Charlie Horses & Potassium

[Guest guest]

In another thread on this list

(Re: Re: Hypertension & the Sodium Myth)

Dr. Glen (www.wizardofeyez.com) states:

> Potassium is abundantly available in all vegetables and

> fruits, so an inorganic source is in no way helpful for achieving a

> healthy cardiovascular support diet.

 

I can't say anything about cardiovascular support, but I can

attest that Potassium is not nearly abundant enough in veggies & most

fruits to serve my needs. A few potassium tablets a day greatly

reduces the amount of charlie horses I suffer in the morning when I

wake up.

 

Ever since I was a small child, I remember waking up with

incredibly painful charlie horses which I could treat only by

pressing my arched foot onto my bedroom wall. Without pressure on

the wall, it was impossible for me to get out of bed and stand up.

 

I accepted my disposition to getting charlie horses as a fact

of life. My father also suffered from them the same way I did. In

my teen years, the problem seemed to go away for the most part.

Looking back, it was probably related to my increased banana intake.

Then, in my 30's the problem began to re-occur due to a change in

diet and to greatly increased physical activity (dancing for hours

every night). A friend I knew who was into supplements suggested I

try Potassium tablets. They worked like a charm. When I ate 2-4

tablets a day, all problems with my charlie horses went away.

 

Several years later, I began a daily regimin of eating two

bananas a day. With the potassium from the bananas, I needed less of

the potassium pills.

 

Since being diagnosed with diabetes, I have had to cut back

on my banana intake. I went from 2 each day to 1/2 a day. Now I am

down to half a banana twice a week. For many years, I have also

been using a salt substitute containing potassium choride which I

stopped using as I cut back on my overall salt intake. This past

winter I went thru a very lean financial time & I bought only those

supplements I felt were essential to me. Potassium was among the

ones I stopped buying. .Whether it was the cut back on bananas or

the potassium choride, I do not know -- but the charlie horses

returned. At first I began waking up once or twice a week with a

charley horse in my right leg, then the frequency increased to every

day.

 

This time I did some web research. An MD stated on his

website (sorry, I did not keep the URL) that nobody knows what causes

charlie horses. Another site suggested Magnesium deficiency. So I

increased my Magnesium intake. Probably good for me, but no relief.

A week ago I bought a bottle of potassium tablets at the health food

store. The first morning after taking 2 tablets had no charlie

horse. I wondered if it were placebo effect. The following

morning I had one, but of much less severity. In the past week I

have had 3 small instances, but of much less severity than I have

been having daily now for 2 months.

 

So that doctor whose website I mentioned above may still not

know what causes charlie horses, but I sure know how to get rid of

them with increasing my potassium intake.

 

Alobar