Low potassium symptoms?

[TinaT]

I remember when grandma was on diuretics for many years and had to take a huge timed release potassium pill. Tended to give her a nasty bellyache. They never said anything about mag or b12 deficiency.

I'm sure there are other reasons for having low potassium.

But B12 shots are known to cause low potassium. And potassium has never in my life been an issue before I started injecting B12 about 6 weeks ago. Neither has my blood pressure.

B12 uses potassium in the healing process. So potassium gets low.

 

[dannybex]

Update! My symptoms have all disappeared (fingers crossed) since I added in approx 1500 mg Potassium (as described above) and restarted nebulising 1.0g Magnesium Sulfate daily and topping up as necessary with Magnesium Taurate. I was even able to return to Curves gym yesterday after several weeks of barely being able to leave the sofa. Thanks to everyone here who has helped with information! 🤗 I'm now considering adding in the next stage in the protocol.

Question: As I start to add in further elements (I guess the next stage would be some methyl folate), if symptoms start up again, I wonder if I will likely need to increase Potassium some more to cover? What are your experiences?

Second question: Would it be better to start with and establish a dose of Phosphatidyl Serine before adding in other elements? I'm unclear if that is likely to cause more symptoms or conversely support the additions of the other elements. Thoughts?

If you're feeling better -- your symptoms 'have all disappeared' -- personally I wouldn't add anything. Why go down the supplement rabbit hole?

 

[Katy131]

Interesting. I get a headache and fuzzy head if I have a potassium deficiency. Feel all wrung out. Usually from walking to co-op 2 blocks to pick up food. Never had twitching, and I thought that was from magnesium deficiency?

It seems to me low potassium seems to give a multitude of different symptoms to different people. For me it's a kind of hollow aching tiredness in the chest area and palpitations at night which is corrected when I take a supplement or drink coconut water. When I need magnesium, I get a kind of aching/stinging in my arms and legs, sometimes nausea and restless legs/twitching which wake me in the night, which again is corrected by taking a magnesium supplement.

 

[Katy131]

(Also sorry I didn't reply to your previous comments -- I had a nice break with a long beach weekend, now just trying to get myself back into figuring out this whole mess again 🤕).

No worries about the replies. So glad to hear you got away for a nice break.

 

[Katy131]

If you're feeling better -- your symptoms 'have all disappeared' -- personally I wouldn't add anything. Why go down the supplement rabbit hole?

When I said I was feeling better, I meant the strong low potassium (and low magnesium as it turned out) symptoms had all disappeared. Not that I'm over my illness of many decades in general! Here's my potted history:

https://forums.phoenixrising.me/thr...king-for-help-on-methylation-currently.89849/
I meant that the methylation elements I am now taking I have acclimatised to and now it is time to move on the the next stage. I'm following Dr Sarah Myhill's methylation protocol, starting low and slow.

https://www.drmyhill.co.uk/wiki/CFS_-_The_Methylation_Cycle

 

[TinaT]

I'm following Dr Sarah Myhill's methylation protocol, starting low and slow

I meant to answer your question about glutathione. You can read the first maybe 10-15 pages of this post and I'm pretty sure that's where Fred explains a glutathione experiment that they did, which he believed drastically reduced B12 in the body and was dangerous. Partly this was based on what was visible in the urine(I assume pink color?) And partly based on how people were feeling and going backward in months or progress. I think he said (or I read somewhere) that there are other authorities that have concerns about glutathione.

This was a tough one for me bc NAC (which he also discourages) is believed in the tinnitus communities to either improve or at least prevent worsening of that condition.

Still, I stopped NAC supps bc it didn't sound like it would be worth taking a chance.

On a side note, I just started taking Lugol's Iodine bc of a vaginal infection / trying to avoid antibiotics that really harmed my gut 1.5 years ago. I have learned that iodine helps increase acid in the stomach. And I decided to read a book about iodine bc I was a little scared to take it. This book, written by a doctor and with a bunch of case studies and cites to medical studies, claim that high dose iodine cures a bunch of stuff including sometimes (not sure how often) chronic fatigue. I'm only planning to take this short-term for now. But I'm still reading the book and might change my mind as far as continuing.

