Anxious about Electrolytes - Please be gentle!

Sesquy

I have anxiety and chronic panic disorder. Experiencing keto flu a bit and have heard mixed things about addressing it. I'm only one week in to strict keto and known it may be unavoidable (I dropped carb intake to 5% cold turkey after having a unruly diet of way too many carbs.) But I am unsure about electrolyte intake now.

I'm scared to do it wrong because I'm very much a hypochondriac when it comes to any unwell feeling. Grinding my teeth in my sleep, for example, leaves me thinking I'm dying all day even though it's a simple tension headache one ibuprofen resolves.

I also haven't felt this good in years otherwise. I'm energetic. I'm happy. My depression is virtually gone.

My stats are:
M/5'7"/28/221lbs (30-35% BMI), Low Activity

My daily minimums now are:
• 3000-3500mg Sodium
• 3000-3500mg Potassium
• 300-500 Magnesium
• 100% DV Calcium
• 1500kcal, 70fat/25protein/5carb for %'s.
• No issues hitting macros, hydration, etc.!

I'm not shaky. I get palps a bit but that seems to be always due to panic triggers rather. I just have a bit of brain fog, some sinus draining (I read that happens) and feeling a bit of that overall "blah" feeling like when you have the flu. (Or maybe I'm actually sick! I live in a high traffic household so I often catch whatever bug is going around town.) Those are the only symptoms I have. I often seem to feel fine after a relaxing shower. Maybe it's mostly anxiety and my body getting used to ketones, something it likely hasn't used in years, if not a decade.

I have seen articles telling me I should aim for 5000mg sodium but I worry that might make me sick. I also have GI issues so salt irritates me easily. My intake is probably low but my anxiety keeps me from eating that much salt because all these articles have ranges as low as 2g and as high as 5 or even 1g of potassium minimum!? With all the pressure over electrolytes it's so overwhelming. Ahhhh!!!

I also know there's solutions I can buy but I don't do my own shopping (my household is providing for me as I continue job searching; long term unemployment with no benefits.) I try to limit my meals to $3 of under each, eating 2 meals and a light keto snack or two a day. I can ask for specific things but can't always guarantee getting them.

If this is all truly temporary for the next day or two, or upping salt/etc. can be done inexpensively and safely, I'm happy to hear reassurance. Unfortunately I'm unemployed and uninsured so I cannot afford a PCP/GP to consult with. Thus, I'm stuck relying on correlating statistical data from public posts/articles to make informed decisions.

If I'm doing everything right, then reassurance is greatly appreciated. It's scary. I've never taken my health so seriously and it's scary even though I'm feeling good more often than not in such a short time.

Sesquy

I've slowly been upping pink salt a little bit to test the waters. It seems to help a bit, but tasting the salt makes my brain go "oh no, sodium! That's bad for you!" thus triggering anxiety that spirals into a panic attack. (I added 1tsp Himalayan to this salad as I planned for the day and that's what's happening right now. Anxiety because I taste salt, and extra anxiety because it made me feel a bit better. I used to have medication for this so it's a bit hard to control now. lol I feel so stupid, sorry.)

It seems to help a bit, just hard to really put a finger on what's truly safe due to all the articles stating so many different numbers while discounting articles claiming higher or lower counts. Mixed signals are no bueno for this anxiety.

kpk54

I was a bit anti salt as an individual who, pre weight loss (2014), was on a low sodium diet and meds for high blood pressure. That's all behind me.

In 2016 I opted to trial keto for reason other than weight management and read most frequently that sodium intake with keto should be about 3000 to 5000 mg per day. I never got keto flu. I suppose that is because if I started feeling sluggish or light headed or whatever I recognized it as a keto flu symptom and took a hit of sodium.

My method of sodium intake other than normal salt use on food is to dump about 1/2 tsp in my palm, lick it off and wash it down with water. Over and done. Sometimes I drink salty broth. I'm not into specialty stuff. I just use plain table salt though I do have the pink stuff and it does taste better.

I took 100mg of magnesium glycinate for a while. My initial reluctance to up my salt/sodium intake resulted night leg cramps so the magnesium was needed. I no longer take magnesium except occasionally to finish the bottle.

I've never supplemented with potassium. Most people get far more of it than we know. It is not currently required on product labels so how would we know unless we looked it up. Most mfp entries don't reflect potassium. Potassium is starting to show up on labels in the USA. The gov't mandated all companies with sales over 10M add it to product labels by July 2018 but that has been put on hold with no new requirement date established. Go figure.

