Low potassium, help?

[Potassium4]

Hi!

I was unwell recently and had to stay in hospital for a bit. I was going to have low potassium and had to drink those awful dissolvable tablets. When I was discharged they said it was 3 (I think, does that sound about right?!) and was discharged with more of the dissolvable tablets. I drank them all as advised and went back for a repeat blood test a week later, and I’ve just had the results and again the potassium is still low so more drinks again 😫

does anyone know why this is still happening? I’ve followed all the advice and drank it all, and my diet is good (lots of high potassium foods) but the potassium just doesn’t seem to be going back up

if it doesn’t go back up again with these drinks, does anyone know what will happen? Will it eventually just be something that’s just the way I am and doesn’t need treatment? Or will I need to take more drinks long term? Those drinks are so awful i could cry at the thought of having to drink it long term!

I've had very low potassium. I had to get a drip to raise the levels. I have had to take those drinks and was put on potassium sparing diarectic at the same time. It eventually raised the level up.

My dh gets low potassium due to blood pressure meds he takes, are you on any medication that could be affecting yours?

A level of 3 isn’t too bad but not ideal. Are you getting plenty of magnesium too? You need that to absorb potassium. As PP have said getting it IV is the next step up after the Sando-K tablets if your levels drop below 2.5 which is even less fun than the tablets. I take them with the tiniest amount of water to get it over with quickly! Breakfast banana and sultanas on whole meal toast with a glass of fresh orange, lunch salmon sandwich with loads of leafy greens, dinner chicken stir fry with spinach, kale and cherry tomatoes (I detest tomatoes), glass of milk at bedtime. It’s worth remembering that dangerously low levels of potassium can be very serious, even fatal. Good luck.

it will depend entirely on what they think is causing it, how low it is, whether it's causing any other problems, what your other results show, etc. Probably best to get advice from whoever has access to the answers to those questions.

Chemo gave me chronic diarrhoea and that, plus an inability to eat a proper diet, made my potassium drop very low. I was on potassium drinks (horrible) and I still needed infusions. Once I managed to get both my potassium and magnesium back to normal levels I felt like eating properly, which has meant my potassium levels are now normal.

So - persevere with the potassium drinks, try to eat a proper balanced diet, try to ensure you don't have diarrhoea. Once you have got your potassium up where it should be it will be easier to keep it there. And apparently there is a link between potassium and magnesium, so make sure your magnesium level is OK too. I have to take a supplement, but that is because my magnesium level was low. Yours may not be.

I found that I needed to dilute my potassium drinks more than they said, and to alternate drinking a few swallows of that with a little squash (separate glass). Just get on and swallow it - honestly it could be a lot worse!

If you’re drinking energy drinks then stop as that can cause it too

Yeah I know it could be worse. I already eat a really high potassium diet and I am already getting on and drinking it that’s not the problem, I just wasn’t sure if eventually it’s just normal to have low potassium going forward (the same way some people have lower than average iron and are fine etc) and whether this would just become normal for me or whether it’s just going to take a bit longer to get better from being unwell

tbh I actually don’t feel unwell at all, I’m guessing it’s not low enough to be causing problems thankfully because I feel absolutely fine! No blood pressure medicine tbh I’m normally completely fine. Hopefully this final dose of the tablets will be the ones to bring it back up! 🤞🏽