I've also been watching videos about benfothiamine. That is supposed to help digestion in higher doses, too. I added benfomax from Pure a few weeks ago, and have decided to increase my dose (still no where near the highest doses recommended by some nutritionist on YouTube). He interviewed a man who had taken high doses for gastroparesis with very good results. That's something I'm testing.

I also took more iron yesterday. Still not recommended doses based on my level of deficiency. But like 57 mg from two different brands. I took 20 mg heme at night. My BP was still low but it was better. I still needed potassium overnight to correct low BP -- and that was disappointing bc I had skipped my B12 injection that day (planning only to inject every other day bc of this BP issue). I was hoping those two things would help more.

I'm still convinced the iron is playing a big role. My iron is just ready too low.

Last thing is that my reflux and tinnitus, my two worst symptoms prior to starting B12, have drastically improved! I'm eating many more foods that I couldn't tolerate before. And quite a few other symptoms have disappeared.

Unfortunately, I still have stomach distension. And this low iron / BP is concerning. Plus -- the reflux is not gone, which is the only acceptable end point for me without continuing to try everything.

But it's a lot better. I even managed to eat a small portion of red meat with tomato sauce yesterday with only the most minimal reaction. That would have caused a severe reaction weeks ago. And I've returned to eating my one cup of blueberries on mueseli every morning. That also would have burned my throat before.

I guess I should be happy but the distension is still really upsetting. And this new low BP is still the worst medical problem I've ever experienced -- and that comes with new really bad fatigue when it is happening.

I've also been exercising daily -- ran 6 miles yesterday. During my runs, I drink coconut water with added Utah sea salt from Trace Minerals.

Fatigue hits in the evening whenever my BP starts getting low, and usually gets better when I drink potassium. (Occasionally it seems like I need methylfolate for this new fatigue, too. Like sometimes it's potassium, sometimes methylfolate.)

This is all a lot, and I never was the type to want to take supplements. Generally, I don't believe in them. But my symptoms aren't acceptable without trying everything -- and regular docs at this point have nothing to offer for what have been debilitating symptoms.

I'm seeing a new naturopath highly recommended by a good friend next week. His undergrad was biochemistry at Stanford. So I'm very hopeful that he can help me figure out how to prevent the low BP and still continue the injections!

 

[Katy131]

I can't believe it but I've actually been getting symptoms from too much Potassium over the last few days! Frustratingly, they are the same symptoms as low Potassium for me so it's very hard to work out what is going on (the story of my life!). It's like I filled my Potassium "boots" and now need to find the right balance. I'm trying to titrate down again after having been at a very good spot last week, trying to find the "sweet spot" again. Has anybody else found the same problem at the beginning of potassium supplementation for methylation?

 

[TinaT]

Has anybody else found the same problem at the beginning of potassium supplementation for methylation

Yes, I think.

I cut back potassium the last two days and my BP increased... But I also increased folate in the second day (which caused slightly high BP -- which made me drink a little potassium but not as much as I'd been drinking). And I increased iron (which worsened bloating so I'll have to cut back again). So who knows...I do think cutting my daytime potassium helped bc the was the only change the first day and that helped my BP, by itself.

My current feeling is that I don't need much potassium during the day. But I still needed it one of the two nights (400 mg) -- and the was the second night, when I had taken more folate. And I think probably too much coconut water during the day was lowering my BP too much by evening.

It's really hard to figure out what is causing what.

I'm at a point where I don't know whether my ongoing gastro is caused by a confirmed vaginal infection (ureaplasma) or not enough of some cofactor like folate Gyn says this is possible but not likely. Quite a few women online say this infection gave them gastro issues including bloating. Doc said 2% chance. I can't take the doxycyclene she prescribed two months ago so am trying various natural remedies -- starting so far (4 days ago) with only extra iodine. The iodine doesn't seem to be having any noticeable effect, positive or negative.

