Chronic Fatique Syndrom - MED: POTS & potassium

Author

MED: POTS & potassium

Ginny Remeika

2005-04-16, 10:00 am

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I have POTS and have been increasing my salt/fluid intake, which seems
to help.  But recently I was found to be very potassium deficient,
which is worsened by increased salt intake. 
 
Does anyone know if potassium chloride salt substitutes (e.g., Nu-Salt)
would be as effective for POTS as regular (sodium chloride) salt? 
 
Thanks, 
Ginny in Maine 
(where the very first crocuses are just starting to bloom) 
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bobbie sellers

2005-04-17, 6:11 pm

Hi Ginny Remeika, on 04/15/05, you wrote:

GR> <!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.01
GR> Transitional//EN"> <html>
GR> <head>
GR> <meta content="text/html;charset=ISO-8859-1"
GR> http-equiv="Content-Type">
GR> <title></title>
GR> </head>
GR> <body bgcolor="#ffffcc" text="#000000"> I have POTS and have
GR> been increasing my salt/fluid intake, which seems to
GR> help.  But recently I was found to be very potassium
GR> deficient, which is worsened by increased salt intake. 
GR> 
GR> Does anyone know if potassium chloride salt substitutes
GR> (e.g., Nu-Salt) would be as effective for POTS as regular
GR> (sodium chloride) salt? 
GR> Thanks, 
GR> Ginny in Maine 
GR> (where the very first crocuses are just starting to
GR> bloom) </body>
GR> </html>

Have you considered a comprehensive mineral supplementation
product? Those potassim chloride salt substitutes are for
people with high blood pressure so it might be rather counter
productive with POTS.

What does your doctor suggest?

You might seek advice from your computer or IT department
about turning off the .html codes in your mailer to make your
posts more easily read on the mailing list and on the newsgroup,
alt.med.cfs.

later
Bobbie Sellers

--
bobbie sellers - an exhausted, retired nurse in San Francisco
bliss at california dot com

"If we knew what it was we were doing, it would not be called
research, would it?" -- Albert Einstein

bobbie sellers

2005-04-17, 6:11 pm

e_j_anderson@juno.com

2005-04-19, 10:06 am

Along the lines of what Bobbie said, it wouldn't do for CFIDS patients to substitute potassium chloride for sodium chloride if you are attempting to increase fluid retention. You could just add potassium to your diet, and keep up with the salt intake.

Blackstrap molasses is high in potassium -- a Tablespoon gives about 800 mg.

A can of V-8 (11.5 ounce) supplies nearly 900mg of potassium.

Green leafy vegetables, especially spinach, are also high in potassium.

Pinto beans and probably most other legumes are also good sources.

Potassium is very important, so it would probably be wise to increase consumption of some of these high potassium food sources.

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Tony

2005-04-19, 10:06 am

----- Original Message -----=20
From: e_j_anderson@juno.com=20
Newsgroups: alt.med.cfs
To: CFS-L@MAELSTROM.STJOHNS.EDU=20
Sent: Sunday, April 17, 2005 4:10 PM
Subject: Re: MED: POTS & potassium

Along the lines of what Bobbie said, it wouldn't do for CFIDS patients =
to substitute potassium chloride for sodium chloride if you are =
attempting to increase fluid retention. You could just add potassium to =
your diet, and keep up with the salt intake.

Blackstrap molasses is high in potassium -- a Tablespoon gives about =
800 mg.

A can of V-8 (11.5 ounce) supplies nearly 900mg of potassium.

Green leafy vegetables, especially spinach, are also high in =
potassium.

Pinto beans and probably most other legumes are also good sources.

Potassium is very important, so it would probably be wise to increase =
consumption of some of these high potassium food sources.

Tony commented
Since the sodium/potassium balance is important in cardiac regulation, =
before I did anything I'd talk with a M.D. My doctor even warned me =
about eating too many bananas. I eat 4-5 a day. I find they soothe my =
stomach.

Ginny Remeika

2005-04-19, 10:06 am

Thanks to everyone who replied; your answers were very helpful. I will
see a cardiologist this week for the first time (referred by my
neurologist who suspects POTS) and will discuss this with him.

Apologies for the html junk; hope it has disappeared.

Ginny in Maine

ahimsa

2005-04-19, 10:49 pm

Hi Ginny,

I don't have POTS (Postural Orthostatic Tachycardia Syndrome). I do have
trouble adjusting my blood pressure, and my heart rate does rise when I
stand up, but not enough to be full blown POTS. However, I do have a
diagnosis of NMH (Neurally Mediated Hypotension, also called
neurocardiogenic syncope and other names) which is a sudden drop in
blood pressure (25 points or more). I've found some help in taking salt
tablets and drinking more water.

At any rate, I take a time-released potassium supplement (available as a
prescription) in addition to salt tablets (I use the Thermotabs brand).
I have my electrolytes tested once a year to make sure my levels of
sodium, potassium, etc. are all okay. I would talk with your doctor
about perhaps adding potassium, either over the counter or prescription,
rather than substituting something for the salt (sodium) supplements.

I should mention that extra salt and water are helpful but not nearly as
helpful as the prescription drug called midodrine, a vasoconstrictor,
that I started taking a couple of years ago. I have no idea whether it
would help POTS but it is very helpful in keeping my blood pressure from
dropping.

On a slight tangent, I find it amusing that I take all these
supplements, plus two prescription drugs (which have warnings about how
they might raise blood pressure too high), and yet my resting blood
pressure (BP) is still about 100/60 most of the time. I have to remind
people (even medical staff, like the nurses who remark on how "good" my
BP is when they take it) of two things:

1. My resting (sitting down) BP is NOT the same thing as my BP while
standing in line or after a surge of adrenaline (it goes up, then it
plummets).

2. The problem is not that my BP is low. My BP has been low my entire
life yet I was healthy as a horse and able to do lots of exercise. The
problem is the *DROP* in BP! The tilt table test is what shows the
problem most clearly. When my BP dropped on the tilt table test, my
systolic pressure (top number) was about 60 and the diastolic pressure
(lower number) was not measurable.

Hugs,

Marjorie
ahimsa@easystreet.com

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