Water retention?
treehugnmama
Posts: 816 Member
I lost 25 pounds fast with low carb and noticed the water weight loss off my ankles and legs but it's back. I didn't gain or loose on the scale but im holding water in ankles and legs....thoughts? Solutions? Drinking lots of water...eating cucumbers...not eating excessive salt. Is this part of the woosh I see people talking about.
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I'm about at the beginning of pms right now & know no matter what I do, it's going to happen for about a week. Also, if I don't walk regularly, I tend to hold more in my lower legs.
Things to consider.
*asparagus is a great diuretic btw0 -
Asparagus for dinner it is! I'm hiking or walking every day...thannks1
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Make sure you have your thyroid levels tested, and not just your TSH. This is a HUGE sign of thyroid dysfunction. It's only after we have untreated thyroid issues for YEARS that it becomes a heart disease related thing.
If you are on medication already for this, get tested to adjust your levels. Both my PCP and Endo beat this into my head 6 months ago. I never knew before then that it was related!
EDITED TO ADD: Keeping sodium too low makes me retain water. I will only let it go when I get my 5000 mg of sodium RDA/LCHFMP amount of daily sodium.0 -
Crazy thing happened to me once. I'm one BP meds. and no lie, I filled my meds. they looked the same so for a month I took them. As the month past I notice my legs and ankles were swollen, so I went to the dr. My fabulous DR figure out that my meds were not the same and called the parm. and got back to where I needed to be. Food for thought!!!! ; )1
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My BP was 140/95 I'm not on BP meds or thyroid. I will ask for thyroid levels to be tested. Thanks for thebinput1
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How much sodium do you get? Low sodium can cause retention of water in an effort to lose more sodium.1
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I looked back and I'm anywhere from 600 mg to 2200mg. The majority around 1200mg a day? Is that enough sodium? Concerned about putting BP up?0
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treehugnmama wrote: »I looked back and I'm anywhere from 600 mg to 2200mg. The majority around 1200mg a day? Is that enough sodium? Concerned about putting BP up?
That's very low sodium.
Are you Keto or low carb?
You're going to be more at risk of blood pressure being high with the water retention. If it's caused by low sodium so the body is holding onto water so that you're very low sodium doesn't go any lower with the water loss, that is what's putting that at risk.
When you don't eat many carbs, sodium isn't a problem for blood pressure. Everything we thought was bad about sodium is in relation to a high carb diet. Just like everything we thought was bad about fat...
Low carbers generally need more sodium. Ketone producing levels need as much as 5000mg a day or more.
Don't jump to that level of course, but I would definitely get yours up to a minimum of 3000mg. More if you're Keto.2 -
Thanks sunny bunny. I'm doing low carb right now. I had some salt before bed and was down 1.7 pounds this am...I think it came directly off my ankles. I will increase to 300 and As I continue to lower mY carbs further I will make sure to increase sodium.
I'm seeing now sodium has the same bad rep as fat4 -
Whenever I have swelling anywhere I know I've let my sodium get too low.2
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Thanks I had some sodium last night before bed and is much better today. I had in my brain lower is better but now I see3
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Almost everything is backwards from conventional medical wisdom while eating a ketogenic diet!
Now that I've increased my carbs to 50-60 a day (trying to find maintenance) I'm seeing less need for supplementation of sodium, since I'm likely not in ketosis at this level.3 -
treehugnmama wrote: »Thanks I had some sodium last night before bed and is much better today. I had in my brain lower is better but now I see
So glad it's going away now. Being swollen with water doesn't feel very good!1 -
Does anyone supplement with sodium pills? If so, how much should you take, keto diet?2
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@JadeStone49 I do pretty well with just sodium intake, salting things, eating salty foods (3000-5000 mg), but when I'm sweating or out in heat or just getting more water without intaking more food, I do use the pills, but sparingly. Mine are sodium chloride tablets, by CMC, I paid like $11 for 100 pills, each has 1000 mg. Most of the time I have maybe 1-2 while out or sweating for hours...
If you're not into a salty diet or what have you, it's probably a good option. Some folks, like @Karlottap have taken 3 or so pills a day due to absorption issues.1 -
treehugnmama wrote: »I lost 25 pounds fast with low carb and noticed the water weight loss off my ankles and legs but it's back. I didn't gain or loose on the scale but im holding water in ankles and legs....thoughts? Solutions? Drinking lots of water...eating cucumbers...not eating excessive salt. Is this part of the woosh I see people talking about.
This could be a sign of heart disease. I had a heart attack last year and now I have to weigh myself everyday in order to keep an eye on water retention - which tends to accumulate in parts of the body like legs and ankles. If possible, I would discuss it with a health professional because if you have heart disease, you want to catch it before you have a heart attack!2 -
Thanks ks get fit...my blood pressure is high....just had an echo amd nothing was noted....however am at higher risk...thanks for info I will discuss with my Dr.0
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Ever since having my last son, my feet and ankles swell in the heat. Hands too. I can't seem to prevent it.Almost everything is backwards from conventional medical wisdom while eating a ketogenic diet!
Now that I've increased my carbs to 50-60 a day (trying to find maintenance) I'm seeing less need for supplementation of sodium, since I'm likely not in ketosis at this level.
You probably are still in ketosis, but at a lower level. The body needs over 100g of carbs per day so you still need those ketones.... I think most low carb diets are actally varying states of ketosis. I could be wrong.
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KnitOrMiss wrote: »@JadeStone49 I do pretty well with just sodium intake, salting things, eating salty foods (3000-5000 mg), but when I'm sweating or out in heat or just getting more water without intaking more food, I do use the pills, but sparingly. Mine are sodium chloride tablets, by CMC, I paid like $11 for 100 pills, each has 1000 mg. Most of the time I have maybe 1-2 while out or sweating for hours...
If you're not into a salty diet or what have you, it's probably a good option. Some folks, like @Karlottap have taken 3 or so pills a day due to absorption issues.
I have the same ones - and actually only 394mg of it is sodium (that's what it says in the "Other Information" section on the label) the rest is (presumably) the chloride.
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I try very hard to keep all electrolytes in balance. I usually do fine with sodium and magnesium (i supplement with mag citrate for cramps and IBS-C) but I find it is really hard to get enough potassium. Avocados and mushrooms contain potassium but not much else in my diet does. I have ordered some light salt with iodine and potassium so hoping this helps. An imbalance in electrolytes can cause water retention so watch all @treehugnmama0
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I don't like avacodos...I am not getting enough potassium. ..my pb was through the roof yesterday...hoping to see Dr. We I read a list of foods with high potassium they are all tje starch ones I was told to cut out..hmm I will work a banana a day in and increase mushrooms0
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@treehugnmama kale and spinach are good too. It's really hard to get 4700 mg a day through food. I am debating buying a potassium supplement.0
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Amazon's potassium-based salt substitutes - they have both straight potassium and potassium/sodium blends.1
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Even tea and coffee has potassium. There's no law about labeling to include potassium info, so you may be getting more than you think.
Plus, that's not lost as easily as magnesium and sodium, so it's not as worrisome. Lots of people use a Salt substitute like Lite Salt or Nu Salt to add just a little extra each day.0 -
I'm a Lite Salt user. 4g of lite salt + 32oz of water + a squirt of MIO keeps me right side up.2
