Symptoms (muscle twitches, bone joint sounds, cervical crunches) after starting Keto

health
(Frank) #1

Hello.
I am on a ketogenic diet for a while now (1 year) and it is great, it helped me alleviate schizophrenia.

Though there is something occurring since I started it that made me wonder and I thought maybe someone here has an idea of what I can try out or what it is. I already outlined them in the title.

I have muscle twitches in the body since then, mostly in the left calve. Also after a while my bone joints seem to crack/make sounds. The cervical crunches.

Do you have an idea what that could be and how to alleviate it? I tried additional potassium, magnesium, calcium, avocados and almonds, but it does not seem to go away. I also take vitamin c, d, k2 and ashwaghanda.

Thank you :slight_smile: I am grateful for any tipps, remarks or comments.

-Frank

(You've tried everything else; why not try bacon?) #2

A couple of things: First, you might need magnesium. Keeping salt up helps keep magnesium in balance. That might help with the twitches. Also, be sure to get enough saturated fat, because it and cholesterol are essential for proper nerve function. If you are taking a statin, you might wish to stop taking it, as the statins generally are known for causing muscle and nerve problems.

Second, be sure to stay hydrated. Your vertebrae need that to stay inflated. Quitting smoking will also help, since it will let more oxygen get to your vertebrae.

Third, get marrow and gristle from your meat. And you might try taking a supplement of glucosamine and chondroitin.

Fourth, avoid foods high in lectins, oxalates, and phyto-oestrogens. This will help reduce the toxic burden on your body and help reduce inflammation.

As you know, the key to a well-formulated ketogenic diet is to keep carbohydrate as low as possible. Then be sure to get plenty of protein and fat. The fats that are the most beneficial are saturated and monounsaturated fatty acids.

(Frank) #3

Thanks for the quick answer. Ok, I do currently not have much salt in the diet. Maybe almost none. This I will try next. How much do you recommend? Like a teaspoon of salt a day? Does the kind of salt matter? Thank you :slight_smile:

(Frank) #4

I eat nuts (peanuts, pistachios, etc) every day, and eggs. Also at least a bit of sausages, meat or fish every day. I assume that is saturated fat?

(Frank) #5

I currently drink 1-2 liters of water a day.

(You've tried everything else; why not try bacon?) #6

A couple of studies from a few years ago both showed that the healthiest sodium intake is 4-6 grams/day, which is 10-15 grams of sodium chloride. I believe that comes to 2-3 U.S. teaspoons, and it does include salt already present in food. I find that I get headaches and become constipated if I don’t eat enough salt. Sometimes I find that when I’ve had enough salt for the day, it starts tasting very unpleasant, so at that point, I don’t take any more.

Personally, I don’t believe that all the special salts add much in the way of other minerals, but some salts do taste better than others. Be aware, however, that many other people on these forums swear by various different types of salt. If you do a search on “salt” on the forums, you will get a lot of useful information and can decide what works best for you.

Be careful not to overhydrate, as that is as unhelpful as underhydrating. It is sufficient to drink to thirst. This means if you enjoy what you’re drinking, drink. But when it becomes a chore, stop.

You are sure to get other comments in this thread; these are just my thoughts. So be sure to keep checking to see if anyone else has some advice for you. Good luck!

(Robin) #7

Yes! Salt for sure!

(Frank) #8

Thank you Paul and Robin for your answers.

So I am now taking 600mg of Magnesium and two teaspoons of pink himalayan sea salt a day. And drink only 1l of water when i am thirsty instead of 2l. Let’s see how it goes. In one or two weeks I think I will give an quick update and let you know if something changed :slight_smile:

(Robin) #9

Please do. Good luck!