Hi gang.
I just hit 7 weeks on T and things are going great! (For weekly updates, check out my Youtube channel: BareTheBear)
However, for the last week or so, I have been getting muscle cramps like crazy. This has never, ever been a problem for me before, so I am wondering if it's possibly a side effect of the T, or something. I am open to the idea of changing vitamins, or whatever helps, I just wanted to see if anybody else had experienced this, or talked to a Doctor or anything. I will be sure to mention it to my Doctor as well.
Thanks,
Bear
Muscles need calcium to relax (not cramp). Drink plenty of water and increase your calcium intake - drink milk, eat cheese, or take a supplement.
I don't really work out all that much except for daily odd jobs for school or work which can be a lot of heavy lifting. but I did also have muscle cramps/stiffness. I would just stretch it out. It does happen tho!
For me the cramps are caused by a potassium deficiency, and when I'm low on magnesium.
I'm not on t though. But I could imagine it's a side-effect of gaining muscle mass on t.
It could be potassium/calcium issues. Personally after starting T my potassium shot up to 5.4/5.5, which is out of the acceptable range. If the cramps don't pass then it would be a good idea to get a blood test (liver panel?). I solved my issue by halving the dose (actually a little less, but my T levels are good enough) and switching to weekly shots.
I definitely started having muscle cramps after a few weeks on T. Taking a calcium magnesium supplement has helped immensely. The newly-developing muscle mass needs the extra nutrients. My muscles started developing quickly (especially in my lower legs), and I struggled with shin splins (not something I really dealt with pre-T) for several weeks. The calcium/magnesium supplement really seems to be doing the trick. You can get a quality brand/formulation (really cheap ones are not worth it!) for $8-10/month.
Eat a banana every day.
I used to get lower leg and foot cramping almost daily before T. It's a very rare thing now. I do weekly shots, and haven't changed my diet at all.
Thanks for the feedback, guys! I responded earlier today, don't know why it didn't post.
Anyway, I checked and the men's multi-vitamins I'm on already have calcium and magnesium, but not potassium. My one month blood work looked good, so its not any sort of liver enzymes, or anything. I'm thinking the same thing, that the new muscle mass is developing and needs a little help relaxing. I'm going to keep an eye on it all and see if I need to add another supplement, or what. As for bananas, I did recently stop doing regular protein shakes because of the holidays, and cutting back on my workouts. I include a banana in each one, so I bet the sudden lack of banana/potassium/protein may be part of the problem.
So yeah, thanks for letting me know how its going with you, I'll keep an eye on it, make some changes and touch base sometime in the future...
-Bear
yes, i have been having more calf muscle cramps but when I was about a little over a year on T, the cramps were crazy and in places never happened before: my hands, jaw, back, chest, ribs etc. but then it just got better on its own.
I had cramps early on T. Mostly in my calves and thighs--the thigh cramps were a killer. I figured that my muscles were growing rapidly, and I knew other trans men who had had the same effect.
Nowadays when I get the occasional cramp in my calf, I know that I have let myself get dehydrated. I used to have that problem before T as well.