Keto Peeing and Cramps

(Candy Lind) #9

It’s much easier to get enough K from food sources, though - especially since, if you’re ingesting enough sodium, your cells will STORE potassium. It’s very easy to get too much K as opposed to too little.

(Jay AM) #10

It’s worth a look at though. I’m one who gets too little from food sources apparently. If someone is logging food they’d probably see any of the three being low.

(Leslie) #11

I would not be the least bit surprised if this a normal response( hyper-urination) to the decrease in insulin you are influencing your body to produce.
As your kidneys are responding to that change you are going through a natural detox, so to speak. It may be inconvenient, but it’s not unusual.

The cramps are usually caused by electrolyte/mineral imbalances. While supplements may correct this for you, I prefer to get my minerals from natural sources.
I added roasted, salted sea weed and spirulina to my diet as well as Kombucha.
My cramps have been completely resolved since then. I do take a magnesium supplement and I eat a lot of pink Himalayan salt on my food.

I hope this was helpful
Keep calm and keto on

(Jay AM) #12

Do you make your own or have you found a low carb source?

(Ashley) #13

I actually get too little because I don’t really eat veggies, I eat mostly meats and cheeses. I’m working on spinach which is actually nice in butter! But I do agree some can get too much, I only know I need to supplement due to leg cramp that told me I wasn’t getting enough!

#14

I’ve noticed the multivitamins turn wee green too! I was going loads the first couple of weeks, it’s back to normal now. I’m still getting cramps despite lots of green veggies, more salt, magnesium & potassium supplements, I guess I just need to find the right balance! I’m sure things will settle for you soon!

(Leslie) #15

GTS Kombucha.
Multi green is the one I drink. I only have a third of the bottle everyday because the entire bottle is 9g of carb and I already eat a lot of vegetables and nuts and cheese.

(Gavin) #16

Thank you all for the input!
I’m not going to quote you all, because I’ll be here all day :slight_smile:

In response,
I actually got a sodium/magnesium/potassium supplement with the multi vits and was taking it until my pee turned greenish. I thought it was likely the vitamins but I stopped both at the same time because I am not working out yet and thought I might not need the extra electrolytes until I am exerting myself more (ie. sweating). Instead of taking the multi vit 3 times per day, I now only take it twice (in response to the green pee). I am eating spinach mainly but also a little avocado, cauliflower and broccoli. On top of that I am eating almonds, walnuts and hazelnuts…1 mixed portion…maybe a little more than that sometimes because I find it hard to stop munching on them :smile:

My point being, shouldn’t all those be going a LONG way to getting the correct amount of magnesium and potassium? As for the salt, I knew it was common for keto folk to fall short here, so I significantly increased my salt intake. I never measured it but i’d throw in a pinch to my eggs in the morning or what ever I eat later on in the day. Also, I was eating bacon at least every other day, a a few times I ate it on consecutive days. I’d cut up some chorizo/pepperoni/salami and chuck it into my scrambled eggs (3 of em). In the last 2 weeks I have been slicing a little salted butter into my eggs…so really, I thought I might be eating too much salt. Which played a role in the dropping of the electrolytes. I will add them back in a see how it goes.

Before I started this diet I was doing a little bit of intermittent fasting. In the 2 weeks prior to I probably did 2 x 24hr fasts and then maybe 3 x 16hr fasts. I was aware of the effects of fat on digestion and hunger so I increased my fat intake then.

I dont actually know how many calories I am eating to be honest. If I had to guess… 1,500?? Less some days, more other days. I am not struggling with this diet change at all! This is going to sound a bit pathetic, but I spent 2 hours just wandering around the supermarket the other day just picking everything up and reading the back of it. I actually loved it! :blush: I would often aim for around 400 calories per meal (3 per day) but I’m pretty sure that i frequently get in about 600 calories per meal.

I have a feeling that I my protein is too high per meal… or at least I know the ratio is not quite 2 to 1… more like 2 to 1.5. Sometimes edging dangerously close to 1 to 1.
I need to eat more of this Mascarpone that I bought! It’s not bad or anything…it’s just that eating so much fat is so counterintuitive to how I was raised and what I was taught. Cutting the carbs was fine…tricky, but fine. It the natural draw toward protein to fill the void that I’m struggling with. Plus, the more fat in a meal, the less bulk to the meal and I love eating! My blood monitor for ketones and blood glucose should arrive tomorrow. So, I’ll be able to see how far into ketosis I am. If even.

