KETO. PLS help. Severe leg cramps for 4 days in a row

[Cici]

Hi all,

Very sorry if I am out of line one way or another by asking this here. But i have this major leg cramp in my quadriceps. Right at the origin of the muscle it seems, the upper side. It's almost non-stop! Except when I laydown and put my leg a certain way. 4 days in a row!

Backround:
I have been doing atkins induction for weightloss for 7 months. Everything went fine. I lost almost 40 pounds. But since a week i changed it to the Keto diet. And I cut out the Dairy ( cream cheese and butter)
I eat 400 grams of cucumber ( 12 netcarbs) and proteine about 60%..and 4 egg yolkes with 2 slices of bacon in the morning. ( i am trying to read up on the keto diet) i will start to vary my veggies and eat more carbs then 20. But i am in a lot of pain and i have a handicapped baby girl to take care of so i am getting a little disturbed to say the least!

so i understand it's de-hydration and out of balance electrolytes.
So I am supplementing/drinking/taking daily: One glass with 5+ gr seasalt; 1 gr calcium; 800 mg magnesium; 1 gr Potassium ( pills or part fresh coco water)
Besides this: 1 multi Centrum adult; b100; c, q10; chromium polyNICOTInate; zinc; P5p; omega 3; l-carnitine, 1 gr Taurine



My questions are besides the obvious How do I get rid of this *** leg cramps:
1: How much salt can i take max a day? More than 10?
2: how much water i am supposed to drink on Keto? I am 5f 6inch and weigh 143 pounds. Normally 2.5 liter
3: i hope to check my electrolytes this afternoon in a medical center. Any electrolyte in particular?

I dont want to go to my physician because she will be against keto diet.

Please help. I can hardly walk.
Thanks in advance!

 

[Gaby]

Perhaps you should re-introduce the butter?

I would up the L-carnitine to 500mg two to three times per day. It is a favored supplement to eliminate cramps during ketoadaptation. It takes fatty energy into the mitochondria. Here is an interesting study which shows how good it works:

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/9708610

To replenish potassium, you'll need four to five of the over-the-counter 99 mg potassium supplements (i.e. potassium citrate).

Drink some 3 liters of water, even more if necessary or thirsty. As for salt, 3/4ths of a teaspoon in a tall glass of water should do.

Make sure they measure sodium and potassium, which they usually do. I had a similar case at the ER, a person who has done the diet and lost 10kg in one month... He had the most unusual cramp in his pectoral muscle. He thought he was having a heart attack, but the way he described the pain was way too familiar for me. I asked him about dietary changes. He had the paleo athlete physique that just made me think that he went keto way too fast without replenishing minerals... I checked his potassium levels in blood which were low. After IV hydration with physiological solution with potassium added, he felt much better.

In your case, I think you're missing big chunks of fat from your diet and that is why the cramp got worse. Perhaps re-introducing butter will help and/or get other sources of fat like bone broth or the fat bomb made with lard or coconut oil.

Speedy recovery!

 

[Gawan]

Sorry to hear about your problems . But I must also say that you should read the information about the ketogenic diet before any changes are done.

I have been doing atkins induction for weightloss for 7 months. Everything went fine. I lost almost 40 pounds. But since a week i changed it to the Keto diet. And I cut out the Dairy ( cream cheese and butter)
I eat 400 grams of cucumber ( 12 netcarbs) and proteine about 60%..and 4 egg yolkes with 2 slices of bacon in the morning. ( i am trying to read up on the keto diet) i will start to vary my veggies and eat more carbs then 20. But i am in a lot of pain and i have a handicapped baby girl to take care of so i am getting a little disturbed to say the least!

How does the rest of the day look like in what you eat? Because of what you wrote above is the fat missing, which is the main source for energy in a ketogenic diet.

So I am supplementing/drinking/taking daily: One glass with 5+ gr seasalt; 1 gr calcium; 800 mg magnesium; 1 gr Potassium ( pills or part fresh coco water)

The supplements do sound fine and are the ones that were recomended against cramps.

I would suggest take it more slowly.

 

[Scottie]

When I went Paleo, I had leg cramps regularly for a long time. When I stopped taking magnesium religiously, the cramps stopped.

It seems that sometimes, lots of minerals can cure cramps, and sometimes it can cause them. Kinda makes sense, because you don't want to tip the scale too far in either direction!

Your mileage may vary, but FWIW.

 

[Cici]

Gaby, Gawan and mr. Scott!

My brain must have been depleted from fat because I wrote two replies but they both have vanished.

Anyway, YES, that's it!

I quit my everyday fatbomb! When i went to change diets one week ago.

2 times a day I previously had (a total of)
6 Tbs butter
3 oz cream cheese Philadelphia
8 Tbs coconut oil....

I am having one right now, god please let it help...

Thank you so much!

