Too Much Potassium Can Be Dangerous

Since my ablation almost two years ago I have always supplemented with the TRIO of Magnesium, Potassium and Taurine, I believe these supplements will make my ablation last. I have recently battled with a chest and head cold and was using Mucinex Max with good results. Yesterday while driving after lunch I became very lightheaded and thought I might pass out, so I pulled over quickly until my head cleared, this scared the heck out of me because if I would have been in heavy traffic and passed out who knows what would have happened. When I got home I tested my Potassium levels with my Cardymeter and the reading was almost 6, the normal levels are 3.4 to 5.4. I always worried about the side effects of too much Potassium and I found out the hard way, actually too high a level will possibly give you a fatal arrythmia. I immediately suspected the Mucinex and searced it out online, I searched the terms Guaifenesin and Potassium and came up with Guaifenesin/Potassium, that is the actual name of the drug. I stopped taking the Mucinex and skipped the evening dose of Potassium powder, ate a salty steak dinner and drank lots of water, this morning my level was 5, safe but still too high , I like to stay around 4.5 so I will skip my morning Potassium drink. and test again later. I had a similar experience this spring while on vacation in the Carribean, I was taking my usual supps and at the same time drinking a coconut fruit drink for breakfast in the morning and a few coconut drinks in the afternoon, then one day I had an unusual nose bleed, I never get those, and sure enough, my Potassium levels measured 5.2. This is why doctors sometimes frown on supplementing with Potassium and say it is dangerous, when you bring your levels up you have less of a cushion to be too high when eating, drinking or in this case taking medicine. Having the convenience of home testing with a Cardymeter has gotten me out of trouble twice now in the last few months and I cannot stress the importance of being aware of what you are eating and drinking when supplementing, we have to take Potassium to stay in NSR, please be vigilant.

Hi Tom - I'm very glad you are posting this warning.

Sorry that you suffered the consequences of the drug reaction and it serves as an important reminder that we all should know the ingredients and reactions of drugs or OTC preps should we consider using them as remedies. Since you have the advantage of the Cardymeter, you are likely to be more aware and 'safer' than those (of us) who don't know their daily potassium fluctuations.

How much potassium would you estimate you typically consume during any given day... food and supplements?

While I don't have a meter, having lived in this old body for so long, I can notice when I am becoming marginal in potassium. I found that after my initial experiments with the supplements that stopped the post-ablation AF breakthroughs, I didn't need to be quite so religious with daily potassium supplementing as long as I watch hidden sodium content in foods and focus on plenty of potassium-containing foods every day. And of course, I never slack off with magnesium supplementation.

As you warn, potassium is definitely needed to keep us in NSR, but too much is not a good thing.

Be well,
Jackie

I will admit ever since I've started supplementing with magnesium and then potassium again religiously as a last ditch effort to avoid an ablation right now I'm pleasantly surprised my heart has basically been in NSR the last few months. Wally Water in particular has turned the tide. I add a tablespoon of potassuim along with ribose mix and drink. The only side effect is the runs which I have to control with Imoduim A-D. Trying to figure out how much magnesium to take daily to avoid this diarrhea. I cut down on the Flec from 300mg to 150 daily with Tropol 25mg. I slowly try to get off Flec and use as a PIP. Thanks for the heads up on potassium as I did notice that made my heart erratic in the past but that was most likely due to not having proper magnesium levels. I also watch my salt intake. Watch now I'll get jinxed this weekend! Thanks Jackie

Thanks for the warning Tom. I only supplement 1 teaspoon of potassium powder a day because I feel confident that it is a safe amount. I have always been nervous about getting too much. Your ability to test is a wonderful way to fine tune your supplementation and any drug interaction. I , like Jackie, am curious to hear what your typical amount of supplementation is. Thanks so much for this post. It helps us all.

Mike and I have really reduced the sodium in our diet to try to balance our ratio. I sometimes worry that perhaps we are not getting enough sodium. We exercise moderately most days and often in the heat. Is there a way to know if sodium is too low?

Debbie S.

