Hello everyone, newb here with a rather strange question

#1

Hey thank you guys for answering and replying, I think you all are right about seeing a doctor and getting some bloodwork done, in fact my last visit my lovely doc wanted to do exactly that because I’m getting older (and fatter) and I told her no thanks because i was worried that my liver was screaming for help and it would show up like crazy on the blood work. Yeah I know how stupid that is but i live in a small town and people talk and i’m ashamed. But I think after 2 months sober that hurdle is probably a lot smaller and I should schedule an appointment sometime.

I’ve been working hard in an awkward position and as a result I went to bed early yesterday to escape the pain, this morning it’s a bit better but not a lot, really strange. I never had these problems before this diet or when I was boozing. As longs as it’s just muscle aches I’m ok with it but it’s amazing what a giant difference these changes create.

I think that if I or anyone else does see a doc it is a good idea to give full disclosure, i’m a mechanic and if people don’t tell me what they did to their car it becomes really impossible to diagnose some problems. That said my last doc frowned on me for eating eggs every day and said to watch my cholesterol, I told her that info was horrendously outdated and she agreed. I raise my own chickens and feed them a natural diet that includes meat also and I have no doubt in my mind that the eggs they produce are the healthiest thing a person can eat.

Have a lovely Easter all and let’s not eat the chocolate eggs but the regular ones

(Edith) #2

When one follows a low carb diet, their sodium need goes way up: first, because processed food contains more salt than whole, unprocessed foods so overall intake is lower, and second, because eating low carb lowers insulin levels, our kidneys don’t hold onto sodium when insulin is low.

It is recommended one get about 5 grams of sodium a day on keto, give or take, depending upon your activity level and the time of year. That’s the equivalent of almost 2 teaspoons of salt. Also, sodium helps maintain the levels of other electrolytes including potassium and magnesium, so you may also need to supplement with extra magnesium, in particular. Probably most of us on the forum supplement with magnesium.

I definitely get muscle cramps and stiffness when my sodium is too low.

This is a good article about salt and keto.

(Cathy) #3

You don’t need to tell your doctor about what you eat. If asked, just say it is a nutrient diet that restricts all junk food. I think it would be helpful for you to have a blood panel done. It can reveal some things like being sodium deficient and a vast variety of other issues.

(Denise) #4

I’d go just at least for blood tests, Lipid Panel etc. To heck with what the doctor thinks, this will give you a way to eliminate anything more serious going on.

I’ve recently, last couple of years, struggled tapering off Clonazepam, a benzodiazepine. My muscles were definitely affected by the withdrawal symptoms, and a whole lot of tiredness in them.

I don’t think we know how much recovery-time we’ll need when putting things in our body we know we shouldn’t. I’ve seen lot’s of what I call, full recovery though, from both alcohol abuse, and prescription drugs (including my own alcohol abuse) in my 20s until I was 33, and with taking 1 mg of a C for 35 years.

You will get there, but I do think the doctor/blood tests would be a good thing.

I did my taper without a doctors help, except for the prescription I needed to finish. I did it on my own, then I shared what I did. Some just don’t have any personal experience that I could trust,

Denise PS I had to take responsibility for my own health. Doctors are needed, but I participate in my own health now. and it’s not “ok doctor, ok doctor, ok doctor”.