My Health Revelation-A Deficency Everyone Should Know About

Hi there friends! This is not your typical design post but I thought it was super important to share. Many of you have no idea but I have been struggling with something concerning my health for about 4 years now. I have had an array of  symptoms that could have easily been mistaken for many aliments and I think that is why it has been tough to nail down.  If you are chronically tired, thirsty, dizzy, lack focus, have heart palpitations, feel axious then you need to read this!!!

Let me start from the beginning. When I was pregnant with Jack I had such bad dizzy spells and vertigo that I couldn’t drive a car and at times get out of bed. I had no idea what was happening to me and I was beyond scared. I went to see a specialist and they led me to believe it could be something unthinkable. Not what a pregnant women wants to hear. Thankfully it went away after month 4. When Jack was about 1 we moved into this house and it began to happen again. If this has ever happened to you then you know how unnerving it is. This time it came with such fierce heart palpitations that I immediately went to the doctor. He said it was stress. So I began to run to relieve the stress. But it was still there, then I went to another specialist, I thought maybe I had an inner ear thing going on. They wanted to run all sorts of tests, again throwing concerning diseases out there of what it could be. I got in my car and cried. I saw my mom go through almost a decade of doctors visits, prescribing this and that for her disease and it scared the heck out of me that I could be walking a similar path. I called my dad because he is always the calm in my life. After I got myself together I began to look through my health journal. On the way home I couldn’t stop thinking. The next day I came to the conclusion that it was dehydration. I began to drink tons of water, I mean tons. And when I did, I felt better but I had to watch my coffee and alcohol. As time went on I realized I needed to drink SO much water to just not feel dizzy all day, even then I would feel foggy, unclear in my thoughts. I was tired, especially at night but still pushing forward. My anxious feelings increased, so I began to exercise more. I would say I managed all of this but it wasn’t easy. Over these 4 years I have read countless health articles, increased my vitamin intake, ate clean (for the most part), exercised 4-5 days a week, spoke with my trainer, doctors and other women feeling the same way. Trying to feel better and find answers.

While away over Christmas break I woke up dizzy, again. John ran out and got me a sports drink with electrolytes, he came back with a drink called Body Armor.  I felt much better the rest of the trip. While at soccer a few weeks ago my girlfriend mentioned she had the same symptoms and that a while ago a holistic doctor said her potassium was low. OMG, I went home to read the bottle of that drink and sure enough Potassium was one of the key ingredients. I then googled potassium deficiency and what I found changed everything.

There are 10 symptoms of a potassium deficiency and I had 9. The thirst, weakness in my muscles, heart palpitations, low blood pressure, exhaustion, fogginess, unclear thoughts, anxiety, leg cramps, dizziness, it was all related. You can read the FULL article HERE. I feel like I had a film over my body and life & someone just peeled it off. I feel awake, alive, clear and guess what, no anxiety, none! I started drinking one Body Armor drink after a workout and eating 1 banana a day. I also drink Bolthouse Farms Tropical Carrot juice in the morning. For the rest of the day I only drink water and seltzer, oh and my 2 coffees. Just in case any of you have been feeling this way I wanted to share what I found. Be sure to follow-up with your physician if you think this is what you have and get proper blood work, there could be an underlying issue causing your low potassium. I am following up with my doctor this week and asking them to run a Chemistry Screen with my bloodwork, it checks for all sorts of things such as electrolytes. I will keep you all posted.

I feel like the skies opened up & I finally see and feel clear again!!!

If you have any other questions leave me a comment and I will get back to you.

Have a happy day!

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40 Comments

  1. Hi Jen
    I just shared with my sister who has been treated for a panic attack. She has been to doctors for heart palpitations etc. She is a runner. For some reason I read this post and just sent it to her. laura

  2. Ask your doctor to check your magnesium level. I thad symptoms similar to yours and actually blacked out and broke my arm. I now take magnesium every day and am no longer having problems. Best wishes.

