to eat? Cookies! Toast! Jello! She hadn't eaten all day! I wonder what her blood sugar is now?

I so wish I had a paleodoc to visit. There are actually a few in Portland, but that is a bit far, and they don't seem to be GPs.

[Coll]

I see you're attracting the weirdo's too now! Wish they could find something more constructive to do with their lives than mess around in people's journals - weird