I made it 5.5 days on a water fast. I liberally used electrolytes and drank about 2L of water per day. Near the end, I started struggling with shortness of breath, tachycardia, and low blood pressure. Supplementing electrolytes could not alleviate the situation, so I stopped the fast with an egg and a small piece of cheese.
My first question is: did going on a walk that was about a mile each way, with an hour in-between, possibly cause over-exertion? This was on day 5. What are the rules for exertion in a fasted state? Could over-exertion lead to the above symptoms?
In the days since, I have slowly refed. I am digesting and moving food through my system. No issues there. However, I'm feeling incredibly weak. I take long naps and cannot wake up easily in the a.m.. I still have frequent tachycardia, though the lightheadedness is gone. Magnesium helped resolve it last night. I've been drinking raw milk for the vitamins and electrolytes. I'm eating normal sized meals 3x/day and drinking lemon water with a few drops of of trace minerals.
Is there anything I may be doing wrong to cause this continued weakness? Other factors that may be important: I did not sleep well during my fast. I consume zero caffeine and avoid it whether fasting or not. I have celiac disease, anemia, and other random issues. I did the fast for health reasons. I have fasted in the past, but for 3 days. I was attempting 7.
Tips? Advice? Can you relate to this situation? Thank you so much.
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Not sure how high you are talking about, but my heart rate goes from about 50 to 90 during the day depending on coffee intake, stress level, time of the day, and light duty chores/excercise, whether I’m fasting or not. Sometimes it will get to 90 and stay there for awhile before going back down. I do seem to have a higher rate on average after a few days of fasting, especially while drinking coffee, but not overly high. My low heart rate is usually on waking up or a half hour after strenuous work or excercise. I don’t have the conditions you have though, so I can only guess how those relate to fasting, but if in doubt please see your doctor.
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Ahh man. Hope your feeling better! From what I’ve read, water fasting = resting aka not doing much of anything else. I can only get thru prolong fasting when I follow that rule and do some basic stretches at most for exercise. I have felt faint but never experienced increased heart rate. I’ve heard others swear by Pida light (prob spelt it wrong lol)