Low Potassium

[bef1983]

Hi I am Bridget and I took a bad fall last week. I passed out and fell to the ground fracturing my ankle and bruising ribs and cartilage in chest. I was in the hospital for 4 days. They said that I had very low potassium and was dehydrated. They also said my sodium was low. I had my surgery last October. Has anyone had that problem?

 

[dancinbr]

Hi I am Bridget and I took a bad fall last week. I passed out and fell to the ground fracturing my ankle and bruising ribs and cartilage in chest. I was in the hospital for 4 days. They said that I had very low potassium and was dehydrated. They also said my sodium was low. I had my surgery last October. Has anyone had that problem?

I have heard of it. Let me ask you a question.

Did your surgeon prescribe taking a potassium drug such as Klor-Con? Did he/she prescribe a bariatric multivitamin? Did he/she prescribe a calcium supplement? if so, have you been taking these supplements faithfully everyday?

IF NOT, YOU ARE HEADED FOR TROUBLE.

I am sure by now you are fully aware of what low potassium can lead to; cardiac arrest. This is nothing to mess around with.

I am very concerned that this happened to you. Either you were not properly coached on all of these required supplements or you simply did not follow direction.

I hope to heck you have gone back to your bariatric surgeon and his/her team and gone over all of this.

With gastric bypass you are on these daily supplements for the rest of your life!

This is life and death type of stuff here.

So please, heed my sincere and serious warning.

Best wishes to you for a full recovery,

Ralph

 

[Cheyenne]

Hi I am Bridget and I took a bad fall last week. I passed out and fell to the ground fracturing my ankle and bruising ribs and cartilage in chest. I was in the hospital for 4 days. They said that I had very low potassium and was dehydrated. They also said my sodium was low. I had my surgery last October. Has anyone had that problem?

Hi Bridget! WELCOME to the Forum!!!

Do you by any chance take any water weight pills like Lasix ? My mom fainted and was unconscious when we went to the show together years ago and she was hospitalized. She was very low on potassium. They gave her potassium to take every day and she never had a problem again.

I myself take lasix and I have over the counter potassium pills but I don't take them every day. I know when I'm getting low because I start having leg cramps. I take them about twice or three times a week. Too much potassium is as bad as too little so you should really have them prescribed by the doctor. I plan on talking to the doctor about this myself.

Cheyenne

 

[dancinbr]

Hi Bridget! WELCOME to the Forum!!!

Do you by any chance take any water weight pills like Lasix ? My mom fainted and was unconscious when we went to the show together years ago and she was hospitalized. She was very low on potassium. They gave her potassium to take every day and she never had a problem again.

I myself take lasix and I have over the counter potassium pills but I don't take them every day. I know when I'm getting low because I start having leg cramps. I take them about twice or three times a week. Too much potassium is as bad as too little so you should really have them prescribed by the doctor. I plan on talking to the doctor about this myself.

Cheyenne

Yes, too much potassium is almost as bad as too little.

While I was on Lasix I always took a Klor-con potassium pill 40meq I believe. I also had bloodwork every 3 months. My potassium stayed pretty much in the middle of the range.

 

[ALF]

I am nearly 3 weeks post-sleeve-surgery, and my biggest problem is painful leg cramps. I felt faint a couple of times too, so my doctor took me off Furosemide and had me continue 20 mEq Klor-Con. Blood tests show me on the low side of the normal Potassium range, but I still am getting bad leg cramps. He also felt that I needed more hydration as well.

Other than the leg cramps, I'm feeling pretty good. Certainly my blood pressure has fallen to the point that I no longer need a diuretic like Furosemide.

Any other tips?