If you experience heart palpitations, seek urgent medical assistance. This can be a sign of an irregular heart beat (arrhythmia).
Key facts
Potassium is a mineral that is essential for all of the body's functions.
It helps your nerves, muscles and heart function properly, and also helps move nutrients and waste around your cells.
Potassium deficiency (hypokalaemia) is when a person has abnormally low levels of potassium in their body.
Some people with potassium deficiency don't experience any symptoms, but others will notice muscle weakness, muscle cramps and an abnormal heart rhythm (arrhythmia).
Potassium deficiency is treated with supplements, which you can take orally (for example, a tablet) or your doctor can arrange an intravenous potassium infusion — it's also important to treating the cause of the problem to prevent it recurring.
What is potassium?
Potassium is a mineral that is essential for all of the body's functions. It helps nerves, muscles and the heart to function properly, as well as helping move nutrients and waste around your cells.
If you are found to have a potassium deficiency, your doctor will usually refer you for more tests to find out the cause.
How is potassium deficiency treated?
If you have low potassium, your doctor may recommend you take a supplement. You should only take a potassium supplement under medical supervision. Having too much potassium in the body can also cause serious health problems. If your levels are very low, you may need potassium through an intravenous drip in hospital.
Depending on the cause of your potassium deficiency, your doctor will also discuss with you any other treatments you need. They may also discuss ways to prevent the problem recurring.
If your medicines are causing the potassium deficiency, your doctor may suggest a change, or recommend you eat more foods that are high in potassium.
What are the complications of potassium deficiency?
Severe hypokalaemia can be life-threatening. The most serious complication is an irregular heartbeat (arrhythmia).
If you have low potassium, your doctor may recommend you take a supplement. You should only take a potassium supplement under medical supervision. Having too much potassium in the body can also cause serious health problems. If your levels are very low, you may need potassium through an intravenous drip in hospital.
Getting too little potassium can increase blood pressure, deplete calcium in bones, and increase the risk of kidney stones. Prolonged diarrhea or vomiting, laxative abuse, diuretic use, eating clay, heavy sweating, dialysis, or using certain medications can cause severe potassium deficiency.
Common signs and symptoms of potassium deficiency include weakness and fatigue, muscle cramps, muscle aches and stiffness, tingles and numbness, heart palpitations, breathing difficulties, digestive symptoms, and changes in blood pressure. If you think you're deficient, contact a healthcare professional.
How long does it take to recover from low potassium? Treatment can increase your potassium level in anywhere from a few hours to a few weeks, depending on several factors. The key is to get your condition diagnosed so you can take action to correct the problem.
If you are taking oral supplements for hypokalemia, it may take several days to weeks to get your potassium level back up. In certain situations, you may need to stay on oral potassium pills long term to counterbalance your body's loss of potassium.
An easy way to boost your potassium intake is by eating five portions of fruit and vegetables a day. Other foods like pulses, fish, nuts, seeds and milk are also high in potassium and low in salt, so can help benefit your heart.”
Abnormal heart rhythms (arrhythmias) are the most worrisome complication of very low potassium levels, particularly in people with underlying heart disease. Talk to your doctor about what your blood test results mean.
What drink is high in potassium? Orange juice, prune juice, tomato juice, carrot juice, milk, tea, and coffee are all examples of drinks that are high in potassium.
A urine test can be done using a single urine sample or urine collected over 24 hours. A single urine sample may be taken at a health professional's office or at home. A 24-hour sample is done at home.
In particular, the Express headline suggests that a banana a day would be enough to meet your potassium requirements, whereas, in fact, a banana contains about 11 per cent of the 3,500mg recommended by UK dietary guidelines.
Aside from diuretics and laxatives, some other medicines, such as steroids and some antacids, may either block your ability to absorb potassium or cause you to lose more when you pee and poop.
Hypokalemia can affect your cells, muscles, nerves, digestive system and skeletal system. To ensure you have enough potassium, work with your healthcare provider to make sure you're eating enough foods that contain the mineral.
If your condition is mild, your provider will likely prescribe oral potassium pills. If your condition is severe, you may need to get potassium through a vein (IV). If you need diuretics, your provider may: Switch you to a form that keeps potassium in the body.
Potassium chloride of 40 mmol given every 3 to 4 hours for 3 doses is preferred. Rapid correction is via oral intake, IV administration, or both. IV administration is preferred in the presence of cardiac dysrhythmias, digitalis toxicity, and recent or ongoing cardiac ischemia.
Low potassium (hypokalemia) has many causes. The most common cause is excessive potassium loss in urine due to prescription medications that increase urination. Also known as water pills or diuretics, these types of medications are often prescribed for people who have high blood pressure or heart disease.
Introduction: My name is Horacio Brakus JD, I am a lively, splendid, jolly, vivacious, vast, cheerful, agreeable person who loves writing and wants to share my knowledge and understanding with you.
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