The FastDay Forum

Hey guys, i think this is the right place for this?

Basically i get severe migraines and for the past couple years they've actually caused me to faint as well.
The migraine can come before or after so it can be a shock sometimes ><
There are some trigger foods and such (dominos pizza is a big one that ive discovered since coming to uni!)

Basically i fainted on sunday (which was a fast day for me so i hadnt eaten very much) and i've been very ill ever since.
Today is my next fast day and although i dealt with the morning very well i am now feeling very very sick again and have had to eat.

The doctors have no idea how to help me so...

Basically, do you have any tips for dealing with fasting whilst ill and getting back on the metaphorical horse after having to get off it for a few days?
I mean i should hopefully be ok to fast again by sunday but if i'm not and i have to put it off again, i don't know if i'll actually be able to start again.
Wow im rambling, sorry

[carorees]

Oh dear Dino...that sounds horrible.

How long have you been following 5:2? Once your body adjusts things improve greatly and so, hopefully, you should feel better as you go on. In the meantime, I think that you could try increasing your calorie allowance on fast days a little and as your body gets used to it reduce the calories. The plunging straight in at 500cal is fine for most people but in your case I think a gradual introduction would make sense. I would suggest starting at around 1000 cal and reducing by 200 cal steps.

As you say that pizza and similar set off your migraines, I think that lowering your carb intake will not only help reduce the risk of migraine but also speed up the process of adapting to fasting (basically your body has to learn to burn fat for fuel; if you don't provide carbs the body has to use its own fat or fat from your diet so if you reduce carbs it learns to use fat without you needing to have a v low calorie intake). Once your body has dusted off the fat burning machinery and got it running again, you will find fasting is much easier.

Even if you have been following 5:2 for a while, it could be that your body has not fully adapted, or if you have had a bit of an Autumn carb-fest as so many of us here have, that could have caused it to switch off the fat burning machinery a bit.

My other thought is that if you can't stomach (literally) 5:2 fasting, you could perhaps try a different form of intermittent fasting.

This sounds horrible. Do you know what your migraine triggers are? I'm wondering if you are having enough salt during fasting, eg an oxo, some miso or a mug of bouillon. I agree with .Caroline, and that is to start gradually but with the addition of writing down how you feel afterward so you can keep a record.

Hi I've suffered migraines all my adult life so you have my sympathy I've never had that fainting but I was always vomiting and in bed for 2 daysat a time however in the 6 months I've been doing this WOL I've not had one at all I would try reducing carbs to see if this helps, but how about 16:8 ? maybe because you won't be fasting for so long each day perhaps a few days trial could help you to make the decision, I have lost weight doing this each day of the week but admittedly they were cautious days
Good. Luck Sue.

Thanks for your responses

I've actually been doing 5:2 for about 6 weeks now and it's been going really great but this is the first time my condition has hit me this hard in quite a few months so.. ugh, well, i still feel awful even though it was a few days ago but i should be fine to go fast on sunday so that'll be nice (sunday is easy because, as a student, i sleep half the day anyway! ;D )

As i say, i have no obvious triggers, i mean stress is a trigger for me but i've not been stressed lately (i'm a VERY relaxed student ;D eheh), and fluorescent lighting may also be a trigger. No food types are official triggers but dominos pizza (normal pizza is fine, and all other carbohydrates are actually fine so i don't know whats going in to dominos to make it bad (i don't want to know either kthx)).
I do try and watch carb intake though because i was gluten free for half a year 2 years ago because it seemed to help a little bit.

Just gotta deal with it, hey, things could be worse ;;;