Potassium Deficiency

[Caliblonde 25]

I had a follow up appointment with my PCP yesterday and was telling her that I have been lightheaded and nauseous constantly for about a week and a half. She decided to do some blood work to rule things out. Well I got a phone call today from her nurse and apparently I have a rather large potassium deficiency. The nurse gave me a list of stuff to eat (90% of which aren't on my list of approved foods yet) and said that I must get my blood drawn next week again to make sure it has improved. If it's not better then I may end up in the hospital!

I'm happy that I know what is causing the exhaustion, nausea, and dizziness, but am very concerned that I won't be able to fix it on my own.

The foods she told me to eat are:

bananas (not on my approved foods list until week 8)

Avocado

legumes

potatoes with the skin on

leafy green veggies

nuts

milk

yogurt

I figured I would start with milk and yogurt, and maybe some Soups like split pea or lentil Soup.

Has anyone else had this happen?

[KellyL 173]

I think this can happen during any kind of liquid diet for any kind of procedure. Especially if there's throwing up or diarrhea. I thought Gatorade or G2 could help replenish electrolytes. I think this includes potassium, but you may want to google it to be sure. I hope you get it resolved quickly!

[meepmeep17 13]

I have had this issue for years now. I was diagnosed with colitis 10 years ago and due to diarrhea, end up with hypokalemia. Potassium is really important to your heart and body. If mine is too low, I have chest pain and my left eye twitches non stop. They can give a powder that you can mix with Water or capsules to supplement your potassium before they put you in the hospital. Good luck!

I had a follow up appointment with my PCP yesterday and was telling her that I have been lightheaded and nauseous constantly for about a week and a half. She decided to do some blood work to rule things out. Well I got a phone call today from her nurse and apparently I have a rather large potassium deficiency. The nurse gave me a list of stuff to eat (90% of which aren't on my list of approved foods yet) and said that I must get my blood drawn next week again to make sure it has improved. If it's not better then I may end up in the hospital!

I'm happy that I know what is causing the exhaustion, nausea, and dizziness, but am very concerned that I won't be able to fix it on my own.

The foods she told me to eat are:

bananas (not on my approved foods list until week 8)

Avocado

legumes

potatoes with the skin on

leafy green veggies

nuts

milk

yogurt

I figured I would start with milk and yogurt, and maybe some Soups like split pea or lentil Soup.

Has anyone else had this happen?

[Caliblonde 25]

Thanks Kelly and Meep! That makes me feel better. My husband and I are going to go shopping tomorrow for some things that I can eat/drink to try to boost my potassium.

[thinoneday 445]

I had a follow up appointment with my PCP yesterday and was telling her that I have been lightheaded and nauseous constantly for about a week and a half. She decided to do some blood work to rule things out. Well I got a phone call today from her nurse and apparently I have a rather large potassium deficiency. The nurse gave me a list of stuff to eat (90% of which aren't on my list of approved foods yet) and said that I must get my blood drawn next week again to make sure it has improved. If it's not better then I may end up in the hospital!

I'm happy that I know what is causing the exhaustion, nausea, and dizziness, but am very concerned that I won't be able to fix it on my own.

The foods she told me to eat are:

bananas (not on my approved foods list until week 8)

Avocado

legumes

potatoes with the skin on

leafy green veggies

nuts

milk

yogurt

I figured I would start with milk and yogurt, and maybe some Soups like split pea or lentil Soup.

Has anyone else had this happen?

Oh yeah, mine has gone as low as 1.9 . . I'm in the hospital getting potassium infusion at least once every other month (have you started to cramp up yet?) . but my problem is i don't hold potassium (I have a very weird body) . . . so mine isn't from the surgery. . . but you definately can fix yours by eating the right foods and taking supplements unless your body just doesn't metabolise correctly due to genetic deficiencies. . . or your taking diuretics. . . good luck! I have a problem with D too, but that is getting under control. . . .

[feedyoureye 3,087]

I had low potasium at surgery... they put me on a drip, 6-8 bags I think it was until my numbers went up. They recomended I drink PowerAid Zero for a while when I got home. Last year I had heart atrial fibrillation and ended up in the hospital, I wonder if that might have had something to do with it...

[thinoneday 445]

Yes, potassium and Calcium affect the working of the heart and other vital organs as well as the muscles. So you AFib could have possibly been linked to a low potassium or calcium or both. . .

[Caliblonde 25]

I'm going to the grocery store to get some gatorade and poweraid. My level isn't that low yet, but I have had some muscle cramps, especially in my calves. With the lightheadedness I was running into walls and couldn't walk a straight line if someone paid me.

[Wheetsin 714]

I have naturally low potassium. Once upon a time I followed the induction phase of the Atkins diet (no more than 20 gm carbs a day, and only from specific sources) for about 20 months. I HAD to keep up with a potassium supplement, because as you can imagine - there aren't many potassium rich foods that are low carb. When I'm in the thralls of a deficiency, I don't get your symptoms, but I get the WORST leg cramps. During one of the more severe attacks, both of my thigh muscles completely seized up. I tried to "knead" them, but couldn't - so DH (a pretty strong guy) tried and couldn't. Wow, talk about hurt. But more to the point - did she say anything to you about taking a supplement? Potassium supplements can be chewed or dissolved, they have virtually no taste. They just make your mouth a little dry. You do have to be careful with them, like all good things -- too much will kill you.

