I've been getting dizzy. For the past few days, whenever I sit up too fast from
lying down or if I move too quickly, I get that odd out-of-balance feeling and
feel like I may fall over - just for a second or two. Curious as to whether
this phenomenon was diet or life-threatening-malady related, I did what anyone
would do: I Googled it.
"dizzy, low carb diet" yielded the following
diagnosis:
Orthostatic hypotension, also known as posutral
hypotention, orthostasis, and colloquially as head
rush or dizzy spell, is a form of hypotension in which a person's
blood pressure suddenly falls when the person stands up or stretches. -
Wikipedia.
I also found a number of forum discussions on various
low-carb diet websites discussing this very problem. Some say it's sodium
related. Some say it's calorie related. Some say it's fat related...and so on.
But the idea that this has something to do with a lack of sodium makes the most
sense to me - and it fits.
I have always had low blood pressure. I'm not on medication
for it, but I usually come in around 90/50 when I'm at the doctor's office -
and this is often after my morning coffee. I am on a very low calorie and low
carb diet at the moment which, on its own will help the body rid itself of a
lot of water. And, since I use salt very sparingly on my food, and drink two
quarts of homemade iced green tea a day, I think that perhaps I do have a
sodium deficiency.
Think about it, people with high blood pressure are asked to reduce their
sodium intake. This is because sodium causes the body to hold excess water
intended to flush the excess salt from the body, thus thickening blood volume
resulting in increased pressure within the circulatory system. If I'm flushing
out all of my sodium and not consuming enough of it, my blood volume will
actually decrease.
So, I'm going to up my salt intake over the next few days
and see if the spells decrease or disappear altogether. Stay tuned. I'll get
you an update this weekend - oh, and will post my month 1 pics from the cut I'm
on. Not sure there's a huge change, but we'll see when I take pics and
measurements on Friday.
Comments
its not the CUT!
PS, before you continue beating your anti-IF drum, check this out: http://www.leangains.com/2010/10/top-ten-fasting-myths-debunked.html
check studies 4 & 8
oops...that's the one with the studies...In the link above, it's Myth #8...Fasting increases cortisol
thing. Not even close. Do a search for low carb, fasting, dizziness, adrenal problems, and high cortisol. I know you don't want to believe me now, I didn't either, but you will. I went though the exact same thing you are going through now. Don't let the sycophants tell you you're fine. Fasting does increase your cortisol, particularly in sensitive individuals, and low calories/low carb only makes it worse and help you circle the drain that much faster. You'll see.