I think it is all coming on and that I just need to give it more time. If I eat half an avacado for 2 meals then that would certainly help on the fat front… and maybe a bit of mascarpone for 1 meal. Plus…when I do a 9-12 hr fast every few days, my body is probably running on a far better fat to protein ratio (bodyfat).

It’s just he excessive peeing that was frustrating me. The cramps have only happened 2-3 time in the last 4 weeks but I am conscious that I don’t really get cramps (I only really drink water) unless I have grossly neglected my water that day…to which I normally turn into a bit of a diva. On saying that, it’s just clicked with me that I was actually waking up in the morning dehydrated months before I started the keto. I also had another episode 3 weeks ago where I saw stars in my vision. It almost immediately blocked my direct focus vision. Basically I couldn’t see the text I was looking on the screen, but could see the surrounding letters in my peripheral. I was finishing off an email and I had to keep moving my eyes back and forth while I was typing so that I could ensure I wasn’t making a typo. Odd… This actually happened once maybe a year or more ago. Same situation…the stars drifted off to the side of to my peripheral and then away. Took about 20mins or so…

BUT… Since I started this keto diet, I feel much better. My body and mind feel sharper. And of course my weight is dropping too which is great for my self-esteem.

Perhaps I should add that I have hypothyroidism (150mcg every day- 100 in the am and 50 in the pm) and I also developed a DVT in my right leg after 2 long haul flights in 30 days and due to my extreme sedentary state for the 3-4 years prior.

I just moved from Ireland to the UK 2 weeks ago and am after checking in with a doc to get to the bottom of this DVT (I think a protein S deficiency test is needed since my sister had it). Since I’m new and I told them about the laughable health system in Ireland, they are giving the full blood works, so my thyroid is being checked too. I am hoping that it kicks back into gear again because it just started slacking 5 or so years ago. Maybe the keto, or the autophagy as a result of the intermittent fasting might fix it…wishful thinking perhaps…

Wow… this post really went on eh!

(Jay AM) #17

So, in more seemingly rare situations, some people find that calcium and zinc end up being their electrolyte answer when the others aren’t enough. If you search calcium here there are posts on people who have found this. Also to note that excess potassium can cause cramping too. I’m not sure about magnesium.

(Gavin) #18

Here is the nutritional info of my multi vits.
PS: They are seemingly the top end of the bioavailability scale…

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Multi vit 1.png507×647 9.68 KB

Multi%20vit%202
Multi vit 2.png485×653 15 KB

(icky) #19

Hey Gavin,

I’m just researching electrolytes because I’ve been having a too high heart rate, which can be due to too much electrolytes (potassium, salt) or too little.

I’ve been peeing lots too and have assumed it was due to the “keto flushing things out of your system” thing too => hence the logic that supplementing electrolytes is a good idea, due to the loss of water.

BUT - if you are eating too much salt or supplementing too much electrolytes, peeing lots is actually the body’s method of getting rid of excess salt and electrolytes. So if you then supplement more cos of the “water loss” your body will just want to pee even more.

So it might be worth working out which is which :smile:

The medical term for “peeing too much” seems to be “polyuric” in case that’s any help.

(Robert Kuhar) #20

Exactly what i was going to say. Salt everything! gray salt, sea salt… something with minerals

(Farhan Ali) #21

I am new to this lifestyle too ; Just under 2 months. I dont count calories or macros. I just make sure that my carbs are low and i eat only keto friendly food. Still i have lost almost 14kgs (31 lbs) down from 112 kgs (246 lbs).

Whenever i have cramps or leg pain i put salt ,lemon and apple cider vinegar in water and drink that. It always helps.

(Candy Lind) #22

Gavin. I am a 63-YO hormone deranged female who is sedentary as all getout (5’-5”, 236), and I eat close to 1500 calories many days. You’re not eating enough.

I know this thread started out about hitting the head too much, but if you want to get your metabolism straightened out and lose that weight once & for all, you need to learn that 1) fat is our friend and 2) CICO is a crock of shit.

Use a macro calculator (there’s a link to one in “Newbies”), set it to MAINTAIN, not lose, and follow it. You need to be eating more until you are fat-adapted. Eat to satiety each meal. Then, don’t eat again until you are hungry. Make sure at least 70% of calories come from fat. And keep the carbs under 20 grams so your body is forced to go elsewhere for energy.

