Heavy Stiff Legs? Why?

[Dino D]

What do heavy stiff legs indicate?
Like there are inflamed, some jointepain, not flexible... often when bloated legs get heavy... atiff tendons...
If i train it gets worse, if i train more its like i get robot legs... its not always likw that
Eating lot less or low carbs makes it a bit better... also after super bowel flushes i get lighter in the legs, moving easier...

Anything specific?

 

[Inspired]

What part of your legs? Chronic compartment syndrome comes to mind. Do you use creatine?

Carbs=glycogen=pumped up/swollen muscles=chronic compartment syndrome.

 

[ubiety]

I had similar stiff leg issues a year or 2 ago, but without joint pain. Upping magnesium intake fixed it.

 

[Nemo]

Dino, had the same issue for years. Started eating 1-2 ounces of beef liver a day plus 5 drops of Haidut's Energin (B vitamins) and that cured it within a few days.

 

[Dino D]

I had similar stiff leg issues a year or 2 ago, but without joint pain. Upping magnesium intake fixed it.

Hey, thx i will look into it

 

[Dino D]

Dino, had the same issue for years. Started eating 1-2 ounces of beef liver a day plus 5 drops of Haidut's Energin (B vitamins) and that cured it within a few days.

Hm, ok i will look into it :)

 

[Inspired]

None of that stuff will help leg problems.
Then again, you didn't explain in enough detail.

Leg problems get worse. Shin splints, tearing muscles etc from bad mechanical compensation etc. Be careful. You need to reduce the size of your legs if they at all big or swollen.

If you're legs are skinny, then what I say may not apply.

 

[Dino D]

None of that stuff will help leg problems.
Then again, you didn't explain in enough detail.

Leg problems get worse. Shin splints, tearing muscles etc from bad mechanical compensation etc. Be careful. You need to reduce the size of your legs if they at all big or swollen.

If you're legs are skinny, then what I say may not apply.

I dont think its that, there are not big or anyting, they are normal...they are not super stiff, joint pain isnt really there, and I have had periods when they are light... they are not stiff in some specific part... general stifness... when I bloat it gets worse, and i'm bloated almost everyday :) hah

 

[EIRE24]

I have this exact problem myself and yes when I am bloated it is so much worse. My legs look so much bigger than they normally are like I have gained fat but I know that is not possible. I am going to try and eat some liver and see if it helps. I think perhaps I was eating too much calcium and this has also lowered magnesium and potassium which are also very important for circulation.

 

[Nemo]

I dont think its that, there are not big or anyting, they are normal...they are not super stiff, joint pain isnt really there, and I have had periods when they are light... they are not stiff in some specific part... general stifness... when I bloat it gets worse, and i'm bloated almost everyday :) hah

My legs felt like I was lugging two tree trunks around attached to my hips. But there was no edema. And I never had fat legs. I walk big dogs multiple times a day and they require long walks. I also work out with weights (not a bodybuilder or superathlete, but not a slug either).

I had been Peating for about 6 months (with no supplements) and though I felt better in all kinds of ways, my legs hadn't improved much. B vitamins turned them back into real working legs, for me.

I should say that I followed Masterjohn's advice on dividing the B vitamin dosage, as well as bites of liver and oysters, throughout the day. And I'm careful about niacinamide dosage because I once put my mother in the ER with a high niacinamide dosage for memory problems.

I used to eat liver once a week for B vitamins. That did not solve the problem.

 

[Nemo]

Also should have said that I had read that stiff heavy legs were a symptom of hypothyroidism. I had other symptoms of hypothyroidism, so it was easy to believe that was the problem. But my legs stayed heavy and stiff even as the other problems eased on a Peat diet (heart rate, morning temps, general energy level, sleep).

Dr. Peat says somewhere that the next step is B vitamins and I had been reading a Masterjohn piece on how different B vitamins were required to use thyroid hormone. I had been reading up on vitamins and I didn't see how I could be deficient in anything except B vitamins. But I also didn't see how I could NOT be deficient in some B vitamins.

So I tried them, in daily divided doses as described above, and the effects were dramatic. My legs improved immediately as described. But my eyebrows thickened and extended over the following weeks too. Best eyebrows of my life.

 

[Dino D]

Also should have said that I had read that stiff heavy legs were a symptom of hypothyroidism. I had other symptoms of hypothyroidism, so it was easy to believe that was the problem. But my legs stayed heavy and stiff even as the other problems eased on a Peat diet (heart rate, morning temps, general energy level, sleep).

Dr. Peat says somewhere that the next step is B vitamins and I had been reading a Masterjohn piece on how different B vitamins were required to use thyroid hormone. I had been reading up on vitamins and I didn't see how I could be deficient in anything except B vitamins. But I also didn't see how I could NOT be deficient in some B vitamins.

