Leg cramps and potassium question

I have read on here about taking potassium for leg cramps. I had such bad
leg cramping last night while I was sleeping, it woke me up twice. So after
work today, I stopped at the store and bought a bottle of potassium. ( I
also take a multivitamin daily). The potassium tablets are 550mg. So is one
of those daily sufficient? I know I have also read in this group that you
should take extra calcium but why would one need that if they eat plenty of
cheese daily? Thanks for all the stuff I am learning on here!

Eileen
198/186/?
Atkins since 2/12/04

On Sat, 20 Mar 2004 07:10:17 GMT, "Eileen Dougal"
wrote:

I have read on here about taking potassium for leg cramps. I had such bad
leg cramping last night while I was sleeping, it woke me up twice. So after
work today, I stopped at the store and bought a bottle of potassium. ( I
also take a multivitamin daily). The potassium tablets are 550mg. So is one
of those daily sufficient? I know I have also read in this group that you
should take extra calcium but why would one need that if they eat plenty of
cheese daily? Thanks for all the stuff I am learning on here!

If those are the ones I am thinking of, you are actually getting 550
mg of a compound that is only PARTLY made up of potassium (i.e.
potassium gluconate). The highest actual amount of straight potassium
per pill that can be sold in the USA without a prescription is 99 mg.
550 mg of potassium gluconate typically has about 90 mg of actual
potassium. Each of those pills is only about 3% of your daily need, so
you would need to be taking over 30 pills/day to get your full 100%.
Your body just won't notice it if you take a single pill.

Fortunately, there is a lot of potassium in various foods, and you can
buy salt substitutes to really boost your potassium. The "Lite Salt"
is half regular salt (sodium chloride) and half salt substitute
(potassium chloride). Most people don't have a problem with the
taste, it's very similar to regular salt. You can also get pure salt
substitute. While I have no problems with it, some people complain of
a slight bitter or metallic taste with the pure salt substitute. But
to compare - 1/4 teaspoon of pure salt substitute has 610 mg
potassium, more that the amount in six of your pills. That's the
amount that many people with cramps start out trying, then adjust from
there.

Along with potassium, calcium and magnesium are very helpful too in
dealing with leg cramps.

In article ,
(Harold Groot) wrote:

On Sat, 20 Mar 2004 07:10:17 GMT, "Eileen Dougal"
wrote:

I have read on here about taking potassium for leg cramps. I had such bad
leg cramping last night while I was sleeping, it woke me up twice. So after
work today, I stopped at the store and bought a bottle of potassium. ( I
also take a multivitamin daily). The potassium tablets are 550mg. So is one
of those daily sufficient? I know I have also read in this group that you
should take extra calcium but why would one need that if they eat plenty of
cheese daily? Thanks for all the stuff I am learning on here!

If those are the ones I am thinking of, you are actually getting 550
mg of a compound that is only PARTLY made up of potassium (i.e.
potassium gluconate). The highest actual amount of straight potassium
per pill that can be sold in the USA without a prescription is 99 mg.
550 mg of potassium gluconate typically has about 90 mg of actual
potassium. Each of those pills is only about 3% of your daily need, so
you would need to be taking over 30 pills/day to get your full 100%.
Your body just won't notice it if you take a single pill.



The reason for that is that if you take too much potassium, even just a
little too much, it will stop your heart.

--
Michelle Levin
http://www.mindspring.com/~lunachick

I have only 3 flaws. My first flaw is thinking that I only have 3 flaws.

The reason for that is that if you take too much potassium, even
just a
little too much, it will stop your heart.

--
Michelle Levin


luna,
too much OR too little potassium, (among other minerals) can cause
cardiac irregularities, not necessarily arrest.

On Sat, 20 Mar 2004 16:52:56 GMT, Luna
wrote:

The reason for that is that if you take too much potassium, even just a
little too much, it will stop your heart.

Actually, from what I've read the problem is more on the digestion
end. Potassium that is bound up in compounds found in foods (say, in
bananas) is easily digested, but the potassium in pill form is not.

