The FastDay Forum

I seem to be getting back pain in the last few hours of my fasts. Does anyone else have similar issues?

The reason why I mention this is that in simcoeluv's thread 'warning to all newbies' there was a link to a very long article about long fasting and that gentleman was getting back pain which he put down to detoxifying. I am doing 5:2+ 16:8 and have been sticking to,same for about a full month now so I was wondering if any of our wonderful nerdy people would be able to reflect and comment re same.

The pain is relieved when I eat

[carorees]

Weird! Never noticed it myself...I'll have to investigate why that might happen.

Are you drinking enough, it could be your kidneys complaining about not enough water. Most of our water comes from the food we eat, for example have you ever seen what dried meat looks like? So you really do need to drink loads, preferably water to make up the difference.

Thanks Caroline would appreciate what you could find

Julieathome, that is actually a good point. I may not have enough water but I do get stuck into herb teas, not so much regular tea and coffee. My wee is usually pretty clear and if more coloured I tuck into more water.,My fast food is mainly plant based soups and little veggie lentil stews. The weird thing is that it is more over the side of the liver, that's why I queried if it related to detoxing.

My fast days are the 5:2 in a 16:8 window so by 12 on the following day I have to eat! It is only a new thing in the last 3 or so fasts. I just thought it was maybe my back being out but the guy doing the a,very long fast in above mentioned link said he had back pain. Wondered if mine was a phenomenon of detoxing in fasting

Pain inside the body can manifest in weird ways. When I had kidney stones 3 years ago, I was getting pains at the edge of my rib cage near my breastbone. It may just be the way the true hunger pangs are manifesting, especially if you are not experiencing it any other time.

[carorees]

That's a good point Roxy. There are few nerve endings within the organs so the pain experienced does not necessarily relate well to where the problem is.

Where in the back is your pain? Did you try antacid to relieve it? If you have an ulcer the pain may radiate to the back ( this would be the mid not the lower back). If this is the case you may need to see a gastroenterologist.

Lower back pain has been reported by many longer term fasters, but I have not been able to find a reason for it. I doubt if it has ever been investigated.

I had back pain and it ended up being my gallbladder, which was removed. It took me a little while to figure it out though, because it really felt like my back was out.

This was years ago, and I wasn't fasting at the time. I did however, lose weight especially water weight due to giving birth a couple of months before the gallbladder started making pain.

Just found this thread - may be related to my weird burning sensation in my back which I get on eating following a fast. Thermogenesis?

Unfortunately, I suffer from mild back aches generally anyway so can't say I have noticed any increase.

What I do occasionally notice on fast days is a very mild muscle ache or soreness. This has usually preceded a drop in measurement in that area. Early on, this occurred around my calves and thighs, which is usually where I lose first, as well as upper torso. More recently, it is in my tummy area where I am slowly starting to drop waist size.

Not sure if they are linked, but an interesting observation.

I have had a fairly permanent sore back particularly on mid right side since I fractured a vertebrae in my early 20's, but weirdly 5:2 has relived it a lot. I wondered if it was a twisted gut/colon (assisted by the fracture damage) that was clearing a bit due to fasting? Or if its simply the repair side of 5:2 doing it's magic. Could your kidney/liver or whatever is there be doing a repair job?