There's been a lot of cogitating on the farm the past week as I waited to see my GP about my potassium issues. I was getting worse and worse as the weekend began, despite the initial improvement using the potassium chloride salt substitute.

Something was wrong with my hypothesis. (Remind me to have T-shirts made with that one ) Yesterday was pretty miserable. By late afternoon, once again I was weak to the point of non-function, wrapped in brain fog, bloated like I had swallowed a pumpkin, and peeing frequently. I was, indeed, a credit to my species!

Going into Junior Birdman mode, I was checking out the ingredients on the No Salt. Potassium chloride and some minor lab sweepings.

Then I got to wondering if the potassium might be killing the H. pylori that infect my stomach. That had happened on an earlier experiment a couple of years back and I still carry the damage. I laboriusly typed away and found that not only does it not harm the H pylori, potassium chloride is like manna from heaven to the little buggers! My colony had been having a party and I was supplying the refreshments!

Now, that could be seen an act of kindness, except that when HP is happy and growing, it neutralizes your stomach acid by producing ammonia. The ammonia and stomach acid fizz like vinegar and baking soda - thus the bloating. Once the ammonia production outstrips the acid available, it begins to be picked up by the blood and taken to the liver for detox. If the liver's capacity is exceeded, ammonia circulates around the system and into the brain. That is very dangerous, even fatal if it goes on unchecked.

So, what does that mean to you? We've talked a lot about HP and a lot of us have it and don't know it. While it reacts to potassium chloride and you don't take it, it reacts the same way to sodium chloride, ordinary salt.

So, if bloating is a problem....

thanks for another interesting post rick. i feel like i've been in an amusement park after hop, skippin and flying through your...uh......well stomach. I'll just stop there...ha ha

paula

sorry you are not feeling well. You now have given me another question. What is H. Pylori? I had my potassium levels checked after your last thread and mine appear normal. It sure is challenging isn't it with all these health issues.

There is a test to see if you have H. Pylori which of course is hardly a friend. Very nasty bug. Ginger is supposed to kill it. 1/4 teaspoon of the powdered is a dose I've seen several places. It isn't usually treated unless you have symptoms - ulcers etc.

don't know about potassium but I did read recently that there is something people on dopamine aka sinemet have in excess that is not a good thing and that taking folate supplement resolves the problem. Gotta look it up again. I just happened upon it.

I don't see how sale would have an effect on potassium levels but of course it caused you to retain water. I'm thinking cranberry juice also kills H. Pylori but regular cranberry juice is nasty whereas ginger makes a nice tasting tea even without sugar.

Food high in potassium are bananas, oranges and can't remember the other common one. Brain dead tonight.

Anyone have problems with eggs. They seem to kill my meds totally and put me in crash mode and it's happened multiple times??? Gives me serious brain fog too.

This is ancient history and there is a ton of discussion in the archive (use "search this forum" on the first screen) and it is something that all PWP should know about. But, briefly, HP is a bacteria that lives in the human stomach. It lives nowhere else and it is the only thing that can survive in the stomach. It accomplishes this by burrowing into the stomach wall beneath the protection of the layer of mucous which protects the stomach from its own acid. HP further remodels its neighborhood by means of emitting ammonia, as noted in the first post. It is extremely hard to rid yourself of as it mutates rapidly. State of the art last I checked was a four drug combo that succeeded about 75% of the time.

There are a lot of reasons for a PWP to take an interest. A few of them-
1) HP interferes with absorption of medications and slows down the GI system.
2) It decreases stomach acid which interferes with nutrient uptake, B vitamins in particular.
3) It causes ulcers, gastric cancer, and probably a half-dozen other things.
4) It is a constant source of inflammation, causing leaky gut, BBB failure, and microglial activation (in short it kills brain cells indirectly).
5) Successul eradication has been shown to lead to major improvements in PD symtoms. Unsuccessful attempts have led to major degeneration and possibly death.
6) Totally unknown 25 years ago, it has proven to be so important that it discoverers won a Nobel prize two years ago.

I seem to recall that potassium depletion often causes sinus infections (I got one many years ago when I took diuretics which spent all my potassium). I also remember that bananas and orange juice contain useable potassium and worked well on my sinus infection.

So basically Rick, you are saying we are damned if we do and damned if we don't. I can't even keep my shoe tied let alone try to control H. pylori, tremor, rigidity, balance and gait issues.

GregD

thanks for help Rick, I will do the research. I am not real active on forums so have not read about it. When I am feeling good, don't check in, but when I am feeling bad, I come back. Lately I am worsening it seems and this forum always helps me out.