Hello everyone,

Just want to start off by saying sorry for the long post, but this issue that came up is concerning me.

I am relatively new to the carnivore diet, maybe close to 2 months in, and when I initially started with the first month the diet was working well. Inflammation in some of my joints were reduced, concentrating was easier digestion seems smoother, and energy was up. Now that I am in the later part of the 2nd month, it seems that some negative things are popping up that I didn't have before.

My diet since doing carnivore consists of fatty beef, chicken occasionally, eggs, bacon, salmon, beef liver, and fatty pork. I mainly focus on beef and eggs but include the other foods to try to maintain the electrolytes. I do also want to note that the first month, though, I didn't eat beef liver or salmon. I use Pink Himalayan Salt and Kerry Gold Butter on the vast majority of food and I always pour the meat grease onto the food after it is cooked from the air fryer. Finally, I only drink water. No caffeine in the diet.

Some of the issues that I am having now are:

1) My legs, especially the calf area, will feel kind of sore, but not actually be sore. As in there is a feeling of slight soreness, but if you touch the calves no additional pain occurs. I have not had any leg cramps, though I feel that is coming soon. In addition, when I walk up just one flight of stairs, pain in my legs and quads seems to be very, very noticeable.

2) I always have this sort of fluttering feeling in my heart. It doesn't seem like my heart is beating any faster. It might beat louder sometimes, but the majority of the time I think it is just fluttering. It doesn't seem like it is skipping any beats neither.

3) Inflammation seems to have increased. It is not as bad as before I started the diet, and there are still times when it is really reduced, but it doesn't seem to stay consistently reduced.

4) Dizziness is not really prevalent, but sometimes it feels like when I am in certain light too long (mainly at work) slight dizziness does occur. In addition, when I get up from sitting too long, I do get slightly dizzy.

5) When I go to bed, my mouth starts getting dry. When this first started, I would wake up with very bad case of cotton mouth. Now, it seems like within a few minutes of laying down, the dryness starts. I also wake up at least once a night, though, that is something that was happening prior to carnivore, but I think it is happening now due to the dry mouth.

All of this I believe should be a result of an electrolyte imbalance, at least from what I have read, but I am having a hard time trying to counter this. I would prefer not to take supplements since I am trying to use the diet and diet alone to get all my nutrients in. I do have a LMNT (no flavor) on hand in case emergencies happen, but would prefer to figure this out through eating, no supplementation. I added the beef liver and salmon to help balance the electrolytes (eating each about twice per week), but I really don't see any glaring differences. I am not eating liver or salmon daily due to not having a high fat content, especially the liver (which I actually think the liver is making it hard to go number 2, though I am not constipated). Finally, I am starting to put the Pink Salt in water when I wake up and maybe an hour before I go to bed. Not sure, but I think this is preventing the cotton mouth from going full force.

Any additional food suggestions that you can give to try to counter act what I think is an electrolyte imbalance? Is supplementation the only thing that can work?

Also, (not related to the topic) I am very curious if it was possible to find someone near where I live who is more of a veteran in doing the carnivore diet to show me the ropes. I have been doing this on my own, but I don't think I will be able to figure everything out on my own, so it would be nice if there was some sort of website or something along those lines where I can find somewhere near me that can guide me better with this diet and make it more personal.

Thank you in advanced and sorry again for the long post.

1 hour ago, BillyGoat said:

All of this I believe should be a result of an electrolyte imbalance, at least from what I have read, but I am having a hard time trying to counter this. I would prefer not to take supplements since I am trying to use the diet and diet alone to get all my nutrients in.

This is indeed going to be difficult, which is why an entire electrolyte industry has popped up in conjunction with the surge in popularity of ketogenic, including carnivore, diets. To get your recommended RDA of say, magnesium, you would have to pound down 3+ lbs of beef daily. Very few people do that. I know Shawn Baker, Anthony Chaffee, our resident @Meathead can pull it off.

The need for electrolytes seems to happen at the beginning of when you cut the carboHYDRATEs. You spill electrolytes along with all the water. This also contributes to the cotton mouth. Your likely someone dehydrated. This need goes on for up to a year, but many peoples dependence on electrolytes wanes the longer they live this lifestyle. Many veteran carnivores boast about not even using salt. I personally couldn't imagine that.

Back in the day, you could get all these minerals from water because we drank from springs. Today, water is processed and every impurity is filtered out and removed, and many of the minerals get removed along with it. If we lived a long time ago, we probably could eat this way without electrolyte supplementation just from drinking springwater.

I would try taking advantage of that LMNT and see if it helps. Start with one at night. Maybe add one more in the morning. You shouldn't need more than that.

With that aside....

1 hour ago, BillyGoat said:

I always have this sort of fluttering feeling in my heart. It doesn't seem like my heart is beating any faster. It might beat louder sometimes, but the majority of the time I think it is just fluttering. It doesn't seem like it is skipping any beats neither.

I've noticed this too. Dr. Berry would say that many people's hearts start beating stronger, which is why you notice it more than before. This could be.

On the other hand, it could be too low or too high in certain electrolytes. In your case, likely the former, in harmony with your hypothesis.

Thank you for the quick reply. I will take advantage of the LMNT. I definitely want to get to the point where I am not using it, but seeing that it may take a lot longer than I was hoping for, I am not opposed to that.

LMNT is a good product. )Personally I could not find one that I liked the taste). On youtube there are several videos on how to make your own. Much cheaper.

Bob is spot on with his advice.

