Balancing of Electrolytes

[gracee41]

How does everyone keep their electrolytes balanced? My potassium has been low as evidenced by heart palps and shortness of breath. When I take it, those go away. However, I started feeling awful the last two days and seemed to get worse shortly after I took potassium. I started taking magnesium with it and felt better. Was thankful I could tolerate the magnesium.

Today, I still felt bad even after the magnesium. I had some chewable calcium and decided to take it. Oh wow, what a difference it made. It's like the lights came on. First time I had felt "normal" in quite a while. Evidently, my electrolytes were out of balance. I drink a lot of coconut water but it obviously isn't enough to help. Anyone have a regimen that works well? Short of being tested constantly, how do I stay in balance?

 

[Gingergrrl]

@gracee41 This is a constant struggle for me and I drink Pedialyte, Vitalyte, regular water, coconut water, salt stick tablets, magnesium malate, prescription potassium (20 Meq per day) and recently added calcium.

I am also doing Magnesium by nebulizer and about to switch to a different type of magnesium which just arrived in the mail today. I have constant problems with shortness of breath, tachycardia, low BP, etc, and am unable to maintain the proper balance of electrolytes no matter what I do. This morning my heart rate was going up to 135-140 every time I stood up so I had to increase my Atenolol back to 1/2 pill from the 1/4 pill.

So... I do not have any answers for you but empathise with the problem 100%!!!

 

[Mary]

@gracee41 - I've had a problem getting enough potassium too. I've been taking potassium gluconate capsules but had to take so many. I've just discovered low sodium V8 - it has 900 mg. of potassium in an 8 oz. glass, and only 50 calories. So I've started drinking about 2 glasses a day and it seems to do the trick better than the potassium capsules. I didn't have heart palps or shortness of breath - my main symptoms were fatigue and muscle aches, which went away when I upped my potassium.

I take about 530 mg. of magnesium glycinate (in divided doses) already, and also take a calcium supplement that has 1000 mg. calcium and 250 mg. more magnesium per 2 tablets, which I take daily too.

Do you take magnesium and calcium regularly? If not, it sounds like you should add them to your regimen as well as the potassium.

 

[gracee41]

@gracee41 This is a constant struggle for me and I drink Pedialyte, Vitalyte, regular water, coconut water, salt stick tablets, magnesium malate, prescription potassium (20 Meq per day) and recently added calcium.

I am also doing Magnesium by nebulizer and about to switch to a different type of magnesium which just arrived in the mail today. I have constant problems with shortness of breath, tachycardia, low BP, etc, and am unable to maintain the proper balance of electrolytes no matter what I do. This morning my heart rate was going up to 135-140 every time I stood up so I had to increase my Atenolol back to 1/2 pill from the 1/4 pill.

So... I do not have any answers for you but empathise with the problem 100%!!!

I'm really sorry you are having such a tough time as well. Shame their isn't a magic "cocktail" that gives us everything we need. It's so frustrating and tiring as well.

 

[gracee41]

@gracee41 - I've had a problem getting enough potassium too. I've been taking potassium gluconate capsules but had to take so many. I've just discovered low sodium V8 - it has 900 mg. of potassium in an 8 oz. glass, and only 50 calories. So I've started drinking about 2 glasses a day and it seems to do the trick better than the potassium capsules. I didn't have heart palps or shortness of breath - my main symptoms were fatigue and muscle aches, which went away when I upped my potassium.

I take about 530 mg. of magnesium glycinate (in divided doses) already, and also take a calcium supplement that has 1000 mg. calcium and 250 mg. more magnesium per 2 tablets, which I take daily too.

Do you take magnesium and calcium regularly? If not, it sounds like you should add them to your regimen as well as the potassium.

That's interesting about the V8. I will have to try that. Have to wonder why it works better than the capsules. I drink that much potassium in powdered coconut water as well but it doesn't seem to help. Yes, I've taken potassium gluconate as well and it makes me feel bloated. Currently, I'm taking potassium amino based capsules. I have to take a ton of them too. It's a fine line and hard to find that perfect balance if there is such a thing. My iron is low which contributes to the palps.

I've only started taking magnesium citrate the last two days. I took the calcium off and on but hadn't taken any in a few days since I was taking so many other capsules. I will be taking it now though.

 

[Mary]

FWIW, I believe the low sodium V8 has about twice the potassium of regular V8. I would have thought they would be equivalent but they're not.

 

[ahmo]

I'd be hopelessly confused if not for self-testing. You need to work with it for awhile to become confident. But I'm always asking my body whether it needs K+, Mg, Ca, etc. Certainly when I have symptoms, like heart palps or cramps. But also twice daily when I put my minerals into my footbaths.

Self-testing http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=Ex59wHLk3Q0

Good written description of simple self-testing: http://www.goodhealthinfo.net/herbalists/muscle_testing.htm

 

[gracee41]

I'd be hopelessly confused if not for self-testing. You need to work with it for awhile to become confident. But I'm always asking my body whether it needs K+, Mg, Ca, etc. Certainly when I have symptoms, like heart palps or cramps. But also twice daily when I put my minerals into my footbaths.

