I fast 22:2 a few times a month, this is my first long fast. I’ve felt great up till now. I woke up this morning shaking with my heart feeling like it’s pounding out of my chest, I had my usual cup of tea with lemon in it and felt so sick half an hour later, and threw up all what I drink and still I’m shaking. I took electrolytes last night. Is this normal for long fasts? Or should I break it now? Thank you for your help!
Personally i think listen to your body. I’ve done long fasts and ended it early at 5 days instead of 30 days because of issues like your own. Sometimes its just best to try again later and not take any risks. You’ve done 60 hours out of 72 that is a major accomplishment in itself and very close to your goal as is–but personally i don’t think its worth risking your health.
Do you test your blood sugar?
If your body isn’t fat adapted, if you don’t have enough fat, if your liver doesn’t have enough glucose to release, if your pancreas doesn’t tell the liver what to do, etc. (meaning there are a number of possible reasons)… You may not be able to fast with extreme low blood sugars.
A perfectly healthy person who has enough “extra padding” to munch on during extended fasts can usually go to what would be dangerous lows for non fat adapted (or diabetic) people.
But it’s a mistake to believe that everyone can. You may be one who can’t, but the only way to know is to test it and monitor it faithfully.
Were you taking !electrolytes? It’s very important that you do with fasts that go beyond a day or two. Also, I don’t know that I’d be having lemon juice on a fast. It’s sugary and acidly. I’d just have the tea plain.
As others have said - listen to your body! Never any shame in cutting because something is off. That’s actually how I do it most of the time - go until I feel off/bad and then immediately cut
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There’s lots of reasons this could have happened but considering the timing, I’m thinking there’s 3 very likely possibilities based on my own experiences:
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The nice thing is even if you cut the fast right now, your body remembers the experience. If it’s not an electrolyte problem (or an underlying health issue), it’ll get easier each time you hit that mark until your body is comfortable going through it
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Good luck and I hope you feel better
Make sure to take electrolytes on extended fasts. Those symptoms sound like you’re lacking potassium. Also, adding lemon to anything while I’m personally am fasting, always causes me to puke. It’s a lot for the stomach to handle for some people.