Best wishes for you all

 

[Nienna]

I'd like to add that I've found that not ingesting enough salt (not table salt, but Celtic Salt or Real Salt) can be a cause of cramps. Getting enough salt helps to eliminate cramps in very short order. That is, if you have not been having enough salt. Salt is very important on a Ketogenic diet.

 

[JonnyRadar]

6 Tbs butter
3 oz cream cheese Philadelphia
8 Tbs coconut oil....

For what it's worth, I would cut out the cream cheese and up the butter to replace it. :) Good luck with your cramps!

 

[Renaissance]

I've also used extra salt (the 'Real Salt' brand is loaded with great stuff) and L-carnitine to get rid of the leg cramps during transition to keto and for a bit after the transition too. Sometimes the salt would relieve the cramps immediately. I'd use about a teaspoon in about 8 oz of water. If that doesn't work then I'd try the L-carnitine next. I noticed going in and out of keto can also prolong cramps so reading the keto thread and the Keto Adapted book would also be good as mentioned so you can stay on course.

 

[Laura]

If I start getting cramps, I take potassium + iodine, and Thorne trace minerals. Usually, I only need to take them for a few days to solve the problem. So, to prevent cramps, I take these two supplements about twice a week.

You might want to give up the cucumbers because they have a negative effect on a lot of people and certainly should be tested. If you must eat them, core out the center to eliminate the seeds and make sure they are peeled.

 

[dugdeep]

I'd consider eliminating the Centrum multi-vitamin, too. It may not be the cause of the cramps, but it's a cheap multi and contains a lot of garbage forms of vitamins and minerals (ground up oyster shell or limestone - no thanks!), not to mention the fillers. There's a good chance you don't need a multi on this diet, but if you want one I'd consider getting one of better quality. Thorne, Douglas Labs or NFH are all pretty good brands.

 

[Cici]

I'd like to add that I've found that not ingesting enough salt (not table salt, but Celtic Salt or Real Salt) can be a cause of cramps. Getting enough salt helps to eliminate cramps in very short order. That is, if you have not been having enough salt. Salt is very important on a Ketogenic diet.

Hi Nienna, thank you.

The salt did help! I have to get this Real salt that everybody is talking about

:)

 

[Cici]

6 Tbs butter
3 oz cream cheese Philadelphia
8 Tbs coconut oil....

For what it's worth, I would cut out the cream cheese and up the butter to replace it. :) Good luck with your cramps!

I will do that. I thought butter was just as bad because it's dairy also but I guess it's less processed.
Too bad for the taste...but I will look into other fat bombs. The one I really like is the one with cacao and sweetner but I didn't loose weight when I took that while on Atkins induction....but maybe I will now.
Loosing weigth is overrated anyway :D

 

[Cici]

I've also used extra salt (the 'Real Salt' brand is loaded with great stuff) and L-carnitine to get rid of the leg cramps during transition to keto and for a bit after the transition too. Sometimes the salt would relieve the cramps immediately. I'd use about a teaspoon in about 8 oz of water. If that doesn't work then I'd try the L-carnitine next. I noticed going in and out of keto can also prolong cramps so reading the keto thread and the Keto Adapted book would also be good as mentioned so you can stay on course.

L-Carnitine I do take, 3 caps of 500mg a day. Salt does help, but only for a little period of time.
I will continue to read the keto thread and I have started in the Primal mind, primal body book. The Keto adapted book I will check out also.

Thank you Renaissance :)

 

[Cici]

If I start getting cramps, I take potassium + iodine, and Thorne trace minerals. Usually, I only need to take them for a few days to solve the problem. So, to prevent cramps, I take these two supplements about twice a week.

You might want to give up the cucumbers because they have a negative effect on a lot of people and certainly should be tested. If you must eat them, core out the center to eliminate the seeds and make sure they are peeled.

Thanks for the advice. Trace Minerals and Iodine. will look into that.

I took out the center of the cucumbers but left the peel on...Anyway I will find some other rabbit food now. ;D
But the fat bomb seems to work already. The cramp is less but now I get a lot of water in my knee
But that might be because of the sudden fat insertion.

 

[Cici]

I'd consider eliminating the Centrum multi-vitamin, too. It may not be the cause of the cramps, but it's a cheap multi and contains a lot of garbage forms of vitamins and minerals (ground up oyster shell or limestone - no thanks!), not to mention the fillers. There's a good chance you don't need a multi on this diet, but if you want one I'd consider getting one of better quality. Thorne, Douglas Labs or NFH are all pretty good brands.

I was wondering about that. I even looked up Pfizer in the search engine today.

So, I will quit the Centrum Multi...I can probably do without the ground up oyster shell....

I probably need a multi because I still have about 7 amalgam fillings in my my mouth and that probably causes my hair to fall out a little too much and it is very brittle....

Anyway, thanks for suggestions for the better brands. I will look into them!

One step at a time towards longevity yeeeh (not so much)