Kickas.org Forums Treatments, Drugs and Alternatives NSD and diet-related; NSD - Mood swings, irritability, short temper

Hi everyone, I have recently weaned myself off rice by going rice, rice noodles, rice cakes. I finally stopped the rice cakes 3 days ago and my AS pain dropped from 40% to 15%. So NSD seems like it's working. My main obstacle is my mood, I'm a very positive person and I have been suffering from mood swings, irritability and short temper.

Has anyone dealt with this? Any help and explanation would be much appreciated.

Thanks
-D

Choose whatever you consider to be the lesser of the two evils. No that's a useless answer best just wait for a better reply. Sorry but new to this Forum so please explain to me what is NSD? No something diet I expect but no what?

I just found it on the AS Acronyms section. I should have known NSD=non starch diet.

Mind you I still can't help you re. you question about NSD and mood swings etc. Thing is I have never believed in any diet and its affect on our A.S.

Yes, I have found that I can get tired and cranky too. It seems to help to drop the idea of three meals a day and add more snacks in to balance your blood sugar levels. Eat frutis like apples, have some walnuts, berries, or fruit smoothie ect. in between meals, the natural sugar with the fibre from the fruit will may help balance out the spikes in your system which can cause mood shifts. Just like kids being tired and hungry can make you cranky. Good luck

Thanks Kahuna, I will add more snacks between meals. I actually can't eat any nuts or fruit, are there any other ways to get blood sugar up?

quick update - I added B Complex supplement and Red Raspberry Leaf Tea and they have helped considerably. My mood is still not fully upbeat but perhaps the body is detoxing.

Hi Drone3, I don't know too much about such things, but is it a possibility that you are going into ketosis and that this is causing your mood swings? It sounds as if your carb intake is very low indeed if you are off both starches and sugars. I can't eat much fruit but have been trying to eat enough fruit in small portions so that I avoid ketosis. Many regard ketosis as a good thing and they weather the transition side effects in order to experience the perceived benefits. I personally prefer to avoid it if possible. Maybe you could Google ketosis, or ketosis flu, and see if the symptoms you are experiencing tie up with that.

Sorry to hear about your mood swings and irritability but congrats on starting to see some benefits.

I started NSD in spring of 2009. When my progress plateaued, I took another step and went no-sugar. Like you, I was super cranky, had a short fuse, and was downright unpleasant to be with. I'm usually happy go lucky, so it was very uncharacteristic. But here's the thing, as my body adjusted to a ketogenic diet, I normalized. It'll go away.

The most important thing is making sure you're getting enough nutrients and calories. Don't forget to eat a bunch of healthy fats. Eggs. Butter. You name it. The only nuts I can eat are walnuts, macademia nuts, almonds... Take spoons of coconut oil for calories. Avocados are a good source of fats and calories too.

Your mileage may vary, but what I described above was the path that I went on. I've been asymptomatic since 2009. I do find that I have to be strict on my diet otherwise the symptoms come back!

Thanks Jan & FF, I think you guys are right and I'm in a state of ketosis. It's quiet unerving and the afternoons for some reason are like the twilight zone. I'm struggling but I have to persevere, I just can't live with that pain.

Here's my current diet, if you guys have any suggestions please let me know.

Wake up - tall glass of water with 1 tbsp ACV

Breakfast -
1 Avocado
3 boiled eggs
1/2 cucumber
Extra Virgin olive oil
1 tbsp coconut oil
Celtic sea salt
Vit B Complex

Before lunch - tall glass of water with 1 tbsp ACV

Lunch
1 Avocado
Fish (either canned tuna or salmon fillet)
1/2 cucumber
Extra Virgin olive oil
1 tbsp coconut oil
Celtic sea salt

Before dinner - tall glass of water with 1 tbsp ACV

Dinner
2 pieces of Chicken
1 Avocado
1/2 cucumber
Extra Virgin olive oil
Celtic sea salt

Before bed -
tall glass of water with 1 tbsp ACV
1/2 pill of magnesium chelate
Zinc pill

Experimenting with Tempeh, Diatamacous Earth, Bentonite Clay, Triphala.

Your diet is extremely limited. Similar to how mine was in the beginning. You really need some snacks. There is a great cookbook advertised on here by a member bettyrawker. I found wonderful starch free recipes in there for waffles and other things. I also purchased an ice cream maker to make my own healthy starch free ice cream. For snacks raisins, almond butter, some of the Lara bars. There are a lot of posts on here for some good ideas.