Low Potassium

I have been feeling light-headed & dizzy the last few days so I called my pcp the end of last week. They told me to monitor my bp & come in 1st Monday morning. Well, we figure I've lost close to 80lbs since I started this journey so they changed out my bp med from Lisinopril-HCTZ 20/12.5 to Lisinopril 10mg & took some blood to double check electrolytes & stuff. Well, didn't I just get a phone call from the nurse at their office informing me that my potassium level was pretty low. They are calling in a supplement for me to take starting tomorrow morning & I was to stop the Lisinopril w/HCTZ immediately & start the new one they gave me yesterday. In the meantime I was to drink oj (watered down was better than none) or gatorade (we can't have it, can we?) & eat mashed banana or even a baked potato!! Of course I had already had dinner & did have some baked potato with it but I don't have the other things in the house. I told the nurse about the protein drink I have & how much potassium was in that & she said if I could get some of that in tonight that would be good too. I am feeling a bit scared but the nurse said I should be ok as long as I get that supplement in the morning.  Anyone else go through this & should I feel this scared even though they told me what I plan to do is ok? I don't normally flip out about stuff like this... I take it all in stride but my hormones are all over the place & I can cry at the drop of a hat!! GEEZ!!  Thanks!! Cece  

The first thing you need to do is calm down.  Do everything the nurse told you to do and hopefully once your body figures out what's going on, you will be fine.  Right now everything is adjusting and it just takes time for things to level off. Stay calm and follow doctors instructions. Oh yeah, and we'll all be praying for you too. Joanne

Hi Cece. You were so wise to call your PCP because of the light headedness. You knew that something was just not right and acted on it. Do everything that they tell you to and because everyone is right on top of it - you will be fine. If it was a state of emergency, you would have been told to meet the Dr. in the ER. Here is something that I just looked up. Best wishes and I'll say a prayer that this is resolved quickly.

Potassium is found in abundance in many foods, and is especially easy to obtain in fruits and vegetables. Excellent sources of potassium include chard, crimini mushrooms, and spinach.

Very good sources of potassium include fennel, kale, mustard greens, Brussel sprouts, broccoli, winter squash, blackstrap molasses, eggplant, cantaloupe, and tomatoes.

Good sources of potassium include parsley, cucumber, bell pepper, turmeric, apricots, ginger root, strawberries, avocado, banana, tuna, halibut, cauliflower and cabbage.

Thanks everyone. I am much calmer now. I decided last night, after posting & getting everything off my chest, to call the pharmacy & see how late they were open & as luck would have it they were open until 10pm! So I threw my clothes back on & hopped in the car & went & picked up the pills & can I say they they are freakin' horse pills!!  The pharmacist said I could dissolve them in some water so I tried that last night... nope, didn't stay down so this morning I just broke it in half & so far so good!!! So fingers crossed!! Thanks again!! Cece

Cece, Your blood pressure medicine might be effecting your potassium level too.  Just follow the dr's instructions and hopefully it will improve.  I know its always a worry about your "levels".  Please keep us updated and congrats on the weight loss! Rosemary

You're right - the bp med had a diuretic & it sucked the potassium right out of my body. I have to monitor my bp 2-3x a day, stop the bp med unless the pressure goes back up (then I should take the new med) & keep taking the supplement. I need to get blood drawn again next week so hopefully all will be good by then!! Today was the first day without dizziness in almost a week!! I know things will be changing left & right so I need to trust my instincts!! If it doesn't feel right somebody's getting a phone call!!! Thanks everybody!! Cece