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!!!! ; )

How much sodium do you get? Low sodium can cause retention of water in an effort to lose more sodium.

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.

Whenever I have swelling anywhere I know I've let my sodium get too low.

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.

Does anyone supplement with sodium pills? If so, how much should you take, keto diet?

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!

Ever since having my last son, my feet and ankles swell in the heat. Hands too. I can't seem to prevent it.

Karlottap wrote: »

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.

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 @treehugnmama

@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.

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.