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Potassium... what's going on?

Messages
59
So I wake up around 3am with a panic attack, heart racing, anxious, not feeling right. I'm no stranger to these, although it happens infrequently and I have not had it in a long time(I don't think I've had another one this year).

Normally I just go on the computer and feel better within an hour. This time it felt a lot more intense, I dont think it was just a panic attack. I was freaked out so my plan was to take potassium supplements drink some coconut water and head to the ER.

So I took 300mg of potassium gluconate and went to the store to get some coconut water. I would have consumed a total of around 1500mg of potassium. Not long after the panic went away and for some strange reason i had a surge in libido. I usually have none.

At this point you might just be thinking "duh, you just had potassium defieciency". But every time I start supplementing with potassium and coconut water eventually I start getting spacey headed and other negative symptoms.

Surely 1.6g of potassium by coconut water and 400mg by supplements is not too much? If the RDA is 3.5g. Could the optimal range for me really be that narrow?(e.g 1g positive effects, 2g negative?) Could this be a sign of kidney dysfunction? I've read some people doing the 20 bananas a day diet consuming around 6g of potassium a day with no issues.

The only conclusion i can come to based on my reaction is either kidney issue or potassium is antagonizing something. I've had two 24 urine tests in the last couple of months both times with high creatinine levels(30mmol/24 hours (7-22)).
 

Victronix

Senior Member
Messages
418
Location
California
It would be good to list out the other negative effects you get and that might help people pull things apart. The unknown, for me, is the high creatinine, so my guess would be that could be a link to the interaction you're having. But it just as easily might not.

I find that doing exercise greatly increases my need for potassium and causing things like waking up with heart racing. I keep a half banana and a cup of coconut water at bedside so I can just take those and go back to sleep -- and I'm no longer even taking any mfolate, but still need more potassium than I get in the average foods I would eat.
 

sueami

Senior Member
Messages
270
Location
Front Range Colorado
Those are my symptoms of potassium deficiency. The US RDA is 4700mg. My functional medicine physician has me on 1500 mg a day in a single slow-release tablet, 3000 if I need more. He himself takes up to 4 of those tablets if he wakes with similar symptoms in the middle of the night. He has his 80-something father on one tablet a day.

My guess is that supplementing potassium and magnesium allows some cellular-level processes to re-start/run stronger but other co-factors get rapidly depleted and you end up experiencing symptoms of a deficit in some other nutrient. Are you on a methylation protocol?



I
 

halcyon

Senior Member
Messages
2,482
I've been having some similar stuff going on. I get the same panicky not feeling right thing and so far I can only attribute it to low magnesium/potassium because taking them seems to alleviate the symptoms. I had titrated up to 700mg of potassium citrate and 350mg of magnesium citrate by taking 5 capsules throughout the day. After a few weeks at that dose I ended up in the ER with tachycardia/palpitations/angina/hypertension. My serum potassium and magnesium levels were normal, potassium was almost borderline low actually, and I had elevated serum creatinine. I've had countless metabolic panels since becoming sick and it's never been elevated. A few days later I did a 24 hour urine creatinine test with a serum test at the end of the 24 hours which came back normal, except the urine creatinine clearance was actually high. I was worried that perhaps I was getting too much citrate from the supplements and it was affecting my kidneys. Apparently elevated creatinine is something you need to look out for when taking prescription potassium citrate, but I couldn't figure out if it's due to the potassium or the citrate. Just to be safe I've switched to magnesium glycinate and potassium gluconate. My doctor had no idea what could be going on.

One thing I've found that helps is to use bulk powder instead of capsules and I put it in my drinking water. Somehow it seems like getting a small amount throughout the day is better than all at once a few times a day. I'm actually taking almost half as much potassium this way and yet it still seems to mostly keep the bad symptoms away.

Has your serum creatinine ever been elevated? Has your GFR ever been low?
 
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Messages
59
Halcyon, finally someone with a similar reaction! It's interesting you mention your blood pressure got worse after supplementing with potassium, because thats exactly what happened to me. I was consuming around 1-2g of potassium via supplements and coconut water, after getting negative symptoms loaded up on a bit of sodium for a couple of days and I felt a lot of my pressure in my head which I knew was high blood pressure, every time I moved my head it felt pressurized. But that feeling went away when I took some copper.

The following week my blood pressure was 155-178/95-110. I supplemented copper for a bit and for a couple of days my blood pressure was 145/95. But then I was out grocery shopping and I started feeling a lot of pressure in the head again. I was certain my BP was through the roof although I wasnt able to check it at that time. I bought 1L of coconut water with the idea that if this doesnt make me feel better Im going to the ER. I did start feeling better and when I got home about 40 minutes after drinking it I checked my BP and it was 137/86.

However, I have had inconsistent results. I'm starting to think my balance revolves around potassium, magnesium and copper. I've been cautious about supplementing copper due to the negative attention it gets on alternative health sites.
Have you ever tried copper halcyon?
 

halcyon

Senior Member
Messages
2,482
Have you had your electrolyte levels checked on a complete metabolic panel recently? I'm really not sure what to attribute my hypertension to, and it has since gone away.

I was taking copper in this trace mineral blend for a short time but I took it on an empty stomach once and got really bad nausea which scared me off of it. I'm probably going to try taking it again at least a few times a week but for sure on a full stomach as it did correlate with feeling slightly better for the few days I took it.