Tingling sensation while running

#1

I’ve been running a few miles 4-6x a week for years and went “Paleo” a few years ago for the health benefits and transitioned to Keto a few months ago. I love it, feel fantastic, and will never go back to high carbage foods.

These days I am running/sprinting about a mile a day at 10.4mph, and around the 0.7 mile mark, I am getting a strong tingling sensation throughout my whole body. It’s not associated with any pain or a headache, but it’s definitely when approaching getting really tired and feel like I’m low on energy and need to stop around .75 or .8 miles to catch my breath. Never had this sensation before keto and felt like I could go towards .9 or longer before I started feeling low on energy and could power through to finish the mile (and also never got the tingling sensation).

I always run in the mornings or late mornings in a “fasted” state. I also have this feeling while running when doing multi-day water fasts. I’ve tried drinking a lot of water and ingesting a bunch of Himalayan salt before a run, but it doesn’t seem to make much difference on those two questions I have: 1) tingling sensation 2) performance

A quick Google search of course recommends intaking some carbs before (no thanks!) because of some minor blood-sugar fluctuations or your glycogen being low?

Other info, if relevant: I’ve never measured ketones or anything really. I assume I’m fat adapted? I’m able to do 3+ day water fasts no problem and intermittent fasting comes naturally. I’m 6’1 152 lb, always been pretty lean. Was 170 lb a few years ago before moving to Paleo. For the first few weeks going Keto, I would track my macros, but stopped after learning what foods were appropriate or not. I probably hover between 15-30 net carbs a day.

Any explanations for this tingling sensation and/or tips on how to improve performance?

Running links
(Nick) #2

My initial reaction was to suggest you’ve got the runner’s itch, which is usually caused by the body adapting to exercise by expanding capillaries. But you say you’ve been running for years so, unless you’re just coming back from a long period of not running, it’s probably not that.

#3

I dealt with weird tingling for months almost constantly, it was cured 100% by taking more salt. It can seem excessive but I found consuming 12-15 grams of salt a day is crucial for me. I mix in lite salt also, usually adding a little to all the water I drink. I feel like a new man lately. Good luck.

(Doug) #4

7, this is really intriguing. All I could think of is diabetic ketoacidosis; don’t think that’s the deal for you. Congratulations on that fast pace - had to shake my head and say, “Dang…” You’re definitely making some lactate and lactic acid at that speed, and I don’t know if that can constitute “lactic acidosis” on even a really transient basis. I’m guessing not, but just don’t know. Lactic acidosis can give tingling sensations, but usually just in the far extremities - toes and fingers.

Ran the half-mile, mile, and sometimes the two-mile in high school, back before the U.S. went to metric distances. Man, it’s been 30 years since I could do a 5:46 mile. Read a lot of running magazines since 1974, and I don’t remember anything about the tingling you describe. Perhaps just the salt thing?