Hey McHale! That's a darn good report!!! You deserve a lot of credit for experimenting and sticking with it.

Are you drinking your elixir with food? That will often cut down on the rapid transit bowel issue.... or consider smaller doses more frequently along with food.

Quite often, it can take a very long time to replete all the electrolytes... I just read a quote by Dr. Moore
who says it takes years to get depleted and can take years to restore. Glad yours worked so well and so
quickly. At the very least, it buys time and if it works as well as it has for so many others, you can avoid ablation.

While we need some salt, I think most people have no idea about the hidden salt exposure. If we eat away from home, we have to be really careful and suspicious.

I wish you continued NSR.

Jackie

Debbie - when I exercise or work in the garden in the heat, I usually add sodium to my next meal...or even chew on a few crystals of the sea salt. I find if I am low in sodium, I am very lethargic and my muscles feel more tired that usual.

We do need some sodium. I feel the best when my sodium intake is between 750-1000 mg daily.

Jackie

McHale---You ought to consider use of the Magnesium L-Threonate discussed in my recent post; you could use it (as I do) not to replace Magnesium Glycinate (Albion Process), but to supplement it. While the 3 caps/day prescribed on the label only provides 144 mg. elemental magnesium, the improved efficiency of absorption claimed for this product might allow you to back off a bit on the MgGlycinate, and thus stay comfortably below your bowel tolerance.

It is available from iHerb at:

[www.iherb.com]

Mike H.

McHale,

You can order the MgL-Threonate thru the afibbers website at:

[www.afibbers.org]

> "Too Much Potassium Can Be Dangerous."

Too much supplemental potassium can be dangerous, but not if from "natural" sources and normal kidney function. Our paleolithic ancestors consumed something like 10,500 mg potassium per day. See Paleolithic nutrition revisited: A twelve-year retrospective on its nature and implications Table 3. [www.nature.com]

A typical "modern" paleolithic diet supplies some 9,000 mg potassium per day. [en.wikipedia.org] and [www.afibbers.org]

Thanks for that post Tom. It serves as a warning to us all. I had a lightheaded episode the other day but it did not last long. I suspect it was something that I did... like use a nose spray or something (allergies/misery).

Further, I am on TIKOSYN and need to watch myself VERY carefully. I call the pharmacologist at Southlake before I take even a breath mint for instance.

I also have the GP check my INR, serum Magnesium, Potassium, Creatinine, etc. twice a month at least and am permitted to do so at the government's expense because I am on TIKOSYN they tell me.

Still, your experience serves as a 'headsup' call to everyone watching their potassium. My target is 4.5 and I adjust my level by 'feel' daily depending on how much I take in with food by adding the powder to my foods and drinking LSV8 or Mott's Garden Cocktail (also ONLY the Low Sodium stuff).

Thanks for posting.

Murray



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/26/2012 09:06PM by Hans Larsen.

Hi
I've had one flutter and two afib ablations and have been in nsr since December. First ablation was cryo and had to be stopped due to damage to the phrenic nerve.

I thought excess potassium flushed out via urine if you have healthy kidneys? I take 2 or 3 Klor Con M2O tablets a day and have always tested fine but I assumed the potassium had to be in the blood stream and not the cells for it to cause problems.

Ron:

A few years ago I tried Potassium supplement powder after reading all the reports on this site about Potassium, Magnesium, I have taken Magnesium for quite a while and have no problem with it, but Potassium, that is a different story. When taking potassium I started getting runs of afib, I got it in the daytime and when moving around. Most of my episodes of AF always began at night when resting or waking up from sleep.. These runs of AF were different, they didn't last long but were scarcy--I quit taking the Postassium powder and the strange runs stopped. My Potassium levels usually test at 4.3 to 4.7, so I must have adequate potassium, that is one supplement that I will not take. My kidneys are fine.

I wouldn't take Potassium supplements based on "Paleo man consumed 9,000 to 10,500 mg. of Potassium a day", we don't know that for sure, also Paleo man didn't live a long life. Some on this board seem to tolerate large amounts of Potassium, that may not be true for all, certainly wasn't true for me.

