Low Potassium

[rache]

I just had blood work done and it came back saying my potassium was really low. I was prescribed K-DUR for 7 days, and im to go back for more blood work in one week. When i looked up the symptoms, i match all of them. I'm hoping maybe I've found a reason for my nausea, although ive been gluten-free for a year. Has anything else had low potassium? and what has your experience been like with it?

[Guest BERNESES]

I've had low potassium in the past- not super low, but low. I never recieved treatment for it though- other than being told that I should eat bananas (which I hate ), potatoes with the skin on and orange juice. I wonder if you are not getting enough in your diet or for some reason are not absorbing it???

[rache]

i had this before, couple yeas ago, show up in a blood test, but they never did anything for it. i'm allergic to bananas, but i do eat TONS of potatoes- theyre my favorite. i fry up the skins a lot- yummy. i take a multi-vitamin (w/ potassium) daily. my mom told me the other day my grandma had hypokalemia (low pot. levels). maybe ive always been this way?? i noticed a lot of the symptoms ive been having- still after being gluten-free- are the same as low potassium. im PRAYING that maybe theyve caught on to something and this will work b/c im so tired of feeling so sick all the time. cross your fingers for me!! but i am going to a new GI dr in a month. my luck with them hasnt been so great lately...

[penguin]

Mine didn't test low, I don't think, but I have an inherited cramping thing caused by low potassium. Make sure to take calcium, also. I think it helps the potassium? Maybe I made that up, but I think I heard it somewhere. I know that having both potassium and calcium helps with charley horses.

Nothing like a full stable of charley horses

[jerseyangel]

Taking diuretics (water pills) can cause a low potassium level. Some blood pressure meds have these.

[Ursa Major]

I can't eat bananas either. I had very low potassium levels last summer. My homeopath told me that watermelon contains a lot of potassium, in fact an awful lot more than bananas! So, I ate lots of watermelons last summer, and my potassium level went to normal by the fall.

[Guest BERNESES]

Watermelon- now you're talking! I think that you are supposed to take calcium and magnesium together because magnesium helps your body absorb calcium and it also helps prevent constipation (calcium is constipating). The two together definitely help with muscle cramping. I took a potassium supplement once (one day) and I had D like you wouldn't believe.

[rache]

ew watermelon. yuck... id rather suffer through an allergic reaction to a banana! and hopefully i dont get D from the potassium... just what i need!

[Ursa Major]

Check out these links for other food sources of potassium.

Open Original Shared Link

Open Original Shared Link

Open Original Shared Link

Open Original Shared Link

Open Original Shared Link

There, that should keep you busy and out of trouble for a while!

[rache]

Thanks Ursula!! I'll start reading!

[Guest BERNESES]

ew watermelon. yuck... id rather suffer through an allergic reaction to a banana! and hopefully i dont get D from the potassium... just what i need!

Rache- You probably won't get D. Ursula- you are the link queen- thank you!

[Guest MyKidsMom]

Last fall I had a bad bout with the stomach flu and ended up in the hospital b/c of dehydration. Then they found out my heart was beating abnormally slow...they said my potassium was very low. I tried drinking gatarade which has potassium but it bothers me, so now I eat bananas, even though I hate the mushy taste. I will do just about anything not to be in the hospital for dehydration again...my veins kept collapsing and it was very painful!

[aaascr]

Ursula:

Thanks for the links! It seems that I get

a good bit of potassium in my diet, but a

friend scared me (she's new at nursing)

when she said too much potassium can

cause heart arrhythmia. It seems

that it's quite the opposite and since I have a

heart murmur and been feeling that

fluttering now and then - I had cause

for concern!

Now I know, at least that it's not the potassium.

whew!

[Lauren M]

I had low Potassium, and was prescribed some pill (prob the same as you) and routinely tested until I was normal. At this time, I also had very low Phosphorus levels and had to drink something called nutra-phos. I'm not sure if low potassium and low phos. go hand-in-hand, but do you happen to know if they tested your phos levels?

Pototoes are a good source of potassium - more so than bananas actually.

- Lauren

[rache]

Lauren- did you notice any difference after doing the potassium pills and once your levels were up?

[Lauren M]

Well I guess I was just generally a mess, with my vitamins and minerals being off. Once I was back to normal blood levels, the main thing I noticed was more energy!

- Lauren

[slpinsd]

I've had low Potassium on 2 different blood tests. I believe it is from malabsorption. I'm also intolerant to bananas, if that means anything. At the time of testing I was eating bananas daily so I don't know why I came back low. My friend is a nurse and she says that Potassium, since it is an electrolyte, is something that is abnormal or more of a big deal if you are lower than the recommended range on the testing.

[Guest Robbin]

I had low potassium problems which the dr. told me was caused by the D. If you don't eat a lot of carbohydrates, this can cause it too. Orange juice is good to make a banana smoothie. Just freeze a banana and put it in a blender with a cup of orange juice. It helps if you don't like the taste of bananas.