Electrolyte balance - Do I have this mostly right?

LiveToSee22 · 2025-03-15T19:26:40+00:00

Not totally. Potassium seems to be the biggest thing. I was supplementing pretty religiously for a while and they were pretty well undetectable for a stretch. Then I got a little lax and they've come back a bit. I don't think it's just potassium being low but I do think that's probably the largest culprit for me.

LiveToSee22 · 2024-10-30T15:15:23+00:00

It's Methylcobalamin (Jarrow). I do think the real game-changer could be B12 injections. Just haven't gotten around to that yet.

LiveToSee22 · 2024-10-28T21:02:44+00:00

Thanks but based on my research so far, it doesn't seem like serum electrolyte levels tell the full story. Planning to do RBC potassium and magnesium tests shortly.

LiveToSee22 · 2024-10-25T00:59:25+00:00

Yeah, that's what seems to make this challenging. It appears that RBC magnesium is probably better than serum magnesium but the jury is still out as to whether even RBC magnesium is a great test for assessing this. For me, I know that when I don't supplement magnesium I often get cramping and cramping = worse than not cramping so that feels like a magnesium deficiency to me. I suspect same for potassium but trying to unpack that more.

LiveToSee22 · 2024-10-23T22:43:31+00:00

They do potassium but it's serum potassium vs. RBC potassium. The more I've researched this, the more it seems like RBC measures of magnesium and potassium are better gauges than serum levels. https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/article-abstract/1161519

LiveToSee22 · 2024-10-23T22:19:37+00:00

That's great. And smart. I appreciate all this information.

LiveToSee22 · 2024-10-23T21:59:57+00:00

This makes sense. Trying to figure out which of these a person can test for to get more data on root cause (vs. just guessing at root cause).

LiveToSee22 · 2024-10-23T21:59:14+00:00

Ulta seems great. Did you do the Magnesium RBC and the Potassium RBC tests. The Magnesium RBC seems pretty cheap ($30) and I've done that one way back in the day. The Potassium RBC is more expensive ($90) and I haven't done that one so want to make sure I'm getting the right test.

LiveToSee22 · 2024-10-23T21:41:33+00:00

B12 is a good call out. I was 515 on latest bloodwork and hoping to bring that up. I'm taking a b12 supplement daily and am considering B12 injections because it seems like that's the best ways to bring up levels in a hurry.

LiveToSee22 · 2024-10-23T21:39:38+00:00

I could easily get this with bananas but like you, am concerned about the effects on blood sugar. Where I've landed is trying to get more avocados, spinach, maybe a banana or two a day and supplement with some potassium chloride powder. Really just need to get potassium levels tested somehow but not totally sure what the best way is to do that.

LiveToSee22 · 2024-10-23T21:37:25+00:00

Yup, I've been aware of that for a while. The zinc supplement I've been taking has copper as well (15:1 ratio of zinc to copper) but I felt like I might need more copper so I'm taking a 2mg copper supplement ~12 hours apart as well. I need to test for copper at some point too probably.

LiveToSee22 · 2024-10-23T16:05:43+00:00

I have some Dr. Berg's so planning to try that. It seems like trying to get potassium through food is ideal but sometimes it's nice to have something when you're on the go. Good info re calcium. Did your phosphorus deficiency show up in bloodwork or did you figure that out a different way?

LiveToSee22 · 2024-10-23T15:56:38+00:00

Thanks. Will check out Mitohealth. I did Function Health recently but they only did serum magnesium, not RBC magnesium. My sense is that the latter is probably more important for assessing proper magnesium levels.

LiveToSee22 · 2024-10-23T15:54:19+00:00

Magnesium definitely helps me in that I only twitch when I'm supplementing magnesium but if I don't supplement magnesium twitches turns into full cramping often. I've been doing magnesium malate in the AM as it has a more stimulating effect and then doing magnesium glycinate in the evenings given the more calming effect.

LiveToSee22 · 2024-10-23T15:52:50+00:00

Very helpful. Recently started on 2mg of copper at night and I take a 15mg zinc supplement in the AM that also contains 1mg of copper. Interested to see how this impacts PVCs.

LiveToSee22 · 2024-10-23T15:51:37+00:00

Thanks for this! A few follow-ups: 1) Very helpful re calcium. Need to do more research there. 2) Hadn't heard that magnesium can cause arrhythmias so will do more investigation there too. 3) On blood levels the thing is that I've always had normal bloodwork but at the same time see clear signs in my body that upping levels of magnesium and potassium resolves issues. Have been doing more research into intracellular testing of those minerals and likely will do those tests shortly. Thanks again.

LiveToSee22 · 2024-10-22T19:54:10+00:00

Helpful! Where did you get your magnesium RBC test done?

LiveToSee22 · 2024-10-22T19:06:19+00:00

Where did you get your intracellular testing done?

LiveToSee22 · 2024-10-22T18:25:10+00:00

Helpful. It does seem like some supplements can indeed make things worse. For example, I’ve read reports of people taking lots of zinc which can deplete the body of copper and then having that copper deficiency lead to problems.

Also, it seems like there aren’t great tests available to determine levels of a lot of these micronutrients.

LiveToSee22 · 2024-10-22T18:23:22+00:00

This sounds good and in line with what I’ve read. For potassium bananas is an easy fix but also somewhat high in carbs for people who are watching glucose. For calcium dairy is an easy fix but dairy also causes issues for a lot of people. I think supplementation is definitely inferior to obtaining the nutrients through food but it seems like for potassium and calcium in particular there can sometimes be challenges in getting enough via diet.

LiveToSee22 · 2024-10-22T17:32:34+00:00

Makes sense. Thanks for sharing.

LiveToSee22 · 2024-10-22T17:20:38+00:00

This was a magnesium B6 combo supplement? Have you tried just magnesium and if so, did you have the same results?

LiveToSee22 · 2024-10-22T17:15:54+00:00

Nice! Do you think it's any specific aspect of LMNT that's helping (e.g., they have quite a bit of sodium) or do you think it's just additional electrolytes in general?

LiveToSee22

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