I made the hydration and electrolytes when I first got started. I went from electrolyte in my water, to using the mixture as 'my table salt' and now I use salt every so often. It took 14+ months to work thru all that and I have read where some get there sooner than others.

The best thing is that you are listening to your body. Most of time the body will tell/show you most everything we need to know.

Congrats on two months/good luck as you continue.

Welcome.

Scott

Thank you for the reply Scott. I will look into making my own electrolytes too and see if that helps even further.

I remember when I was where you are now I was not eating nearly enough to maintain my health. My weight lose had stalled and I responded by eating less and less, not the right move. you can take mag and potassium pills, easier than making your own. hang in there. tell us about yourself, why you're here etc.

20 hours ago, BillyGoat said:

Thank you for the reply Scott. I will look into making my own electrolytes too and see if that helps even further.

I'm not ure one is any better than the other. One is more convenient but costs more. The other is way cheaper but a little bit of a hassle.

Youtube Terri Leist is a solid/basic mixture. I used that one for awhile.

Then I got super lazy and dumped Himalayan Pink salt, Kosher sea salt. No Salt, and I forget the name of the magnesium, but dumped them all in a bowl. Now that is my table salt. I use it to cook with and if I do use table salt (eggs) that is my go to.

I have found after fifteen months I don't use salt as much and sometimes I just add a pinch here and there if I am outside in the heat for the day. I am not sure I need it every time but the little extra beats cramping up with stuff to do.

Scott

Thanks for the replies.

I do want to say that at least when it comes to the dry mouth, it is not nearly as dry since doing LMNT twice a day.

On 8/13/2025 at 4:31 AM, ketomonster said:

I remember when I was where you are now I was not eating nearly enough to maintain my health. My weight lose had stalled and I responded by eating less and less, not the right move. you can take mag and potassium pills, easier than making your own. hang in there. tell us about yourself, why you're here etc.

Regarding eating, I am eating twice a day and my weight is being maintained at 174lbs. I am 5'9" so its a pretty decent weight, so I at least think I am not undereating.

I am not sure if this is related to electrolyte issues, but I am staring to get a lot of mid-back pain. My right foot and middle finger on left hand seems to be in some pain too, but that is something that I have had for quite some time. But the pain isn't on any of my sides or abdomen, really right in the middle of the back.

I am hoping this is just a part of adapting to the diet, but could this be related to anything with one of my organs not working properly? Just never heard of back pain being an issue with starting the carnivore diet, mainly things like keto flu, oxalate dumping, and electrolyte balance seem to be the initial issues that come up with the diet.

This Electrolyte Drink Fixes Fatigue, Cramping, and Low Energy (Part 1)

This sort of ties to the thread below.

Scott

6 hours ago, BillyGoat said:

could this be related to anything with one of my organs not working properly?

Did you have any organ damage prior to starting the carnivore diet?

There is nothing about the diet that would damage an organ, especially in an average healthy individual.

I was, and still am, stage 4 CKD since at least 2019. I've never had kidney pain. Been carnivore for 2+ years now. Before I went full carnivore I started a plant-heavy keto and subsequently thought I broke my big toe - but in hindsight I think it was my first and only ever gout flareup. I only bring this up since you mentioned pain in the extremities.

But your body literally requires fat and protein, and literally has absolutely zero requirement for carbohydrate. Any quirkiness is usually going to be related to adaptation symptoms, withdrawal, oxylate dumping/detoxing, and ought to be temporary.

16 hours ago, Bob said:

Did you have any organ damage prior to starting the carnivore diet?

There is nothing about the diet that would damage an organ, especially in an average healthy individual.

I was, and still am, stage 4 CKD since at least 2019. I've never had kidney pain. Been carnivore for 2+ years now. Before I went full carnivore I started a plant-heavy keto and subsequently thought I broke my big toe - but in hindsight I think it was my first and only ever gout flareup. I only bring this up since you mentioned pain in the extremities.

But your body literally requires fat and protein, and literally has absolutely zero requirement for carbohydrate. Any quirkiness is usually going to be related to adaptation symptoms, withdrawal, oxylate dumping/detoxing, and ought to be temporary.

No organ damage prior to doing the diet. I was thinking more like kidney or gallbladder stones. Really cause the pain in my back just came suddenly out of nowhere and I haven't changed anything, minus upping the LMNT. Though, I do think that would be the culprit since I believe I was deficient just a few days prior.

About month three with the weight loss I started seeing health problems that had been hidden by the excess body weight previously. I guess I was becoming so sick on my old diet that I was past being able to tell what was normal anymore. Months four to five has been about discovering the damage and healing. I am 29 lbs lighter and have about 20 lbs to go for my frame. I look forward to increasing activities as it comes off. I can actually take deep breaths with clear lungs now, less body pain and can visibly see muscle coming back.

On 8/15/2025 at 8:46 AM, BillyGoat said:

I was thinking more like kidney or gallbladder stones.

Ah, now there could be reasons behind both of these.

Gallstones -> Bile in your gallbladder was not emptied regularly due to a low fat or fat free diet previously. Stones begin to form. They could be small as a grain of sand or large as hailstones. Now that you are eating a higher fat diet, these are mobilizing and you feel it. If they block a duct, and that pain intensifies, you may need medical help dislodging the stone. Try to save your gallbladder.

Kidney stones -> Similar situation, but usually was due to a previously high oxalate diet, as most kidney stones are usually calcium-oxalate stones.

Some of these stones can begin to shrink and break down and then get dislodged, and you notice them as they try to pass along.