Teen Muscle Pains In Calves

[BigMooae]

My son has crippling pains in his calves. It is in both legs and moves at random times to different locations in his calf areas. He has a positive ANA (343) and has been to countless specialists. He has had numerous MRI's and nothing is coming up. When he doesn't have pain, he has an electric current sensation in his calves. He is growing and a rapid pace, 15 years old 6'1" and size 15 shoes. Initially it was called growing pains, the doctors can't figure it out. he has been hospitalized several times because he couldn't walk because of the pain. Has anyone ever heard of this condition before? It's in the same location, same intensity in both legs at the same time.
Thank you.

 

[Richiebogie]

Hi there.

What does your son eat and drink in a typical day? Can you estimate weights or quantities of each food / beveridge?

I wonder if there could be a nutrient deficiency or excess (eg. Protein, potassium etc).

 

[DrJ]

Most likely magnesium deficiency from the fast growth rate. Magnesium will fix any muscle cramping, pain, twitching very quickly. Prefer magnesium citrate or magnesium glycinate. The other alkaline metals, calcium and potassium will also help, but for my experience, magnesium works fastest. I take at least 1200mg magnesium/day, so if your son is growing, he might need even more. The worst that can happen with too much magnesium is that the bowels move too fast.

 

[shepherdgirl]

FYI, this from Peat's interview with Gary Null on the thyroid:
"It's very common for pre-puberty people to have leg pains that they call growing pains, and those people are typically a little bit low thyroid, and the textbooks used to show little kids with horribly swollen calf muscles that looked like they were muscle bound; but it was the accumulation of muco-polysaccharides swelling the muscle up causing great pain, cramping and so on, and in old people who are hypothyroid, something very similar happens, but it includes degeneration of the blood vessels to some extent, and you mentioned the chelation plus magnesium.

When you take thyroid, it energizes your cells to make ATP, and it happens that ATP binds magnesium, so you don't really take up magnesium into the cell very efficiently unless you have adequate thyroid. And when you are low in thyroid, you tend to lose magnesium during stress, and chronically that leads to a crampy, inefficient condition where you waste oxygen, producing your energy, but you can't retain it because of the lack of magnesium.

So in many situations, magnesium imitates thyroid function, but the two together really are simply energizing the tissue; and you can go from crampy legs, or many old people get "jumpy legs" -- a funny sensation that makes their legs kick when they try to go to sleep -- you can go from that hyperactivity of the legs to many other conditions including heart rhythm problems, insomnia, muscle pains in general, many states that are considered degenerative diseases, but are simply low thyroid/low magnesium states that prevent efficient energy production." -Ray Peat
see transcript

 

[Orion]

FYI, this from Peat's interview with Gary Null on the thyroid:
"It's very common for pre-puberty people to have leg pains that they call growing pains, and those people are typically a little bit low thyroid, and the textbooks used to show little kids with horribly swollen calf muscles that looked like they were muscle bound; but it was the accumulation of muco-polysaccharides swelling the muscle up causing great pain, cramping and so on, and in old people who are hypothyroid, something very similar happens, but it includes degeneration of the blood vessels to some extent, and you mentioned the chelation plus magnesium.

When you take thyroid, it energizes your cells to make ATP, and it happens that ATP binds magnesium, so you don't really take up magnesium into the cell very efficiently unless you have adequate thyroid. And when you are low in thyroid, you tend to lose magnesium during stress, and chronically that leads to a crampy, inefficient condition where you waste oxygen, producing your energy, but you can't retain it because of the lack of magnesium.

So in many situations, magnesium imitates thyroid function, but the two together really are simply energizing the tissue; and you can go from crampy legs, or many old people get "jumpy legs" -- a funny sensation that makes their legs kick when they try to go to sleep -- you can go from that hyperactivity of the legs to many other conditions including heart rhythm problems, insomnia, muscle pains in general, many states that are considered degenerative diseases, but are simply low thyroid/low magnesium states that prevent efficient energy production." -Ray Peat
see transcript

Exactly the RP post I was looking for; Milk, OJ, sugar and salt your son should increase intake of all these and keep PUFA intake very very low. All will increase magnesium retention.

 

[BigMooae]

Thank you for all of the information, I greatly appreciate it. He did have an elevated (not by much) TSH and he is getting it retested today. His magnesium is low I will have the doctor look into possible hypothyroidism.

He actually eats very clean (I am a trained chef and make everything myself using only natural, organic non-gmo fruits, vegetables and meats) all of our meat and dairy comes from two non factory farming all natural individual family owned farms. Thankfully we don't eat PUFA and I understand how "food" that contains PUFA destroys one's system. I'll increase the milk, OJ, sugar, magnesium and salt and see how that goes. Hopefully something will work!

Thank you again everyone for all of your help, insight and advice!!