Also, there is a whole safe =range= before you get into unsafe
dosages. After all, the huge majority of people in this world do not
go around measuring their potassium intake with the idea that they
will stop immediately upon reaching the minimum daily requirement.
They don't say "Ohmigod, 3500 is the MDR and I just ate 3600, I'm
going to die!" No, they go around eating as much food as it takes to
make them feel full. Some eat foods with lots of potassium, others
eat little potassium. Some people will not even reach the MDA
amounts, others will exceed it by a large amount. The human body has
ways to handle modest amounts of excess potassium.

This is not to say that it is IMPOSSIBLE to get too much and have
heart problems. It can be done. But if the "minimum" requirement is
around 3500 mg, (which is itself an AVERAGE, not a "take this or you
die" figure"), you give no yardstick on what the MAXIMUM safe dose is.
Is it twice the minimum (7000 mg)? Three times the minimum (10500
mg)? You are waving a big red DANGER flag without giving any sort of
guidelines for where the =danger= point really begins.

Here's what one of the online drugstores (drugstores.com) mentions
about potassium. You'll notice mention of problems with too little.
You'll notice digestive problems with too much in pill form. You'll
notice they talk about problems if you already have kidney problems
before you begin. But they don't talk about your heart stopping of
you have too much.

"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""" """""""""""""""""""""""""

Who is likely to be deficient? So-called primitive diets provided much
greater levels of potassium than modern diets, which may provide too
little. Gross deficiencies, however, are rare except in cases of
prolonged vomiting, diarrhea, or use of “potassium-depleting”diuretic
drugs. People taking one of these drugs are often advised by their
doctor to take supplemental potassium. Prescription amounts of
potassium provide more than the amounts sold over the counter but not
more than the amount found in several pieces of fruit.

How much is usually taken? The best way to obtain extra potassium is
to eat several pieces of fruit per day, as well as liberal amounts of
vegetables. The amount of potassium found in the diet ranges from
about 2.5 grams to about 5.8 grams per day. The amount allowed in
supplements—99 mg per tablet or capsule—is very low, considering that
one banana can contain 500 mg. One should not attempt to achieve
higher potassium levels by taking large numbers of potassium pills.
This concentrated form of potassium can irritate the stomach—a problem
not encountered with the potassium in food.

Are there any side effects or interactions? High potassium intake
(several hundred milligrams at one time in tablet form) can produce
stomach irritation. People using potassium-sparing drugs should avoid
using potassium chloride-containing products, such as Morton Salt
Substitute®, No Salt®, Lite Salt®, and others and should not take
potassium supplements, except under the supervision of a doctor. Even
eating several pieces of fruit each day can sometimes cause problems
for people taking potassium-sparing drugs, due to the high potassium
content of fruit.

Potassium and sodium work together in the body to maintain muscle
tone, blood pressure, water balance, and other functions. Many
researchers believe that part of the blood pressure problem caused by
too much salt (which contains sodium) is made worse by too little
dietary potassium.

People with kidney failure should not take potassium supplements,
except under careful medical supervision.

Are there any drug interactions? Certain medications may interact with
potassium. Refer to the drug interactions safety check for a list of
those medications.

References:

1. Wahr JA, Parks R, Boisvert D, et al. Preoperative serum potassium
levels and perioperative outcomes in cardiac surgery patients. JAMA
1999;281:2203–10.

(Harold Groot) wrote:

On Sat, 20 Mar 2004 16:52:56 GMT, Luna
wrote:

The reason for that is that if you take too much potassium, even just a
little too much, it will stop your heart.

Actually, from what I've read the problem is more on the digestion
end. Potassium that is bound up in compounds found in foods (say, in
bananas) is easily digested, but the potassium in pill form is not.

My potassium levels are always a little lower than the recommended
range. Right now I take potassium (80mg/day) and a potassium-raising
drug (Altace.) I take some strong diuretics that cause the depletion.
My last level taken a few weeks ago was 3.4. It was 3.1 a month before
that. 3.5-5.3 is normal at my lab.

The only digestion thing I can relate is that when I take a couple of
extra 10 mg pills, my.. um.. regularity is more regular. I'd imagine
that if someone didn't have a tendency toward constipation, it might
cause some undesired results.

I have done searches to find out just how much is too much, blood
level-wise, to cause symptoms that one would notice and what the
symptoms would be, but I haven't found a good source yet. Since I
don't have an EKG available, looking at that is out. General weakness?
Pick a day. Muscle cramps are usually a late symptom. Lots of EKG
changes occur over 6. Your heart can stop at 10. That's a long way
from my 3, but still not very specific.

