Potassium deficiency?

[Spanner]

During a recent holiday abroad i had a really bad re-occurrence of rls. I have not had rls for many years (i now have plmd). I thought long and hard about what could be the cause of this problem, i then started looking at the change of diet while away and realised my potassium intake was much lower than normal. As soon as i returned i went to the local pharmacist and got some potassium supplements and started eating some bananas. Hay presto! No RLS just back to the plmd. Has anyone else tried this?

[thedragon]

No I havent tried it yet but messing around with my salts is on my list to try. There is lots of chat the last few days about salt balances. So pleased its worked for you. I wonder if anyone is suffering worse with the hot weather and dehydration and sweating messing our balances up????

[nightdancer in reply to thedragon]

I know there ia thread somewhere on here about hot weather being the "busy season" for RLS. That could be one of the reasons. All of the boards and groups get much busier in the summer time and many,. many complain about heat making RLS worse. Sodium is an iffy thing, too. always get a sodium test done to see if you need it first. When my mother was going thru her congestive heart failure and bypass surgery last year, we were constantly getting phone calls, your sodium is too low get to the ER. I had her, per doctor's orders on a very low sodium diet, and you can go too low or too high with salt. There is one site, (charging money) that says never eat salt, which is nuts, for her RLS "cure", and then the other site I just read last night, this guy says eat all the salt you want, which is nuts, too, and not healthy. And, he is also charging for his "starter kit" to get on his "program". snakeoil. not saying you should not check out your salts like you said, just watch what sites you go on. The minute I see a dollar sign or "order page" I immediately think snakeoil salesman and that is what they are. Trying to profit off of us when we are desperate, but they have the answer , that "no one else has discovered yet."

[Hidden in reply to thedragon]

If you wait until you are thirsty, you waited too long to drink water.

Keep sipping it all day long. =)

[bill54321 in reply to Hidden]

In high altitudes, like Taos NEw Mexico, dehydration puts a lot of visitors in he hospital from electrolyte imbalance. Look up Hymalayan salt

[Ccarlisle in reply to thedragon]

Yes, mine has been terrible. I drank a huge glass of water, took some molasses for iron and took potassium. I am hoping to feel better soon. I know I don't have enough water and doing a lot of things outside and it's really hot.

[Hidden in reply to Ccarlisle]

Any luck with the molasses/iron and potassium?

[Hidden]

Both low and high potassium is very, very dangerous. I don't

want to knock anyone down who uses it to control their RLS.

Some blood pressure medicines can cause you to hold onto

the potassium and some cause you to lose it ... it makes sense

to me to have the level checked at the GP visit. There is a medical

test that will tell you what vitamins and minerals your body is

not getting enough of. Try to use food over vitamin supplements.

Sweating sure does change the balances in our bodies. =)

[nightdancer in reply to Hidden]

One of the times I was in the hospital for pneumonia, they wheeled a lady into my room for the other bed. I looked at her and thought she will be dead by morning. Her only issue was that her potassium was too low. By morning she, after an IV of potassium, she was dancing out the door. But, you are right about BP meds affecting lots of things. The jury is out on potassium, magnesium is supposed to help leg cramps, and can be a help to some RLSer's. My doctor said you will know if you took too much if you open the night in the loo, as dragon said, it can be used for laxative purposes Everyone has a different tolerance for magnesium in "that way"

[thedragon in reply to nightdancer]

ha ha Im on serious antibiotics at the moment for a tooth infection...just as bad for ...."that!!!!" Why do dentists always seem to use a major blast of antibiotics!!!!! feel very yucky!! and yep Ive got a lot of yoghut in my fridge!!!

[Hidden in reply to thedragon]

Tooth infection? Oh man!!! Ouch.

Bet you were screaming for narcotics.

Would greatly help RLS but if I remember

right, you don't do narcotics under any

circumstance. Please get well soon.

[thedragon in reply to Hidden]

I do have co codamol.....a lot...it's alcohol I don't do...

[Hidden in reply to nightdancer]

Funny story... hahah. I had ultra low potassium after

I bled out in surgery...2 yrs ago.. The difference was

day and night -exactly as you described it. It took

me several days to get back up into the normal zone.

Every medicine works okay on it's own but when we

are adding pills, shots, IV infusions for various other

conditions..the body chemistry can take a dive or

go in the other direction... some people are on 3 or

more medicines and the vitamin timing can make

the medicines less effective. Iron is one of the

biggest offenders.

[thedragon]

Yes you are totally right Yikes. we do need to know our base level before messing around with increases.

