I have found that because I have Fibro I have had to up my potassium supplementing to 1000 mg a day.

I felt great at first but then started having fatigue, muscle weakness and cramping again. This is a classic case of hypokalemia . Low blood potassium..So if you start to feel an aggrevation of your fibro symptoms you might consider upping your potassium intake.

I take liquid K and Mortons no salt.........1/4 tsp of the no salt gives me 650 a day.

I was getting swelling around my knees and in my feet and that is clearing up now.

Debbie

that explains why I haven't been able to get my carbs down as low as I want to.

I didn't know what was going on, but everytime I try to get them down to induction level, my fibro gets monstrous! And yet I knew it should make it better, not worse. I'll bet that is my problem.

Thanks for the insight!

Yah you know I am seriously wondering if my fibro isn't totally Hypokalemia because that is a total description of what I have been experiencing for 5 years.

tingling,Light headedness,fatigue,muscle aches. and ESPECIALLY
deep muscle fatigue and cramping. That is EXACTLy on the mark for me. My legs have been the biggest problem and I am hoping and praying it is as simple as low blood potassium. If potassium takes care of it wouldn't that be great for lots of us!!!!!!!!!!!

Hope it helps you ,Debbie.

Wow!!! That's really interesting. I was put on diuretics years ago for the occasional swelling and stuck with it. But even though it was one that did not affect the potassium, my K was still low. I have weaned myself from the meds (my new doc didn't like me taking them anyway) and thought I would keep up the K. I will now for sure. I have been feeling better since I did that, but you know how one feels up and down so much it's hard to know if it's something you've done, or just one of those days.

I'm keeping the K up until my next blood work and see what happens.

thanks.

Well, the way to figure it out is if you have muscle weakness/fatigue, but not cramping, you may need postassium. But if you have a lot of cramps/spasms (weakness caused by spasm-not generalized weakness) then you need magnesium--and a lot of it. My accupuncturist told me most fibromyalgics are severely depleted in magnesium. She told me to increase my chelated magnesium sufficient to give me 'the squirts' then back off 200mg. It took 2500mg/day to get me to that point. I stayed on 2200mg/day for about 3 months then noticed 'the squirts' returned so I backed off another 200mg. It took about 6 months for my deficiency to be made up. Now I take about 1000mg/day, which is still a lot, but I evidently need it. I also put epsom salts in my bath water every now and then and let my skin absorb the magnesium. I tried the potassium thing, but I couldn't really tell much difference. I have found that when my body does want more potassium I start to crave pistachio nuts (they have more than twice the potassium per ounce than bananas), and pistachios don't interfere with my low carb way of life. Also anyone out there on potassium-sparing blood pressure medication do not need to add potassium supplements to their diets--it could be dangerous.

Also be aware that hypomagnesemia *causes* hypokalemia and magnesium supplementation is much safer than potassium supplementation especially for those on blood pressure medication.

My name is Jan and I suffer from fibro and RLS (restless leg syndrome) I think the RLS is worse, but the fibro is terrible, the fatigue is awful. My doctor told me that fibro is an onset to Rheumatoid Arthritis, does anyone know about this, and does anyone know where I can get a diet plan for the fibro?
Thanks,
Jan
Canal Fulton, Ohio

Hi, Jan.

I have never heard of this before. Perhaps your doctor is confused because both RA and FMS are immune system problems. My sister has RA, but never had fibro symptoms. I have fibro, but don't have RA (yes, I've been tested). Althought it is not uncommon for a person with one autoimmune disease, to develop another. Especially if the first one isn't figured out. So, you might want to find a doctor who has more experience with this stuff. A rheumatologist may be beneficial, but only if they have enough time in the trenches.

When I went to the Doctor, he asked if I had achy legs as a child and I said yes, I remember lying awake for endless nights. He said that it used to be classified as growing pains, but that it was the start of restless legs which led to the fibro. Go figure. I did read an article last night about FMS and it said one of the symptoms is restless legs and until the Doctor said that to me, I didn't realize they were connected. I agree, I need to see a specialist and I think I will call my Doctor to see if he can refer me to one. I just recently started having the numbness in my arms, fingers and my legs and feet. What do you take for yours? I don't know how he got RA connected with the fibro. This is the same Doctor I went to 20 years ago when the restless legs got so bad and he said there was no such thing, and that it was all in my head---well, I took an article in to him from a newspaper and told him this is what I have. I could never describe the feeling, just that it felt like I had spiders crawling inside my legs, and this article from a lady said the exact same description that I gave him.
I don't know why I started going back to him, except my husband thinks he is the best Dr. around so I thought I would give him another chance-----well, doesn't seem like he is any better now than he was then.
Thanks for responding
Jan

Well all I can say is my Rheumatologist said to me upon diagnosing me after years of suffering, I have good news and bad news, the good news if you dont have rheumatoid arthritis, thats a crippling disease, the bad news is you have fibromyalgia, BUT whilst you are in pain and there is no cure you have the peace of mind knowing will never be crippled up like you would be with RA..

so no, they are different entirely.

They can both be related to a vitamin D deficiency though.