Liz

Ron and Erling please research "hyperkalemia", from what I have read you can get too much potassium from fruits as well, avacados, bananas ect., perhaps problems arise when the supplements are added to the natural totals. Yes the kidneys do get rid of excess amounts of Potassium in your day to day intakes but we are talking about very high amounts of excess Potassium. I normally take a teaspoon of the NOW Brand powder, 520 mg. 3x a day and that usually puts me around a 4.5 level. I watch my sodium and I am aware of Potassium foods(most of the time) I snack on peanuts, but I don't really count the mg. amounts of what I eat. I have substituted an 8oz. serving 2X a day of Low Sodium V8 for the powder and get the same readings on the Cardymeter but in a past discussion here it was stated that the powder form was better than that in the V8, I recently had my bloodwork done and kidney function was normal. As a side note I was turned down for some supplemental insurance because of the afib issues I had during the "blanking or healing period" after my ablation.

Liz -

> "Paleo man consumed 9,000 to 10,500 mg. of Potassium a day", we don't know that for sure, also Paleo man didn't live a long life.

Paleo man's nutrition is as "for sure" as science can make it. How do you know "Paleo man didn't live a long life"? Is that from a published research study?

The significant point is that all of paleo man's potassium was from natural sources along with a very low sodium intake.

Erling



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 05/27/2012 02:08PM by Erling.

Erling:

I agree with you that potassium intake should be from food, I have a problem with potassium supplements that posters say they are taking in such large amounts, which can be dangerous.

I imanage it is pretty difficult to determine how long Paleo man lived according to bones that are over a 100,000 years old. The Yanomamo Indians in Brazil had a very low salt intake and low blood pressure but rarely live beyond 50 years of age, but we have been on that road before.

Liz

I'm really not sure about much of the information in this thread. I have a homeopathic/medical doctor and he tests all of his patients for potassium/magnesium deficiencies. Most of them I believe are deficient so my doctor has a fairly large patient population taking potassium. He tests me regularly and I am always in the normal range. I do eat a lot of potassium rich food and most of it is organic. I believe I just burn up more potassium and magnesium than other people and need higher dosages.

Ron:

You said "I'm really not sure about much of the information in this thread". I don't know to whom you are referring to, but my experience with taking Potassium supplements was very real and truthful. You are assuming that most of your doctors patients are deficient in potassium/magnesium, assuming can be dangerous. Testing for electrolytes changes day to day, depending on how much you consume---eating potassium rich foods is fine, taking supplements in addition can be troublesome, but, to each his own.

Liz

Too much of anything is dangerous, including water. That is not a reason for not drinking water, but a reason for not overdoing it. The thing we advise here is to keep a food and drink diary with some online free nutrient calculator like the one at www.fitday.com, and either to eat more K containing foods or to supplement with K gluconate until one gets up to our government's recomended RDA of 4700 mg each and every day. That is not dangerous.
PeggyM

There is no RDA for potassium. The AI (Adequate Intake) for potassium is 4,700 mg / day for adults. Read all about potassium: [www.nap.edu]

Quote:

On the basis of available data, an Adequate Intake (AI) for potassium is set at 4.7 g (120 mmol)/day for all adults. This level of dietary intake (i.e., from foods) should maintain lower blood pressure levels, reduce the adverse effects of sodium chloride intake on blood pressure, reduce the risk of recurrent kidney stones, and possibly decrease bone loss. Because of insufficient data from dose-response trials demonstrating these effects, an Estimated Average Requirement (EAR) could not be established, and thus a Recommended Dietary Allowance (RDA) could not be derived.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/30/2012 11:49AM by Erling.

Erling:

You said that Paleo man consumed 9,000 to 10,500 mg. of Potassium, I have just read that if you get all of your potassium from food, you can consume even up to 11,000 miligrams a day, which is what the Paleo man did, it is a different story when you use large doses of potassium supplements, execessive potassium can upset the balance of other minerals in the body and cause potentially fatal heart and kidney problems---I took this from a book called "Nature's Medicines by Gale Maleskey.

