Potassium questions

[NilaJones]

Thanks, Lotus . I will see what I can do about taking one before and one after.

Is there an added benefit to taking folate sublingually?

Also, should I be asking about my test results in a different thread or forum? I am unsure of how things work around here . I am very excited to actually have results -- it's been 9 months since i had a chance to do any testing, and this was very hard to arrange and last-minute.

 

[Little Bluestem]

I note that Life Extension (where I do most of my labs myself) offers RBC Folate and RBC Magnesium, but not RBC Potassium, which is what that article recommends. I'd be interested in getting that tested somewhere if you know of a place. These articles that say "ask your doctor to test" . . . my immediate response is, "yeah, sure, right .. . that will never happen!"

I asked my doctor for a RBC potassium test. She had not heard of it and could not find it in her lists of tests. A hair mineral test might tell whether the potassium was getting out of the serum and into the cells.

I have been having normal serum potassium and very low hair potassium. I was interested in seeing where the RBC fell. Fortunately my potassium was finally up on my latest hair test.

 

[Little Bluestem]

NilaJones, Taurine helps potassium (and magnesium) absorption. There are foods other than bananas that are high in potassium. Some fruit juices have a good amount of potassium, but can be high in calories as well.

 

[Red04]

I used the RDA as a metric for potassium supplementation. If the RDA is 4700mg, it would seem pretty benign to take ~20 of those 99mg pills a day spread out in 6-8 dosages. If you are having any negative effects from methylation supplementation, I would look into potassium and keep in mind that the RDA is up to 4700mg for an average, healthy person.

I know for certain my wife wasn't getting 4700mg of potassium when she had ME/CFS either. Probably closer to 1700mg from diet. Sick people typically don't eat that much...

I don't know how logical all that is from a scientific or safety point of view, but it worked and it gave me the confidence to up the potassium until the symptoms went away.

 

[L'engle]

Another thing you can do is add the potassium powder to water and soak your feet in it for two hours. This takessome of the pressure off having to swallow more pills. I also find it tough to get enough in pill form because of having to drik so much water and eat something easy on the stomach with each time. Having yet another rice cake and yet another glass of water then having to sit up and wait for the tablets to get to your stomach even if it is in the time of day when you have to be lying down... Not fun!

 

[NilaJones]

Another thing you can do is add the potassium powder to water and soak your feet in it for two hours. This takessome of the pressure off having to swallow more pills. I also find it tough to get enough in pill form because of having to drik so much water and eat something easy on the stomach with each time. Having yet another rice cake and yet another glass of water then having to sit up and wait for the tablets to get to your stomach even if it is in the time of day when you have to be lying down... Not fun!

I have to be lying down all day .

Why do you sit up after taking potassium? Is this something I should know about?

Since I can't sit up for foot baths, would it make sense to put potassium in my bathtub water, which I can lie in? Or is it likely to irritate some tissues?

@Little Bluestem Thank you for the list!

@Red04 The problem I am having is gut irritation from the amount I am currently taking. I don't have a philosophical concern about taking more, but I have a problem with side effects.

 

[L'engle]

I have to be lying down all day .

Why do you sit up after taking potassium? Is this something I should know about?

Since I can't sit up for foot baths, would it make sense to put potassium in my bathtub water, which I can lie in? Or is it likely to irritate some tissues?

@Little Bluestem Thank you for the list!

@Red04 The problem I am having is gut irritation from the amount I am currently taking. I don't have a philosophical concern about taking more, but I have a problem with side effects.

I just find if I take the tablets then lie down right away sometimes they stick in my throat.

I guess you could lie down with your knees up and do a foot bath with the water basin on the foot of your bed but I don't know if that's within your limits. I've put it in a bath as well, just a matter of how long you are comfortable lying in a bath for. They absorb the same as epsom salts, which are magnesium. A bath with potassium and epsom salts is a good way to get the extra minerals you need. I've found the potassium is OK for my skin, which is quite sensitive, so it seems fine in a bath to me. It actually seems to help with dryness and my feet a re more comfortable after a foot bath.

 

[Little Bluestem]

Potassium citrate is easier on the stomach that potassium chloride. I do not know where other forms of potassium fit in.

 

[NilaJones]

Huh, it looks like my rep;y L'engle yesterday didn't post. Then the site was down for the rest of the day, so I imagine that's connected.

Thank you, everyone . You have helped me so much! I now feel like I am prepared for a jump in potassium needs and can go ahead with the B12 .

 

[NilaJones]

Well, dang.

Looking at my test results last night with a clearer head, I realise that my serum B!2 was high (when it had been 9 days since I tried a tiny bit of B!2) and I wonder if this means it's unsafe to try more. Any opinions?

(I started another thread, but then realised maybe I should update here, too. Still learning the site.)