So I tried them, in daily divided doses as described above, and the effects were dramatic. My legs improved immediately as described. But my eyebrows thickened and extended over the following weeks too. Best eyebrows of my life.

I will try :)

 

[pepsi]

Do you work out a lot? Maybe its lactic acid? But you said its better with less carbs. I had a similar problem that was solved with carbs.

Before finding Ray Peat, I had a very physically demanding job and I was also on the paleo diet, after a month , my legs were burning and heavy like concrete, hard to move, they were like that all day. It was a horrible. I also got some spider veins just from those few months.

Once I found Ray Peat and changed my diet, the problem went away and my legs were light, I could move easily and quickly. I finally realized my body was breaking itself down and I was running off lactic acid all day. High carbs fixed my problem.

Just an idea if you havent found a cause yet.

 

[Dino D]

Do you work out a lot? Maybe its lactic acid? But you said its better with less carbs. I had a similar problem that was solved with carbs.

Before finding Ray Peat, I had a very physically demanding job and I was also on the paleo diet, after a month , my legs were burning and heavy like concrete, hard to move, they were like that all day. It was a horrible. I also got some spider veins just from those few months.

Once I found Ray Peat and changed my diet, the problem went away and my legs were light, I could move easily and quickly. I finally realized my body was breaking itself down and I was running off lactic acid all day. High carbs fixed my problem.

Just an idea if you havent found a cause yet.

Carbs bloat me...

 

[jet9]

Do you work out a lot? Maybe its lactic acid? But you said its better with less carbs. I had a similar problem that was solved with carbs.

Before finding Ray Peat, I had a very physically demanding job and I was also on the paleo diet, after a month , my legs were burning and heavy like concrete, hard to move, they were like that all day. It was a horrible. I also got some spider veins just from those few months.

Once I found Ray Peat and changed my diet, the problem went away and my legs were light, I could move easily and quickly. I finally realized my body was breaking itself down and I was running off lactic acid all day. High carbs fixed my problem.

Just an idea if you havent found a cause yet.

Christina, could you tell what source of carbs do you use ?
Sugar ones like fruits, honey, OJ, etc
Or starch ones like potatoes, rice, etc

 

[charlie]

My legs felt like I was lugging two tree trunks around attached to my hips. But there was no edema. And I never had fat legs. I walk big dogs multiple times a day and they require long walks. I also work out with weights (not a bodybuilder or superathlete, but not a slug either).

I had been Peating for about 6 months (with no supplements) and though I felt better in all kinds of ways, my legs hadn't improved much. B vitamins turned them back into real working legs, for me.

I should say that I followed Masterjohn's advice on dividing the B vitamin dosage, as well as bites of liver and oysters, throughout the day. And I'm careful about niacinamide dosage because I once put my mother in the ER with a high niacinamide dosage for memory problems.

I used to eat liver once a week for B vitamins. That did not solve the problem.

Sounds like beriberi. A vitamin B1 deficiency.

 

[pepsi]

Christina, could you tell what source of carbs do you use ?
Sugar ones like fruits, honey, OJ, etc
Or starch ones like potatoes, rice, etc

Hello,
I use simple sugar sources, like orange juice, milk, fruit, table sugar. I dont eat much starch at all except for a few months when I tried the vitamin a depletion diet (lots of rice) but quit because I went back to some old unhealthy habits and I think it was the rice feeding endotoxin.

 

[mouse]

I've seen a few people say that their constant heavy legs improved after chelating lead with DMSA on one of the Cutler chelation mailing lists.

 

[High_Prob]

Could also be Deep Vein Thrombosis...

 

[JamesGatz]

Also should have said that I had read that stiff heavy legs were a symptom of hypothyroidism. I had other symptoms of hypothyroidism, so it was easy to believe that was the problem. But my legs stayed heavy and stiff even as the other problems eased on a Peat diet (heart rate, morning temps, general energy level, sleep).

Dr. Peat says somewhere that the next step is B vitamins and I had been reading a Masterjohn piece on how different B vitamins were required to use thyroid hormone. I had been reading up on vitamins and I didn't see how I could be deficient in anything except B vitamins. But I also didn't see how I could NOT be deficient in some B vitamins.

So I tried them, in daily divided doses as described above, and the effects were dramatic. My legs improved immediately as described. But my eyebrows thickened and extended over the following weeks too. Best eyebrows of my life.

Can you link to the B vitamins you took that solved the issue for you? I have the exact issues that you described, but my metabolism seems to be great - seen a few other threads about Potassium/Sodium or Magnesium/Calcium balance really want to experiment to get to the root cause