Muscle cramps

[expatkerry]

I've posted quite a bit lately and feel like I'm dominating the forum, sorry about this! Following some loading doses recently I've started to have muscle cramps in the hours following an injection and this morning my muscles in my back are really painful. I know high doses of B12 can disturb the balance of potassium but as I have massive problems taking oral supplements (and previous loading doses didn't provoke this problem) I hoped it would be OK. I don't have any other symptoms of low potassium (palpitations, weakness etc) in fact this is the best I've felt in weeks. I've decided to try a potassium supplement (600mg), but my question is: as symptoms are often exacerbated with the B12 injection, could the cramps be another manifestation of this as the days I don't inject I seem to be cramp free.

[Nackapan]

I've had cramps following my injection yesterday in my calves akso numbness in my heels. I thought pottassium so upped pottassium rich foods. Also advice on here is coconut water. Be careful with supplements .

I put it down to healing and hopefully that's what it is .

[expatkerry in reply to Nackapan]

Thank you, that reassures me. As I can't eat much the supplement seems to be my o ly option, at least it went sdown OK.

[Hidden in reply to expatkerry]

Be very careful with potassium supplements. The body needs this in a very fine balance. I took extra potassium through foods; coconut waters, nuts, avocados and after a few weeks got my bloods checked as I was having palpitations. My potassium went over range! GP said it was potentially dangerous to have high potassium for a long time.

[mourneadventurer]

Possibly consider ReMag and ReMyte (Botanicahealth). I’ve found the former as a topical lotion to reverse leg and foot cramps instantaneously.

Magnesium Miracle by Dr Carolyn Dean MD. ND is a relevant read along with her free ebooks and podcasts.

[deniseinmilden]

It definitely sounds like it could be potassium to me. Not all deficiency symptoms show up at the same level, they vary between people and also what else you've had to eat and drink - every vitamin and mineral function in your body is dependent on other ones and your hydration level, etc, so what's OK one day might be different on another.

Cramping might be the first symptom of low potassium for you and is for a lot of people.

Make sure you're OK for Magnesium too - it's also required for muscle contraction/relaxation and can often become a problem for people needing frequent B12 injections.

Iron is another one to be mindful of - some of the breathlessness that comes with iron deficiency is actually down to the intercostal muscles in your rib cage not working properly and it can affect other muscles too.

Can you cope with a broad spectrum multivitamin and mineral supplement?

Have you seen that "BetterYou" do a range of mouth sprays that can be better tolerated or absorbed by people with GI tract problems?

I can get potassium and magnesium into myself if I hold compounds of it in my mouth. OK it doesn't taste good but usually if I need it it doesn't taste too bad (nature's way of ensuring we don't get deficiency problems!) and I need less like that as it is actually absorbed better that way for me.

[expatkerry]

Thank you all for the input 😊 I will be careful with the supplements. Fbirder posted some time ago that you only need to supplement until the blood cells get a boost, so I'll bear this in mind. I also have to take into account that I have some malabsorption going on and a rather low intake of potassium rich foods due to massive intolerances. I'm going to check out the better you range, thank you.