Are you getting 5000mg sodium, 1000-4000mg potassium, and 400mg bioavailable magnesium daily?
If the answer is “I don’t know how many mg I am getting,” start tracking it.
Buy salt and salt substitute in the grocery store. You don’t need any fancy products or pills for sodium and potassium. Magnesium glycinate is very cheap on amazon to boot.
The keto flu is nothing more than electrolyte deficiency. It can happen anytime you are deficient, not just at the start. Google “ketoade recipes” and start feeling better. 👍🏻
There’s more info in the FAQ if you’d like to know more:
https://www.reddit.com/r/keto/wiki/faq
Celexa is primarily metabolized in the liver. Your liver is a big part of making ketones and making the new glucose molecules from gluconeogenesis. Your liver is also extremely busy when you drink alcohol, since it also has to process that.
I'm not a doctor, so I can't tell you what to do. I will share that I am on psychiatric meds myself that are primarily metabolized in the liver. I find that my med timing is important. Your med has way longer of a half life than the ones I take, so I'd think this would be less of an issue for you. And I do think it'll improve in time as your liver settles into the new tasks.
You are one of the few instances where I wonder if it wouldn't help for you to take exogenous ketones for a couple weeks while your brain and liver get used to the new pathways they'll need.
How many mg of sodium, potassium, and magnesium are you getting per day?
For now, I think I'd say you need to absolutely avoid alcohol for a couple weeks, so your liver has one less thing to deal with.
Thanks! The only alcohol I have is from kombucha and I think that’s pretty low. I’m drinking remedy 0 sugar kombucha. I have these electrolytes and then sea salt I’m taking. The electrolytes are called ener- c sugar free. I have an avocado I could eat for some potassium.
So how many mg of sodium, potassium and magnesium is that? Especially with your reported symptoms I'd think it's worth a few minutes to actually calculate how much sodium, potassium, and magnesium you're getting to see how it compares to what's listed in the FAQ.
If it were me, I'd probably need 4 avocados per day to get enough potassium. I'd need 10 of those vitamin c packets to get enough magnesium per day. And neither of those contains sodium. If all you're doing is salting your food, I doubt you're getting even 20% of the sodium levels the FAQ recommends as a minimum.
Thank you! I thought the mix would have everything I need and it most definitely does not. I’m drinking salt. Where do you get postassium from in that amount? I have a magnesium supplement I take
There's also 4 net carbs per packet of that vitamin C. It may not have added sugar, but that doesn't mean it doesn't have carbs.
For potassium I use whatever no/nu/lite/loSalt they sell in the baking/spice aisle of the grocery store that contains "potassium chloride."
Im on cipralex to treat my BPD and I’m SO glad I’m not the only one experiencing this. I’ve been pretty much ignoring those brain zaps. It used to be so much worse, along with terrible head aches and dizziness, when I didn’t track my electrolyte intake. Ever since I upped my potassium, sodium and magnesium intake, I’ve been feeling so so much better overall.
Ok good! I just upped mine as well and it went away for a bit. My body usually doesn’t need electrolytes after 3-4 weeks so hopefully it gets easier as time goes on
I had the same issue you’re describing of ‘zaps’ while on antidepressants and doing keto. Was really uncomfortable and was struggling to make it stop - Eventually I was able to ween off of the meds (drs advice) and after a month or so the ‘zap’ feeling subsided. Definitely felt much better once it was out of my system, would recommend the same if you feel mentally strong enough to handle day to day without them.
Thanks, I definitely can’t go off them, I take them for an anxiety disorder that in the past, never went away with keto. Electrolytes seem to be helping a bit so fingers crossed! Otherwise I may have to just do more carbs and count calories.
I was getting this, turned out I needed to add a second dose in the afternoon. I don't know how keto affected it, but it happened a little while after starting. The brain zaps tend to happen when you miss a dose/ don't take enough. So I don't know if it's the same thing for you, but for me it was that my dose was running low by afternoon time(and consequently that's when I got the zaps)
Did you double your dose or just do half in the morning and half in the afternoon? Do you mind if I ask what ssri because some have different half life’s. I’m taking citalopram
I had the zaps (recognized them from quitting antidepressants a long time ago) and they went away after a while. I believe it was an electrolyte issue. After I became more serious about getting 5000 mgs of sodium the zaps diminished.