Self-testing http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=Ex59wHLk3Q0

Good written description of simple self-testing: http://www.goodhealthinfo.net/herbalists/muscle_testing.htm

Thank you for those links. I had watched a video on muscle self-testing. I agree it would take a while to get it down.

 

[gracee41]

FWIW, I believe the low sodium V8 has about twice the potassium of regular V8. I would have thought they would be equivalent but they're not.

I'm going to check it out. I'm willing to try anything that might help at this point.

 

[halcyon]

What helped me was mixing electrolytes into my drinking water instead of taking capsules throughout the day. I'm not sure why this works better, but I actually take almost half as much potassium this way versus capsules and it still keeps the low potassium symptoms away. I'm currently using bulk powder forms of potassium gluconate, magnesium glycinate, and sodium ascorbate.

 

[gracee41]

What helped me was mixing electrolytes into my drinking water instead of taking capsules throughout the day. I'm not sure why this works better, but I actually take almost half as much potassium this way versus capsules and it still keeps the low potassium symptoms away. I'm currently using bulk powder forms of potassium gluconate, magnesium glycinate, and sodium ascorbate.

Do you buy those online? I tried powdered gluconate as well as the gluconate tablets. They both made me feel bloated. Not sure why.

 

[halcyon]

Yes I get most of my powdered supplements from PureBulk. The sodium ascorbate is Swanson brand.

The "gluconate" in potassium gluconate is gluconic acid which is a sugar derivative (a sugar acid in this case). Perhaps if you have some dysbiosis going on the added sugar is causing the bloating. Just a wild guess.

 

[Mary]

I'd be hopelessly confused if not for self-testing. You need to work with it for awhile to become confident. But I'm always asking my body whether it needs K+, Mg, Ca, etc. Certainly when I have symptoms, like heart palps or cramps. But also twice daily when I put my minerals into my footbaths.

Self-testing http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=Ex59wHLk3Q0

Good written description of simple self-testing: http://www.goodhealthinfo.net/herbalists/muscle_testing.htm

I've been doing self-muscle testing for years, after having some very good results from chiropractors who do muscle testing. They were able to pinpoint several digestive issues, my weak adrenals, toxic liver, among other things, and also were able to help me with these issues using Standard Process products. Also, once I was aware of what was going on, I could do other things to help myself. I think it's possible I could have ended up bedridden without muscle testing, particularly in regard to my adrenals. I was weak as a kitten at one time because of them and the doctors were clueless. And my digestion was so bad off when my liver was overloaded with toxins - I ended up doing a liver detox under my chiro's supervision. Anyways, muscle testing is not always perfect, but nothing is, and I was really glad to see someone else recommending it!

 

[Mary]

@gracee41 This is a constant struggle for me and I drink Pedialyte, Vitalyte, regular water, coconut water, salt stick tablets, magnesium malate, prescription potassium (20 Meq per day) and recently added calcium.

I am also doing Magnesium by nebulizer and about to switch to a different type of magnesium which just arrived in the mail today. I have constant problems with shortness of breath, tachycardia, low BP, etc, and am unable to maintain the proper balance of electrolytes no matter what I do. This morning my heart rate was going up to 135-140 every time I stood up so I had to increase my Atenolol back to 1/2 pill from the 1/4 pill.

So... I do not have any answers for you but empathise with the problem 100%!!!

Gingergrrl - I empathise with you - I can't imagine going through what you do. I'm recently learning about the importance of amino acids, it's a long story, but they are involved in so many processes and an imbalance can affect bodily systems. Have you ever had an amino acid profile done? It really might be worth doing and your average doctor can order this test. And, if your insurance would cover it, an excellent test is Nutreval by Genova Diagnostics. It can give you a wealth of information of what's going on and may help solve the riddle of tachycardia etc. but you might have to find an integrative or functional medicine doctor to order it. Medicare covers this test.

One more thing - ahmo wrote about muscle testing above and I totally agree with him. Muscle testing has helped me so much. You might try to find a chiropractor who does it. They have been able to pinpoint issues for me that did not show up on regular blood work and that doctors overlook. You can check the yellow pages ads, or go to the Standard Process website which has a search feature for practitioners who use their products, and hence generally do muscle testing. In ads it might say something like nutritional counseling, they probably won't say muscle testing. Another term sometimes used interchangeably is applied kinesiology.

Mary

 

[ahmo]

@Mary Earlier this year I was thrown into a runaway detox situation. It was only because I'd already been so involved w/ self-testing that I was able to confidently steer myself through a really tricky time.

 

[sregan]

See my blog post click here on Dr. Ben's MTHFRAde electrolyte formula

 

[Mary]

@Mary Earlier this year I was thrown into a runaway detox situation. It was only because I'd already been so involved w/ self-testing that I was able to confidently steer myself through a really tricky time.

That sounds familiar!