Hi to all my fellow longhairs,

Sorry I've been out of touch; so much has been going on here I won't bore you all with it, BUT:

Please get your potassium level checked at your next doctor's visit.  It just takes a blood test and you get the results while you wait.

I almost literally died in the emergency room a couple of nights ago due to low potassium or hypokalemia, they call it.

I stopped breathing and the apnea alarm went off and everyone came running.  I spent 6 hours getting 2 EKG's, chest x-rays with contrast, at least 3 blood tests, and potassium supplements.

Symptoms for me were low blood pressure, high pulse rate, chest pain, tingling in the left hand and face.  I waited almost 10 hours before calling my Dr.  who told me to get my a__ to the ER.

I don't know how common this is but please have yours checked.  And don't take potassium supplements without doctors supervision.  It messes with the electrolytes around your heart--sodium to potassium ration- and can cause heart irregularities and SUDDEN DEATH.

I hope to be back on the boards soon.  I am posting this on several boards.  I don't want this to happen to anyone else.

But I still haven't cut my hair!!!!!!!!

Love,
strawberryfine

Oh Lord!!!
I hope all goes well with you from now on. And thank you for warning us.

All the best to you,I hope you get well soon! :)
Thank you for sharing this,that's something I never thought about before.

StrawberryFine--get better soon!  

The warning is very good.  My FIL has been to the ER 2 or 3 times in the last few months for the same problem.  Unfortanetly he keeps cancelling his appointment with the specialist to figure out why he isn't keeping any potassium.  

oh my ... my grandfather died of too much potassium.

personally i eat too many bananas to have such a problem i guess.

OH MY!  What a scare!  I have to watch my potassium levels due to the distance biking I do.  Bananas are a daily requirement for me.  Otherwise I get horrible leg cramps.  

Do they know what caused your levels to get so low?

Glad you are OK (and glad to see ya around here again - we've missed you!)

Glad you made it through strawberryfine!  I work in a hospital and hypokalemia isn't all that uncommon on the list of diagnoses -- although it seems to be more common with older people.  Hope they've figured out why yours was so low so you can avoid that crisis.

Glad to see you back on the boards.

((((((((((((((((((((((Strawberryfine)))))))))))))))))))))))

Wow that's scary!  I'm happy your okay (((hugs))) I'am going to as my doctor about this.

Take it easy SF, I hope you are feeling better.  Thanks for the info.

OH MY GOODNESS!!!!  That is really scary!  I hope you're feeling better now!

Just to add to some of the information that's been posted, sometimes low potassium levels can be caused by a change in medication.  Last summer my grandma had to be hospitalized for a few days because her potassium level dropped dramatically.  It turned out that a change in her high bloodpressure medication caused it to fall.  

another cause is very frequent vomiting: boulemia for instance (i hope that wasn't the reason though). so if ever you have a food poisoning and vomit loads: BANANAS!