If you really want to get comfortable quickly with how keto works, I suggest some binge listening to the 2ketodudes podcast (from episode 1).

(Ashley) #23

Yep exactly candy, I’m about 3 inches shorter than you, weigh 229 but I get around 1400 calories usually which for how sedentary I am and the fact that I am 3 inches shorter I feel that isn’t bad. Although sometimes I do eat more!

#24

In my 50s keto for over a year female. I did have issues with getting up at night before keto but the first few months (lost 35 lbs between April and September) were awful. It was bad during the day too. I am either home or out driving so I would plan my major beverage consumption when I knew I would be home. It took me awhile to figure that out. I try to limit night beverages to before 8 pm. I am not sure if it was my weight loss stalling but on nights where I do not drink a lot I am only up once. At the beginning I was up every 2 hours

(Gavin) #25

Thanks again for the input folks!
I really appreciate it.

I have downloaded an app to track my eating and I will try to enter all the food I eat into it, but I have a pretty good track record of not sticking to such things :slight_smile:

I just ate breakfast and counted up the calories afterward. I had 2 thick cut bacon slices (smoked and salted) and 3 scrambled eggs. The fat in the pan was a touch of ghee onto of the little bit of fat from the homemade burgers I made yesterday. The eggs and bacon came to about 480 calories, plus the fat then (the eggs soaked it up).

As I said earlier, I am not struggling with this. I am not hungry often and I am not craving anything, apart from maybe something other than water on occasion. I was going to get carbonated water but I decided to drink water with a slice or 2 of lemon and a tiny squirt of one of those Robinson’s flavoring 1 calorie squirty things. It’s sugar free (Sucralose). I would only drink that once a day…MAYBE twice if i’m feeling dangerous :slight_smile: The rest is just water water water.

I don’t want to sound naive or arrogant but I find it hard to believe that my body is not getting enough calories to use as fuel. I have plenty of body-fat on my body, and considering I don’t push my body into anaerobic mode, my body should have no problem turning to that fat to make up the deficit. I feel far better now than I did eating a general carb/fat/protein diet. AND my weight is dropping which is shining a long and much needed ray of light onto my life. I will keep what you said in mind though and proceed with caution. But again…isn’t the evolutionary reason behind fat storage to use it at a later date? I am overweight for quite a while now, so I think it’s high time that I allowed my body to use what it worked on storing.

If I was feeling hungry and terrible then I would suspect too low of a caloric intake but as I said, I feel great! I never got those early keto symptoms either. Keto flu, headaches etc… Again, I dont want to sound arrogant or naive, but could I just be one of those who adapts to it very well? Then again, I felt so bad prior to keto that even a bed full of nails might be an improvement :slight_smile:

Let see what the keto/glucose monitor says later.

(Gavin) #26

I received my ketone and blood glucose monitor today.
My ketone level was 2.0mmol/L… which if i’m not mistaken is decent?
less than .6 being normal ketone levels.

I need to do a bit of research now to see where the optimal level is generally speaking and then balance that with where I feel best.

Have not weighed myself in about 8 days or so. It’ll be interesting to see where i’m at.
Still feeling good but was very shy with the water today.

(Gavin) #27

OK, from what I can see, 2.0 is pretty good.
3.0 is the threshold to too much seemingly, so if I can stay between 1.5 to 2.5 then happy days.
The next step of the plan is to incorporate some intermittent fasting while in ketosis so that it’s by body fat that its using for fuel.

I think I will start with 1 x 24hr fast per week and take it from there.
Realistically x2 per week but I’ll see how I feel.

The 24hr fasts are largely to encourage autophagy as i’d like to minimise the amount of sagging skin that I may or may not have.

The way I’ll do it is to eat at 3-4pm one evening and then I only have 7-8 hours before bed, followed by what should be 8 hours sleep which gets me a long way to the 24hrs

(Mark Kostner) #28

I know this is an old thread but I thought I’d add this for anyone reading.
I experienced really bad cramping (4-6 bad cramps per night), and frequent urination (5-8 times a night)
For me the solution was ‘keto aide’ (essentially salting my water with 500mg lite salt and 500 mg Himalayan salt) and taking a potassium supplement.

I read on here where people are saying it’s easy to reach your potassium RDI - that’s around 4000mg - I eat a lot of greens, avocado, etc I without supplementation I’m lucky to get close to 2000mg

I’m really curious about what people are eating that’s makes it easy to reach the RDI