Can Potassium Deficiency cause (chronic) Insomnia?

You can buy potassium gluconate in pill form.

Sounds more like a calcium/magnesium deficiency. See here: [link to www.health911.com]

Get a decent brand (I use Kal) of calcium/magnesium. It's usually a 2:1 ratio. Don't take more than recommended as it can cause your tummy to feel yucky and keep you up all night anyway =)

I had insomnia and restless legs for over 5 years. Now, before bed I take cal/mag and some melatonin and sleep like a baby all through the night.

If the insomnia is due to your brain keeping you up, consider adding 5-HTP and/or Taurine as well.

BTW, the Cal/Mag and Melatonin is pretty safe, but be sure to check for contraindications before using 5-HTP or Taurine.

Magnesium is what you probably want to supplement. Potassium can easily be assimilated in large amounts by eating foods like bananas, dried apricots, tomatoes, potatoes, chicken and pretty much all vegetables. Magnesium is the mineral that is sorely lacking in most diets and (lack of) it can cause leg cramps, eleated BP, irritabilty and insomnia. It relaxes the nervous system and the body, and balances your electrolytes. A decent supplement is Natural Calm. But, expect some poopage...magnesium is also a natural laxtive

This is correct, but you need the combo of the Calcium and Magnesium for your body to metabolize it correctly.

Magnesium and potassium deficiencies can lead to muscle pain and cramping, anxiety and high blood pressure among other very serious issues.

The entire nervous system primarily runs a delicate intra- and extra-cellular balance of sodium and potassium, and calcium and magnesium (which are referred to as "pumps"). Too much or too little of one or the other throws the 'mechanism' out of balance.

I don't have the source handy, but it has been estimated that 60% Americans are deficient in magnesium.

The following Google searches will provide a wealth of info:

+magnesium +potassium +"blood pressure"
+magnesium +muscle
+magnesium +deficiency
+potassium +deficiency

For me, magnesium is the best anti-anxiety and muscle relaxer available - citrate and taurate not oxide.

A very informative read that covers these processes (As well as diet and lifestyle changes) is "The High Blood Pressure Solution: A Scientifically Proven Program for Preventing Strokes and Heart Disease" by Richard Moore, MD, Ph.D.

TXP
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Magnesium oxide is a natural laxative and is not very bio-available (not very effective except as a laxative). Citrate and taurate will not leave you sitting in or near the bathroom.

Natural Calm is an excellent product, which is magnesium citrate. You mix it into a fizzy drink (in various flavors), and the product is offered in both straight mag citrate and mag citrate plus calcium.

Historically, the recommended cal-mag ratio was 2:1; however, research over the past five or so years has shown that a 1:1 ratio is more accurate for proper assimilation. If I consumed a significant amount of calcium in my diet, I would take the mag only product.

Be very careful about calcium over-consumption: research also shows that arterial plaque is often primarily calcium and not cholesterol. This is a fairly lengthy explanation but is also covered in the above referenced book as well as a must read, The Great Cholesterol Con by Anthony Colpo.

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Thank you for your replies.

I was noticing that my multi-vitamin only provides 20% of the recommended daily value of calcium (as calcium carbonate and calcium citrate malate) and only 25% of the recommended daily value of magnesium (as magnesium oxide). I take Mega Men from GNC (General Nutrition Center). Should I just supplement with additional calcium and magnesium?

I don't see potassium listed on the ingredients, but it does list iodine (as potassium iodide). Is that the same thing?

OH, by the way, I haven't been taking my multi-vitamin and supplements for awhile now. I guess maybe I should start taking them again?

Thanks.

Another way to get magnesium is with magnesium bicarbonate. It's easy to make and really cheap.

Get a 2 liter bottle of ice-cold (important) carbonated water -- Seltzer water. Uncap the seltzer water bottle and, using a funnel, quickly pour 6 ounces of milk of magnesia (magnesium hydroxide) into the seltzer water. Quickly put the cap back on and shake. Then put the bottle in the refrigerator. After half an hour, there should be a little white stuff in the bottom -- if so, shake again.

After another half hour, the contents of the bottle will be magnesium bicarbonate and it will have lost it's "fizz."

What you've made is a high quality natural spring water that's reported to produce extremely good health in the animals (and people) who drink it.

Google it.

Oops -- forgot to say that to drink the water, mix one ounce of magnesium bicarbonate with 10 ounces of tap (preferably distilled or filtered) water. Don't drink it straight.

