Should i be supplementing potassium with b12?

[thankyouhu]

Should i be supplementing potassium with b12? If so, how much? I have read b12 can cause hypokalemia, and I have the symptoms.

[Hidden]

I wouldn't supplement with potassium, bananas, oranges, dates, lots of food contain it. Best to avoid supplements.It's only in the first few weeks of treatment your need in greater amount.

[fbirder]

Supplementing with B12 can cause hypokalaemia - but only if the B12 deficiency caused macrocytic anaemia and then only for a few weeks.

If you had macrocytic anaemia caused by a B12 deficiency then the body puts on a spurt of making red cells when it finally gets enough B12. This will increase the body’s requirements for potassium.

[B12life in reply to fbirder]

Does anyone have any literature that backs this up. I tried scanning previous threads here and the internet to find the backing for this. I was just about to ask this same as thankyouhu.

[Gambit62 Administrator in reply to B12life]

extract from section on treatment of cobalamin deficienc in BCSH standrds

Patients presenting with severe anaemia may develop a transient hypokalaemia following treatment, the clinical significance of which is unknown (Carmel, 1988), and potassium replacement therapy may be considered.

onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi...

link to the article cited

pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/320...

[deniseinmilden]

You should ask to be blood tested for potassium, magnesium, iron and Vit D.If they come back low your Dr should advise you on this, help you with supplements and retest you after a while to make sure you stay at the right levels.

If you can get enough from your diet, at least to maintain your levels once any deficiency has been corrected, so much the better.

[Leils]

Usually better to get it through food.

I prefer not too much fruit so I get it from bacon, avocado and occasional potatoes but you can also try smart water on injection day which has other electrolytes in it

Symptoms of low potassium are quite similar to other things e.g. sodium so good to try to keep it all in balance

[fbirder]

Probably the best way to ensure you don't get low potassium is to substitute low-sodium salt for ordinary salt. It also has the benefit of cutting down on your sodium intake.

The RDA for potassium is 3.5 g per day (or 6.7 g of potassium chloride) . Lo-Salt is one-third potassium chloride so you'd need to eat 20 g a day to exceed your RDA.

[Plucky1976]

Increase your potassium intake diet wise. Unless you have a level as to how low your potassium is would I supplement. I had this issue when first starting b12 injections. Along with it came phosphate and magnesium. My doctor prescribed me a higher potassium tablet as it was pretty low. Stay on top of it. It always seemed to happen a few hours after injections. It only last me for about a month. I was doing every other day injections then. That is still pretty much my schedule but I no longer have the potassium issue.