I am trying to reach 72 or 100 hours atleast but dizziness makes it scary and impossible. I have early fasting experience with OMAD or easy 30 hours consecutive fasts. This time I want to go further for atleast a week to fight food addiction I developed over the period of 3 years. I have properly prepped. Hunger is not the issue, its dizziness which scares me. I am also taking electrolytes but doesn’t help. Any solutions?
Lightheadedness is normal, but dizzy? Maybe you should stop. But do try more salt specifically. Potassium works the opposite, so it’s important to know which electrolytes you’re referring to.
Also, try longer fasts after being in ketosis, it usually makes it easier.
Hey! Speaking from much experience here, hope it’s helpful.
TLDR: Electrolytes deficiencies, carbohydrates exposures’ volume, frequency, and intensity / acuteness between fasts, and/or early stages of fat adaptation can cause the effects you are describing.
• Make sure you are really getting enough sodium and potassium in particular
• In between fasts, stick to a strict ketogenic diet or as close to it as possible while completely eliminating carbohydrates exposures that include more than a few grams of fructose, and any amount of processed sugars
1) Carbohydrates exposures’ volume, frequency, and intensity / acuteness between fasts: My first questions would be all about your diet between fasts. The more carbohydrate exposures in terms of volume and frequency, and the more acutely you spike your insulin (like from fruit / fructose, or anything with sugar / sucrose or high fructose corn syrup), how much and how often, the more you will experience the negative effects you are describing. What are you eating? Also, what are your carbohydrates exposures? Daily? Weekly? How much carbohydrate are you eating between fasts, and how regularly?
2) Fat adaptation, metabolic flexibility, and ketosis: Fat adaptation is a long albeit profoundly beneficial journey. If you are experiencing dizziness and other functionally disruptive effects from fasting, even though you have experience with OMAD, 30s, and are supplementing electrolytes, then you might just be in an earlier stage of fat adaptation. As you become fat adapted, you body re-learns its innate epigenetic ability to easily and efficiently switch between carbs based metabolism via glycolysis, protein and fat conversion to glucose metabolism via gluconeogenesis, and fat as your energy source via ketosis, whether nutritional ketosis from a ketogenic diet, or in this case endogenous ketosis from fasting. Your problem may be that you are not switching easily enough or even at all into ketosis from fasting. Being fat adapted means you have successfully gotten into and stayed in a state of ketosis sufficient enough to not have problems like the problems you are experiencing. Probably your body is still hunting for sugar, either from too much carbohydrate exposure and insulin spiking prior to your fast, or from a high protein carnivore diet (much less likely to be problematic in a case like this). Metabolic flexibility means you are able to quickly and easily switch between glycolysis from glucose you get from eating carbs, gluconeogenesis from high protein or fat while low or no carb converting protein and fat to glucose, or ketosis from a keto diet or fasting. The more you practice fasting, the longer you stay in nutritional ketosis, the higher your cardiovascular fitness level and strength training level, the more frequently you practice time restricted feeding like 16:8 to OMAD, and the more you practice entering a truly fasted state by performing 48s+ intermittently, the more metabolically flexible you will become, the less disruptive switching between metabolic states will be, and the more optimized you will be.
3) Audit your electrolytes: You mentioned that you are supplementing electrolytes, which is great. However, your symptoms also indicate a possible electrolytes deficiency. Remember that when you perform a longer water fast, you can dilute sodium, potassium, and magnesium very rapidly. This will be worsened if you have been eating carbs leading up to the fast, as your body quickly drops water retained in your liver and muscle glycogen that you use up while switching from glycolysis to gluconeogensis and then eventually into ketosis. Sodium and potassium in particular need to be supplemented in significant amounts. If you are on blood pressure meds, don’t take a full day of potassium at once, but titrate throughout the day. However, also note that potassium tablets and in multivitamins or other tablet supplements only contain a tiny (like 2% or less) amount of your daily requirement, due to the risk for those on certain high blood pressure medications. Potassium also lowers blood pressure, so combining that with powerful blood pressure meds can be risky. Your aim should be to supplement more than a daily dose of sodium, and a full daily dose of potassium while fasting. If not, you can expect to have disruptive effects like those you are experiencing, plus heart racing, insomnia, headaches, and more. Get than salt in your system!
The solutions would be to scrutinize your electrolytes amounts, make sure you are really getting enough sodium and potassium in particular, keep doing OMAD and shorter fasts like the 30s you mentioned, and in between fasts, stick to a strict ketogenic diet or as close to it as possible while completely eliminating carbohydrates exposures that include more than a few grams of fructose, and any amount of processed sugars like sucrose, corn syrup, or high fructose corn syrup. If you must eat carbs, get them from near-zero carb and ultra low carb whole foods like avocados, olives, spicy peppers, some mushrooms, some nuts, most green and cruciferous vegetables, etc.
I felt the same exact way during my 72 hour fast. I was going to stop it because I was getting so dizzy. I decided to drink some caffeine (stevia based soda) zevia. Just one can with around 45mg of caffeine insanely improved my state for the next 6 hours. Was able to push through the 48 hour mark and as soon as I crossed it, the lightheadedness went away. Also continued to drink the caffeine drink around 1pm the next day.
Also, fasting does become easier the longer and more often you fast. I am 6 days fasted right now, pretty much 144 hours on the nose, and feel spectacular. Only drinking black coffee each morning, and supplementing daily with sodium bicarbonate, potassium citrate, and magnesium citrate. My hydration window is also pretty restricted down to just 1-2 hours daily. I feel great, am enjoying deep and restful sleep, have a very bright and positive energy level, and razor sharp mental clarity.
Even so, the first 48 hours are usually the most difficult, even for me. My system is highly metabolically flexible from maintaining a lifestyle aimed at metabolic flexibility, staying in ketosis most of the time with intermittent phases of gluconeogenesis from a high protein carnivore diet, and very rare switches into glycolysis from carbs throughout the year. I usually eat keto or near keto, and carnivore, or near carnivore, and practice calisthenics consistently. I also eat OMAD or 16:8 year-round, staying OMAD most of the year, and do 48s a few times per month. As a result, my twice per year or so long fasts like this are pretty effortless and not disruptive in any way to my ability to function, or work at a high level.
Dial in your fasting protocols (especially electrolytes), diet between fasts, and stick with it! You can do it!