so I am in a big mess. I had a second child 8 months ago. Since then I gained a TON of weight - but eating low carb - just not really low carb. Every time I try to go VLC I get awful anxiety, heart pounding at night, insomnia etc. I gained 10 kilos postpartum and it won't budge.

I saw the endocrinologist and my cholesterol, trigs, hdl, insulin were all terrible. I went back to see her and she wants me on a mod carb, low fat, low calorie plan - actually probably around 100g carbs but timed fruit and 1500Kcals. She was horrible to me as well, poking me in the belly with her pen saying 'insulin resistant'.

I ate low carb during pregnancy - and then lowish afterwards, but around 60-100g a day. Lots of fat. My cholesterol is 300, trigs 200, HDL 37 - so not working.

I left her office in tears. I am fat, IR and have been lowish carb and it hasn't made any difference. Worse still, every time I try to go lower I get these awful symptoms that I never had first time round. The anxiety is so bad I find my eye starts twitching in social situations. I have SA but it is like 10 times worse on VLC. I take my magnesium and a multi, and eat greens, and avocados to get the potassium.

I am so fed up.

My thyroid is fine - I take my temps every day and I am 98.2 and I had tests although extensive testing just isn't available where I am. I watch my friends eating whatever and they are losing baby weight and get this - I only gained 10K during pregnancy - had a very healthy baby - lost the 10K immediately and then gained it again whilst breastfeeding. I didn't have enough milk - so she quit nursing at 3 months and I pumped until 6. Then I quit that too.

I am so lost about this. Any advice? Thanks!

I wonder if you are not really depleted in vitamins? After having a baby that could be the case.
Have you thought about taking b-12?
Check this thread I posted and read the links about B-12 deficiency and see what you think.
http://forum.lowcarber.org/showthread.php?t=463995

2nd the vitamins. I feel a noticeable difference if I run out or don't take them, then go back on. Within days...I notice I feel healthier, more alive or something. I take a lot of supplements. My daily is called "Only One" by Irwin Naturals: http://www.vitacost.com/irwin-natur...quid-softgels-1 . I like it because it is in liquid form (inside a gel cap) plus it came recommended to me by a nutritionist.

thanks but I already take a multi plus magnesium, zinc, extra b complex (food based) - I never not take vitamins.

Well, that's good.

You say your anxiety is 10x worse on VLC. How long have you been VLC? Could the anxiety be a result of the doctor's treatment of you?

You might want to check out some of the Intermittent Fasting threads as a way to tackle insulin resistance. Dr. Fung's way of "fasting" that allows coffee & tea with coconut oil and bone broth and one meal on "fasting" days (and regular LC eating every other day) is very doable. Many of us who are following it are not diabetic, but IR or pre-diabetic. Check out:
http://forum.lowcarber.org/showthread.php?t=461563

Your pen poking doctor sounds like a jerk!

thanks!

Nah - I haven't been full on VLC for very long, but I was VLC high fat for years awhile back (see journal!) and I did have really bad anxiety then too. I gave up dairy and initially things got better then they got bad again. Unfortunately my anxiety is loads better on a much higher carb diet with lots of meat, veg, fruit and brown rice - the rice seems to make a big difference but I really can't eat like that and not get fat and even more IR.

Thanks I will check out the thread!

Hi Loops, sorry to hear you're having a hard time but congrats on the new family. You may not remember me but we "met" ages ago on Dr. Bob's Psychobabble Alt Med board, discussing magnesium. I recall you talking once about the importance of the magnesium/calcium ratio. What I have found is that when I'm feeling more stressed and I take more magnesium, I seem to somewhat overdo evidenced by a cup of almond milk or spoonfuls of yogurt making me feel better, able to get to sleep for instance. The other thing that helps me sleep sometimes is gelatin. It's the glycine, which I've also tried, but I think the gelatin works better.



Me too and although extra salt helps somewhat, I've found it's not enough of an answer so I don't try to eat that way anymore.



The way you say you like to eat here sounds like The Perfect Health Diet. Have you ever looked into that? Paul Jaminet recommends if people want to lose weight on the PHD that they do so by somewhat lowering fat, not his recommended level of carbs which are comparable to what you describe there.

I'd second the recommendation to check out the thread on fasting and Dr. Jason Fung, which is geared specifically for insulin resistance. Here's his food guidelines halfway down the page: http://intensivedietarymanagement.c...-index-idm-2-2/ (I tried black rice after I saw it on this list and I love it.)

Another important point he raises:

I second this.^^

I can relate to your situation. I did the lowish carbs, had a healthy baby, gained 10kg and lost it within two weeks. It was mostly fluid. Then, at about 3-6 months postpartum, started gaining for no apparent reason. Then, at one year postpartum, my hair started falling out. I suspected thyroid because it's always borderline low. So, I put myself on natural thyroid and felt so much better this past year, but not great. Then my general practitioner checked my blood and found my thyroid panel was all crazy. So...now they are trying to figure out how to get me balanced and losing this excess weight. When I went to the endo for the first time last week, he spent ten minutes exclaiming to my husband in Japanese out how huge I am. I don't have any advice, but wanted to let you know you're not alone. I'm using myfitnesspal to track things and finding ways I can clean things up a bit. Hang in there!!

