Heart palpitations and muscle spams on keto

kaucar

Hi,

I've been on and off keto for a year now and I've lost 15 kg so far. I'm a 174 cm,19yo female who was 82kg when I first started and I'm 67 kg now.

Since restarting keto after a month of eating carbs normally, I've been having heart palpitations and muscle spams on and off almost daily. I've been to the doctor 3 times and all my bloodwork and ECG came out normal. The doctor says it's just anxiety but I'm very calm and I know my body and I can tell something is off.

It's worth mentioning that when I restarted keto after that month of eating carbs, I was supplementing with 1000mg of potassium and 300mg magnesium and salting my food so I don't think it was an electrolyte thing. Also, when I went to the ER with the heart palpitations I asked them to test my blood for electrolytes, and everything was within range.

I don't know what's going on. I've reintroduced carbs for 4 days but the palpitations were still there so I thought it was not due to being low carb. So for the past 5 days I've been keto-ing but the palpitations just got even worse.

I'm not diabetic and my thyroid was checked as well. I don't know what might be causing this but my mother thinks it's this "crazy" diet as she calls it that made me this way.

Any help from experienced ketoers would be much appreciated. Thanks in advance.

Sunny_Bunny_

It's not a good idea to supplement potassium. It can cause the heart palpitations you mention.
If you keep sodium up, potassium won't get low unless you have some condition that specifically causes it.
Supplementing magnesium and sodium is safe because an overdose of either of those just causes diarrhea. Over doing potassium can be fatal.
Get a minimum of 3000-5000mg sodium every single day and optionally supplement magnesium at any dose you tolerate up to the point of causing loose stool and skip the potassium unless you've been tested and show deficiency.

Sunny_Bunny_

Sodium is the primary electrolyte to supplement. It seems to be lowest in your list,..

kaucar

Thanks a lot, Sunny_Bunny. I read so much stuff online, especially the keto threads on reddit and everyone in there is using NoSalt and LoSalt and supplementing with all this potassium, so I thought I needed to do that too.

But I guess I don't really need to do that from what you're telling me. I'll start eating enough sodium to see how it works out and I'll stop the potassium supplements.

Thanks again.

silversnow7

The same thing was happening to me I figured out that my body was sending out alarms for low sugar so I added about a tablespoon of honey and after a few days it went away...I read about hypoglycemia and how low blood glucose can cause heart palpitations I’m not a diabetic but now I’m aware that when it happens I need to grab a little something to bring sugar up and the heart flutters go away.. I also bought a glucose starter kit just to check blood sugar levels to keep track it’s good to know even though I’m not a diabetic

Jigglypuff00

Where did you get potassium supplements for 1000mg? Most places only have less than 100mg. I had the heart palpitations too when I first started. But other than the 99mg of potassium, I didn't take anything else for potassium. I take a 300mg of magnesium also. Turns out I was really low on sodium. Once I upped that to 5000mg, I've been good.

ltlJohn

I would be very cautious taking potassium supplements - especially at 1000mg. Too much or too little potassium can be impact your heart. Have your doctor specifically check your potassium levels - you may be too high.

kpk54

OP hasn't been around for a while but the thread is certainly a reminder to others. Per many previous posts I have made: Effective 7/2018 ingredient labels in the USA will be required to have potassium listed on them. The point is we get more potassium from our foods than we are currently aware of. Potassium supplement can be risky as mentioned by several others above.

Sunny_Bunny_

You guys are right to warn of being careful in taking potassium. My daughter tests chronically low so she takes a prescription potassium supplement and it’s only 99mg. This is with a blood test verifying the need.
It’s definitely not good to be low but it’s equally dangerous if not more so to potentially take too much.

ladipoet

I had this same issue. For me it wasn't so much sodium which I was already getting plenty of but rather potassium.

62apples

avocados, egg yolks, oysters, and sardines.
these four items give you your vitamin and minerals.
a book could be written on each one.
Avocados are the potassium source. They are considered a free food because the fiber almost equals the carbs but that does not mean you eat tons of them. Some experts say 1/2 is great; other experts say one avocado is fine.
Egg yolk has choline and sulfur, which heals almost everything. Egg yolk is a natural vitamin-mineral supplement. Do not worry about the cholesterol of egg yolk. The body adjusts. Yolks have vitamins A, D, E, K, and minerals calcium, magnesium, iron, potassium, sodium, and selenium. Yolk choline -- help to regulate cardiovascular function.
Oysters do have carbs. A can is almost 8 carbs but they do not seem to act like veggie carbs. Oysters are full of minerals like zinc, potassium, and magnesium. Oysters fix heart problems.
Sardines with bones have every known and unknown mineral and is a source of quality omega-3 fatty acids which fixes the heart. My cheapest source is the trader joes brand.
Last item: Make sure you only breathe through your nose. Mouth breathing is the root of many illnesses.
Many people have been cured of extreme illnesses just by switching to nose only breathing.

Please do not make a bunch of comments on this. Let it be as it is.
The lady asked for advice; this is mine to her.
Put your advice as your own response.

tcunbeliever

It's nice to know that the avocados and eggs that I eat all the time are good for me...and I totally love oysters...but sardines...<shudder>...I don't know how anyone likes those...I can tolerate them in homemade caesar dressing, they lend a nice salty flavor and I chop them up super small so I don't notice them much...my mother loves them and eats them straight out of the can.

kpk54

Never thought to put sardines in Caesar dressing. I use anchovies.

tcunbeliever

I use anchovies if I can find them, but for whatever reason my local grocery is perpetually sold out, so most of the time I end up with sardines.

cargram

I had severe hart palpitations for 3 years (not related to Keto) - the were called PVCs. (Premature Ventricular Contractions). They drove me crazy and my cardiologist didn't have a good non-invasive solution. At his recommendation, I finally had an endoscopy done of my stomach and esophagus and found that I had acid reflux bad enough to cause ulcers. I never experienced heart burn, so this was a surprise. When I got the acid reflux under control the palpitations stopped. Seems the acid was triggering the Vegas nerve, which lies right up against the heart, thus causing the PVCs. If you are having any kind of heart burn or acid reflux along with your palpatations, try getting that under control and see if it helps.

busywaterbending

low potassium readings may be an adrenal fatigue symptom. THe hormones that regulate electrolytes may be off. See an endo for bloodwork. Especially your progesterone to estrogen ratio!

ClockWorKitten

Kaucar has it improved after stopping the potassium supplement?

KnitOrMiss

@kaucar - Any updates?