Here is another thought, based on my own experiences with Chronic Lyme and Fibro ... could it be Herxing? Herxing is very common when the body is detoxing as the toxins overload the system causing muscle spasms/pain/weakness ... When I was herxing, my LLMD put me on potassium, magnesium, and Vit D3 (all after blood tests were run). My body re-adjusted itself in a few weeks and the pain went away. Fast forward to my starting on IP ... I had the exact same muscle issues ... soooo, could the muscle issues also be herxing from the body cleansing itself?? I do know that when I started IP, many of the supplements on the program were very similar to my LLMD's supplements ... Again, the muscle pains and soreness went away after about 3 weeks. Just a thought from a non-medical person :O)

I was at the beach last summer with relatives (doctor and anastieologist) and one night in the pitch dark, everyone wanted to walk the beach. So, we went down and I couldn't walk, everyone was laughing, but BIL said are you fooling? I said 'no". He said see your doctor when you get back, I think you have love B12. Sure enough it was wayyyyyyy low, as was my Vit D. So it could just be a vitamin def. I also have fibromyalgia, maybe it depletes things moreso than in those who don't have it???? who knows, but have your vitamin levels checked.

Thank you, Aussieluver and Bellamack, for your comments. Those are good points. I am going to pop extra vites (especially the Bs) and minerals. Also, I see the point that it could be a detoxification reaction.

I also wondered if I am allergic to the soy isolate protein or the silicon dioxide that is in most of the packets. I was not aware of a soy allergy, but I don't eat soy, so I would not know. I know that soy is in minor ingredient in many prepared and shelf foods, so maybe I've had soy in minor amounts and it didn't cause any noticeable reaction.

But this program's packets have soy protein as the main ingredient, and it is consumed three times a day. Maybe my body just didn't tolerate it. I have moved to P2 and decided reluctantly to replace the morning protein packet with protein (an egg or a sugar-free alternative protein packet from Whole Foods) of my own, in case it's a reaction to the IP ingredients.

Hi, All.

I'm glad to find this post. I have fibromyalgia as well and am on day 4 of Phase I. I was prepared for the obnoxious headaches that I am having and won't go away, even with the salt lick trick and OTC analgesic. I even expected a little or even moderate muscle pain. But, I did not expect this joint pain. Ouch! This is a really unusual symptom for me. I may try some Flexeril and/or some Relpax. I've also got an appointment with my medical massage therapist on Tuesday. Any improvement for you? I'll also read more on Herxheimer reactions. That is a new term for me.

Thanks!

To FutureFitChick: Here's my update. I'm sorry to hear about your joint and muscle pain. But it is kind of reassuring to me that I'm not the only one who has had a reaction like this. I stopped P1 four weeks ago. After three weeks on P1 my joints and muscles were painful, tight, heavy, tired, and it moved around and I had twitches that were random.

I started P2 for three days with the packets, but then decided to stop the food packets altogether and use my own food for the protein. It acutally made me feel a little better. After a week off of the diet, I still didn't feel right so I went to my doctor. She told me that ketosis can affect some people this way and that it can rob your muscles and joints and it can often make you lose muscle and nutrients. This makes the body more acidic. I know this diet isn't supposed to create inflammation, but I'm one of those people who had it happen, apparently.

My treatment plan was give it time, take more electrolytes (potassium, magnesium especially), drink greens drinks, lemon water, and eat things that will make the body more alkaline. I need to flush this out of my system she said. She also recommended branched chain amino acids (a supplement I had never heard of but does exist!). I also was taking B12, regular vites, fish oil, flax oil, MSM, and some other supplements. It's possible, too, that the ingredients in the food were not something my body liked, such as sucralose and some of those other ingredients I can pronounce the names of.

So, now it's been a total of 4 weeks since I stopped taking IP food packets and I have had a gradual and slow partial recovery, but it's not all gone yet. I'm still feeling it, but it seems to be less joint pain now. Some days I might have it, some I might not, but that's an improvement over having it every day. The muscle pain comes and goes and the twitching seems to come and go. But if I look at how I feel now compared to how I felt on week 3 of P1, it has gotten better.

I am trusting that time is also part of this...maybe it's just taking me more time (I'm 52). I get the sense that my muscles are rebuilding themselves and they're going through whatever they need to go through to rebuild. Maybe it took 3 weeks to do the damage, but it seems to be taking longer to repair. I can't find much online about this specific thing, though. My doc seemed to be informed about ketosis, which was good.

One thing that might be different for me is that I only had 10-15 more lbs to lose. I wasn't overweight really, but I wanted to reset my system and see if I could lose that last bit of fat on my belly. I'm 5'0, size 6, and weighed 130 (4 of those pounds were from eating favorite foods a few days before I started IP) when I started. I ended up at 120.2, but I'm now back to 125 as of today. When I was on the diet, I wonder if because I didn't have much fat to go in and grab in the first place, the diet had trouble targeting the fat and therefore started in on my muscles. I remember having the feeling that my muscles were kind of eating away at themselves or that the good fat in them was being released instead of my stored bad fat. Sounds weird, but it would sort of feel like I lost some muscle. I felt weak and my arms and leg muscles would feel tight, like I worked out or overstressed them when I did not. So, this all pretty much started with joint pain on day 5 of P1 and by week 3 it was full blast.

