OT : Potassium Bicarbonate

[Roger Hayter]

That's why they invented dialysis.

[Pamela]

Perhaps their business model is to get repeat custom from you.

Although I would agree that insufficient salt is a problem but unlikely in a Western diet.

[Pamela]

I guess you were told a high salt intake would cause your kidneys to lower your potassium levels.

It gets a bit more complex because almost all potassium in the body is stored in an inactive state and needs to be moved, using a lot of energy, to where it can do its work.

[Bob Eager]

No, it's probably my medication. But I am trying Lo-Salt.

[The Natural Philosopher]

Well that depends on how much junk food you eat.

Its perfectly possible with fresh meat and vegetables to have a totally salt free diet

[Chris Hogg]

Some medications are 'potassium wasting', i.e. they cause the body to excrete potassium. Bendroflumethiazide, commonly known as 'water tablets' 'cos they make you pee, and are also used to lower BP, is one such. I have been on them for many years, but when I moved house a couple of years ago and to a new medical practice, my new GP noted that my potassium levels were low, so took me off them. My BP immediately became alarmingly high (alarming to me, at any rate, e.g. over 200 on waking; I was measuring at home because my GP said to do it for a week - don't usually monitor my BP), so I was put back on the water tablets. No one has commented on my potassium levels since, but I do occasionally suffer from excruciating leg cramps at night, so I take about half a salt-spoon of KCl in water, and they seem to go away for a few weeks.

[Harry Bloomfield, Esq.]

Pamela formulated on Tuesday :

Serious question - Is that right?

I have been told at just one appointment, that my potassium level was too high, I do suffer sometimes cramps, but I was told to avoid salt. I tend to only sometimes bother with salt, when I remember to use it and normally only have scratch prepared food.

Might my high potasium level have been due to not taking adequate salt?

[Animal]

You Need More Salt in Your Diet

[Chris Hogg]

I would be very cautious about taking any medical or dietary advice from anyone on the Internet. If you have a genuine and ongoing problem (not just a one-off observation) diagnosed by your doctor, then you need to get qualified advice from him or a dietician at your local surgery, NHS clinic, hospital, or WHY.

[Tim Lamb]

In message [e-mail], Chris Hogg [e-mail] writes

Interesting about the severe night leg cramps.

I also took note of TNPs comment about a link to fluid intake.

I have an enlarged prostate and am being monitored for accelerating cancer by routine PSA tests.

To minimise night toilet visits (currently once at 6 am), I am inclined to limit fluid evening intake. I was never a beer drinker so not hard.

>

[Pamela]

Quite so. There can be some well-intentioned but extremely misleading and inappropriate medical advice on the net, even by well-informed enthusiasts. The trouble is some of the doctors you might consult are not as capable as they could be.

[Fredxx]

That depends on the source of information. There are many reputable sites.

Agreed, but once you know something is wrong, you can become an expert, and certainly know more than your GP on your illness. Doctors can be good at the initial diagnosis.

[The Natural Philosopher]

Yes.

[Animal]

On lots of medical matters there's more than one credible view. GPs & the NHS get a huge amount wrong, to rely on them is imho rather unwise.

[Pamela]

My personal rule of thumb is something like 10 to 15% of actions taken by NHS staff is wrong. Correction of errors is so routine that NHS staff find it unremarkable when you point out something wrong to them.

In my experience, I would guess something like only 3 to 5% similar errors occur in private medicine.

IMHO etc.

[GB]

As long as you're not relying on Kay Shemirani, you're well ahead of some people. :)

[Animal]

In the UK private medicine is mostly the same as NHS.

[Pamela]

What do you mean?