Julie G wrote:
CHRON-O-meter.com may calculate your potassium intake just fine, but it isn't necessarily a reflection of your serum potassium. Only a simple blood test can reveal that. If you're already struggling with lightheadedness due to hypotension, I'd be VERY hesitant to supplement with potassium.
Congrats on all of your health improvements so far, Jan. I suspect you won't need your BP med much longer- KUDOS!
Thanks, Julie, though I don't know what my lightheadedness is about. I'll give my newest readings to my doctor tomorrow and see if she recommends I try again going off the meds and seeing if my BP stays acceptable. That might be the first place to start, but I don't really see how my readings are low enough to cause lightheadedness.
Jan here is my viewpoint. This is not personal medical advice.
Jan18 wrote:
Julie G wrote:I made the mistake of worry about potassium based on CHRON-O-meter output. I began supplementing and spent about a month on the verge of fainting until I figured it out; aka slow learner . It sounds like you may already have low blood pressure. Look at your serum levels. Potassium is tightly controlled. CHRON-O-meter is interesting when it comes to electrolytes, but don't begin supplementing unless your blood testing suggests you should.
Hi Julie,
I take 5 mg. amlodipine besylate for blood pressure. With this new way of eating, it vacillates between the 120's/80's down to 98/69, whereas with the meds and old eating patterns, it was regularly in the 130's/80's. According to old guidelines, that was fine for seniors. I've read that they consider that range high BP new. (My blood pressure before menopause was regularly 90's/60's.) Average readings are in the 110-120/74-80 range. I'm keeping my doctor in the loop on this. I went off the meds last winter doing the program and my BP stayed fine, but it went up again when I went off of the program, trying to figure out where the dizziness was coming from. I may try going off them again now. My hope is that eventually I'll be able to stay off of them!
I always feel a little lightheaded, but assumed that was adapting to ketosis. I've been doing the program very strictly (except for a two day lapse) for a month now. Yesterday my ketone reading was .8. But it is usually in the middle of Bredesen's recommended range. Glucose is in the 70's -- though two days it was 104 and 102 as I ate "off" the program while on a mini-trip, with limited food choices. Went right back to 70's when I returned. Does it take longer to be keto-adapted? I have MCT oil and could use it, but so far the lightheadedness doesn't bother me much.
I'm not sure I understand your potassium supplementation comment, though. Are you saying cronometer.com (is ours the same one?) doesn't track potassium levels accurately and I should have them tracked by my doctor? Or do you mean it's hard for tests to accurately measure potassium anyway?
I'm also concerned about calcium. Not taking calcium supplements but with no dairy, it's hard to get it all through food, especially since Gundry tells ApoE4's not to do salmon and that's the only fish I like! And why can't ApoE4's have berries? They were the only fruit besides green bananas (which I haven't tried yet) that we were allowed. <sigh>
Sorry, I ramble. So my questions are (1) could my lightheadedness be the potassium and should I get a test to see? (2) Should I be using the MCT oil for other reasons right now? (3) How do we get enough calcium? (4) Why are salmon and berries not good for ApoE4's according to Gundry (not sure if that is in Plant Paradox or in one of the interviews I've seen him do.)
Thanks,
Barbara
1. Dizziness is extremely unlikely to be potassium related in the presence of adequate renal function and the absence of an endocrine disease. If you were my patient I would be halving your amlodipine. Potassium absorption and recycling has individual variation and the body is good at conserving it.
2. Not in my view
3. If your bone density is adequate, your calcium intake is adequate. The quoted recommended intake of 1000mg a day vastly oversimplifies requirements and is possibly overstated in guidelines thru dairy industry influence. The threshold below which intake is inadequate is more likely around 500mg a day, but there is again big variation in individual absorption and recycling.
4. I eat heaps of salmon and berries. There is still huge debate about many nuances of diet.
So my questions are (1) could my lightheadedness be the potassium and should I get a test to see?
It's a simple blood test, always included as a part of a comprehensive metabolic panel. Your doctor likely has old results on file. Since your diet has changed pretty dramatically, you could retest to see where your potassium level falls. It's very tightly regulated and unlikely to have changed much.
A BP of 90/60 could be contributing to your lightheadedness if it occurs with positional changes, like standing up quickly from a seated position. For me, when I would squat in the garden pulling weeds for long periods, I would get woozy upon standing and stumble a bit. This is normal for me, but much worse with potassium supplementation- hence my caution.
Stavia wrote:Jan here is my viewpoint. This is not personal medical advice.
1. Dizziness is extremely unlikely to be potassium related in the presence of adequate renal function and the absence of an endocrine disease. If you were my patient I would be halving your amlodipine. Potassium absorption and recycling has individual variation and the body is good at conserving it.
2. Not in my view
3. If your bone density is adequate, your calcium intake is adequate. The quoted recommended intake of 1000mg a day vastly oversimplifies requirements and is possibly overstated in guidelines thru dairy industry influence. The threshold below which intake is inadequate is more likely around 500mg a day, but there is again big variation in individual absorption and recycling.
4. I eat heaps of salmon and berries. There is still huge debate about many nuances of diet.
Sent from my SM-G930F using Tapatalk
Thank you, Stavia!
1. Thank you for that explanation. My doctor did say to halve the dose and report back.
2. Okay.
3. I'd read about the controversy over calcium. I'd actually read some articles in medical journals back in the 80's or 90's about an enzyme (?) in milk promoting osteoporosis. Not sure what the particulars were. But my Mom drank milk and ate cheese and ice cream and frozen yogurt continually her whole life, and though she was an athlete and did lots of weight-bearing activity, developed horrible osteoporosis. So who knows?
4.Oh that's encouraging. I love salmon (and very little other fish) and would be quite content with only berries as my fruits.
I feel uplifted!
Last edited by Jan18 on Mon Jun 04, 2018 6:44 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Julie G wrote:
It's a simple blood test, always included as a part of a comprehensive metabolic panel. Your doctor likely has old results on file. Since your diet has changed pretty dramatically, you could retest to see where your potassium level falls. It's very tightly regulated and unlikely to have changed much.
A BP of 90/60 could be contributing to your lightheadedness if it occurs with positional changes, like standing up quickly from a seated position. For me, when I would squat in the garden pulling weeds for long periods, I would get woozy upon standing and stumble a bit. This is normal for me, but much worse with potassium supplementation- hence my caution.
Thanks, Julie. 90/60 was up until age 48, pre-hysterectomy days. But it has been as low as 96/74 in a sitting, rested position lately. So we are halving the dosage to see what happens. My goal is to be able to go off of it, because I take no other meds except that. (Vitamin B and folate supplementation for homocysteine, magnesium, Vit. D and a multi suggested by my functional med dr. is all)
I just was shocked to read that the recommended intake of potassium was 3,500 - 4,700 mg daily! When I started looking up how much potassium foods had, it would be an awful lot of your daily foods just to meet that level.
. It sounds like you may already have low blood pressure. Look at your serum levels. Potassium is tightly controlled. CHRON-O-meter is interesting when it comes to electrolytes, but don't begin supplementing unless your blood testing suggests you should.
