Loss of muscle/water

[chickpea]

Hi Shelley,

I have a question about muscle shrinkage and dehydration.

Five years ago I still had quite muscley legs, even though the muscles were very untoned (I'd had M.E. for 7 yrs at this point so hadn't been able to exercise but hadn't lost this muscle, if you see what I mean, even though it was flabby).

However, at this point (4-5 yrs ago) I went through quite a difficult period of poor diet (lack of protein) and also bingeing cycles, quite beyond my control (I was suffering from malabsorption, and a lot of gut issues).

Further, I wasn't doing enemas and think I was becoming more and more dehydrated with craving foods constantly and bingeing, without rehydrating myself with enough water and electrolytes.

Well I woke up one morning after another binge on tonnes of food and I felt pretty awful. I couldn't think properly and just felt like I'd shrunk inside(hard to explain). The muscles on my legs had disappeared.
I think I was just so dehydrated and used up all my electrolytes. If I did have a problem with mercury to begin with, I think this period just made things a lot worse and mercury affects electrolytes and metabolism anyway.

Since then I've not been able to gain back that muscle and even when I am able to exercise, ie do lots of walks my muscles do increase, but then shrink again to nothing. I assume I've become deficient in growth hormone? (I'm 39)

Do you think its possible to rehydrate to that earlier stage?
I'm not sure if that period just aged me quickly and don't know if that's reversible or not, eg through just drinking water, exercise etc.

What do you think?
Thanks as always!
Anne
P.S. I wonder if the mercury had anything to do with this...... most people would just get fat if they binged and didnt' drink much fluid. Does that make sense?

[shelley]

that's interesting, because I've noticed the same thing with my legs getting thinner no matter what.

It used to be that in shape or out of shape, I had nice curvy legs. VERY curvy thanks to being half Japanese, so I had very defined calves - woo hoo!

Now my water balance is all askew thanks to my kidneys not regulating blood potassium and calcium correctly (one is always high, other is always low) and I'm totally out of shape. This time around my calves are quite thin (for me) and thighs have spread a bit too much for my liking. Hopefully that will change now that I'm working out more.

Per Ayurvedic medicine, we tend to become more Vata as we get older, and that means thinner muscles with our bodies tending towards tendon strength rather than bulk muscles. Per dermatoligsts, our layers of skin change also, particularly the fat-rich supporting layers, which reduce. Instead of round apple cheeks we get planes.

I think that's what's happening to us.

Adequate hydration is essential for vital health, but some kinds of aging and restructuring are pretty much inevitable, even if we manage to be healthy enough to live past 100.

I'm planning on getting my muscle mass back, I just don't feel as good without it, but I don't know what to expect in terms of the shape I'll be in once I really start rebuilding. Still, it must be done!

[chickpea]

Yes that's exactly what my calves are like, pretty nonexistant!
Do you have high potassium and low calcium due to the kidney problems? I have the opposite (according to hair analysis) and don't know whether sorting out the mercury will help this and also help with muscle building.
I feel quite sad at this loss especially as it was so sudden for me. I was actually still quite strong and muscley even though I had M.E. but since that dehydration period, I'm half the person I used to be
Well enough of self pity! Hope you get your shape back
Anne

[shelley]

Yep, kidneys are responsible for regulating blood salts/electrolytes, blood pH balance. But I'm very curious to see the results of the next blood test, because many of my symptoms have improved and I'm testing positive for calcium much less often. So we'll see!