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Originally Posted by JuliaR
I've had panic attacks before and while LCing, not more one way or the other. But I did notice my hormones were completely out of whack while I was losing the most weight. What is evident in a woman (for obvious reasons) might be less so in a man, but your hormones will be changing, too. It could just be a temporary adjustment period.
It could also be that the month you struggled would have been too much for your body to handle anyway, with or without carbs.
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I agree that the stress was likely a bit too much and perhaps I needed some extra protein since I did lose about 2 lbs of muscle. Apparently, my body must have wanted more protein or it wouldn't have broken the lean tissue down.
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Originally Posted by Liz53
Hmmm I've been low carb for 13 years and have never had a panic attack. In fact, I'd say I find myself calmer in stress situations without the extremes of high and low blood sugar. I can approach stressful situations with a quiet confidence.
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I agree. I have only been ketogenic for about 1.5 years and I've never had anything close to the highs and lows of eating high carb. That experience has been the only time, except for going through keto flu, that I've seen anything close to hypoglycemia.
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Originally Posted by cotonpal
I have found that eating lchf has greatly reduced my anxiety. I used to take klonopin, an anti-anxiety medication, daily. After going low carb I slowly weaned myself off the klonopin and haven't looked back. I suffered from major depression for decades too until I changed my diet. It has disappeared since going lchf. I believe that large swings in blood sugar contributed to both these mood disturbance.
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I've never had anxiety before but now I know what it feels like.
I don't blame the diet since I've felt great during these last 1.5 years and have enjoyed feeling good independent of high carb consumption.
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Originally Posted by GRB5111
I find being in ketosis very relaxing (when I want to be), and I still have the ability to summon energy for workouts, physical labor, etc. Note that your body is never completely depleted of glucose, as Liz points out, as there are fat sources (glycerol) and protein sources available to make glucose through gluconeogenesis.
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I thought only the "extra" protein (protein not used for tissue repair) got converted through gluconeogenesis. I'm wondering whether there is such a thing as "glucagon resistance". Perhaps one can be in ketosis for so long that the body becomes inefficient at producing enough glucose in the same manner as insulin resistance? Then during high stress, it can't keep up with demand? Note that I've been unable to do anaerobic exercise (too much stress for me) while ketogenic, but I can do aerobic exercise like running and cycling.
Quote:
Originally Posted by GRB5111
Could the stress you're experiencing be from an external source? Have you measured your BG during these stressful periods? You certainly don't want to attribute your anxiety to the wrong thing.
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I believe it was from an external source since I was okay for the past 1.5 years. The problem is now I get anxiety from thinking about getting anxiety, especially during stressful moments.
I'm almost certain I'm not hypoglycemic because I feel quite energetic in the mornings even after sleeping 10 or more hours sometimes and don't wake up feeling shaky or anxious. I have no hunger at all and could go the whole day without eating were it not for the fear of possibly getting another attack. During the attacks, I don't actually feel hungry neither do I crave sugar nor do I get those awful afternoon headaches I would get when I use to eat high carb and then went without food.
Still, I do agree with your suggestion on getting a BG meter and using it during these pseudo hypoglycemic episodes.