I want to start taking 400mg of potassium. Do I take it all at once or split it up through the day?
thanks!

You can take it all at once. Your body can monitors and controls levels of potassium and if you have too much at any one time it can excrete any excess.

However, if you're taking pills be sure not to chew or break them - they have a coating around them to slow their aborsption, as potassium can irritate the stomach. If you're using a salt substititue ( 1/8th of a teaspoon size with a large glass of water) be sure to have some food with it, for the same reason.

-Nat

I take potassium every day, and it does hurt my stomach if I dont take it with some kind of food.

I live in a dorm room and dont always have quick snacks available to take with my potassium, if I forget to take it at a meal. I certainly don't want to risk opening the tub of pecans, that can be a bad situation I take a few of my fish oil capsules with the potassium instead and find that it has the same effect as food - no stomach upset!

You are much best to split it up, not so much because it will upset your tum, but because that way your body will have a more continuous supply of the needed potassium. You are losing potassium throughout the day with urine, perspiration etc, so it makes sense to take it in at least two divided doses.

Taking it with meals works best, otherwise your tum may be upset, as Rozezone can attest.

And do make sure you are drinking plenty of water while supplementing with potassium.

And one final note: Anyone who is taking medication such as diuretics, or BP lowering meds should always check with their pharmacist before taking extra potassium.

Rosebud

Ros, I was sure I'd read in here that potassium can be taken all at once because of how it's regulated - I just did a search and while it took me some time, I found the reference by Do.

http://forum.lowcarber.org/showthre...sium#post526962

And of course, now I'm confused

hi Nancy,

Um, are you still taking the beta-blockers? And I think I read in another post you mentioned you have a kidney problem that causes you to lose excessive electrolytes (which would be more than just potassium, there would be imbalance of sodium too, and magnesium). 400mg isn't a lot of potassium ... and while it's generally taken spread out over the day so that none gets wasted, in your case you may actually need to take more than that amount. I say *may*, but that needs to be determined by your health care provider. You may also be better served to take a different form of potassium .. some prescription forms come with magnesium as aspartate, etc. Your hcp is the best person to decide which form and how much is right for you, and how often you should be followed up with blood and urine electrolyte tests to monitor how you're doing.


Doreen

I have been very concerned about our 14 year old daughter who has successfully lost 17# now on Atkins since April. She looks and feels great, better than she has in a long time. But the concern is that she says sometimes her heart flutters and she gets a little dizzy.

I know I should check with the dr, who is a great family friend as well. However, in the meantime I picked up the only Potassium I could find today at Safeway. It's Potassium Gluconate, 500mg but it only supplies 3% of daily values. In addition to this, she takes a Calcium and Multi Vitamin (Costco brands) each morning. My question: Is Potassium Gluconate the same thing as Potassium? When I was in the ER for a severe postassium deficienty 3 years ago, they pumped it in. Then an RX for potassium chloride I think.
So...what would you give your daughter? She is extrememly healthy and active, confident, the whole works. She eats very well.

Thanks!

Annie

hi Annie,

Yes, potassium gluconate is a form of potassium that's perfectly fine to take. However, check the fine print to see just how many mg of elemental potassium is in it. I *think* the 500mg tablets provide 90mg potassium; the rest is the gluconate part.

She may also need some magnesium, if there isn't any combined in her calcium pill. And if she's feeling dizzy, she may be mildly dehydrated too. It really would be best though to have her checked by her dr. to rule out any major problems, which may require more than a mineral supplement to help.

Doreen

Annie, this is from a post by Doreen on this very topic:



I would think that if 650mg = 99mg potassium that 500 mg would be just a little under that.

HTH
-Nat

Thanks for all the information. I need all the help I can get! I sometimes take a betablocker, which is the reason I haven't tried potassium before. However I only take it once a day, half of the very lowest dose one, the half life is 4-6 hours so I think its okay. I left a message for my dr. but he hasn't gotten back to me on this.

In addition to the heart palpitations I also started getting terrible leg cramps, so I added the calcium/mag/zinc supplement yesteday and the cramps have not returned. I was surprised there is 800mg of magnesium in one of my medications I didn't think I could get low on that one. I drink 4.5 liters of water so I guess I lose a lot.

Annie I bought potassium at a health food store, its just labeled Potassium. It says 99mg is 2.8% daily value. I think I made a mistake on mine, under other ingredients the second one listed is rice flour, that sounds like a carb to me.

Supplementing with potassium without having the need confirmed with a blood test really worries me... the effects of either high or low potassium levels can be very serious..

I have had problems both ways... a medical condition caused potassium levels to go too low..... causing major problems with abnormal heart rhythms.... then this was over-corrected.. and I got very ill from too high levels, after supplementation was continued beyond necessary..

Normal functioning kidneys will usually keep electrolytes.... (potassium, sodium, chloride and bicarbonate) in the correct ratio, but so many things can upset this... I wouldn't play with any of these unless I had documented proof of the need...


PS - I have modified this post... please note my further post above...

I don't think healthy people need to worry about upsetting their potassium balance with supplementation. The kidneys of a healthy individual can take care of any dietary excess. In your case though, reowdy, since you have a medical condition you need to be more careful with the supplements.

Hi Pam,

It's the Wooo is absolutely correct. For folk with normal kidney function, any unneeded potassium is simply excreted by the kidneys.

Have a look at this former post by Doreen for some reassurance: http://forum.lowcarber.org/showthread.php?p=583378

Cheers,

Roz

OK, reasurrance noted.... and accepted.... for most healthy people.. and I do believe that the modest supplementation available without prescription is unlikely to hurt anyone.

and because I don't really want to panic anyone unnecessarily... I will attempt to remove my post...

My adventures with potassium started quite unexpectedly though, with a previously unsuspected medical condition... always a slight possibility.. so may I please advise anyone with unusual symptoms.. that continue.... please have them checked by a doctor.... before attempting anything drastic in the way of supplementation...