Pottasium Citrate

I want to start taking Potassium. After reading about it, I have ordered some Powdered Potassium Citrate.

I know this is a WIDE OPEN QUESTION but what dosage should I start off taking in mg? I also know that Potassium Citrate will raise the PH of ones Urine which could be great for me since I have this burning sensation in my Urethra especially in the afternoon. I do not know why it is worse in the afternoon hours but it is.

At one time, I had a Urologist tell me I had chronic non specific Urethritis. This website has inspired me. I f I am wrong, please let me know.

[www.urethralsyndrome.ca]

David - Just a few days ago, you were saying in the post on WW that your drinking water [www.afibbers.org] is very alkaline and that you thought the WW was making your system too alkaline... so if you are considering adding some amount/quantity of potassium citrate, then you may end up with the same symptoms ...as an alkaline pH is an alkaline pH.

Potassium citrate is a good form of potassium and offers help in avoiding the formation of kidney stones in those who are prone to that; however, if you do begin, then it would be smart to watch your pH... with the early morning first pass urine test with the pH strips.

Keep in mind also, that unlike magnesium... where if you take in too much, you'll get rid of it by the laxation effect, too much potassium intake can be just as bad as not enough... especially if you are also low on magnesium to begin with. Remember that just because your intention to use potassium citrate is for the urethra problem, it doesn’t mean that it won’t also affect your heart function if you take too much. You have to consider the whole picture. If you know how your serum potassium typically runs in a routine lab draw, that gives a small clue but typically that is just a snapshot for that point in time. To know your potassium levels continually, the Cardymeter is what many of the afibbers and former afibbers like Tom C use to stay out of trouble.

I’m just bring this up so you exercise caution and do some checking before you start loading up with potassium citrate.

Jackie

Smack,

Urocit-K is prescription potassium citrate, prescribed to prevent kidney stones.

In the prescribing information, <[www.missionpharmacal.com]
they recommend 30-60 meq/day in divided doses. That is 30-60 meq of potassium. From this <[www.aspenpharma.com.au] , you'll see that 10 meq of potassium is 1.08 g of potassium citrate The molar mass of potassium is 39 and citrate is 306.4. Translated, this would mean 3-6 1.08 g doses/day or 3.24 - 6.48 g of pot. cit/day. 39/306.4 or 12.7% is potassium. so 380 to 760 mg of potassium/day.

George

GeorgeN Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Smack,
>
> Urocit-K is prescription potassium citrate,
> prescribed to prevent kidney stones.
>
> In the prescribing information,
> <[www.missionpharmacal.com]
> ckage_Inserts/Urocit-K.pdf
> they recommend 30-60 meq/day in divided doses.
> That is 30-60 meq of potassium. From this
> <[www.aspenpharma.com.au]
> cit-K_PI_25Mar10.pdf , you'll see that 10 meq of
> potassium is 1.08 g of potassium citrate The
> molar mass of potassium is 39 and citrate is
> 306.4. Translated, this would mean 3-6 1.08 g
> doses/day or 3.24 - 6.48 g of pot. cit/day.
> 39/306.4 or 12.7% is potassium. so 380 to 760 mg
> of potassium/day.
>
> George

So in laymen s terms you are saying that I need to take 3-6 doses a day of approx. 1 gram of potassium citrate to get 380-760 mg of potassium a day?
I have read about the dangers of Potassium Toxicity. It scares me a little and I definitely do not want to "disturb" my heart but my resources for getting any potassium levels checked beside blood serum is nil to none because of where I live.

Yes, that is what I'm saying. They are also using the citrate to change urine pH. I know I'm a freak, but I routinely take 4-8 grams of potassium a day without issue. I've taken 2+ grams of supplemental potassium/day for over 10 years. IF your kidney is without issue, any excess will be excreted in your urine. Some people are quite sensitive, I'm not. In your case, I'd start small and increase slowly, perhaps getting some pH paper to test your urine pH. Something like this: <[www.amazon.com]

George

This is what I bought.

[www.amazon.com]


Also, Today I checked my Urine PH using my Hot Tub PH Checker. I have PH strips AND I also can check my PH using Phenol Red; Both showed a PH of approx. 7.2. That is me and my wife agreeing to this number by separately writing down what we thought the 2 checks showed on a piece of paper and showing each other.

We trust each other after 37 years of wonderful marriage but loooking at colors can be deceiving to the eyes. I also realize that was not my 1st Urine of the morning but my burning starts generally in the afternoon hours.

As I have stated before, My filtered tap water I drink daily has a PH of 7.8 to 8.0 which is high and the water is very soft. The actual Alkalinity which can be measured separate from PH is above 250 ppm. It is higher than my test strip shows.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/17/2015 11:52AM by smackman.

Smack,

For healthy adults, the recommended daily intake of potassium from food is 4,500 mg/day. The 360-780 mg suggested in the Urocit-K prescribing document represents ~10-20% of this. The dosing on your package is 99mg/day - as is required on all potassium supplements as there are those with compromised kidneys where additional amounts could be harmful.

As mentioned above, I consume ~8 g/day of potassium in supplement form and my diet is almost all leaves, non-starchy veggies plus small amounts of shell fish and pastured eggs, which also have a high K content. This high K diet has no deliterious imact on my heart rhythm. That being said, in your situation, I'd proceed slowly.

George

Beware of too much Potassium...one time too high a level from just eating lots of Avacodo foods and Coconut smoothies(on vacation in Carribean) caused me to go into Afib. I had my Cardymeter with me to confirm levels higher than 6.

Tom Cold drinks used to put me in afib. It could have been more than just High potassium but a combination of the two.

Adrian

Tom:

Too much potassium can put you in AF, it also can stop the heart, I am amazed at the amount of potassium some say they take.

Liz

Do some reading on the amounts of potassium that Paleo man ate. It's well over 10,000 mg a day.

For afibbers, and in the absence of magnesium inside the heart cells, then too much potassium can make arrhythmia worse. You absolutely need optimal levels of magnesium.

Go to CR 72 and read about the function of the sodium/potassium ion pump to understand why this is so.

Jackie

And of course we know that Paleo man, millions of yeas ago, ate 10,000 mg. of Potassium/day, their lifestyle very different than ours, also whatever amount of potassium they got was not from supplements.

L