Please be careful taking potassium pills, it would be better to get it through diet unless directed by a doctor. My dog died from high potassium/sodium, causing her heart to give out. I thought potassium and sodium were normal, but the vet explained that potassium chloride is actually used for lethal injections.

Almost all foods are good sources of potassium, except the breads and grains. Especially good for you would be the fruits and vegetables (fresh, not from cans. Frozen is o.k.).

Supplements will never come close to the benefits of fresh whole foods and whats more, people tend to take too much in supplement form and this can lead to toxicity.

And yes, there is a potassium/sodium connection and they have an inverse effect on one another depending on if the food is processed.

For example, milk, alone, contains a good amount of potassium. But when you use it to make, let's say, instant pudding, the potassium gets processed out and the sodium level increases.

Roast beef contains potassium. But if it is processed into lunchmeat, a large amount of sodium replaces the potassium.

An ear of corn has loads of potassium. But if you buy in a can, creamed, then most of the potassium is replaced by the sodium again.

A fresh peach is almost 100% potassium. But if it's baked in a peach pie, like Sara Lee, etc... then it's only got 25% potassium, and 75% more sodium.

Get the picture.

Start eating fresh, whole foods and stay away from the processed and preserved.

Deficiency Symptoms: Irregular heartbeat, muscular weakness, glucose intolerance.

Here is a very comprehensive web page about magnesium, the focus is on magnesium and depression, but he covers a very wide range of information about magnesium deficiency and everything that it affects.

Highly recommended reading:

[link to www.newtreatments.org]

Title of the page is "Rapid Recovery from Depression using Magnesium Treatment". I found it here at GLP a long time ago and try to go back and re-read parts of it from time to time.

Seems like a lot of what we consider "diseases" are actually a magnesium deficiency. It's sad that so many problems are preventable and that it's so hard to get people to think about health a little bit differently. They would rather trust the doctors and take the drugs and not have to think about it.

You may want to look up sodium/potassium gate. That is where one goes in and the other goes it. This controls the electrical impulses in the heart. IT is to detailed to go in here but you definately need the proper balance. There is also hyPERkaelemia too much potassium or hyPOkaelemia too little. Same is with the sodium, too much or too little. A balance is necessary for proper conduction.

Here's a list of signs for potassium deficiencies.

[link to naturalhealthtechniques.com]

Just scroll down the page a bit and you will see it.

99 mg, 2% the RDA

potassium is not something you need to buy in a pill

eat potatoes in any form.

correct, potassium is not something you buy in pill form. rather you focus on getting a bottle of country life daily total one maxi-sorb for 7.50 at vitacost, and also get antioxidant polyphenol pills. potassium? no, that you easily get from tons of foods.

To the original poster:

In real lfe, I'm in medicine, so for legal reasons, anything I say here is not "medical advice."

Now that that is out of the way, I love the internet - it is a fantastic tool, and provides incredibly valuable information on an every-widening variety of topics.

But, unless you're scientifically qualified, seeking important advice about your body by Googling and submitting questions on a general forum is very poor judgement indeed. There is nothing wrong with arming yourself with as much information as possible about any topic, but when it comes to your life and body, unless you have a scientfic/medical background, these analyses should best be left to professionals. Taking advice that is little than anecdotal, is foolhearty and possibly dangerous.

I'll try and keep it short and simple, though this is not one of my fortes.

The human body is a miracle machine, and under relatively normal circumstances, barring any underlying pathology, is able to self-regulate short-term electrolyte imbalances. Your body can recognize if your sodium levels are slightly out of balance, so your kidneys will respond by excreting more or less sodium as the condition warrants, so as to remain "normal." The same is true for many other substances.

Now, there are exceptions of course. With potassium, for example, some people take certain types of diuretics (substances which make you urinate more than normal - usualy to treat congestive heart failure and edema (retaining water).

Well, a particular class of diuretics may make some people's potassium levels decrease, as, because of the method of action, you excrete (lose)through your urine, more potassium than you ordinarily would, resulting in a low potassium level.

Virtally all doctors though, if they're aware of all the drugs you (in the generic sense) take, would prescribe what are known as "potassium-sparing" diruetics, so your levels remain normal. These folks may also require potassium supplements, but your levels MUST be monitored, until the correct dose is obtained for YOU.

