What happens if your potassium is low?
Deficiency typically occurs when your body loses a lot of fluid. Common signs and symptoms of potassium deficiency include weakness and fatigue, muscle cramps, muscle aches and stiffness, tingles and numbness, heart palpitations, breathing difficulties, digestive symptoms and mood changes.
Can low potassium harm you?
It’s not overly dramatic to say that abnormal blood levels of potassium may kill you. Potassium imbalances like hyperkalemia (too much potassium) and hypokalemia (too little potassium) can cause serious health problems like irregular heart rhythms and cardiac arrest. Hospitalizations for these imbalances do occur.
How do you get your potassium recommended?
A healthy adult should aim to consume 3,500–4,700 mg daily from foods. To increase your intake, incorporate a few potassium-rich foods into your diet such as spinach, yams, avocados, bananas, and fish, such as salmon.
What are the best foods to eat for low potassium?
Some low-potassium foods include:
- berries, such as strawberries and blueberries.
- apples.
- grapefruit.
- pineapple.
- cranberries and cranberry juice.
- cauliflower.
- broccoli.
- eggplant.
What are the warning signs of low potassium?
Identifying the Signs. Watch for early warning signs. The first signs of moderately low potassium can be muscle aches, cramps and abnormal weakness ((including respiratory and gastrointestinal muscle weakness if severe).
What problems can low potassium cause?
Complications of Low Potassium. Complications associated with low potassium levels include problems with muscles and problems with the heart. Muscles in the body may cramp, feel weak or spasm. Muscle fibers may also begin to break down and release into the blood, causing damage to the kidneys.
What are the symptoms of low blood potassium levels?
The most common symptoms of a low blood potassium level are fatigue and muscle weakness, which typically manifest as a decreased ability to perform physical work or exercise.
What drugs lower potassium levels?
Insulin drugs at high doses may lower potassium levels in the blood by shifting potassium from your bloodstream into your cells. Sudafed. Sudafed ( pseudoephedrine ) is available over the counter as a decongestant. It also pushes potassium out of your bloodstream and into your cells.