What are some symptoms when one is low on potassium?
Monday, June 29th, 2009 at
7:26 AM
My 98 year old grandmother had a doctor's appointment and we were told she was low on potassium. It did not occur to my mother to ask what this meant or what the effects were. Can someone please tell me? She was given vitamins for it but I'd like to know. Many thanks!
Filed under: Potassium Side Effects
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Symptoms or effects of a deficiency in potassium can include
muscle weakness, nausea, irregular heart rhythms, loss of appetite, constipation and lethargy.
Importance of potassium is nerve function, muscle activity.
You get potassium from low fat milk, green leafy vegetables, dried fruits, nuts, beans, fish and potatoes.
you can get leg cramps if you don't have enough potassium… She can get it from tomatoes from bananas, from broccoli, I was told to drink milk… not sure if it has potassium or not.. just know it helped with the cramps.
My grandmother had low potassium and culminated in leg pains and cramps.
Usually the symptoms of low potassium are mild. At times they can be vague. Sometimes you may have more than one symptom involving the gastrointestinal (GI) tract, kidneys, muscles, heart, and nerves.
Weakness, tiredness, or cramping in arm or leg muscles, sometimes severe enough to cause inability to move arms or legs due to weakness (much like a paralysis)
Tingling or numbness
Nausea or vomiting
Abdominal cramping, bloating
Constipation
Palpitations (feeling your heart beat irregularly)
Passing large amounts of urine or feeling very thirsty most of the time
Fainting due to low blood pressure
Abnormal psychological behavior (depression, psychosis, delirium), confusion, or seeing or hearing things (hallucinations)