    1. Thank you Phyllis! I am taking that as well, it all such helpful info, I really appreciate it! Jen

  3. So happy to hear you found out what was causing your symptoms. My hubby had the some of the same problems and is now on prescibed potassium which is equal to about 4 bananas, from his doctor. He is a different man! He suffers if he forgets to take it !

    1. Ok, thank you. Yes, its crazy how much better you feel when you have it. I may have to do the same, good to know! Jen

  4. Thank you Jen. I have some of those symptoms, not all, but definitely occasional heart palpitations, some dizziness and fatigue. I’m a terrible water drinker and drink lots of coffee. Being low on potassium wouldn’t surprise me.

    Thanks for your post, so glad you’re feeling better. I’ll be looking into this.

    Blessings,
    Elizabeth 🙂

    1. Hi Elizabeth, so many things could be causing these things to happen but I was surprised that a lack of potassium could cause this. I have never been much into bananas and my diet doesn’t include many of the foods that have it. Thank you so much! Jen

  5. So glad you figured it out! I know the feeling. I had all the same symptoms and more for about 2 years, I got to the point where I could barely get out of bed. None of the doctors knew what I had and all of the tests came back normal but I did have low potassium at one point. Even after it normalized my symptoms continued. I had breast implants, decided to get them out as a last resort and all of my symptoms slowly faded over the next 6 months. Its so nice to feel better again, thankful you do too. ❤️️

    1. Thank you so much for sharing your story! I am so glad you are feeling better, it is such an awful thing to live with!! Jen

  6. Like some of your readers, I too experiences most of the same symptoms you had. I just text my hubby to pick this drink up . Thank you for sharing your personal medical experiences with us.

  7. I suffer from vertigo too. I always have Meclizine (an over the counter antihistamine that a dr can prescribe). It has been a life saver when I get it! My mom also lives with vertigo – I’m going to mention this post to her and start eating bananas every day!!! It is the worst when it hits, but so glad you’re feeling better!!! Thanks for posting this.

  8. I have extremely low potassium as well. I am supposed to be taking liquid potassium 3-4 times a day. You just made me realize that I need to get on that. I am ALWAYS tired and foggy. Thanks for this reminder and for sharing. My holistic doctor is the one who discovered my deficiency. Oh and for anyone who may be interested my phase angle (look it up) is age 60, I am 43 years old! I exercise, eat mostly vegan/vegetarian, organic etc etc. work out 4-5 days a week. Postassium deficiency is making my cells look almost 20 years older than my actual age. Again, thanks for this reminder going to take mine now!

  9. Hey girl- great post! Sometimes God puts us down a path for a reason. Remember you are his child and he loves and cares for you very much.

  10. Thanks so much for sharing this story. So many people don’t know their problems are a vitamin deficiency and unfortunately most doctors don’t automatically look for that. Lemons are also a great source of potassium.

  11. I had the same symptoms, but chose to ignore them. On an unrelated problem, I was having stomach acid issues. Bananas and fat free milk seemed to soothe my stomach, and surprise, the symptoms you described cleared up as well.

  12. Jen, I’m so happy you found out about this deficiency and its symptoms. May you experience relief now! My husband has Potassium Deficiency, too. We will try the Body Armor and keep up with his Potassium pills. Best of luck to you!

    1. Hi Maureen, just be sure he isn’t getting too much more with that drink, it is loaded with nutrients and electrolytes. Have a great day, enjoy the snow! Jen

  13. I am sure that you are on top of having your potassium (K) levels drawn periodically by your Dr.
    Have them watch you to rule out any underlying issues causing the low K level. I am so happy that you are feeling better and sharing this info with us all-a public service announcement for sure.
    Thank you!

  14. Holy Moly! I am so excited I read this. I have those same exact symptoms and cannot figure it out. I can hardly wait to get Potassium! Think I’ll get the Magnesium too like another reader. Bless you! And so glad you feel better. I couldn’t explain how I felt. Super excited! Thanks again.

