Not sure where to ask this so I'll start here and trust the moderators to move it where it is appropriate.
I've recently (3-4 weeks) started having severe muscle spasms...mostly in my right side about where we used to get a "stitch" when we ran as kids. I thought at first I had simply strained a muscle at the gym but this week I got a severe one in my right shoulder lifting something very light - apparently in an awkward position (I think it was just dragging a coat across the front seat of my car...that light).
I got rid of the shoulder problem after a day with deep muscle massage but the right side spasm keeps coming and going. It spasms especially when I am lying down in bed and just rolling from one side to the other and lifting my leg a little as I shift position.
It took me until now to realize that this may be the result of a some dietary deficiency. I have been on Atkins since April and losing weight and feeling pretty good about myself.
I've never been a "supplement" kind of person but after reading this forum have been taking the following for about 3 months:
- Citracal Plus (500 mg calcium & 80 mg magnesium) twice a day
- Potassium (99 mg once a day)
- Vitamin C (1000 mg once a day)
- One Source (100 mg magnesium, 80 mg potassium, etc. once a day)

Should I be taking more of something specifically to make my muscles work better? I have had a bad back for 30 years since tearing a lower muscle years ago putting a snowplow on my truck and have cortisone shots (series of 3) every 8-10 months plus a steady diet of painkillers and muscle relaxants.

With the pain pills and muscle relaxants I can get by with the current spasm problem but I hate to be dependent upon them. Since losing so much weight I have been generally able to cut way back on the pain pills and muscle relaxants.

I apologize for the length of this but it's 3 a.m. and I rolled over and spasmed and the pain forced me out of bed and wondering what the heck is going on and whether it might be as simple as a dietary insufficiency. The spasm/pain is such that sleep becomes impossible once I go into it.

I love the Atkins, am staying generally below 20 carbs a day and have no problem with the concept of staying with this WOE for the rest of my life because it is so nice to be slowly shedding all of the fat I have carried for so much of my lifetime.

These spasms are a nightmare however.

Oh, at the gym, my workout has been simply a 3 mph walk for two miles every single day, 15 minutes of back and leg stretches on a Precor Stretch exerciser, and until recently back hyper extension work with 120 lbs. 3 sets of 12 reps.

Any help gratefully accepted.

I would have to say that this is one for your doctor to figure out. Is your "stitch" definately a *spasm*? It sounds more like you've pulled the muscle. Perhaps both. Perhaps neither...

It *could* be an electrolyte issue, but you've been on Atkins since April. Unless you've made a huge change in the last few weeks, I'd hesitate to blame diet.

It would probably be best to get it checked out. Hope you're feeling better soon.

99 mg is way low. When I'm working out, I take 3 pills three times a day and I use salt substitute, which contains potassium, too.

spasm is the phrase the massage therapist used.........I thought at first I had 'tweaked' something but it doesn't seem to get any better by avoiding the back hyperextensions etc.
The massage got rid of the one in my right shoulder (though the whole area feels like I got kicked by a horse now)....but I can move it without any pain.....it's just sore to touch and prod.
The stitch/spasm comes and goes and the pain is dependent on the ype of movement I do and how I raise my right leg or stretch at the same time.
I bought some more calcium & magnesium supplements this morning so I can quadruple my intake and see if that helps at all.
As far as drastic change is concerned, none. I eat pretty much the same stuff all the time and drink about the same amount of water each day..........something I still have to force myself to remember to do.
The only thing changing s the weather and COLD weather definitely makes me more sore.
I'd go a doctor if 1) there were anyone I actually thought knew much about what they are talking about and 2) if I could get an appointment in less than 3-4 weeks. I do have an appt. next week with my orthopaedic surgeon which I made to ask about my hand and now will use as well to complain about my new aches and pains.
Maybe I'm just getting too old and should quit while I am ahead?

won't help if low K+ is the problem.

Are you doing any regular stretching?

Whoa - don't do that without checking in with a pharmacist. You're already taking a gram a day of calcium - just 4 grams a day can disable your body's normal ability to process it. 'Too much' can be as bad as 'not enough.' cs_carver was correct in that 99 mg is a low dose of potassium, and you could increase that. But again, if you're not getting enough of one of those, why did this problem just pop up now and not when you started? And why those two specific areas, which you happened to be exercising, and not feet and legs like most electrolyte-deficient LCers experience? I really think it sounds more like an injury. (General disclaimer - these are my random thoughts, not a medical diagnosis.)

FWIW, there is a shortage of family physicians in my town, and I have no doctor. I know what you mean about not being able to see a doctor.

doctors you can get an appointment with.
I have had MRIs, X-rays, myriad Physical Therapy and Massage Therapy treatments over the years for my lower back where I actually tore a muscle on one side and now have a worse situation in the opposite side from compensating for 30 years.
I just get tired of seeing doctors, filling out forms they never read, trying whatever latest drug the salespeople have dropped off samples for.
I have reluctantly concluded my lower back scar tissue and pains will stay with me for the rest of my life. The new pains, the stitch in my side (which is almost like a case of tendonitis just above the iliatic crest) and the rewcent shoulder one are the reasons I was asking about my diet. It was the only thing I could think of that has changed and only in terms of possibly not taking in enough of the necessary vitamins etc.
As far as doubling and quadrupling is concerned, I read in another thread when I searched before posting this one that we should be getting about 400 mg of magnesium and 1,000 of calcium...as I recall.
With what I have been taking, two more tablets of the combined calcium-magnesium would just about have me at those limits.