Hi Loops. Sorry you're going through this. I remember you from a while back and your dairy-free VLC diet already sounded like no fun. :/

I can relate to the anxiety and ketosis. I don't know how you'd describe your anxiety, but mine is a strange thing - I wouldn't describe it as emotional or over-worrying. My life is actually pretty stress-free these days. It's more like I just can't shut my brain off. Hypomania, maybe. The insomnia is the worst. I have no problem falling asleep, but I'll be wide awake three/four/five hours later with my whole work day/home stuff/THINGS! going through my head endlessly. It's not enough sleep.

I also seem to have the beer belly/IR thing going on. I have skinny arms and legs, and all of the 40th birthday weight gain has been in my midsection. I think my next step is to get a glucometer, but my fasting sugar is normal as is my HbA1C. I really wish there was an insulinometer I could buy. I'd seriously throw a ton of money to crowdsource that one if someone would start it up.

I second the Dr Fung IF thread. Even if the IF doesn't work for you, one thing that might is simply the bone broth. I noticed I had fantastic sleep a lot of the nights after an IF day with lots of broth, then two decent meals later in the evening. I later read that gelatin contains amino acids that are missing (or very low) in muscle meats, and they contribute to making neurotransmitters that are necessary for good sleep.

Or something sciencey like that.

ETA - JLx posted at the same time as me: "The other thing that helps me sleep sometimes is gelatin. It's the glycine, which I've also tried, but I think the gelatin works better." Yeah, that!

Anyway, I have emotional/ED issues with fasting/starving, so I follow Dr Fung's IF guidelines when and only when I feel comfortable doing so, and rule number one for me is that there are no rules. As soon as I'm hungry, I eat - no questions asked. But most days, I'm good until about 3:00 pm. It's amazing how satisfying homemade broth is. It supports my little theory that a lot of hunger comes from lack of nutrients.

It seems to be the best of both worlds for me: ketosis or close to it during the day, when excess energy is helpful for work performance. I'll have a LC meal late afternoon, and for dinner at home I'll usually have something starchy. A side dish of potato, sweet potato, lentil soup, something like that.

Best of luck, and keep us posted.

To be anxious from vlc sounds like serotonin deficiency. You might want to try some natural remedies to boost serotonin. Also another method to help night time anxiety/insomnia is to eat zero carb/vlc during the day or fast, and then include a starch with your evening meal, like rice or potatoes. I'd also recommend apple cider vinegar, 1-2 tablespoons in a cup of water before all meals, which helps with insulin resistance.

thanks so much! Yes the broth I must try again - I sometimes made it but forgot to recently.

Brandy horrid doctors they are! My endo started telling my husband to tell me in English that I need a LOW GI DIET. OMG. I just talked to her in fluent Chilean Spanish how I was already doing a low carb diet???? WTH??

I have PCOS as well - but no problem having children - just loads of cysts and now IR (had it before LC then it went - now it is back!). I know that IR wise I do better on VLC with a lot of fat - I measured my waist on LC and it was always 29-30 inches which was great - had a higher weight but who cares if you have a slimmish waist right? Now it is a different story! But the anxiety thing is very disturbing. I could try a few starches in the evening. I am no good with normal potatoes (tested BG on them and nearly at 200!), but sweet potatoes seem to be ok. Beans and lentils also are fine.

JLX - thanks yes of course I remember you! I will take Mg alone and see if it helps. So you know I struggled with mental issues for a long time - I am starting to wonder if I should really get myself to a psych and get some medication. Maybe the diet isn't going to help much either way. I am worried though that I have some sort of bipolar - not full on but I once took St John's Wort and ended up not sleeping for a full week plus having some sort of mania from it (was VERY productive and VERY sociable - too much really). I did have the anxiety under control once upon atime eating VLC with a lot of dairy fat and taking lithium orotate (OTC form of lithium tiny amount 5mg). Not sure why I didn't continue that - probably when the dairy really started to be a problem for me??

Kristine was the birthday food carby???? I hope it was enjoyable anyway!!!

yeah I tried the 5htp, the tryptophan etc etc. They all make me very grumpy and tired and antisocial, and generally disagreeable. i think I have too much noradrenaline and going VLC pumps that up even more. I think I actually need more dopamine and less noradrenaline.....hmmm.

How much magnesium are you taking? I was taking 500 mg in the morning...but switched to 750 at night, and find it relaxing.

I take about 500-750mg a day, depending on calcium intake. I find too much on its own leads to heart arrhythmias which abate with more calcium. I once got myself into bad trouble just doing Mg all the time - ended up with really really bad skipped heart beats and feeling terrible.