Leg cramps AFTER slow magnesium


(Natalie Matured) #1

Okay guys. I literally think I have tried everything and I think I’m at my wit’s end with the keto diet.

So far, I have been on the diet since July 31st. It is now October 4th - which is today. Exactly two days ago, I noticed that my BP has been elevated all september while in August, my blood pressure was perfect. All the books I read by doctors Phinney and everything I read in here suggested that sodium intake doesn’t do anything to the blood pressure, but it certainly does it to mine. Like I said, I’ve been consistently elevated all September. I shrunk down to about 3,500 mg and I caught a cramp that same night in my ankle. I pulled it out and didn’t think anything else of it. Well, this morning, I caught a cramp in my shin from hell. I had to stand up to sort of point my foot to work it out and it caused my calf muscle to completely lock up. I had to put all of my weight on the leg to loosen the muscle and I was gulping down my keto aid while I did it. It worked. However, my blood pressure went down. Now I’m drinking the salt water trying to get ahead of the slightly increased pooping I’m doing because I drink that keto Aid so fast. My heart rate has already slowed down and the salt is working, but again, I can’t have too much salt because it is causing me all kinds of issues. If nobody can help me figure it out, I’m going to have to get off of Keto. I have blood pressure medications I take bidil/metoprolol for a heart that beats too fast. I have no blockages or anything like that. I’ll just have to be vegan or something. I don’t know what else to do.

To go back a little bit, just like the doctors said in their book, I was going to start getting leg cramps being on keto. I did. I started taking the slow magnesium and it worked like a charm, but only if I take three a day. When I drop down to two, the cramps came back. This is back when I was salting my food and I can’t even taste salt in my saliva. Now that I am measuring how much salt I eat, it’s like I can’t get enough. I even lost what 4 pounds of water weight I gained when I lessened my salt intake, but now the night cramps are back and this again, is with me taking 3 slow magnesiums a day do I have today so I know it’s not the Magnesium. It has to be the salt, but I can’t be running around with high blood pressure either.

Because I drink that keto ate down so fast trying to pull this ungodly cramp out of my shin and calf muscle at the same time, I’m going to the bathroom and I did that mistake before and I know it’s about to completely drain my muscles and ruin my day. I can’t keep going back and forth trying to tweak salt, magnesium and potassium just so I can sleep at night when I can eat normally and not have the problem at all.


(Edith) #2

I’m not sure if this helps because my bp wasn’t going up, but my resting pulse rate was. I added 1/4 teaspoon of No Salt per day to my daily electrolyte supplements and my resting pulse rate went back down. I needed more potassium.


(Natalie Matured) #3

My post did go up. I went from burning 2200 calories a day to 3500. Once I started with the potassium, the heart rate did go down, but now my blood pressure is up. That’s what I’m saying. It has been this delicate song-and-dance that even I cannot manage. I write everything down. I track my water, everything. I think I might have that rare gene that will raise my blood pressure with sodium if on the keto diet and because I can’t not be on sodium with keto, I just can’t do it anymore. I literally have read every article I can get ahold of. I’ve read the book by doctors Phinney and Volek. I’ve done everything.