I know a lot of people laugh at the idea of banana consumption helping RLS but 1 cup of banana (225g)

has approx 60g of magnesium...15% of the daily recommended intake for women

and 800g potassium.....23% daily intake

so if these minerals are struggling and they are vital for neurones , muscles ,cellular activity and on and on, then upping the amount you eat may help . But as always do it with medical support!!! too much magnesium can cause heart and kidney failure

[Hidden in reply to thedragon]

Yes! Use bananas, baked potato, white beans, dark leafy

vegetables. Food sources are much better absorbed vs.

the supplements. (potassium rich)

1/4 cup of nuts, black or navy beans, brown rice are foods

that are rich in Magnesium. Whole grains are very easy

to incorporate into the diet. Those are magnesium rich

along with pumpkin seeds. Yummy! =)

I am taking food classes or nutritional classes.. that's going

so well for me. I hope that eventually my legs will settle down.

[Hidden in reply to Hidden]

navy bean's !! ive never heard of those

[Hidden in reply to Hidden]

Oh yum.. navy bean soup with ham. Love

to make you some and send it. =)

Those beans are delicious and give you

a good boost of vitamins, minerals.

You don't know what you're missing Sister3 !

[Hidden in reply to Hidden]

Also to go with your soup is whole grain bread.

The heavier the bread, the better. Any oatmeal

or seeds either on the bread or in the bread will

have lots of those minerals!! The body can heal

itself if we treat it as a temple. = ) After a while,

you won't miss the white breads or sugars.

Sugar makes RLS worse for many people.

[Hidden in reply to Hidden]

now your being cruel, i dont eat white bread anyway, its like eating cotton wool !!

[JimD in reply to Hidden]

People in the navy eat these beans! (ive never heard of those )

[thedragon in reply to Hidden]

Good idea having classes...sounds like fun!!!

Todays confession.

I just walked home from work (midnight) behind two guys who were smoking herbaly things!!! I was so tempted to ask for a drag!!! I didnt, but really wish i had now!

[Hidden]

Gulp...did you just say what I think you said thedragon?

(shock O = ) haha..

If you do that then I am going to get on a plane, find you

and we can be partners in crime. haha.. =)

Seriously, Someone on this forum said that they used

Happy Weed to try to calm the legs and it didn't work

for them. = /

You would think that it would deeply relax them? This is

the truth so help me God... I never tried it at all for any reason.

I know plenty of people who use it to calm themselves down

or for recreation.

I would love to see how goofy you can be!!! haha.

[thedragon in reply to Hidden]

Today just gone has been such a day! I'm already doped up on co codamol for the rls, antibiotics for the tooth...now better ...but still have to finish the course...and last night I took some sleeping pills to try and get a decent nights sleep .well I just went loopy instead..my fella said I was throwing myself around the bed for hours...then I stormed downstairs in a rage....30 mins later I went back to bed and crashed! I remember nothing except my rls went into overdrive...thats all I can remember . So happy herbs was very tempting.!!!

[Hidden in reply to thedragon]

OMGosh.. tempting? I would be laughing

my butt off with you on happy herbs.

Of all of those things that you did when

you were out of it, you only remember the

legs acting up? I hope that you did get at least

a couple hours of good solid sleep. Amen!

It's night-time over here and my legs are going

at it but not as much as lately. (too early to tell)

[thedragon in reply to Hidden]

3.30 am here...for the first night in I can't remember how long my legs are quiet.....but I'm wide awake. Damn!! I'm going to try another yoga nidra thing and hope I nod off! Fingers crossed...hope you get some rest yikes x x I think we could have a good giggle with or without the wakky baccy!!!

[Hidden in reply to thedragon]

hmmm, yes i seem to remember a loopy lady yesturday, hope your back to normal today

[thedragon in reply to Hidden]

I think today might be worse....Ive had NO SLEEP AT ALL!!!!! BEWARE!!

[Hidden in reply to thedragon]

ooo heck, could it get worse !!

[Hidden in reply to thedragon]

Drug induced apnea? It might be that if

you are still taking narcotics and you

keep waking up.

Please get some sleep. I hope that you

have no pain and your legs stay settled.

Narcotics are an amazing tool to settle

those legs down.

[JimD in reply to Hidden]

JimD I take half of one Serepax tablet and still struggle to sleep more than 4 to 5 hours per night.

[Ccarlisle]

Well, that is interesting. I know that potassium took away nerve.pain in my feet after liver failure. I have been having awful RLS lately, I am going to try this. All along I thought it was iron, which could be a double whammie, it's been known to run low. Thanks, tho!