I plan to do a followup with my doc sometime. I don't know how much time I should give it, but I also don't know if there is a set amount of time--every person is different. Maybe my muscles are going to take a little while to rebuild. I'm still stressing on it a bit.

I also added 2 teaspoons of Bragg's Apple Cider Vinegar "with Mother" in apple juice on the advice of a friend who said her doc told her to take that for gout in her toe. Haven't drank it long enough to say if it works or not, but I'm really trying to do what it takes to get back to normal.

I also had blood tests 6 months ago in my routine physical and all was good and normal then. Don't really want to do any more at this time.

What would be reassuring is to know of someone or hear a doctor say yes, this can happen and yes, it can take some time to heal and don't try to rush it. I like the idea of the massage that you're going to get. Maybe I should do that, too.

Please post here to let us know how your improvement goes. I would be very interested. Take care.

Was reading through other forums about TOM problems. I really hate knlwing this will make me irregular, I'm pretty much regular to the day and if its not there i panic...and I read that it makes birth control less effective?!?!!?!?!?......GAH. that just about made me quit this program on the spot. sounds ludicious but its true LOL.

I have terrible fear of pregnancy. not sure why, and to find out about this only now kind of freaks me out anything that could've happened in the past month.


why does it make it less effective? should i be talking to my doctor about this plan?

I haven't had any changes to my TOM at all in the 8 weeks I've been on IP. Same timing, symptoms, everything. It can make you more fertile, but I am not sure how it could make birth control inactive.

YIKES your experience is scaring me a bit.

I have pretty much the exact same stats as you. I am 49, also five feet tall, started out at 132 with Weight Watchers. Am 123 now and wanted to use IP to get down to 110-115 because my avg loss on WW has been half pound per week and I'm wanting to speed it up. My plan was to do one month on Phase 1 of IP and wherever I am at the end of one month is where I stay. I don't want to prolong being on the program because I'm kind of scared of ketosis. I've been reading about hair loss, messed up menstrual cycles, joint and muscle pain, fatigue, headaches, depression, etc. Kinda scary.

I'm already B12 and iron anemic and hypo-thyroid and on meds for all of those.

My absolute biggest fear is losing muscle. I've been working out so hard with a personal trainer trying to get a toned athletic body, and I'm happy I'm finally able to see some muscle definition. I'm scared to death that being in ketosis is going to make me lose that and I hate the idea of not working out - not the cardio - just the weights.

Thank you for sharing your story, and I hope you feel better really soon. It's concerning that ketosis caused that kind of damage that your poor body is now trying to correct. Sad.

Makes me wonder if this is the right program for me.

I found the medical facts on google from several sources saying that it can prevent birth control from being as effective.

Sorry if I sounded ridiculous, I logged off and ran around the house freaking out for awhile. LOL. I'm 21, so when I hear my birth control may not have been working the past month....sheer panic. Even being with the same man for 4 years noooo way. nuh uh.

I started ideal protein 3 weeks ago and I'm very disappointed. I've only lost 6 pounds and I've been very sick the entire time. A week I to it I started having abdominal pain and nausea and now I'm extremely fatigued.
Has anyone else had these problems? My family doctor thinks it's not worth the diet but my gyneo wanted me on this diet.
I don't know what to do, I also take metformin for poly cystic ovaries and had been off it a very long time. I have wondered if this is the culprit or the diet?
I also have had trouble eating so much veggies at one time . I don't know what to do... I ate extremely healthy for 2 months and I gained weight so this was my last try.

I can only share my own experiences here, I have PCOS, I also take Metformin. Based on my experience and most I have read here, you shouldn't have abdominal pain from the program. It could be you are allergic to something in the IP foods. Some people do have nausea, but that can be from the supplements and it can help to tweak the timing of them. The fatigue is normal in the early days of the program.

I would be more inclined to blame the Metformin if you just restarted it and are upping your dosage too fast. I get sick anytime I change my Metformin dosage. You should discuss with your doctor how much you actually need to take while on a low carb diet. My doctor reduced me from 2000mg per day to 1000mg during the diet and I remain at the 1000mg in maintenance. (Of course that is just me.)

He actually switched me from 500mg 2x per day to a 1000 mg once a day. I didn't think anything of it the first time I took the 1000mg, I ended up sick for 3 days before I caught a clue and realized what was causing it. Didn't even think it would bother me because it wasn't an increase in dosage for the day. That is how sensitive I am to it, I switched it from night time to morning and now I do fine.

Is it possible you are allergic to soy? Many (most) of the IP products contain soy. Although I have never heard of a muscle issue from a soy allergy. Have you ever experienced pain like this before? What other medications are you on? Many cholesterol meds (statins) can cause serious muscle pain. Has anything else changed recently in your diet or exercise program. What is your height and weight?

Glad I found this post because I am on week 1 and have been experiencing really sore arms and shoulders. Thanks all for the info!

Hey CrystalWolf, do you mind sharing some of your story?

Also, How long did it take you to reach your goal?

An irregular cycle is a good thing, your fat stores hormones and as your body loses fat those hormones are released into your body. I've been on for 6 weeks, I've had 3 cycles and some other spotting. That means the mechanism is working. As for the muscle soreness I also experienced it in my legs a little but it passed.