Bit of a scary episode this morning
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kristafb
Posts: 770 Member
I worked all night and while at work I did feel a bit light headed once or twice but nothing serious, I honestly thought it was related to a bit of a head cold I had been getting. Then once I was home and asleep, I woke up but the worst cramps in my leg, i get them often, even before this WOE, but this was the worst. I tried to get up and walk to down the hall to streatch it out but then my ears started ringing & I started to black out. I had to lay on the floor, and I may have passed out for a bit, I'm not sure. Either way it scared the crap out of me!
Yesterday my food intake was a bit low but I had slept through the day due to night shifts, so I didn't have 1 meal, and I still ate almost 1200 calories & my macros were good. Also I drank broth for the first time yesterday (yuck btw) and started taking a good multivitamin as well. I've been taking magnesium all along but have been nervous to take potassium.
Has anyone else experienced this?? any idea what might have happened? I feel fine now, other than a leg that feels like I ran a marathon on it..
Yesterday my food intake was a bit low but I had slept through the day due to night shifts, so I didn't have 1 meal, and I still ate almost 1200 calories & my macros were good. Also I drank broth for the first time yesterday (yuck btw) and started taking a good multivitamin as well. I've been taking magnesium all along but have been nervous to take potassium.
Has anyone else experienced this?? any idea what might have happened? I feel fine now, other than a leg that feels like I ran a marathon on it..
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Yikes! Scary. No haven't had that happen. I have had some leg cramping in the first few days of KETO but nothing like what you described!0
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Cramping is usually magnesium deficiency. Try taking slow mag supplement for 2-3 weeks, it's pretty common treatment for athletes who suffer cramps.0
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Has anyone else experienced this?? any idea what might have happened? I feel fine now, other than a leg that feels like I ran a marathon on it..
Yes, I've had this happen to me. And also nearly fainting when rising from a sitting to a standing position. And occasionally getting a wierd tingling sensation at the base of my spine that makes my legs feel like they're going to give out underneath me. Very scary stuff :-(
And all directly related to too few overall calories combined w/ severely low carb intake (which is what I saw in your diary from yesterday), and electrolytes that have become out of balance because of it. This isn't anything to mess around with...you have to keep your calories up, Krista! If you haven't read this already, it's pretty informative and may scare you straight into making sure to keep your overall calorie levels at body sustaining levels: http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/759713-ketosis-ketoacidosis-extra-info-to-share
I'm sorry that happened to you, but sometimes this is how we learn. Because of the appetite suppressing nature of low carb/keto, it's so important that we make sure we're somehow getting the nutrients in we need. It can be hard sometimes, but dealing with the physical repercussions that you described when we don't eat enough is even harder.
And don't be afraid of potassium...it's one of your very best friends on this way of eating. ;-)0 -
Last year I had several episodes just like what you described and ended up at a neurologist. Luckily all tests came back negative and it turned out to be that I was consuming too few calories, which prevented me from getting the macros and micros my body needed, for the amount of exercise I was doing. I was eating 1200 calories but burning way more than that from everyday activity and cardio. My body was exhausted and suffering. I would just make sure that you eat adequate calories and pay attention to those micronutrients!0
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Thank for you all for the feedback. I hadn't noticed how low my carbs were yesterday, I was concentrating more on getting my fat grams up, assuming my carbs were in a decent range. I wonder now if I had low blood sugar and if the near fainting wasn't really related to the leg cramp, just the getting up out of bed too quickly caused that.
I have been taking magnesium for years and actually upped my dose about a month ago mainly because it helps keeps things moving (if you get my drift) and I was having issues in that area. I'm going to pick up a potassium supplement today and start off adding a bit and see if it helps.
I had gone to one of the keto calculators last week and recalculated my macros to see if I should change it at all, in an effort to raise my ketone levels because they dropped when I had a little easter dinner at my moms. My macros were spot on but it said I had my calories set too high and should lower them to approx 1400, which I did. Since I did that I have been seen small losses again, and today my ketone went from 0.5 yesterday to 1.3 (my highest) today.
I'm hoping this episode is just a one off and it will be smooth sailing from here. I think I may eat a few extra carbs today in case it was low blood sugar, I also think I'll book an appointment with my doctor to be on the safe side.
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I'm going to pick up a potassium supplement today and start off adding a bit and see if it helps.
Keep in mind that those supplements usually only contain like 99mg per pill...not enough to put a dent in your daily requirements. I still take one every day along w/ my medicine cabinet of other supps, because I figure it can't hurt, but you're really not going to get much from a pill or two. You'd be best off incorporating servings of the low carb foods that are naturally high in potassium, if possible. Here's a good link that speaks to that affect, keeping in mind not all the foods recommended are appropriate for our way of eating: http://www.essortment.com/food-high-potassium-36046.html
But definitely things like spinach, broccoli, avocado, tomatoes, winter squash (spaghetti)...which also help to get your carb count a little bit higher in a good way.
Good luck to you!0 -
OMG! I thought it was just me. I nearly passed out, was extremely disoriented and dizzy going on a walk through a park. I had to sit down for awhile and then I was still shaky. Thank goodness I was with someone who did get me back to the car and back home safely. This happened to me on Sunday after going to a huge brunch. I have vertigo which is what I blamed it on but I didn't do any sudden movements with my head to bring this on. I take potassium and magnesium supplements along with my multi-vitamin. I also get leg cramps but I've always had them. My calories are on the low side, I know this, but the day before I was way over and just the brunch was 750 calories. Maybe it is my vertigo.0
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Take slow Magnesium supplements, I had the same problem earlier on Keto. Once I changed the magnesium supplement to slow Mag 64, these symptoms went away after 3 weeks. Another thing which helps me is raw pumpkin seeds, 1/4 cup had around 45% RDA of magnesium. I took these slow mag for 3 weeks and now I do when ever I need. Most of magnesium supplements are not absorbed by body.0
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Take slow Magnesium supplements, I had the same problem earlier on Keto. Once I changed the magnesium supplement to slow Mag 64, these symptoms went away after 3 weeks. Another thing which helps me is raw pumpkin seeds, 1/4 cup had around 45% RDA of magnesium. I took these slow mag for 3 weeks and now I do when ever I need. Most of magnesium supplements are not absorbed by body.
Thank you for this info. I had no idea about pumpkin seeds I'll get some tomorrow! I've been taking Calm magnesium I have no idea if it's slow or not. I'll check into the slow mag thing. Thanks Leonidas!!0 -
Take slow Magnesium supplements, I had the same problem earlier on Keto. Once I changed the magnesium supplement to slow Mag 64, these symptoms went away after 3 weeks. Another thing which helps me is raw pumpkin seeds, 1/4 cup had around 45% RDA of magnesium. I took these slow mag for 3 weeks and now I do when ever I need. Most of magnesium supplements are not absorbed by body.
Thank you for this info. I had no idea about pumpkin seeds I'll get some tomorrow! I've been taking Calm magnesium I have no idea if it's slow or not. I'll check into the slow mag thing. Thanks Leonidas!!
Not sure if you have same problem as I did with cramps but worth a try. I do get dizzy once in a while when I stand up from a sitting position. It used to happen frequently on the days I would run 2-3 hrs. Now I make sure I drink coconut water with light salt on the days I train more than 2 hrs. Electrolyte balance and hydration is very tricky for me in keto diets.0 -
Ca deficiency? Mg must always be taken with Ca!
the only problem with too much Mg is that it's a natural laxitive, but not enough Ca with it will cause cramping.0