Anyway, I was starting to think it was the infection bc B12 has not helped my bloating and actually might be making it worse. But very good gaatro doc last year said the first thing he thinks when he sees bloating is constipation. And not everyone knows or believes they are constipated.

So yesterday I increased my folate to 5 mg. And I increased benfotiamine bc I watched a video where even higher doses helped some guy with his mystery gastro issues. One of those worsened my Tinnitus pretty badly. But I had a couple more BMs by the end of the day -- probably still not enough bc those felt incomplete. So maybe I'm just constipated from too much B12 without enough folate or some deficiency?

Either way, I'm pretty frustrated with what feels like an endless game of whack a mole with these vitamins...

And my stomach not improving at all is making me question whether B12 is really my issue...

 

[Katy131]

My current feeling is that I don't need much potassium during the day. But I still needed it one of the two nights (400 mg) -- and the was the second night, when I had taken more folate. And I think probably too much coconut water during the day was lowering my BP too much by evening.

Thanks for your helpful thoughts, Tina.

Actually I first noticed the sudden increase in symptoms after a morning glass of coconut water a few days ago and it's been a struggle to get back to a better place ever since. I think your idea of needing it mostly at night might be a good one to try. I understand completely your whack-a-mole reference! Sigh ...

 

[lenora]

Potassium is something that burns whether by pill or injection (IV's even....bad burning), but when it's necessary then there is no choice. Foods are good, but they often don't carry enough potassium.

Still, if we're brought back up to normal, I'm sure that food can keep us there. Check it out. Yours, Lenora

 

[Katy131]

My latest blood tests which I've just received included a Potassium reading which showed a result of 5.4 mmol which is slightly above the range which is 3.5-5.3 mmol. I've been taking coconut water and supplements during the day and night according to my symptoms, but realise that since I had the bloods done, I'm taking much more. When I had the blood test 3 weeks ago, I was on 2 glasses of coconut water and 1 Potassium glutamate at night. Since then I've titrated according to symptoms and now on the 2 glasses plus 4 Potassium glutamate over the (2 during the day and 2 during the night). I'm worried now that I'm taking far too much, but I'm only going on my symptoms (eg palpitations at night) so I'm not sure what to do about it. Do other people find that they have to go above the reference range to keep die-off methylation symptoms in check?

 

[lenora]

Hi @Katy131.....Perhaps you should back off your potassium glutamate at night. If your potassium is already high (or slightly high) you really don't want to make the situation worse. Call your doctor and see about another blood test.

Also, a lot of the symptoms for low and high potassium are the same. Perhaps Pedialyte taken a couple of weeks will be enough to balance you out.

I had an electrolyte deficiency and ended up not being able to walk (I'm fine now) but it made a trip to the hospital necessary. I won't go into my other problems then, as there are just so many of them.

Suffice to say I'm OK now, although the extreme fatigue is still with me. I realize this will always be the case, although there are many problems that stem from this. However, please note that in my case they have nothing to do with low potassium. I wish you well. Yours, Lenora

 

[Victronix]

Anyway, I was starting to think it was the infection bc B12 has not helped my bloating and actually might be making it worse. But very good gaatro doc last year said the first thing he thinks when he sees bloating is constipation. And not everyone knows or believes they are constipated.

That fits me. I have a lot of issues with my gut, bloating and constipation. What's worked for me most recently - the past 6 mo or so - has been tart cherry juice. I usually have a small amount with another juice, like orange or pineapple, with meals and that seems to have helped things. Important to get organic, if you try it, since things like berries and cherries have a lot of surface area to concentrate pesticides. I take thyroxin for hypothyroid, so that plays a role also in constipation. In the past year my thyroid levels have been all over the place, possibly because of estrogen going all over the place, and/or moving from synthroid to generic thyroxine.

I've also noticed iron is an issue with constipation, but tart cherry seems to be able to cut through that also.