I like to think with the exception of sodium, I get what I need in my food choices. My general health seems to indicate that might be true.

Good luck to you. There are a lot of helpful folks here. Choose to keep things simple...keep your carbs low, your sodium up and calories in check. To me, most everything else is just noise.

Sesquy

Thank you! I slowly added a bit of sodium at a time through to day today and it did help. I just had to keep reminding myself what I was doing wasn't dangerous (probably got to around 4000mg with the extra) and I started to feel better quickly. Again, thank you for your insight!

nvmomketo

I'm another who was reluctant to add salt at first ( I believed the old low sodium dogma) so I ended up with fatigue, headaches and leg cramps... The leg cramps convinced me to add salt.

My problem was that I'd list my taste for it and did not add it to food. I decided taking half a teaspoon of salt with water, once or twice a day, would work best. It did. . It's hard to let go of the old ways, isn't it?

Perhaps a nice cup/bowl of a salty bullion /broth would work for you too?

Sesquy

I added Boullion/bone broth to my household's list so hopefully that should make things easier! I have to say, more salt really did the trick I think. Also going from probably around an unhealthy ~500g levels of carbs to around 20 net daily didn't make things any easier for me. But feeling good! Thank you.

jheye

Stick with basic table salt and bouillon like you're doing and you'll be fine. DO NOT use potassium chloride (low sodium salt substitute) or mess around with potassium supplements. It's much easier to overdo potassium, so you'll just stress yourself out worrying about it, and it could potentially interfere with some medications you might be taking. Instead eat avocados, spinach and mushrooms to boost potassium- put some mushrooms into your bouillon!

Sunny_Bunny_

I agree with the caution against taking potassium. If you keep sodium up, you don’t need to worry about potassium unless you have deficiency confirmed with a blood test.

Here’s a great article about sodium and why it’s important.
https://blog.virtahealth.com/sodium-nutritional-ketosis-keto-flu-adrenal-function/

pattycakes_bakersman

I used Vega electrolyte sport drink to get through keto flu. Maybe I didn't need it and it only had a placebo effect. Who knows? It's tasty and one of the only drinks on the market that doesn't have sugar.

kpk54

pattycakes_bakersman wrote: »

I used Vega electrolyte sport drink to get through keto flu. Maybe I didn't need it and it only had a placebo effect. Who knows? It's tasty and one of the only drinks on the market that doesn't have sugar.

If it provides the electrolytes you need to keep "keto flu" at bay, you enjoy it and it doesn't deter you from meeting your other goals I say go for it! A best way to keep your sodium up is via a method you'll use. If at some point you're needing a little more salt, add it. Many report the amount of sodium in electrolyte drinks is not enough. That point is well taken depending on the drink and depending on how many are used in a day and depending on how much salt one is getting elsewhere.

The important thing is your acknowledgement that increased sodium is of value (recommended and needed by most if not all) and you're following through. My method of adding a half teaspoon or so of salt to my palm, licking it off and washing it down with some sort of liquid works for me but most certainly is not favorable to all. I see it as quick, easy and effective. That quantity may make others ill and certainly others may find it just plain crude.

elize7

Can't emphasize enough how important salt is to me in this way of life. I have a cup of bouillion first thing in the AM - even before coffee. In a heat wave I'll add another cup in the afternoon!! I've never had keto flu as I started off keto with that info coming from my doc.
I also carry some Bouillion cubes in my purse in case I notice that my electrolytes are wonky and will gnaw on them as needed if I feel I need to. In about 20 minutes, I'm good to go. That fast.
I advocate listening to your own body after becoming informed about the processes occurring in your body while eating keto.

Your other stats and supplements are similar to mine except that I am much older. Good luck with this. It's a great way of eating for both health and weightloss, as well as amazing energy.

cgcrutch

Is there any way to STOP having to pee every 30 minutes?

chinatowninchina

eat carbs.........LOL!!

kpk54

cgcrutch wrote: »

Is there any way to STOP having to pee every 30 minutes?

Are you drinking more liquids than you need?

Sunny_Bunny_

cgcrutch wrote: »

Is there any way to STOP having to pee every 30 minutes?

Getting enough sodium should help you hold fluids assuming you aren’t drinking more than you need.

cgcrutch

I only drink about 3 bottles of water a day, sometimes just 2

cgcrutch

I also start the day with coffee, half teaspoon lite salt and magnesium. And a multivitamin