Constant muscle twitches all over?

(Mike D) #1

So I have been on Keto for about 6 months now and have lost about 45lbs so far. Towards the beginning I started getting some muscle twitching. I purchased some Hi-Lyte Keto k1000 Electrolyte powder and started taking one scoop in the morning. Also have been taking a magnesium pill at night before bed. I am not sure what the dosage of magnesium is, but it is 50%rda. I also take a multivitamin witb 25% rda magnesium. So I am getting about 100% rda of magnesium total. My salt intake is around 1,500 mg once at dinner time OMAD.

I had knee surgery about a month ago and was directed to eat normally for a few weeks post surgery. My doctor insisted I would not heal correctly due to my reduced calorie diet of about 1,300 calories a day. So after surgery I just ate a SAD for about 2 weeks while avoiding sugar and garbage. I felt like garbage after that 2 weeks (malaise) and was looking foreword to returning to KETO.

When I resumed Keto OMAD I immediately started feeling better again energy went back up, mental clarity returned. I immediately looked healthier and more vibrant in the mirror and I got my mojo back within about 3 days.

Here lies the problem, when I returned to Keto the second time around my muscle twitching started and WILL NOT GO AWAY! It is rapid twitching all over my body, about 2 twitches per second. Sometimes the twitch stays in one spot, sometimes it travels around my body like I am dancing.

I noticed it gets slightly better after my OMAD dinner. I sleep without a problem, but the twitching starts as soon as I wake up and lasts pretty much all day until my meal.

I went out for a cheat meal the other night, had prime rib, potato skins, rolls, a sweet potato and unsweetened tea. After consuming this meal the twitching calmed down and even dissipated for most of the night. However, the next day as soon as the Ketones started showing up in my blood the Twitches started again.

All I can figure at this point is that the twitching either has to do with a nutrient deficiency or an electrolyte imbalance. It seems to get better after eating and twitches return as soon as I reenter ketosis.

I am eating low carb but not super low, my carbs are between 40-50g all taken in at my one evening meal. I drink roughly 1 gallon of water every day.

Anybody have any ideas? Is this muscle twitching normal on keto? Is there anything I can do to get rid of the constant twitching?

I still have about 15lbs of fat left to loose and am not ready to give up on Keto yet, it is too soon to give up IMO.

(Bacon is a many-splendoured thing) #2

Increase your sodium to 4-6 g/day, which is 10-15 g/day of sodium chloride. Your magnesium and potassium will stay in better balance, if you are getting enough sodium. The U.S. government RDA is woefully low, to the point of causing damage, and even with the salt already present in your food, you are barely getting the RDA.

(Mike D) #3

Hi Paul, it has been a long time. Thank you for your response. I will up my salt as you suggested.

Do you know much about calcium? I have RA and many years ago my rheumatologist told me low vitamin D is implicated in worse auto immune disease symptoms. She suggested I take at least 5,000iu a day. I saw the upper limit is 10,000iu a day and have been supplementing with 10,000 iu for about 4 months. I am only indoors and do not get sun exposure. The reason I bring this up is that my understanding is that vitamin D controls calcium absorption and that it is possible to end up with too much calcium in the blood. Do you think this could possibly also be cause for the twitching?

Is muscle twitching on KETO a common side effect? Dr Berg says that it is, but outside of him no one really mentions it.

#4

Never heard about it before (or it was mentioned once and I forgot? possible) and I spent an unhealthy amount of time on keto forums in the last several years… So it can’t be THAT common.
I never had it but I usually don’t have any problems…

(KM) #5

Possibly benign fasciculation syndrome? Unfortunately fasciculation simply means twitching, so the name doesn’t really explain anything, and there’s really no known cause. Potential triggers are alcohol, caffeine, exercise and stress. I have not found mention of a connection between ketones and BFS specifically.

(Bacon is a many-splendoured thing) #6

The muscle twitching is usually from lack of magnesium. So, in the sense that electrolytes can get out of whack on keto, if people don’t get enough salt, yes, it’s a side-effect of keto, but usually completely preventable. Increasing your salt should help your body hang onto its magnesium and keep it balanced. If you don’t see results in a week or two, consult your physician, because something else might be going on.

Vitamin D and Vitamin K are helpful in moving calcium into the bone. If you have calcium in other tissues, they will help move it to where it belongs.

Simply eating a ketogenic diet ought to help your rheumatoid arthritis. Elevated insulin causes systemic inflammation, and a ketogenic diet lowers insulin to more reasonable levels. The inflammation may take a while to go away entirely, but you should start to see an improvement as the months go by. It was at least a year before the pain in my knees finally went away completely and I could climb and descend stairs without pain.