Liz

Jackie Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Hey McHale! That's a darn good report!!! You
> deserve a lot of credit for experimenting and
> sticking with it.
>
> Are you drinking your elixir with food? That will
> often cut down on the rapid transit bowel
> issue.... or consider smaller doses more
> frequently along with food.
>
> Quite often, it can take a very long time to
> replete all the electrolytes... I just read a
> quote by Dr. Moore
> who says it takes years to get depleted and can
> take years to restore. Glad yours worked so well
> and so
> quickly. At the very least, it buys time and if
> it works as well as it has for so many others, you
> can avoid ablation.
>
> While we need some salt, I think most people have
> no idea about the hidden salt exposure. If we eat
> away from home, we have to be really careful and
> suspicious.
>
> I wish you continued NSR.
>
> Jackie
My time in Greece last year was when I was acutely aware that my heart rhythm was steady as a rock. Little did I know I was getting plenty of Vit D and lots of magnesium everyday....sea and sun go figure.I was diagnosed low D3 after my trip and decided to supplement withD3 and magnesium. I know about the insanity of salt with bread being one of the biggest culprits. Gracia Jackie

McHale - your success story continues to 'warm my heart' every time I read one of your testimonials.

I'm so pleased for you.

Jackie

Jackie Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Hey McHale! That's a darn good report!!! You
> deserve a lot of credit for experimenting and
> sticking with it.
>
> Are you drinking your elixir with food? That will
> often cut down on the rapid transit bowel
> issue.... or consider smaller doses more
> frequently along with food.
>
> Quite often, it can take a very long time to
> replete all the electrolytes... I just read a
> quote by Dr. Moore
> who says it takes years to get depleted and can
> take years to restore. Glad yours worked so well
> and so
> quickly. At the very least, it buys time and if
> it works as well as it has for so many others, you
> can avoid ablation.
>
> While we need some salt, I think most people have
> no idea about the hidden salt exposure. If we eat
> away from home, we have to be really careful and
> suspicious.
>
> I wish you continued NSR.
>
> Jackie

Jackie what choice did I have as a last ditch effort to avoid the burns! Plus your constant posting finally convinced me there might be some efficacy with magnesium. The real AHA moment came to me was spending 20 days in Greece without even a missed beat....well almost! The Sun gave me D3 which I was deficient in, ocean gave me magnesium salts and Greek coffee like mud gave me my potassium. 20 days of sweet NSR!

Thank, Liz - well said. The book Nature's Medicines (1999) is at [www.amazon.com] "In this book, you'll discover which remedies are scientifically documented and which require additional study. . . . It's a responsible overview of an exciting, promising, and still-controversial field of health care."--From the Foreword by Alan R. Gaby. M.D., professor of nutrition at Bastyr University in Bothell, Washington

-- The ~9,000 mg potassium per day I quoted is from a wikipedia article about a typical "modern" paleo diet which mimics the ancient paleolithic diet. [en.wikipedia.org]

-- 10,500 mg potassium per day is the actual ancient potassium intake as derived by research and reported in the 1985 journal article Paleolithic nutrition. A consideration of its nature and current implications, and again in the 1997 article Paleolithic nutrition revisited: A twelve year retrospective on its nature and implications. [www.nature.com]

-- The Linus Pauling Institute says "Hyperkalemia occurs when potassium intake exceeds the capacity of the kidneys to eliminate it. Acute or chronic renal (kidney) failure, the use of potassium-sparing diuretics, and insufficient aldosterone secretion (hypoaldosteronism) may result in the accumulation of excess potassium due to decreased urinary potassium excretion. Oral doses greater than 18 grams taken at one time in individuals not accustomed to high intakes may lead to severe hyperkalemia, even in those with normal kidney function." [lpi.oregonstate.edu]

Seems high amounts of potassium are not dangerous if from natural, whole, unprocessed foods, and if one's kidney's are "healthy"..

Erling.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 06/01/2012 04:39AM by Erling.