My goal is to keep diet-related talk very very low around here. There will be diet-related talk in this post, if you wish to skip it. I will not be hurt; I will understand: I fairly often skip other people’s diet-related posts. If it helps with the decision-making process, this will be more about “diet as in what/how I eat”—in this case, as it pertains to being ill. There will be absolutely no talk of weight gain or loss. Okay, here we go now.
You may remember that for various reasons I normally eat a keto diet. In a typical week, I eat keto foods six days per week, and have one day off to eat everything I thought of longingly the previous week. If there is a holiday, or my friend group is getting together, I will take an additional day off; for Christmas, I typically take at least three days off; when we went to England, I took that entire time off. My body has gotten pretty accustomed to this, and is good with re-entry: you may have heard that when people switch to a keto diet they get “keto flu” and feel crummy for a few days as their bodies transition from one source of energy to another; at this point (6.5 years in) my body is more like “oh this again” and makes the change-over pretty snappily. Sometimes when I take a lot of days off (like when we went to England) I will notice a day of transitional crankiness, but I know most of the tricks for alleviating it (eating plenty; drinking plenty, especially Powerade Zero; plenty of salt; remembering that it’s temporary/diet-related and not because everything is terrible), so it’s not a big deal.
I bring this up because starting two days into this 3-week+ illness, I stopped trying to eat anything resembling keto. For two days my usual foods were basically fine, but as I got sicker it was not working: I needed buttered toast, and I needed chicken rice soup, and I needed regular ginger ale, and I needed applesauce, and none of those things are permitted on keto. Pretty much every diet has an “And actually this way of eating is HEALTHIER for you!!” angle it tries to sell, but for me personally, eating keto does not work or feel healthy when I am Quite Sick. Thinking ahead, I have wondered if it will not work for me as I get older and more medically fragile. We shall cross that bridge etc.
Well. My point is that I now feel well enough to go back to my usual way of eating. But I’ve been putting it off, because it is more pleasant to eat whatever I want; and also because while I was sick but on the road to recovery I made some heartening/sustaining foods (Mairzy’s Baked Oatmeal, for example), and had Paul bring me some sustaining foods from the store (big squishy deli rolls and deli meat; seeds-and-grains bread for toast; applesauce; pineapple chunks; pudding) and wanted to eat the rest of them and not waste them. Also because, once a person is off keto, they are OFF-off (there’s no “on it, but ate a brownie and need to adjust” as there is with, say, Weight Watchers), and tacking just one more day onto the Off streak can feel like not a very big deal.
Here’s what tipped it for me. I have been having some intermittent and distressing ear pain/pressure, even after three separate doctor visits and two separate prescriptions. Paul and I were discussing it, and he was researching ears and how they work, to see if there was anything else we could try at home. I recalled that the doctors had mentioned that one issue I was having was INFLAMMATION: it’s not necessarily that my ear is filled with fluid, but more that it is all swelled up and sore in there; the doctors said I should take ibuprofen, specifically, because ibuprofen will help reduce inflammation (acetaminophen, they said, will only reduce pain). So the things Paul was finding out about DRAINING ears (I’m sorry, this is icky but I think I’m done saying icky things now) might not apply.
That was when Paul said, “Wait: didn’t you start keto because it’s supposed to reduce inflammation?” And I was like: “!” Because, yes. And because when he said that, it occurred to me that when I walked into the doctor’s office a few days ago, my knees were hurting with every step, and I was thinking it was because I have walked no further than the distance between my bed and the recliner for three weeks. But it was 6.5 years ago while on a walk with Henry that I thought “I can barely walk with this knee discomfort, and I am too young for knee replacements” and impulsively tried keto, not believing it would work but believing it was worth a shot. And although it was no miracle, it DID significantly reduce joint pain for me, and I no longer had trouble going on walks with Henry.
So perhaps it would also reduce the EAR kind of inflammation? Maybe, maybe not. But since I was intending to get back onto keto any day now ANYWAY, this idea made it motivating to do it now and find out. I am still on day one, so it is too soon to know. My ear feels pretty okay right now, but the pain was already intermittent.
My husband eats keto specifically to keep his tinnitus at bay.
Also, you could try adding a Benadryl to the ibuprofen when you’re able to—it helps the ear get back to normal faster.
That’s a thing?! Because I have such persistent tinnitus that the ENT was like “Welllll…You check the boxes for basically every single thing in the ‘you’re just going to have to live with this’ column. Maybe get some noise canceling headphones. Good luck!”, and sent me on my way.