I'm sorry you are having such a rough time. I take 400 mg of mag, 1000 of cal and a little under 400 of potassium. If I go lower than this for any extended amount of time I have HORRIBLE leg/toe cramps. That dosage isn't dangerous HOWEVER I agree with Kristine that something else could be going on. I too am nowhere near being a doc-- this is just my opinion. I tend to see people complaining more of leg muscle problems than in the upper body.

My DH has had MANY health problems in the last couple of years. He also suffers from horrible muscle spasms in his back and side area. Unfortunately he HATES doctors and takes care of himself poorly so we don't know what's causing it. It would not surprise me if he is deficient in something but who knows what. He won't see that doc about it so -- what am I gonna do?

If this is caused by a deficiency of some sort, perhaps you could exacerbate the problem by giving yourself too much of the wrong supplement. The nutrients in your body should all balance and by giving yourself too much of one thing you can make yourself deficient in others. This does not sound like the classic leg cramp, mag/cal/potassium thing. I'd see a doc or at least talk to a knowledgeable pharmacist if you are going to try to find a supplement to hold you over until you can get in to see the doc.

Good luck. Seeing my DH double over in pain with cramps is awful. I can just imagine what you are going through. Do let us know what happens with the doc.

will have some answers.
My six-month blood workup for my cardiologist is due to be taken next week so I will get my "gatekeeper physician" to order a complete blood workup in conjunction with my usual bloodwork and the results should point to any particular deficiency.
I just realized that may be the best approach since the regular analysis is going to be done anyways.
Thanks for the answers to date.

If it is, i might be gallstones. The pain is terrible and it can sometimes also be felt through to the back and out in the shoulder/arm area. The best thing to do is to contact a doctor ASAP and get it checked. Here they do ultrasound to check it out. IF it's gallstones, it might help to moderate fat intake a bit and drink a lot of water. I had this pain for years on and off - then all the time. Took me a long time to find what it was. The doc told me it was usually happening to women who had "at least two of the three F's", Female, Fat and Forty......I had all three - and said "thankyou for telling me I'm fat !" (I'm not overweight, - I'm undertall actually).

I hope you find it's not this !

Good luck at your doctors appointement !

this morning started out saying perhaps I should see a doctor because of where it seemed to be located......but once she started working on it said it is definitely a muscle and definitely in spasm.
She says the area is noticeably swollen and anyone looking at it (while I am laying on back with shirt off) would spot it immediately.
She positively 'wrecked me for one hour' so I'll see where that takes me the next few days. In the meantime, I'm getting a script for a full CBC and blood chemistry while we do the other blood work next week.
One thing though......therapist said just about every single muscle in every location on my body is "tensed up"...........something I have heard before from physical therapists..........so perhaps I need to start looking into ways to relax my body.
I've never tried any of the yoga/meditation whatever fads but it may be time to look into some of them.
Just when my fat was disappearing and I felt better about myself - now I have to confront this situation.

it's not gallstones !!!

I once found a lump in my breast .... or so I thought. Was in agony for a week until I finalley got to se the doc. It was a muscle lump right UNDER my breast !
(a muscle tweaked between two ribs ! It took 14 days for it to loosen up, but I didn't have treatments like you) I'm always happy when it turns out to be something simple and not in need of surgery or other radical treatment !

I know it's very painful for you, and I hope you will get better soon !!

I'm glad to here it's not gallstones, but I would still keep an I on it.

I've never heard someone explain pain as a "stich like when you were little" before, but that's EXACTLY what it felt like when I had gallstones.

I was only 21 at the time, so the doctors overlooked it for 2 weeks. By the time I went to the emergency room and put my foot down I literally said, "I'm not leaving until you figure out what's wrong with me." The gallstones had fallen out of my gallbladder and were blocking my bile ducts. I was servely dehydrated and dangerously close to pancreatitis because my bile was backing up into my pancreas. I could have died.

My point being, keep and eye on that "stich" and don't take "oh we'll run some tests and see what's going on...." as an answer from the doctors if you are in pain. You know your body better than they do and usually if they look hard enough it's right in front of their face.

I hope you feel better!

done doesn't make it less painful.
According to my GP, I have indeed injured some external abductor obliques and some affiliated muscle area. How, Lord only knows because I was not aware of it when it happened. I may have 'strained' them doing the limited amount of exercise I do at the gym each day which is mostly treadmilling and some stretching work but has included a very small amount of back hyperextension and minimal ab work.
The good news is the spasm and serious pain is limited to the first couple of hours or so after I first get out of bed. Once I have been up for awhile and moving in various positions, the rest of the day is a snap until I lie down again for any period of time.
The bloodwork is all at the lab with prescriptions from three doctors for the various tests like CBC panel, full chem screen, SGOT, etc. etc. and I should start get calls from the physician's offices today or Monday - thanks to the stupid new HIPPA rules it is harder to get simple phone calls messages left on answering machines etc. than in the past.

and cotor says all panels look fine and withing normal ranges for everything.
Haven't gotten cholesterol and SGOT stuff back from cardioligist but all that was good in June, cholesterol down to 121..........