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Low blood phosphorus

Jackdaw

Senior Member
Messages
127
Location
UK
Anyone on here had a low inorganic phosphate blood test result (hypophosphotemia)? I had a panel of bloods done recently and my phosphorus was low. Not hugely low, about 5% below the reference range. I don’t remember it being tested previously. I wondered how common a finding this is amongst people with ME?

I am very severely affected and have trouble taking small amounts of certain supplements. Now wondering if this could be a reason why. I am a vegetarian but I am going to up my dairy intake to try and boost my phosphorus. I just don’t know why it is low. I supplement with vitamin D3 although it was very low before supplementing a couple of years ago.

@Mary I am tagging you because you have spoken about low phosphorus on the forum. Did you ever test low and do you know if this is unusual?
 

Moof

Senior Member
Messages
778
Location
UK
You don't take antacids, do you, by any chance? I don't know how common this is, but I remember hypophosphotaemia coming up on my Mum's blood panel whilst she was awaiting surgical treatment for a couple of gastric ulcers that wouldn't heal. They said it was due to all the antacids she'd been prescribed to help cope with the symptoms, and that it'd go after the surgery. (I assume it did, as it wasn't mentioned again.)
 

Jackdaw

Senior Member
Messages
127
Location
UK
Of my ME? Because I am completely bedbound and have a lot. My ME started mild after a virus and gradually got worse.
 

borko2100

Senior Member
Messages
160
Of my ME? Because I am completely bedbound and have a lot. My ME started mild after a virus and gradually got worse.

Mine started with a stomach virus. I am not bedbound, but my ME has gradually been getting worse over the years. I have no idea what the low phosphorus means. I've read that stomach biopsies often test positive for enterovirus, maybe that has something to do with it.
 

borko2100

Senior Member
Messages
160
@borko2100 So you haven’t had it investigated or anything? Do you take anything to up it?

I've had a colonoscopy, but havent tested for enteroviruses. I dont thinking taking anything will make a difference. I've done many different diets and it is always low regardless.
 

Howard

suffering ceases when craving is removed
Messages
1,332
Location
Arizona
@Jackdaw

Low Phosphorus

Back in 2014, before I became full-time bed-bound, I discovered something interesting. For some reason, I would feel a slight increase in my physical energy level after having snacked, but only occasionally.

And finally I narrowed it down to these all-natural simple ingredient protein bars that I was eating. But the thing is, I only felt a boost of energy when I happened to ingest one particular variety amongst the many.

So I cross-referenced each of the ingredients, and each of the vitamin/mineral types listed, plus the amounts, only to discover that only one of these protein bars contained a significant and listed amount of phosphorus. And that also happened to be the only one that gave me any kind of energy at the time.

Of course, I went totally overboard and ate nothing but Peanut Butter Cookie Larabars night and day. Pretty much the whole damn box!

Salmon was the other food, the only thing that gave me a slight little bit of energy after having eaten a reasonable amount. But I was priced out of that market, unfortunately.

Please keep in mind, I don't know anything medically, or nutritionally about any of these things. This is just an example of my experience with these foods based on my logic and reasoning.

And as it so happens, no other foods ever gave me a notable boost of energy, back when my symptoms were worsening.

Blood

Back then, I did test very low for phosphorus, but on the follow-up bloodwork, my phosphorus levels came back very high… and the doctors on duty refused to consider my explanation.

The thing they didn't realize was that phosphorus labs need to be run right away, immediately after the blood draw, or else the results won't be accurate and most likely show "high" levels, even if you are low.

And they ran my blood a good nine hours after my having donated, back when I was staying in the adult care facility.

So best of luck, and I hope this helps. And again, please keep in mind these events happened five years ago, so everything I just wrote could be totally wrong. :)
 

Jackdaw

Senior Member
Messages
127
Location
UK
@Howard

I think you are totally right. It’s so typical that they would mess up the test like that and not listen to you.

I can’t eat salmon because i’m a vegetarian but skimmed milk is apparently good for phosphorus so I will be upping that. I don’t expect my doctors to pay any heed but I am lucky to have a nutritionist and I think she will find it interesting. I am low in lots of things despite eating a good (although liquified) diet and I can’t puzzle out why.

Thank you Howard, I think you did some good detective work!
 

Inara

Senior Member
Messages
455
I was low on phosphorous in the past, too. 2 weeks ago phosphorous was low-normal. I like Coke very much (without sugar)...