So here is what you do, whether you have health insurance or not:

Go to your doctor, and have them run a simple "chemistry panel" (blood test) on you, which will check for important blood-levels of many substances. Even if you have to pay for it yourself, it is still quite cheap if you shop around. I actually did this recently for a patient with financial difficulties, and there are 3 labs in my town. The prices ranged from about $35 (local community hospital) to about $75 at the local University hospital - so the out-of-pocket cost is quite minimal. Don't forget about free-clinics if you're financially strained as well.

My point is, there is NO reason that, if you're concerned about your potassium level, or any electrolyte for that matter, you should be able to get these results cheaply and quickly. In my personal case, I work with babies in an intensive care unit, and we can get these results in just a few minutes, so your doctor could certainly have the results for you by the following day.

By going to your doctor and having this very common and simple test performed, you will know FOR CERTAIN if something is in imbalance, or, more importantly, perhaps put you at ease.

Please, do not attempt to diagnose yourself, or allow people responding in a forum, to guide your path toward what supplements you should or should not take. This can be very dangerous.

TRUE potassium deficiency, or conversely, too much potassium can be deadly. Too much or too little can result in heart arrhythmias and other undesirable symptoms.

It would be somewhat rare to have high potassium levels, as I mentioned before, barring other pathologies, your body can usually adjust... but it can be dangerous. It is true that, in the USA, lethal injections used for capital punishment, consists of a cocktail of 1)sodium thiopental (puts you to sleep) 2) pancuronium bromide (paralyzes every muscle in you body except your heart muscle), and 3)a large dose of potassium chloride give quickly, which will stop your heart almost instantly. Potassium IV infusions are given very slowly (over 2 hours or more), and I have seen numerous occasions where a patient began having heart arrhytmias because the last little bit of potassium chloride was pushed in quickly.

Bottom line: ignore any drivel you may read above or below my post and play it safe - if you think you have something wrong with you, a simple and inexpensive blood test can confirm or put you at ease. And,of course, a well-balanced diet can provide you every nutrient you need to live. Consider the fact that many college students have lived on macaroni and cheese and pepsi for weeks and survived. I'm not recommending that diet of course ;)

Cheers.

V

(post ended up being a bit longer than I wanted, but not to be unexpected)

Potassium deficiency can and Does control the heart beat. The doctor said they had to cancel my surgery until they could get the potassium level up to normal as he said they could lose me in surgery otherwise. And the answer to you question, I have no true idea, but I had insomnia during that time, I just thought it had to do with other problems and would be taken care of after the surgery. Nope it didn't. But like the other poster said their are tablets I do take now a potassium tablet and I also take a magnesium tablet along with it. I do not have any trouble sleeping now.

It may sound silly but I found that this worked really well for me when I had leg cramps at night. Have a big bowl of beans during the day, I usually have a tinned bean mix in sauce, which has pinto, kidney and some kind of white beans. I think they have substantial levels of potassium and magnesium in them. I also tried calcium gluconate which wasn't as good. Try it :-), maybe try some light stretches before bedtime too, just feel your way into the tight muscles by moving around and when you hit a tight spot stretch into it slowly.

Hope you feel better and get to sleep well.

Although, this good medical professional is correct regarding supplementing with potassium (but not magnesium due to magnesium's water soluble properties making it virtually an impossible risk for nutrient toxicity under normal circumstances), (s)he fails to make one very important point:

A routine blood serum test, which is AMA standard, is quite inadequate in measuring all essential minerals because the test, as the name indicates, only measures the amount of mineral present in the serum; it does not measure intracellular or surface action.

A more accurate test is a red blood cell (RBC) mineral test. In fact, it is strongly evidenced that magnesium is one essential mineral not adequately measured by blood serum testing. If one's goal is to know "FOR CERTAIN" as the good health professional suggests, always insist on a RBC.

I would also add that while medical doctors do have a very vital role in medicine, in the US, the majority of doctors completely fail concerning nutrition. Do not expect your GP to give you adequate advice on a nutritional treatment plan other than SAD, which is proven not based on scientifically sound findings, and, in some cases to treat disorders such as Type II diabetes, the recommended food plan is simply opposite of what a sufferer should follow. Most medical doctors trained in the US are neither properly educated in nutrition, nor do they take the time/interest in becoming educated in nutrition, which I personally find counter to their practice. This statement is not a slight; it is simply fact.

Obtain your lab results; rule out major malfunctions and disease processes with your medical doctor and then consult with a nutritionist or, better yet, locate an integrated medicine MD who is trained in conventional medicine and also specializes in whole based systems and biologically based practice modalities.