 

[Victronix]

It's not unsafe to take high dosages of B-12 (many people inject large dosages every day with no toxic effect). Mainly the question is how much do you need. A blood test won't tell you that. If you need mfolate, that requires B-12 also. You could stay at a small amount and see how it goes, then if nothing is improving later, try more.

 

[NilaJones]

It's not unsafe to take high dosages of B-12 (many people inject large dosages every day with no toxic effect). Mainly the question is how much do you need. A blood test won't tell you that. If you need mfolate, that requires B-12 also. You could stay at a small amount and see how it goes, then if nothing is improving later, try more.

Thank you!

Do serum tests measure a form that is less absorbable? Is it likely that my serum level was high because of the lack of folate at the time of the test? Do I not need to worry about sublingual hydroxy accumulating in my blood and causing toxicity problems?

<befuddled>

 

[L'engle]

I had high serum B12 when I was taking a low quality vitamin with cyanocobalamin. So I think it is possible for the lab tests to be pretty off in various situations. I still benefitted from methyl b12.

 

[Victronix]

I wouldn't worry about high serum B-12 in terms of any toxicity -- high serum B-12 is associated with thicker cortex in the brain and potentially a decreased likelihood of dementia in older age. The body excretes what it doesn't need.

 

[NilaJones]

Thank you, Victronix and L'engle . I will go ahead and try it now. I really appreciate the info and reassurance .

 

[NilaJones]

Ok, now I haz new questions .

I am finding that eating high-potassium foods does not decrease my need for it via tablets (as judged by leg muscle problems at night - which the tablets prevent.) Any ideas why I may not absorbing it well from foods?

Also, dissolving the pills in water increases the gut irritation (nausea and gas). But I see that my current bottle of tablets are very slow to dissolve, so I feel I should not swallow them whole. Suggestions?

Thanks, everyone .

 

[Little Bluestem]

Maybe when the tablets dissolve slowly, they are less irritating to your gut.

 

[Victronix]

Another thing. Make sure not to take potassium at the same time as methylfolate because it can block absorption of methylfolate in the gut. Vitamin C and iron can also block absorption too. I'm not sure if different types of vitamin C and/or potassium and/or nutrients from food all have the same effect. Freddd and dbkita have both talked about it so they will know more than me. I guess if you take methylfolate sublingually this isn't as much of a problem, but some if it's probably still absorbed intrinsically (in the gut) so I'm not sure. There was a discussion about this in another thread, but I don't remember the details.

Do you have a link to the potassium blocking effect by any chance? I was aware of Vit C and iron generally blocks everything, but was not aware that potassium blocked things also. Thanks.

 

[Lotus97]

Do you have a link to the potassium blocking effect by any chance? I was aware of Vit C and iron generally blocks everything, but was not aware that potassium blocked things also. Thanks.

I only know what I said in that post of mine you quoted. That Freddd and dbkita reported that both potassium and vitamin C blocked/reduced methylfolate absorption for them. dbkita also said that his mom was taking vitamin C with methylfolate and when he told her about the blocking effect she tried taking them apart and ran into some trouble. Xara also said that she heard that iron could block methylfolate. She said she thinks she heard it from Freddd. Vitamin C actually increases absorption of iron though.

 

[Lotus97]

One thing about potassium and vitamin C blocking methylfolate (I'm less sure about iron, but you'll have to ask Freddd or Xara about that) is that they block it in the gut so if you were taking methylfolate sublingually at the same time as the vitamin C or potassium you still might absorb a significant amount.

I was rereading some of dbkita's posts on it and it seems ascorbic acid makes a bigger difference than the buffered forms of vitamin C, but it would be good to take them at separate times just to be on the safe side:

For me separation from vitamin C made a BIG difference. Ascorbic acid 2 grams simultaneous was a big problem. There was a noticeable improvement going to 2 grams of buffered mineral ascorbate. Another improvement when going away from vitamin C altogether (though the jump from ascorbic acid to mineral ascorbate was more critical).

The potassium may depend on what form of potassium you supplement. Food has lots of potassium in it, but all bound up in various forms.

Sort of on a side tangent, dbkita also said that the mineral ascorbates are better absorbed than ascorbic acid (although I'm not sure why you couldn't just mix ascorbic acid with baking soda rather than taking sodium ascorbate)

The ascorbic acid is at best 20-25% absorbed into the bloodstream (if you are lucky) while the rest reacts with calcium, magnesium, sodium and potassium ions in the GI tract and gets sent down as buffered mineral salts to the colon where it draws water to flush it out. The "bowel tolerance" criteria is simply how much of this effect can your guts withstand. On the other hand a buffered Na ascorbate is >90% absorbed into the bloodstream and with a longer half-life (so serum levels of ascorbic acid are raised for longer periods of time for same level of intake).

Adreno turned me onto this a couple of months ago, and I have been able to drop from 8-10 grams ascorbic acid to 3-4 grams Na ascorbate. I can't specifically tell how big an impact it alone has made given other changes but it seemed to be an improvement.