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Awful stomach cramps - what am I doing wrong?

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UMDavies
UMDavies Posts: 87 Member
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Hi all!

I've been keto/low carb for a couple of months now and it's all been going really well. Then last night I woke up with crippling stomach cramps and had to run to the toilet to 'eliminate' :( this happened a couple more times in the night and then today it's still cramping up, so much so that I've had to skip my university lectures and curl up on the sofa!

I'm not sure what it is - I've had a problem with constipation for the last couple of weeks and took a mild laxative on Sunday night which didn't seem to do anything. Could it be a delayed reaction from that? I also started taking a 600mg potassium supplement on Saturday as I've been getting leg cramps, but with the RDA at 3,500mg or so I didn't think it would cause a problem. I also take metformin for PCOS.

Has anyone experienced anything similar? :(

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  • ki4eld
    ki4eld Posts: 1,215 Member
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    Yes, it could be a delay from the laxative. Make sure you're getting enough magnesium, which will help with the constipation.

    Before I got fully adapted, say the first 6 months, I had a lot of problems with this. Once my system got some balance, I upped my daily magnesium, and upped my daily fluid intake to at least 10 cups a day, everything was fine.
  • lodro
    lodro Posts: 982 Member
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    Yes I have. One of the reasons is that going ketogenic is a drastic change in eating habits. Another reason is that with the change to fat metabolism also comes a change in gut microbes.

    Things you can do:

    1. Take a good quality, high count probiotic and do an intensive course of that for at least a few weeks
    2. Supplement with high dose vitamin C to concentrate fluids in your bowels . Part of this can be as a magnesium ascorbate, which helps even more because of the magnesium. This means taking 1000s of mg daily.
    3. (Counterintuitively) reduce your fibre intake if you were really really constipated.

    Up your fluid intake. However, this won't automatically mean that fluids will end up in your gut. You're using the vitamin C to regulate that.

    Now that I'm well adapted to the eating regime, things are ok, but it was a rough ride for a while. Good luck.
  • KnitOrMiss
    KnitOrMiss Posts: 10,104 Member
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    I have that type of reaction when I have coconut oil and anything vinegar related within 4 hours of each other.

    Of course, I had that reaction with Metformin and dairy and also with Meformin and carbs... Violently. So if you've changed what you ate around the time (within 1-2 hours either side of it) you take your Metformin, consider that.

    Most folks don't have to supplement too much potassium, but over 85% of first world population is deficient in magnesium (almost any form that's not magnesium oxide is great - start slow and work up).

    Agree on the constipation, get rid of fiber and add fats. Add fluids. Sodium. Magnesium and potassium...

    Also, SOOOOOO much agreement on the probiotic. Many options there...

    And laxatives are counter productive. They'll make it harder for your body to work right...
  • lodro
    lodro Posts: 982 Member
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    indeed. stay away from laxatives. those aren't helping you.
  • UMDavies
    UMDavies Posts: 87 Member
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    Thanks everyone! I'm feeling better now and hopefully will be fully functional again tomorrow morning. I am taking a magnesium citrate supplement each evening but will look into whether I can increase the dosage, and I've got a probiotic I used to take a few months ago I can start using again as well. Hopefully these will help! Thank you so much for all the help - I will definitely be binning the laxatives from now on :D
  • PasPlus
    PasPlus Posts: 31 Member
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    Did you also add or increase Peanuts or Dairy - or something else you have an intolerance to? Cleans out my plumbing every time :-)

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