I’d be loathe to get an electrolyte IV without first knowing what my levels are. Do you know precisely what is in the IV solution?
I understand your frustration but I think you really are better off seeing a doctor first. It may not even be an electrolyte issue.
I like a lot of Dr. Berg’s advice but some of it is way out there. For example, he suggests 7-10 cups of leafy greens every day. I am not a galapagos tortoise and I won’t do it! 
My understanding is they have a balance of all electrolytes. They actually have a menu where I can tell them what I want in it. The IV is what is recommended for very low potassium. If my levels are fine, I don’t believe there is a downside. They have MDs and RNs that monitor the setup.
bb28
That’s funny. I think all of this keto stuff is pretty far out there. Many of these gurus are pioneers IMO. The problem is when you try to separate out the science from the philosophy and the guru’s business plan. I think all three are generally bound together in the message.
If you were to take in 4700mg of potassium with food alone, you would likely need a very large quantity of organic leafy greens.
bb28
I probably get half of that per day, consistently. I honestly believe the RDA for potassium is unreasonable. Much of the potassium we use is recycled and doesn’t leave our body so easily (according to some hypothesis) and some sources suggest that adults only need up to 2000 mg while the US says we need more than double that. Europe and Australia say 3800mg, So it seems there’s a lot of inconsistency being said in what we really need. If Potassium were such a vitally important thing for life, I doubt humans would have survived this long in many parts of the world. Primatively speaking, I’m pretty sure potassium was rare for a lot of hunter gatherers, at least for long parts of the year… especially in places where there were long cold winters and nothing to eat but what their spears and traps brought them.
Prior to keto, I was getting 10% of the 4800 if i was lucky. I’m literally getting 5x more potassium than I ever did and I don’t believe 10x more will make much of a difference. At 50% of the RDA I know I am far better off than 90% of the population.
Besides, leafy greens, there are other ways to get potassium via food:
There’s plenty of science to support this WOE. Granted many of the studies have been short term. You want to see studies that prove HFLC works better than LFHC? or that people who consume less salt than the RDA recommends, die faster than those who exceed the RDA? I can dig them up if you like.
Have to say, I quite enjoy drinking my twice a day teaspoon of pink himalayan salt in a glass of water. A hundred times milder than using table salt.
Agreed! Table salt leaves a chemically taste that I can’t stand, especially when taken in large amounts. I’ve not tried my PHS in water but I imagine it’s a lot better than my memory of water and table salt.
I supplement with cream of tartar (potassium bitartrate), adding 1/4 tsp into my keter-aid which I drink twice a day. That might not be enough for you but it’s another option.
“Cream of tartar has an extremely high potassium content, 495 mg per teaspoon.”
symptoms of electrolytes imbalance can be misleading.
It is not mathematics.
because all of them have similar functions that is why they are grouped into a single term electrolytes.
but heart palpitations is more associated with high intake of potassium at least this is my observation
Salt imbalance can manifest itself in many different ways. Like mentioned above, if salt levels are good, that helps keep the other electrolytes in balance.
About 4 months into keto I stopped adding extra salt. I figured my body had adapted and didn’t need all the extra supplements. I developed terrible muscle cramps. They moved around my body. The worst ones were the hamstrings at night. That’s a big muscle to cramp.
Anyway, I went back to supplementing my 2 teaspoons of salt a day and the cramps cleared right up.
This summer I had two trips to the emergency room for terrible heart palpitations. It turns out I was not drinking enough water. The emergency room doctor, who happened to also follow a Keto Diet, said I should be drinking 2-3 liters of water a day. I upped my water intake and the scary palpitations went away. They have not returned.
All of the symptoms you mentioned are what I had from not drinking enough water.
I suffered from hypertension and was on medication for about 10 years. A year ago I stopped taking meds as by BP was in an acceptable range due to low carb, my diastolic was very good an my systolic sometimes good and sometimes borderline high so I’m always on the lookout for anything (supplements) that would get it more consistently down.
At the beginning of November I started back at the gym (resistance training) and round about the same time I started using my own version of keto aid thinking that perhaps I was too low on sodium (having just read the Salt Fix). Anyway last week I started having headaches and had one at the beginning of a gym session that I had to stop. Also developed a twitch under my right eye. Got home measured my BP and it was through the roof. Started looking on line and questioned my potassium and sodium intake, it seems muscles are one area that stores potassium (weight training may mean I need more) and a possible symptom of too low potassium is twitching muscles. Anyway stopped adding sodium to my ketoaid and added a potassium powder instead. Blood pressure dropped back down and no headaches since. Looking at the amount of potassium I’m consuming in food it does seem that its a bit low. It could be that I suffer from salt sensitive hypertension. I will keep an eye on things and I’m hoping that increasing potassium will be the final piece of the jigsaw regarding my BP levels and rely on salt through food e.g. bacon, sausages, cheese etc.
I do supplement magnesium also (again in powder form (cheaper and no additives)). So moral of this story is that perhaps for some of us we need to look at our potassium levels also and not rely on sodium fixing it some how.
I sure would see if you can get your levels tested before you go that route. I know it’s tempting to diagnose ourselves, since so many of us have been let down my doctors. But without lab tests of your levels, you are only working with a hypothesis, and your hypothesis may be way off base. Those ‘spas’ are in it to make money and some are no better than snake oil salesman.
It’d be nice when people recommend you take more salt, especially if they’re telling me to eat 2 to 3 teaspoons a day, it would be great if they would also mention that you should not take it all at once! That’s a good way to get diarrhea or even cause yourself to vomit. I need about a teaspoon and a half a day, but do I take it all at once? No way! That’s not how it’s done. I measure out a teaspoon and a half in the morning and I take it throughout the day, the goal being to finish it by the end of the day. Why? Because your body is Flushing out sodium all day long so you need to replace it bit by bit all day long. Again, if you eat one or two teaspoons, sometimes even a half a teaspoon all at once, it can cause vomiting and or diarrhea. The balance of sodium in our body is very delicate and our body will do whatever it needs to do to maintain a balance. If you take too much at once your body will get rid of it by vomiting or diarrhea. If you did not experience that, you were lucky this time. I highly recommend you take smaller amounts of salt throughout the day. Such as 1/8 of a teaspoon at a time. Questions?
There goes my mental picture of you!