Hi all! I started Low Carb again and after about 2 weeks now I'm having horrible leg cramps, especially at night, in the calves and feet. I have been taking the Rite Aid Potassium Gluconate 99mg and I've been taking quite a bit a day and while before (when not on low carb) it would help, it seems like no matter how much I take, it's not enough! The other day I must have taken a total of 9 tablets and around 7 or so were in the evening after 8pm. I took 2 in the morning, then 3 before bed, then still had leg cramps and got up to walk around and took another 2 around 2 in the morning, didn't do much good, then around 4 in the morning I took another 2... Anyway, for the last two nights I haven't slept almost at all; my legs tingle all night and every time I move position they stiffen up either in my toes or calves or arches. I don't know if I should take more potassium or if it won't be safe. I am eating pretty much just eggs, tuna, and chicken right now, and a little bit of cheese, and I try not to eat after 7pm. I'm also taking 4 tablets of Chilated Magnesium every day and a multi-vitamin. Thanks for any help!

If you really need potassium go with potassium salt. The amount you get from normal US supplements is pretty much useless

Instead of the supplements, you might want to try eating an avacado, they are a great source of potassium. Plus, make sure you are drinking plenty of water.

I don't like avocados . Still though, you're saying to "eat" more potassium so it means that I CAN take more of the supplements and it would be okay? My question is how much is it okay to take, regardless of where it comes from, every day?
Thanks!

I can't tolerate any amount of either magnesium or potassium, so I can't tell you how much is safe to take - however, that info should be accessible via google.

I can't find it, but there's some other forum devoted to zero carb that had a long message thread about leg cramps and the consensus seemed to be to make sure to stop eating any SALT.

There are lots of mineral deficiencies which result in horrific leg cramps -- that's why some people swear by calcium, others swear by magnesium, and plenty tout potassium as the answer.

Do you also, along with the cramping, have Restless Leg Syndrome?

RLS indicates an iron deficiency -- and I noticed my leg cramps decreased by at least 80 % when I took iron.

They went entirely away I stopped eating fructose-rich carbohydrates and changed to starches.

Here's a google search about leg cramps that may interest you:

http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&...ssium+magnesium

I have those! Usually when I get light-headed, tired and shooting pains in my hips its low potassium. I don't take more then 4 of the 99mg ones. When I get pains in my feet and calves I take 3 calcium/magnesium/zinc spread out through the day which is 100% RDA. Usually the cramping goes away in about 15 minutes with the cal/mag/zinc.

NO SALT, the salt replacement "spice" has like 600mg of potassium. Myself, I found magnesium to be a better help for my particular leg cramps.

Hope you find your answer soon!

Wow - this one sounds like a tough situation.

I wouldn't personally recommend taking that many potassium tablets. I agree with the suggestion to maybe buy some of that Morton's Lite Salt which contains a good amount of potassium.

Speaking of salt - salt could be an issue too. Everyone hears that they need cal/mag and potassium, and potassium is one of the more talked about supplements in terms of leg cramps and so on. I got cramps really bad a couple of summers ago, and it moved from not just my legs but to all kinds of other places in my body (chest, arms, legs, back, neck). Cramps then turned into spasms. So...went to the doctor, and it turned out I was low on *sodium*. Not something I would have thought of.

When you lose water weight quickly (as on a low-carb diet), it's important to keep your electrolytes in balance. This kind of situation usually happens when you're just starting back on a really low-carb plan. Sloughing off a lot of water weight. Well, there goes the electrolytes - unless you pay attention and replace them, either from improving your diet or getting the right supplements.

I would strongly recommend eating the three cups of vegetables every day, as per Dr. Atkins' Rules of Induction. Two cups salad veggies and one cup 'other' veggies from the lists. Or, three cups salad veggies - whatever works. Sounds like a lot, but it's really not. He says 'loosely packed' when referring to salad veggies, so it's not like you're going to be eating tons of salad stuff.

Get yourself a good multi-mineral supplement - that's what I did, and it worked better for me than trying to figure out how much potassium, how much calcium, how much magnesium. The one I have contains 500mg magnesium, 500 mg calcium, 99mg potassium. I get 'extra' potassium from my daily vegetables. Even romaine lettuce contains a good amount of potassium. If you don't like avocadoes, that's fine - there's lots of other green veggies that are pretty good on the potassium front.

If you're drinking a ton of water, and losing weight quickly - you could be depleting sodium a wee bit. To remedy this - you can cut back on the water intake, and don't be shy about using a tiny bit of salt on your meals. I don't think we actually *need* a ton of added salt, so I'm not saying - use a lot of salt. Just if you get into this scenario of cramps that won't get away - a teensy tiny bit of salt on your food might be a good idea.

Low-carb is a pretty low-sodium plan, since we're not eating any processed foods. Combine that with the quick water weight loss, and perhaps drinking lots of water from the feeling of dehydration...and you get possibly 'low sodium' too.

So, as you can see - it's not just about potassium.

You need calcium, magnesium, sodium and potassium. They work together.

I don't think you'll gain weight from eating 3 cups of salad veggies a day. The stall foods seem to be things like too much dairy, too many nuts, too many low-carb desserts and so on.

Try to think more holistically - not just meat and potassium.

How about a spinach salad with chopped bacon, chopped hard boiled egg, two or three tiny grape tomatoes cut into quarters, some green onion ends, some sliced cucumber, whatever you like - with some nice homemade salad dressing?

I think you'll find that you feel better.

Hope this helps

This is a good answer!

In "The Protein Power Life Plan", written by Drs. Michael and Mary Dan Eades, they recommend 4 of the potassium supplements as well.

Seems to be a good number when you're in the throes of new-ish low-carbing or newly back on track.

Another anedcote - when I was dealing with trying to get just the right minerals, I discovered that a 1:1 ratio of calcium/magesium worked best for me. A lot of the cal-mag supplements seem to be a 2:1 ratio. That just didn't work out for me. Lo and behold, just reading through the Protein Power Life Plan book again, trying to find the potassium info - came across the recommendations for calcium/magnesium - which seems to be for an 'equal' amount of calcium and magnesium in the overall diet. That's what ended up working out better for me than the "usual" cal-mag supplements that contained twice as much calcium to magnesium.

The RDA for potassium is like 4700 mg. So you'd have to take 47 of those 99 mg supplements to get to that. Fortunately most food has potassium too.