Now, let's see if we can find some ways that you can get down unapproved foods. I'm assuming you can eat pureed foods...

bananas (not on my approved foods list until week 8)

Avocado

legumes

potatoes with the skin on

leafy green veggies

nuts

milk

yogurt

I figured I would start with milk and yogurt, and maybe some Soups like split pea or lentil Soup.

Bananas - you can puree them into a Protein drink, or yogurt - or you can blend them with milk or Water into a paste, freeze lightly, and get a decent "frozen yogurt" consistency treat. Be sure to use well-ripened bananas (yellow with significant brown). Underripe bananas are too high in starch, and hard to digest, and won't give the same consistency at all.

Leafy green veggies - have you heard of Spirulina? It's an algae that's doing great things for people's health. One serving has about 6% of your daily potassium (K) requirements. It comes in a powder form, and the one I have is a really, really fine powder (finer than sugar granules). I stir 2 - 3 servings into a small cup of applejuice. I don't want to say for sure that it's fine to take on your restricted diet, but maybe call your surgeon and ask. Ounce for ounce, it's one of the better, higher quality. non-pill K supplements I've been able to find (you can get it in pill, powder, granules, liquid...) Unless you're on sugar free liquids, you might also want to look into "Green Machine" by Naked juice. It has spirulina, broccoli, wheat grass, etc. Decent K, and lots of other good things. Trust me, it tastes better than it looks.

Split pea soup, thinned with chicken broth, with a pinch of bacon salt... and a dap of yellow mustard taken on the spoon as you eat it. Mmmmmmm...

Nuts - you can blend a tablespoon of Peanut Butter into a Protein Drink. I do this with my magic bullet. There are a few small chunks at the bottom, but you could strain those out.

HTH

[Caliblonde 25]

Great suggestions! The surgeon's nurse said that I can try to eat bananas and cantaloupe but she wasn't sure if I'd be able to tolerate it yet. I'll try to put it in something and puree it so it goes down easier. I'm going to head to the grocery store this weekend so I'll look for the naked juice and try that.

[1-4-Many 2]

Two notes and one question:

No chewable Vitamins have potassium in them. I'm amazed more surgeons don't make their people aware of this. I learned it only by reading label after label and then learning potassium is very bitter to taste when eaten. So if you are using a chewable bariatric, you are not getting additional potassium.

I have had potassium issues over the past 2 months. I learned through trial and fingers crossed that potassium is very gentle on my sleeve. I have a 550 mg. supplement here I take and it goes down easy even on an empty stomach.

Lastly - can it be dangerous to get too much potassium if you are taking supplements? If so, how would you know? How quickly can it become too much?

I've had cramping and more heart rhythms since this surgery than I've had in my life and taking additional potassium always settles it down. But in between monitoring of blood work, I didn't know if I could accidentally get too much in my system.

[feedyoureye 3,087]

Two notes and one question:

No chewable Vitamins have potassium in them. I'm amazed more surgeons don't make their people aware of this. I learned it only by reading label after label and then learning potassium is very bitter to taste when eaten. So if you are using a chewable bariatric, you are not getting additional potassium.

I have had potassium issues over the past 2 months. I learned through trial and fingers crossed that potassium is very gentle on my sleeve. I have a 550 mg. supplement here I take and it goes down easy even on an empty stomach.

Lastly - can it be dangerous to get too much potassium if you are taking supplements? If so, how would you know? How quickly can it become too much?

I've had cramping and more heart rhythms since this surgery than I've had in my life and taking additional potassium always settles it down. But in between monitoring of blood work, I didn't know if I could accidentally get too much in my system.

I would ask my Dr. on that one...

[Caliblonde 25]

yes, you can overdose on potassium, it's dangerous to od on it and can even lead to death

[Caliblonde 25]

I ended up in urgent care yesterday due to the K deficiency. They didn't end up giving me fluids because my stats weren't bad enough to start an iv. Ended up giving me a liquid potassium supplement that I have to take for 5 days. Let me tell you...I put it in grape juice and this stuff is NASTY! I'm wondering if I can even keep it down at this point. It's going to take me all day to drink it. Any suggestions?

[LilMissDiva Irene 3,280]

Anyone will want to be very careful with taking additional Potassium supplements. I do take them, however I have to because of the low carb eating and I am also on a diuretic. My body cannot handle getting off of them since I've been on them for so long due to HBP - however someday I hope to be able to get off once I can eat more balanced meals.

Anyhow, I get my supplement from Vitamin Shoppe and they come in little 3% RDA capsules. You can break them open and use them in shakes etc if you are on liquids only. My first suggestion however would be to go along with anything your Dr. prescribes. Bananas are very high in potassium and before my low carb eating I was actually instructed by my Dr. to eat one small banana every day to balance out my diuretics.

Good luck!! Keep in touch with your Dr. very closely on this. Potassium is a very critical part of our nutritional needs. No gray areas, both too little or too much can kill us.