I have no idea how phosphorous can get low - I think sth. must be wrong if this occurs. Every food contains phosphorous.
 

Mary

Moderator Resource
Messages
17,335
Location
Southern California
@Mary I am tagging you because you have spoken about low phosphorus on the forum. Did you ever test low and do you know if this is unusual?
@Jackdaw, sorry to take so long to get back to you! No, I haven't tested low - however, I believe I've kept my levels up with supplementation a couple of times a week. Also, phosphorous might be like potassium in that with potassium, you can have low intracellular levels, despite normal blood work. I don't know if this is true for phosphorous, but something to consider.

I have no doubt my phosphorous tanked badly when I started taking thiamine. After an initial energy boost, I was hit with severe fatigue which was different than low potassium fatigue (and potassium didn't help anyways), and this fatigue only started to abate after I drank several glasses of kefir. If I stopped my phosphate supplement and waited until the severe fatigue hit again, and then got tested, I think my phosphorous might very well test low. But I don't want to go through that! :nervous:

There is something called phosphate diabetes which may affect up to 10% of persons with ME/CFS: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/9683977
 

Violeta

Senior Member
Messages
2,895
@Jackdaw, sorry to take so long to get back to you! No, I haven't tested low - however, I believe I've kept my levels up with supplementation a couple of times a week. Also, phosphorous might be like potassium in that with potassium, you can have low intracellular levels, despite normal blood work. I don't know if this is true for phosphorous, but something to consider.

I have no doubt my phosphorous tanked badly when I started taking thiamine. After an initial energy boost, I was hit with severe fatigue which was different than low potassium fatigue (and potassium didn't help anyways), and this fatigue only started to abate after I drank several glasses of kefir. If I stopped my phosphate supplement and waited until the severe fatigue hit again, and then got tested, I think my phosphorous might very well test low. But I don't want to go through that! :nervous:

There is something called phosphate diabetes which may affect up to 10% of persons with ME/CFS: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/9683977
Mary, what phosphorus supplement do you take, or do you still just use kefir?
Thank you

Edit in: I just found your other post where you said which one you take and where you buy it.
Great to see that you are a moderator. Good choice by the adminstration!
 
Last edited:

Violeta

Senior Member
Messages
2,895
I was low on phosphorous in the past, too. 2 weeks ago phosphorous was low-normal. I like Coke very much (without sugar)...

I have no idea how phosphorous can get low - I think sth. must be wrong if this occurs. Every food contains phosphorous.
Do you have any symptoms of low vitamin C? Vitamin C deficiency can cause phophorus to drain from the body.
 

Mary

Moderator Resource
Messages
17,335
Location
Southern California
@Violeta - thanks for the kind words! :)

FYI, I just ordered some more monosodium phosphate from Swanson's and it has a different texture. The original product I bought both from Swanson's and Amazon was crystalline, like salt, and it only took a very small amount to work - they included a very small scoop. But the new Swanson's product is sort of powdery - they must have spun it to break down the crystal and add air, so the scoop is bigger. So I would not use the new Swanson's scoop with a monosodium phosphate product from elsewhere. The volumes or quantities of each would not correlate.

I just read some reviews on Swanson's about the new formulation and people are complaining that it clumps and doesn't dissolve as well. I haven't tried mine yet. Unfortunately, the product I used to buy from Amazon is no longer available! I found this from Bulk Supplements. It has calcium added to it, so some people may not want to take it but food grade monosodium phosphate is a hard supplement to find!
 

Violeta

Senior Member
Messages
2,895
@Violeta - thanks for the kind words! :)

FYI, I just ordered some more monosodium phosphate from Swanson's and it has a different texture. The original product I bought both from Swanson's and Amazon was crystalline, like salt, and it only took a very small amount to work - they included a very small scoop. But the new Swanson's product is sort of powdery - they must have spun it to break down the crystal and add air, so the scoop is bigger. So I would not use the new Swanson's scoop with a monosodium phosphate product from elsewhere. The volumes or quantities of each would not correlate.

I just read some reviews on Swanson's about the new formulation and people are complaining that it clumps and doesn't dissolve as well. I haven't tried mine yet. Unfortunately, the product I used to buy from Amazon is no longer available! I found this from Bulk Supplements. It has calcium added to it, so some people may not want to take it but food grade monosodium phosphate is a hard supplement to find!
Thanks for that update, I will let the person know what you have noticed about the quality.