--
Jean M.
New food of the week: water chestnuts

Do away with flipfloping to e-mail.

Thanks for the info. I am still unsure about how much potassium to take. If
the potassium glutamate I bought is not any good, well then I am stuck with
a bottle of 200 that I would like to use before I buy anymore. So if the
bottle says 550mg (which is a mixture of other stuff) and it only equals
90mg. of potassium and one tab is only 3% of RDA, how many pills could I
safely take per day? Why would the bottle say take only one daily if one
tablet is only 3% of RDA? This stuff confuses the hell out of me. I also got
a bottle of magnesium tonight and that says to take 3 tabs daily. Does that
sound normal to help leg cramping?

Eileen

"Harold Groot" wrote in message
...
On Sat, 20 Mar 2004 16:52:56 GMT, Luna
wrote:

The reason for that is that if you take too much potassium, even just a
little too much, it will stop your heart.

Actually, from what I've read the problem is more on the digestion
end. Potassium that is bound up in compounds found in foods (say, in
bananas) is easily digested, but the potassium in pill form is not.

Also, there is a whole safe =range= before you get into unsafe
dosages. After all, the huge majority of people in this world do not
go around measuring their potassium intake with the idea that they
will stop immediately upon reaching the minimum daily requirement.
They don't say "Ohmigod, 3500 is the MDR and I just ate 3600, I'm
going to die!" No, they go around eating as much food as it takes to
make them feel full. Some eat foods with lots of potassium, others
eat little potassium. Some people will not even reach the MDA
amounts, others will exceed it by a large amount. The human body has
ways to handle modest amounts of excess potassium.

This is not to say that it is IMPOSSIBLE to get too much and have
heart problems. It can be done. But if the "minimum" requirement is
around 3500 mg, (which is itself an AVERAGE, not a "take this or you
die" figure"), you give no yardstick on what the MAXIMUM safe dose is.
Is it twice the minimum (7000 mg)? Three times the minimum (10500
mg)? You are waving a big red DANGER flag without giving any sort of
guidelines for where the =danger= point really begins.

Here's what one of the online drugstores (drugstores.com) mentions
about potassium. You'll notice mention of problems with too little.
You'll notice digestive problems with too much in pill form. You'll
notice they talk about problems if you already have kidney problems
before you begin. But they don't talk about your heart stopping of
you have too much.


"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""" """""""""""""""""""""""""

Who is likely to be deficient? So-called primitive diets provided much
greater levels of potassium than modern diets, which may provide too
little. Gross deficiencies, however, are rare except in cases of
prolonged vomiting, diarrhea, or use of "potassium-depleting"diuretic
drugs. People taking one of these drugs are often advised by their
doctor to take supplemental potassium. Prescription amounts of
potassium provide more than the amounts sold over the counter but not
more than the amount found in several pieces of fruit.

How much is usually taken? The best way to obtain extra potassium is
to eat several pieces of fruit per day, as well as liberal amounts of
vegetables. The amount of potassium found in the diet ranges from
about 2.5 grams to about 5.8 grams per day. The amount allowed in
supplements-99 mg per tablet or capsule-is very low, considering that
one banana can contain 500 mg. One should not attempt to achieve
higher potassium levels by taking large numbers of potassium pills.
This concentrated form of potassium can irritate the stomach-a problem
not encountered with the potassium in food.

Are there any side effects or interactions? High potassium intake
(several hundred milligrams at one time in tablet form) can produce
stomach irritation. People using potassium-sparing drugs should avoid
using potassium chloride-containing products, such as Morton Salt
Substitute®, No Salt®, Lite Salt®, and others and should not take
potassium supplements, except under the supervision of a doctor. Even
eating several pieces of fruit each day can sometimes cause problems
for people taking potassium-sparing drugs, due to the high potassium
content of fruit.

Potassium and sodium work together in the body to maintain muscle
tone, blood pressure, water balance, and other functions. Many
researchers believe that part of the blood pressure problem caused by
too much salt (which contains sodium) is made worse by too little
dietary potassium.

People with kidney failure should not take potassium supplements,
except under careful medical supervision.

Are there any drug interactions? Certain medications may interact with
potassium. Refer to the drug interactions safety check for a list of
those medications.

