I believe the nausea is caused by food (certain foods anyway) sitting in the stomach from hypochlorhydria (which I also have).
I take the supplemenst anyway and take slippery elm with them -- if that isn't enough I occasionally take mastic. I know I should
take HCL but taking HCL with a whole boatload a vitamins I fear would turn them into an awful brew!
It is not true that you get enough potassium from fruits and vegetables. Most people do not eat more than 3 fruits and vegetables/day yet the government through analyzing many studies has said via MyPyramid that we need 7-9 fruits and vegetables/day for health. Also, there are many many things which cause you to lose potassium.
A low
blood sugar attacks causes so much potassium loss that it takes SIX bananas to replenish. [Adele Davis, Let's Get Well, footnoted from some study]
From
http://ithyroid.com/arthritis_and_potassium.htm (by my friend Charles Weber - it is part of his book on potassium to cure arthritis):
A
magnesium deficiency can cause the body to lose potassium [Peterson 1963][MacIntyre][Manitius], possibly because of a poorly understood effect of magnesium on the efficiency of energy supply to the sodium pump. [Aren't CFSers low in magnesium?]
Rats on lo
w sodium excrete more potassium than controls from all causes, including increasing the sodium intake above normal[Peterson][Wormersley]. It would seem that a very low or a very
high sodium intake would increase the potassium requirement [the American is extremely high in salt].
It has been determined by LaCelle that the whole body potassium is significantly lower in older
arthritics. The body can sink to almost half of normal in some cases [LaCelle]. [NOTE that arthritis is UBIQUITOUS]
Most of the death rate from the more virulent
diarrheas in children is from an acute potassium deficiency. The death rate was markedly reduced in one virulent strain using potassium supplements [Darrow][Govan]. The dead babies showed a loss of 40% of their muscle potassium. The
dehydration which can take place in diarrhea can cause massive losses of potassium in addition to the losses in the faeces. Every liter of water lost from the cells carries with it 6.5 grams of potassium [Weisburg p189].
You must be careful with supplements because the dehydration causes very high blood plasma potassium contents, even though the cells are becoming deficient. At the same time the aldosterone goes away down. The way medical people get around this these days is to administer oral rehydration salts (ORT salts) which are a mixture of sodium and potassium chloride and sodium bicarbonate in water.
Vomiting which persists can also deplete the body's potassium somewhat [Barter]. Barter believes the loss of hydrochloric acid is as important as the potassium loss in reducing body potassium. This is because when acid is lost the kidneys excrete more potassium [Welt p215][Potts p262] thus countering the alkalinity implied in the loss of chloride. The stomach secretes over 1/2 gram per day.
(you know it's a whole book and I can't quote it all. Here is where you can get the book if you want:
http://members.tripod.com/~charles_W/arthritis.html)
According to Charles Weber, this British group successfully treats arthritis with nothing more than potassium:
http://charlesdecoti-marsh.org/ based on a book by their founder.
Every time I read his stuff I learn something new. Here he links low potassium to gout. I had several gout attacks of momentary duration and I eat a low protein diet so something else obviously triggered it. Here is what Charles says:
I have no information in the medical literature on any direct l
ink between gout and a potassium deficiency. I have a strong suspicion that there is a link however. I have heard of a doctor who gave his patients potassium losing diuretics and thus triggered an attack of gout. By adding a potassium supplement he was able to remove the gout. William Ellis has used potassium supplements for years for gout [private communication]. Gout can be triggered by the same agents which cause potassium losses such as fasting, surgery, and potassium losing diuretics [Rodman]. A potassium deficiency can increase urate levels in the blood [Davis][Halla] so there is a circumstantial connection.
Also some tie to low blood sugar -- this could be a contibuting factor to mine:
A
glucose intolerance develops exclusively associated with lower insulin secretion rather than cellular response to insulin [Rowe][Gardner 1952]. It could be an adaptation to avoid low plasma potassium resulting from the potassium entering into the cell in order to associate with glycogen which would otherwise occur. Low cell potassium can inhibit the insulin response independently of serum potassium [Spergel].
and those who ARE low in magnesium...could it have been caused by being low in potassium? Charles says: Urinary
excretion of calcium, magnesium and phosphate is higher during a potassium deficiency in Dahl rats. It is thought that the reduction of magnesium is what causes the association of potassium with hypertension by virtue of the affect of magnesium on the power of the potassium-sodium pumps [Potassium depletion and salt sensitive hypertension in Dahl rats: effect on calcium, magnesium, and phosphate excretions.] Six months are required of magnesiumm supplements before complete normalization of pumps [Potassium and sodium, and potassium pumps in the skeletal muscle]