Having some issues

(Shanda) #1

I’m having some issues and I’m not sure if it is due to a lack of electrolytes or my diet. I’ve been following a keto diet for about a week and a half.

I’m having a lot of body pain mostly in my legs, to the point where I can’t sit for more than a few minutes at a time without it becoming unbearable. I can’t squat or bend down to pick anything up.

Yesterday I took about a 1/4 spoon of nu-salt and washed it down with some water and it seemed to disappear. On my way to work this morning it came back full force. I repeated what I did yesterday but am not getting the same result. I took a second dose a minute ago so we will see. I am also taking a magnesium supplement at night and using pink Himalayan salt to season food.

My diet …
Morning about 6:30 - either eggs with cheese or when really pressed for time a keto blueberry muffin that I found a recipe for online.
Lunch whenever I start to feel hungry at work - left overs from the night before or if there aren’t any then some canned salmon or bunless burger with mayo.
Dinner around 7 or 8:00 i will have a protein cooked in bacon grease or avocado oil and a veggie with butter.
If I start feeling peckish between meals I will usually have a couple olives.

So if you think this is primarily an electrolyte issue then how often and how much should I be supplementing these. OR if you see any glaring problems with my diet please help me make it better.

(Diana ) #2

I’m in no way an expert, but what helps me avoid cramping legs and fatigue is supplementing with calcium, magnesium, potassium and of course salt, with plenty of water.
Magnesium I take twice a day, the others, once. And sometimes I munch on a few Himalayan salt crystals if I get a little hungry.

(mole person) #3

Your diet looks good but I’m not seeing any additional sodium. Add at least a full teaspoon of regular salt over the course of your day. We lose a lot of water once our glycogen stores become depleted on this diet and with all that water goes a great deal of salt. Many people suffer if they don’t replace it, especially early on.

(Ellen) #4

I can’t figure out how to do a link on my phone but search for @Brenda ketoaide receipe, definitely sounds like you need more electrolytes esp sodium (salt), be careful of how much lo-salt you use.

(Shanda) #5

Thank you! I’m gonna give it a try

(squirrel-kissing paper tamer) #6

Sometimes if my legs are bothering me and I have plenty of salt on board I chew a couple of tums. I’m not a fan of taking calcium supplements every single day, but I’ve found it helps especially if I’m getting tiny muscle spasms in legs/facial muscles.

(Shanda) #7

Thanks. I will keep that in mind

(Diana ) #8

The twitches in the legs; is this what you think restless leg syndrome is? Kind of like you need to get up and walk?

(Shanda) #9

I have restless leg syndrome so I know what that feels like. This is something different. It’s much more painful. It’s like my muscles are all in knots and they are hard to the touch. Not twitching. When I’m sitting or laying down it gets worse. I get some relief when I am standing or walking around but they are still tight and painful.

(squirrel-kissing paper tamer) #10

No, I’m talking about muscle twitches (like under your eye, in your lips, legs, etc.) I learned about them and how to handle them during stem cell harvesting which depletes calcium.

Shanda, are you still having the pain after adding electrolytes?

(Carl Keller) #11

This is interesting. I used to get the under the eye twitches occasionally, before keto. Yesterday, I had a little twiching for the first time on keto and I thought it was just stress due to an aunt having had to be ambulanced to the hospital from having breathing problems due to bronchitis (she should be ok). So i might try the Tums thing if the twitch happens again.

@Shanda I hope you are feeling better today.

(squirrel-kissing paper tamer) #12

Yeah, mine have dextrose, starch and sucralose in them but I don’t care if it’s a few here and there. I also keep pure calcium carbonate in powdered form that I’d break into if I felt the need.

(Shanda) #13

@CarlKeller and @PetaMarie I am feeling much better this evening. I did ketoaide last night and this morning but by around noon I was still hurting pretty bad. Then someone suggested pickles or pickle juice and that I was perhaps drinking too much water (who knew THAT was a thing lol) Ate a couple pickles early afternoon and reduced my water today and now I’m feeling much better. Fingers crossed that this does the trick. I’ve really got to retrain my brain about what’s right and what’s wrong for my body.
Thank you guys for asking!

(squirrel-kissing paper tamer) #14

I found it pretty amazing to learn how much salt I need to retain the proper amount of water and to feel good. It’s a neat experience noticing sensations and knowing what is missing. Magnesium when I feel that charlie horse feeling, calcium if I’m getting muscle ticks, and for good measure I throw in some potassium here and there but not everyday. Everyday is salt, though, in the coffee, on the food.

I also find it refreshing to have a solution to feeling crappy. Before this way of eating I felt crappy every single day and thought, oh well, that’s life.

Glad you’re feeling better!

(Shanda) #15

I know this thought process so well. Every single day at work was complaining to each other about how tired we were or how bad we felt. My SO would complain to me at night as we were going to bed about feeling bad or being achy or whatever, and sometimes I would think to myself “just suck it up. Everyone feels that way”. It was finally that AH-HA moment of thinking WHY does it have to be this way … why should we have to deal with this every day? … that made me dive into the keto lifestyle.

(Carl Keller) #16

It’s amazing to me how long I slowly poisoned myself with processed carbs and sugar. I had no clue that what I was eating was making me miserable for at least half of every single day. After cutting out the crap and eating keto for a week, I was truly amazed at how much energy I had and that 95% of my constant inflammation was gone Those two things alone are worth the price of admission. And I get to eat bacon and steak and lose weight!

Shanda I truly hope you get to where I am. Please stick with it and give yourself the best gift you can possibly give.