And, finally, just as you should question advice from all sources, it is critical to question your medical professionals…specifically about detailed information concerning causes and cures (yes, I said the “C” words)...especially if the medical professional gets out the prescription pad to "treat" insomnia, anxiety or minor muscle aches.

This I guarantee: the cause of a medical condition will never be a deficiency of the prescribed pharmaceutical treatment.

And after you have spent your time and money following this advice and you still don’t have relief, try Natural Calm (or magnesium citrate or taurate) before you go to bed. That is, if you don’t have a kidney disorder AND you have adequate calcium in your diet. ;-)

Read, read, read...take everything in and educate yourself using your intellect, discernment and good judgment. Don't blindly trust anyone's advice including medical professionals. Regarding medical professionals in the US, I learned this lesson the hard way.



(And, no, this is not medical advice.)

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Thank you "V" and TX PATRIOT.

The reason I go to the internet and to GLP for medical SUGGESTIONS is because the "professionals" that I have been going to can't seem to find a reason or help solve the problem.

I will ask my doctor(s) about the "chemistry panel" (which I think has been done) and I will ask about the "RBC" test too.

Sorry, it took so long to respond but I went to bed at about 11 pm last night and had to work about 10 hours today.

Thanks again to EVERYONE.

I have an appointment with a neurologist/sleep specialist AGAIN on June 11, and I have an appointment with my Primary Care Physician on June 19.

OP another thing, though you didn't mention it, you may have restless legs syndrome contributing to your insomnia. There's an herb, Butcher's Broom, available at health food stores in capsule form, that works very well for restless legs syndrome.

As does magnesium (citrate or taurate) or adding a significant amount (theraputic amt) of high magnesium whole foods to the diet if one is mag deficient.

There is no need for herbs (or pharma) if the cause is a mineral deficiency....and the majority of Americans are mag deficient.

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AC, I wish you the best.

TXP

OP I recommend you have a look at this site before you buy any manufactured vitamin goods.

[link to www.hundredyearlie.com]


And a little bit about potassium sources and how too much salt can have an adverse effect on potassium deficiency I guess.

[link to www.ext.colostate.edu]

FAR, a great point you raise. One must definitely conduct proper due diligence when selecting a supplement manufacturer to determine who is selling the crap.

But please do not believe that the FDA will 'come to the rescue' (cue appropriate music) to protect us from supplement manf. even if a law is passed. Their primary purpose is the $$ and serving their AMA and big pharma masters. (I have a personal story about the operations of the FDA, but we will leave that for another thread on another day.)

Regarding supplements, my primary recommendation is to strive for whole food supplements rather than synthetic. That being said, however, I have found that a few synthetics work great for me.

The two supplement companies I trust and use (for several years) are New Chapter Organics (whole food supplements with a organic, fermented soy and tumeric base) and NOW Foods supplements.

And I would never be caught without Bragg's apple cider vinegar and Virgin Oil de Coco Creme (coconut oil) to hand.

I also use Solaray for Vit C (ascorbic acid - synthetic rather than whole food); Natural Calm (magnesium citrate / calcium) and Blue Ice cod liver oil.

Garden of Life products also have a good reputation; however, I haven't used their products.

Anyone else with supplement company recommendations based on quality and personal success?

Yikes...maybe this question qualifies as a thread high-jacking?! lol My apology to the OP if so.

TXP
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Just like the trance song, "I can’t get no sleep". That is how I feel every night when I get home from work. I do customer service and after 8 hours of listening to idiots scream at me; I usually go home eat watch spike tv and try to go to bed. Well, that does not work to well. So I Tried G- Monster from narcomundo.com. I took one serving; and some time after I was out like a light. I really worked.


[link to www.narcomundo.com]

Insomnia is awful, I have long suffered from it. Then the doctor advised me to take sedatives. I was able to buy them here, in one of the most reliable sources around the internet.

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Insomnia is awful, I have long suffered from it. Then the doctor advised me to take sedatives. I was able to buy them here, in one of the most reliable sources around the internet.

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I am suffering from potassium deficiency from May,2010. Still now I have to take KT (potassium chloride) syrup daily. I am losing memory, body becoming imbalance, some time I make abnormal behave, still now I am suffering, I don't know at last what is waiting for me.

ANY ADVISE TO ME?

[email protected]

Regards,
Nasim