References:

1. Wahr JA, Parks R, Boisvert D, et al. Preoperative serum potassium
levels and perioperative outcomes in cardiac surgery patients. JAMA
1999;281:2203-10.

On Sun, 21 Mar 2004 07:31:43 GMT, "Eileen Dougal"
wrote:

Thanks for the info. I am still unsure about how much potassium to take. If
the potassium glutamate I bought is not any good, well then I am stuck with
a bottle of 200 that I would like to use before I buy anymore. So if the
bottle says 550mg (which is a mixture of other stuff) and it only equals
90mg. of potassium and one tab is only 3% of RDA, how many pills could I
safely take per day? Why would the bottle say take only one daily if one
tablet is only 3% of RDA? This stuff confuses the hell out of me. I also got
a bottle of magnesium tonight and that says to take 3 tabs daily. Does that
sound normal to help leg cramping?

The potential problem is stomach irritation if you take too many of
the pills. That will vary a bit from person to person. Let's say
that you find that you can take 2 pills with a meal without any
problems. You might try 6 per day (assumes 3 meals with 2 pills) and
you would get roughly the same amount of potassium as in a single
banana (but without the carbs of a banana).

Along with the other things mentioned, 400 I.U. of vitamin E can help.

As for magnesium - that would probably depend on the amount in each
tablet. My magnesium is 250 mg per tablet out of a daily requirement
of around 400 mg (if memory serves). But I have seen higher amounts
recommended for people with leg cramps or diabetes. For example, in
PROTEIN POWER (one of the Low Carb eating plans), the recommendation
was for 400 mg for people in normal health but 600 mg for people with
diabetes. Dr. Atkins starts with a lower amount of magnesium in his
Basic #3 pills (48 mg if you take 6, 72 mg if you take 9) but likewise
says that "extra" magnesium is helpful for those with diabetes (though
he doesn't say how much).

Here's an article that recommends higher doses:

================================================== ====================
Before recommending magnesium supplements to ease muscle cramps, Dr.
McLean does a blood test to determine an individual’s blood magnesium
level, to make sure that it is not unexpectedly high. If the blood
level is low or even normal, then body magnesium stores may be low.
Unfortunately, a normal blood level does not ensure that body
magnesium stores are adequate.

Based on the results of the tests as well as the person’s muscle cramp
symptoms, Dr. McLean usually recommends taking one 400-milligram
magnesium capsule two or three times a day. “I wouldn’t go higher than
that, because too much magnesium can cause you to develop diarrhea,”
he says. (Magnesium salt is the ingredient that makes Phillips’ Milk
of Magnesia, a popular bowel cleanser, do its job.)

But be careful: If you have kidney problems, taking magnesium
supplements may make you accumulate the mineral too quickly, which
could be toxic, says Dr. McLean. If you have kidney or heart problems,
you should check with your doctor before taking magnesium supplements.


Some people taking magnesium may get relief from leg cramps right
away, but a long-standing deficiency can take weeks to overcome with
supplements, says Dr. Brilla. “We like to recommend supplementing for
four weeks,” she says. “That’s how long we feel it takes before we
have some kind of measurable outcome.”
================================================== =====================

So that article recommends up to 1200 mg.

So if the
bottle says 550mg (which is a mixture of other stuff) and it only equals
90mg. of potassium and one tab is only 3% of RDA, how many pills could I
safely take per day?

I know some say 3% won't help you, but I SWEAR taking two a day (morning and
evening) during induction made me feel better almost immediately after taking
the first one, and the yucky feeling didn't come back. I've switched to lite
salt, and still do fine.


LCing since 12/01/03-
Me- 5'7" 265/219/140
& hubby- 6' 310/238/180

Harold Groot burbled across the ether:
References:

1. Wahr JA, Parks R, Boisvert D, et al. Preoperative serum potassium
levels and perioperative outcomes in cardiac surgery patients. JAMA
1999;281:2203-10.

Saved! Where were you when all the nonsense about the death of the
Missouri girl who was lowcarbing was being hysteria'd about? It also
would have been nice to have whilst a former ng participant was being
hounded out of the group over this very issue.

--
revek www.geocities.com/tanirevek/LowCarb.html lowcarbing since June
2002 5'2" 41 F 165+/too much/size seven petite please
Now and then an innocent man is sent to legislature. - Kin Hubbard