    1. Hi Cindy, you are welcome. I was made aware that B12 could also have an effect similar. Be sure to follow up with your doctor and get a blood work up. I am going this week:). Jen

  15. Those blood tests are so important. We all need to educate ourselves. I run deficient in potassium, mag., and B12. Was having terrible leg pains, vertigo, incontinence, etc., thought I had blood clots but did research and realized I needed B12. Doctor prescribed shots and I was better within three days. Think that part of the cause is my age (67) but also that our food has less nutrients for a number of reasons.

    Take care of yourselves and your families!
    Susan

    1. Hi Susan, thank you for sharing this! I take all of those now and feel so much better. They are so important! Jen

  16. Really interesting. As I was reading I was convinced you were going to stay you had hypothyroid or Hashimotos. Every symptom you mentioned are also things I suffered from from years while on the synthetic thyroid meds (which did not work for me). So if for any reason your symptoms continue, check your thyroid. If you every need meds, go on the natural ones, not syntheic. Thank you for sharing – I’m sure this is helping hundreds or even thousands who will read it!

  17. Potassium is an electrolyte, not a vitamin, but an essential element for our cells. Sodium and Chloride are electrolytes, too. This means they have positive and negative charges, like a battery has positive and negative charges. Too much or too little of an electrolyte is bad for your heart and your other muscles. I am glad it was a simple solution. Magnesium influences our nerves and although you may be low, within normal limits, you may need to have more than an low amount to function well. A doctor can evaluate how much you need based on your lab work. You lose electrolytes from sweating or diarrhea.

    1. Thank you Marianne, I have also uped my magnesium and that may be helping as well. I head to the doctor this week, I will make sure I stay on top of all of it:). Have a great day! Jen

  18. SO scary!!! Not sure if anyone else suggested this but coconut water is another great source of potassium and has lots of health benefits. They have fruit flavored ones – just read the labels because that sometimes means added sugar.

    1. Thank you Kerri! The sports drink also has that as well and Vit A, E, B6, B12, C and Magnesium. It is loaded with good stuff. I appreciate you taking eth time to let me know, every bit of info helps! Jen

  19. Bananas are an excellent source of potassium. I ate one daily when I was a diuretic for high blood pressure. I remember those occasional days of dizziness and brain fog. I’m so glad you found something that helps.

    1. I never ever liked them and had no idea how amazing they are for your body. I am so happy I found that info. Thank you Lisa!

  20. I’ve battled chronic kidney stones and one of my major issues after a 48 hour urine collection & analysis was that my potassium was about 1/2 of what it should be. I was put on a potassium pill twice a day. However, that created a new issue and now I’m off of that but I still have to up my potassium to make sure the medicine I’m on now doesn’t take too much out of me. This is interesting information I’ll have to check out that drink you mentioned.

  21. Thanksfully John came to your rescue with Body Armor and that set the stage to find out what could be wrong. I will be sure to run my blood work to see if I am suffering from potassium deficiency. I tire easily and do experience the heart palpitations. It got so bad once I almost thought I was going to come down with a heart attack! Thank you for this inspiring write-up – I can tell how anxious it is for you to educate us all about the effects of potassium deficiency.

  22. This is so interesting. I have been having issues with migraines and have started taking B12 and D after doing research online. My numbers came up normal when I had my blood taken, but were low according to research on migraines and vitamin deficiency. I do not know yet if it will help my migraines but already in one week I have more energy which has been so nice with two young kids. I hope you continue to share anything you learn!

  23. Thanks so much for posting this! I have so many of these symptoms. I have gone to the doctor about my excessive thirst and dizzy spells, and they couldn’t find anything wrong with me. Luckily my dizzy spells have gone away, but I am always thirsty, experience heart palpitations, have low blood pressure, am tired even with 9 hrs of sleep, and experience numbness in my hands and arms. I usually eat a banana every day. When I ran track, I collapsed during a race, and the trainer said it was due to low potassium. I will start taking potassium supplements and make a Dr appointment. Thank You!!!

  24. Great post… In case you get sick of bananas – I’ve been researching this deficiency over the last few weeks and found out that foods like spinach and avocado are very high in potassium (24-30%DV), much higher than bananas (12%DV)!

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