Low potassium

[DebE13]

Tex, you mentioned low potassium could be contributing to my issues. Now that I have my labs done and am just waiting for them to get processed, I thought I'd start taking a potassium supplement. But like you've said before, less is better. I'm always hesitant to add more supplements but given my situation, I thought maybe it'd be worth trying. I didn't want to start anything before my labs and chance having something get skewed.

The only thing I could find was potassium gluconate 595mgs. Is this the one to use? Or would I be better off waiting until next week when I'll actually know my numbers?

I've tapered to 3mg of entocort every five days. I know that's not in the standard plan but I'm doing ok. Well, I still have D but it's down to 3-4x day without stomach gurgles. It's far from good but at least I'm taking far less of it than I used to. I'll take that as a step forward.

I reduced the amount of fruit I eat and sadly that seems to help. I only eat pears, peaches, and bananas for fruit but the AM gassiness is slightly better.

[tex]

Deb,

If you have been eating bananas (and other foods that contain significant amounts of potassium), it's certainly possible that you may not be low on potassium, despite your symptoms. Taking potassium gluconate is a bit different from taking vitamin supplements, because it can affect the way our heart beats. For all I know, that product may be safe for you to take, but I would hate to steer you wrong because of my ignorance. It's always much safer to get our vitamins and minerals from whole food, rather than from supplements, especially in the case of vitamins and minerals that might cause problems if taken in excess amounts. When those same vitamins and minerals are in whole food (rather than supplements), an overdose risk virtually never exists.

So if you are able to eat bananas without any apparent problems, if I were in your situation I would probably just eat a few bananas while waiting for the test results. Each banana supplies over 400 mg of potassium. And there are other foods that supply even more. Look at potatoes and acorn squash in the list at the link below, for example (I'm assuming that beans and spinach may not be part of your current diet):

Top 10 Foods Highest in Potassium

The first time I had any tests done back when my D started and wouldn't stop, I was low on potassium, so naturally I was prescribed a potassium supplement. I have no idea what the formulation was, but they were horse pills that didn't taste particularly good while I was trying to swallow them, and I have a hunch that many/most potassium supplements may be similar (that's just a guess though, based on all the warnings about not taking them if you have trouble swallowing pills, or if you have esophageal or intestinal issues).

Tex

[DebE13]

Thanks Tex, i generally have a banana every morning. I've noticed I have less leg cramping at night when I keep with a banana a day. I agree with you, I'd rather add a food to my diet, and bananas are good, than take a pill. I do eat beans occasionally but I need to keep them at a minimum. I'll have to give spinach a try since I actually like it.

I think I'll hold off until I see what my numbers are next week.


Oh, I also recall from your book you mentioned something about calcium supplements and heart issues. Are calcium supplements really needed? I do drink a considerable amount of almond milk which says it has more calcium than milk. The Tums I purchased prior to my thyroid removal sit on the shelf. Haha.

It caught my attention when I was reading.

[tex]

Deb,

IMO (keeping in mind that I'm not a doctor), calcium supplements are not generally needed by most people. In general, the residents of countries that have the highest osteoporosis rates, also have the highest rates of dairy and calcium supplement consumption. Most diets (even the limited diets that most of us are on) contain adequate amounts of calcium — we just have to be able to utilize it.

Most people who have problems absorbing enough calcium from their food seem to be low on either vitamin D or magnesium (or both), and adequate amounts of both vitamin D and magnesium are essential in order for the body to be able to utilize the calcium in our food. It's that simple.

Flooding the body with large amounts of supplemental calcium can impose an unnecessary risk to the heart, while providing no significant benefits. If someone is going to take a calcium supplement, the key to deriving any benefits is to keep calcium, vitamin D, and magnesium in balance.

At least that's the way I see it. Incidentally, while the food nutrient tables show that spinach contains about as much calcium as milk (some say it contains twice as much as milk), the bioavailability of the calcium in spinach is much lower than in milk (roughly one-sixth of the bioavailability of the calcium in milk) — another reason why adequate magnesium and vitamin D is so important.

Tex

[DebE13]

As always, thanks for the easy to understand explanation. I had additional concerns prior to the surgery after reading some stories of those who had para thyroid issues after the thyroidectomy. I was fortunate not to be one of them. I see from the pathology report that one of the four was damaged but implanted back in my shoulder muscle.

I like the idea of making bananas and spinach a regular part of my diet.

[sunny]

Deb, my potassium is difficult to keep up since my OH surgery for valve repair. Was prescribed the pills, but they go right thru undigested, so doc switched to liquid form.. That burned my throat even tho I diluted it & sipped thru the day.
So...found a recipe for potassium broth, make a big batch, froze it, & sip that along with coconut water which is quite high in potassium, also eat bananas & avocados. Kidney doc stunned that # perfect. She said that I couldn't do it with enough foods... Hmmm...
Wait for ur numbers...like text said its important that cal/mag & potassium balanced...also salt.

[MBombardier]

http://lpi.oregonstate.edu/infocenter/

More than you ever wanted to know about every vitamin, mineral, and other micronutrient out there.

I don't like bananas. I take potassium gluconate powder, usually around 8-24% RDA. I think I am right on the cusp of supplementing properly. If I don't take it, the next day (sometimes starting in the night) I have leg/foot cramps.

I haven't had my potassium, magnesium, etc., levels tested. All this discussion about testing levels is making me think I should do that. What you don't know, after all, is what you don't know.

[tex]

Remember that the blood test is worthless for magnesium, because the system will automatically keep blood levels within a narrow range, by drawing magnesium from various cells in the body. By the time the blood test results begin to head south, the body will be dangerously low on magnesium, and symptoms will be raging. To get a meaningful result, it's necessary to do a tissue test.

You probably already know all this, but I'm posting it in case someone else reading this is not aware of this issue. Unless you insist otherwise (or happen to have a doctor who actually knows what she or he is doing), virtually all doctors will order the blood test every time, and then when the results come back normal, they will tell you that not only are you fine, but they have never seen a patient who tested low.

My (previous) doctor ordered the blood test, even though I requested the tissue test. Naturally the results were normal, despite the fact that I was having agonizing foot and leg cramps almost every night. In view of his claim that my magnesium level was fine, and I didn't need a supplement, I wonder why the only way I have found to prevent those foot/leg cramps is to take 400 mg of magnesium citrate, or 800 mg of magnesium glycinate, daily. Maybe it's just me.

Tex

[DebE13]

Thanks for all the great information, now I impatiently wait.

Thanks for the "reminder" - I didn't know that. There sure is a lot to learn. It still boggles my mind that the doctors don't start with the basics and worse yet, don't seem to even be concerned about them.