Apparently so. He began noticing that the tinnitus would increase quite a bit shortly after eating sugar/carbs. (Also caffeine increases his) After some experimentation, he found that he could affect it with diet. We found quite a few articles backing it up. He’s had good results for a few months now. I wish you the best!!
Have you seen an ENT? Might be a wait, so you could try making an appointment and cancel if your ear improves. My husband had a recurring bad ear, and eventually the ENT cultured it and determined an unusual bacterial strain requiring a different type of antibiotics, but ALSO a fungal infection. Once that was taken care of, no more clogged ear! I share this story because the ENT said that general doctors are often not well equipped to diagnose or treat anything other than standard ear infections, but ENTs have multiple tools and more experience. So, maybe worth a try, if you haven’t? I hope that it feels better soon, and that getting back on keto isn’t too difficult!
Oh how interesting! The theory re: inflammation and the ear. I realize it’s still in theory phase, but I would be interested in how it turns out. I also appreciate the ENT comments, although when you say you’ve gone to the doctor 3x it could have been an ENT for all we know. But the idea to book and then cancel if better, or the idea that it could be something that normal docs don’t test for is food for thought (for me). I like this sort of low stakes home “experimenting” with one’s own body. You’re not eschewing the doctor, you’re just not getting totally better and trying to solve for why. And noticing your own experience with inflammation and diet and giving it a shot in this instance is a reasonable response that isn’t going to hurt you regardless of outcome. I look forward to updates on the results.
Thinking of you. Hoping you feel 100% better soon.
Good luck with the theoretical inflammation!
I keto for partly that reason; I took most of December off because DH bought a ridiculous amount of snacks and sat next to me eating them every evening. And my knees and feet and back returned to painfulness.
I’ve been back at it since Jan 2nd, and all of those have improved.
I do have a sore throat/tonsil on one side for the last two weeks, and “diet” isn’t fixing that, so I may have to see a doc for that.
I have bad arthritis. Like two knee replacements and a hip replacement before I was 60 bad. I started eating keto a year and a half ago, and I have almost no pain anymore. Whenever I stop, like that very delicious piece of pie I had on Christmas, I pay for it the next couple of days. So I am a believer. Glad it’s working for you too!
Have you tried acupuncture as an alternative way to deal with inflammation? It’s a modality I’ve had a lot of success with in the past when others were not available for whatever reason (like pregnancy)
I love most of your posts, Swistle, but this kind of thing is really what keeps me coming back. A self-realization and then a comment section full of things I had never thought of. I love to hoard medical tidbits in case of future need.
I truly hope you get back to feeling yourself soon, and thank you for being you.
I had throat surgery two weeks ago and have learnt the hard way that swelling in the throat refers as ear pain due to a shared nerve.
This feels like burning/fullness/ pain deep in my ear. The surgeon tells me this too shall pass. He prescribed an anti inflammatory, which has mixed effect.
Interesting to hear about a diet connection.
This has grabbed my interest. Only one of the four doctors I’ve seen has even LOOKED at my throat, and that was at the very first appointment when they were trying to diagnose Covid/flu/RSV/strep/whatever as well as diagnose the ear. The next three appointments, all for ear: not a single one looked at my throat. WHAT IF THIS IS SOMETHING WITH MY THROAT, AND THEY’RE NOT EVEN LOOKING?? And WHY aren’t they looking?? Especially when they keep saying my ear doesn’t look particularly vicious! Shouldn’t they be thinking, Hm, what if it’s something ELSE bothering this nerve??
Ooh, maybe you have a tonsil issue but it’s referring pain to your ear?? Get those tonsils looked at closely.
This is a very good thought, and I’m going to mention it to William for his ear issues—but my tonsils and I had a parting of ways back in childhood.
Not sure if it’s been suggested already but consider requesting a strep test; I had massive ear pain and swelling and it turned out to be strep, even thought I had no throat pain. Hoping the antibiotics give you some relief!
Now I’m so intrigued by the number of people sharing that Keto has helped inflammation. A few years back, I was diagnosed with Celiac disease and had to cut out all gluten (miserable at first, but then such a physical relief that I am happy to never go back!) So much of me feels better now that don’t eat gluten, and from what I understand, much of it relates to reduced inflammation.
[Actually, I wasn’t having a lot of the typical GI symptoms, which is part of what made it hard to diagnose, but was struggling with aches and pains and also with depression, which has (truly magically) almost completely gone away now that I don’t eat gluten. Except if I eat it by accident, and then I’m pretty depressed from about 48 hours. Isn’t that so crazy?]
Since the Keto diet can involve much less gluten, it makes me curious if there could be anyone who actually struggles with gluten and is finding relief from Keto. I find this kind of thing so interesting! Thanks for sharing. Keep us posted!