Another source of inflammation is ω-6 fatty acids, when overconsumed. As one keto researcher has observed, the problem with the standard American diet is not getting enough ω-6 (which is essential, though only small amounts are needed), but rather to avoid getting too much. Avoid the industrial seed oils (soybean, canola, safflower, sunflower, cottonseed, corn, and so forth). Their fatty-acid profiles contain a very high percentage of polyunsaturates to begin with, and most of those polyunsaturates are ω-6.

Instead, cook with butter/ghee, lard, tallow, and bacon grease, and, if you must have oil in your life, use one of the fruit oils: avocado, coconut, olive, or palm. They have better fatty acid profiles, and they can be produced without the complex refining process required for seed oils. You can find more information about this by doing a search on these forums (our search function works pretty well, unlike the search on social media, which is intentionally designed to be ineffective).

I don’t want to overwhelm you (unless it’s already too late, lol!), so I’ll stop now. :grin:

#7

If you are not already, please make sure you are taking Vitamin K2 (at least 100mcg), if you are taking 10,000iu of D3 daily

Because D3 promotes calcium absorption (which can then lead to hypercalcaemia), you need the K2 to ensure the calcium doesn’t build up in soft tissue but redirected to bones instead.

Hypercalcaemia can cause twitching. Metabolism of glucose uses up Vitamin D ( and possibly calcium), which may explain why the twitching stops when you switch to carbs.

(Pete A) #8

I’m not a doctor nor scientist but I’d recommend a panel of blood telling you how your electrolyte levels are.

I don’t know what muscle twitching is… so best to get those facts before you think you know and can “fix” it.

(MC) #9

Probably prudent to do that, although blood serum isn’t reflective of actual electrolytes, it does give a good indication.

If the twitches go away with other foods, I’d say salt is the culprit. Amazing how much salt there is in just a slice of bread. Potassium also has something to say on muscles. Might be worth having a little salt and something like cream of tartar in a drink morning and evening.

#10

I had cramps for 18 months after starting Keto but never had them in my life before this.

I tried electrolytes, salt, and potassium supplements but they had no effect. When I gave up caffeine they stopped (2months+). I think it was dehydration. I’m OMAD now for 4 weeks + and it hasn’t caused a recurrence.

Have you tried giving up caffeine?

(Bacon is a many-splendoured thing) #11

Good point, and often overlooked. Not only should salt be in the right range, but we should also drink to thirst. We don’t want to be either over- or under-hydrated, because both states mess with the electrolytes.

(Mike D) #12

I have not had caffeine in years.

(Mike D) #13

I drink close to 1 gallon of distilled water every day. Been doing that for 9 years and do it every day. If I drink any less I start to feel dehydrated and get headaches.

(Mike D) #14

I was thinking the same thing, have an appointment with a doctor in aboit a week, will ask for electrolyte, vitamin and nutrient panel then.

(Mike D) #15

Yes, I have been taking 750mcg of K2 MK7 every day since going to 10,000iu Vit D3

(Fernando Aramburo) #16

My understanding is that drinking water is about hydration: hydration is about replenishing the medium in which almost the entirety of your body uses to perform its miracle amount of chemical and electrical reactions. For this to happen efficiently, your electrolyte balance is CRITICAL and tightly maintained by the body. Electrolytes are Sodium, Potassium, Chloride, Calcium, Magnesium, Phosphate, Bicarbonate. By drinking water that has no electrolytes in it (distilled water), you are effectively reducing the amount of electrolytes in your body by reducing the body’s concentration of electrolytes through mineral-depleted distilled water consumption. When you eat, you are replenishing some of those electrolytes which is why your meals likely give you some improvement.

The fact that you drink distilled water is not a bad thing- most water is polluted in one way or another. The simple solution is to meet your sodium chloride requirement by adding that amount of salt you wont consume into that gallon of distilled water. Do some research and make your best choice possible on the salt by looking for an unrefined/unprocessed salt that comes from an inland source (my understanding is that most ocean salt sources are polluted with microplastics and other issues caused by how we’ve ruined our oceans). If you are up to it, you can also search for bulk supplements on Amazon and buy magnesium malate and potassium chloride to make sure you are reaching your daily goals in those. Best way to get them into your water is to put them all in a glass, add some hot water and swirl until they get completely dissolved, then add to your gallon of water.

Lastly, another solution is possibly to buy LMNT water electrolytes which I used intermittently and taste great (literally tastes like old school orange Gatorade and they have other flavors). However, they are expensive so the bulk purchases are your best bet for a cost effective, long term solution.

Sharing a personal experience, I notice that when my salt consumption is low (I have most of my other electrolyte consumption well balanced), I get a twitch in on of my eyes similar to what you describe. It lets me know that I need to add some additional salt to my food. Most of the time this happens when I do more exercise than usual in summer when sweating is increased.

Good luck, hope this helps a bit!