So sorry to hear that you had to go through any of that. It's such a frustrating and helpless feeling when medical professionals won't take you seriously when you KNOW that something is a concern.
I think rather than focusing on the name or trying to convince them that ME is a serious and legitimate condition, a different handout might be more effective for getting them to take you seriously. It's important information for them to have, but I doubt that any doctor will change their mind based on that piece of paper, and drawing attention to it that way almost gives you less credibility as a valid patient (which is awful, but also probably true). So as much as it's important for them to know, it may not actually help you in that situation.
Potentially more helpful might be a sheet that was very technical and professional sounding, like it could have come from a doctor (because they tend to take that a bit more seriously), and that didn't mention supplements or even the reason for them (since "supplements" of any kind tend to conjure up bad associations for many doctors), but instead just said that due to current medical treatment, this patient is at risk of low potassium, then listed the symptoms to watch for that may indicate that, then maybe a note at the bottom to seek medical attention immediately in the case of severe symptoms.
Looks like it is credible, and more importantly (as silly as it is) looks like it probably wasn't written by you. So you go from being some crazy guy who thinks he knows ALL about medicine so much better than his doctors (which is probably true, but they won't be inclined to believe) to somebody noticing the symptoms they were told to watch for and just following the directions laid out by some health professional. Isn't directly deceptive, but may omit the right things to get them to treat the concerns seriously.
Almost nobody takes seriously concerns by somebody about their own health. It's a foolish piece of human nature, but it's pervasive. As a species, we have a tendency to assume that somebody else is exaggerating, or imagining things, or being paranoid. When their spouse or coworker is in bed with the flu, many people wonder on some level if they're REALLY so sick they can't do anything, or if they could push through if they really wanted to. Even good people, sometimes. I've found that the more I can remove myself personally from what I'm saying ("this other doctor mentioned...", etc.) rather than just educating them myself, the more successful things tend to be for me. And to be fair, they probably truly do get a lot of people in there who think they know WAY more than they actually do. Not that it excuses the terrible lack of education out there about our condition, but it helps me to keep that in mind sometimes. They can't tell the difference between me and the person who just took a whole bottle of iron and doesn't understand why their liver is shutting down.
I'll admit that I'm still nervous to increase my own potassium too much through supplements. I know that if the kidneys are working properly any excess should pass out okay, but it's still scary going over that 100mg mark. The last thing I need on top of everything is a self-induced heart attack.
I'm hoping to do what I can through food sources and electrolyte drinks where it's combined with sodium for now. Not ideal, I know. I'm just being a chicken with this. And I know that as I continue to ramp up my methylation, I will probably need to increase further than that. My body likes to send ice pick pains when I'm on the low side. Hard to miss, at least.
Freddd - On the topic of "detox" side effects from methylation supplements, I'm interested in whether you have any ideas on which shortage in particular (or what else) might be behind feeling super flu-like, tired, and with
really badly swollen/sore lymph glands. That's what a tend to get - from SAMe and Metafolin in particular. It almost feels similar to my post-exertional issues. Is it just that I'm starting the spring cleaning of toxins and that's triggering my glands to swell up that way, or might there be something I can do to help offset the problem? That's the only kind of adverse symptom I tend to get so far from the methylation supp's (aside from the lower potassium), but it's pretty severe when it's there.