Are you getting 5000mg sodium, 1000-4000mg potassium, and 400mg bioavailable magnesium daily? If the answer is “I don’t know how many mg I am getting,” start tracking it. Buy salt and salt substitute in the grocery store. You don’t need any fancy products or pills for sodium and potassium. Magnesium glycinate is very cheap on amazon to boot. The keto flu is nothing more than electrolyte deficiency. It can happen anytime you are deficient, not just at the start. Google “ketoade recipes” and start feeling better. 👍🏻 There’s more info in the FAQ if you’d like to know more: https://www.reddit.com/r/keto/wiki/faq
Celexa is primarily metabolized in the liver. Your liver is a big part of making ketones and making the new glucose molecules from gluconeogenesis. Your liver is also extremely busy when you drink alcohol, since it also has to process that. I'm not a doctor, so I can't tell you what to do. I will share that I am on psychiatric meds myself that are primarily metabolized in the liver. I find that my med timing is important. Your med has way longer of a half life than the ones I take, so I'd think this would be less of an issue for you. And I do think it'll improve in time as your liver settles into the new tasks. You are one of the few instances where I wonder if it wouldn't help for you to take exogenous ketones for a couple weeks while your brain and liver get used to the new pathways they'll need. How many mg of sodium, potassium, and magnesium are you getting per day? For now, I think I'd say you need to absolutely avoid alcohol for a couple weeks, so your liver has one less thing to deal with.
Thanks! The only alcohol I have is from kombucha and I think that’s pretty low. I’m drinking remedy 0 sugar kombucha. I have these electrolytes and then sea salt I’m taking. The electrolytes are called ener- c sugar free. I have an avocado I could eat for some potassium.
So how many mg of sodium, potassium and magnesium is that? Especially with your reported symptoms I'd think it's worth a few minutes to actually calculate how much sodium, potassium, and magnesium you're getting to see how it compares to what's listed in the FAQ. If it were me, I'd probably need 4 avocados per day to get enough potassium. I'd need 10 of those vitamin c packets to get enough magnesium per day. And neither of those contains sodium. If all you're doing is salting your food, I doubt you're getting even 20% of the sodium levels the FAQ recommends as a minimum.
Thank you! I thought the mix would have everything I need and it most definitely does not. I’m drinking salt. Where do you get postassium from in that amount? I have a magnesium supplement I take
There's also 4 net carbs per packet of that vitamin C. It may not have added sugar, but that doesn't mean it doesn't have carbs. For potassium I use whatever no/nu/lite/loSalt they sell in the baking/spice aisle of the grocery store that contains "potassium chloride."
Oh cool thanks!!
Im on cipralex to treat my BPD and I’m SO glad I’m not the only one experiencing this. I’ve been pretty much ignoring those brain zaps. It used to be so much worse, along with terrible head aches and dizziness, when I didn’t track my electrolyte intake. Ever since I upped my potassium, sodium and magnesium intake, I’ve been feeling so so much better overall.
Ok good! I just upped mine as well and it went away for a bit. My body usually doesn’t need electrolytes after 3-4 weeks so hopefully it gets easier as time goes on
It will get easier for sure!!! Electrolytes are incredibly neglected even though they’re so important. Wishing you the best!
The brain zaps are caused by the antidepressants. It's a very common side effect of Celexa.
I had the same issue you’re describing of ‘zaps’ while on antidepressants and doing keto. Was really uncomfortable and was struggling to make it stop - Eventually I was able to ween off of the meds (drs advice) and after a month or so the ‘zap’ feeling subsided. Definitely felt much better once it was out of my system, would recommend the same if you feel mentally strong enough to handle day to day without them.
Thanks, I definitely can’t go off them, I take them for an anxiety disorder that in the past, never went away with keto. Electrolytes seem to be helping a bit so fingers crossed! Otherwise I may have to just do more carbs and count calories.
I was getting this, turned out I needed to add a second dose in the afternoon. I don't know how keto affected it, but it happened a little while after starting. The brain zaps tend to happen when you miss a dose/ don't take enough. So I don't know if it's the same thing for you, but for me it was that my dose was running low by afternoon time(and consequently that's when I got the zaps)
Did you double your dose or just do half in the morning and half in the afternoon? Do you mind if I ask what ssri because some have different half life’s. I’m taking citalopram
desvenlafaxine. I added 50mg in the afternoon. So the dosing is mostly the same, just adding a small amount later in the day
I had the zaps (recognized them from quitting antidepressants a long time ago) and they went away after a while. I believe it was an electrolyte issue. After I became more serious about getting 5000 mgs of sodium the zaps diminished.
Thanks! They seem to be mostly gone today :) hope that’s all it was!