Potassium, calcium, magnesium, sodium are known as electrolytes and are essential to cell function. There has to be enough and in the right balance. It is what the "Sports Drink" industry is all about.

Yours truly had been having increasing problems over the last couple of months. More "offs". More freezing. Harder starts in the morning. Return of periods when walking difficult. Took my FIRST FALL a week ago! Bummer!

Just by coincidence, had routine visit to GP last week too. Ran simple blood work, nurse called."Potassium down. Take supplement."

Started yesterday. Thus far today, am new man! Stay tuned.

PS- Remember Steffi's miracle tonic? Electrolytes!

rick, do you have the sweating issues some pwp have? that can wreck havoc on your electrolytes. same with nausea.

You are right that any excessive fluid loss is suspect, but I just had fallen vulnerable to my own immortality complex It is amazing how easy it is to talk about what one should do in the abstract and how hard it is to actually do it day after day.

LOL... rick, i'm a certified trainer...you think i exercise daily or take all of my supplements? or not eat chocolate? ( i have been good only eat dark )

i hope the supplement does the trick. they big pills huh?

How much?

I see a reference to "sports drinks"....you do know that they have very low potassium in them? FDA does not allow high amounts of potassium in any manufactured drink.

On the other hand one can of V8 juice has as much potassium as one SlowK
Rx tablet.

Some foods are very high in potassium== 1/2 canteloupe is 1,400mg.

Daily recommended allowance is now 4.7 grams
One serving of Gatorade has 30mg.
OTC supplements of potassium have 99mg.

So I hope you have an RX? You don't say that, so I am assuming?

No, so far I am using some OTCs that I already had. Taking two 99mg daily. Plan to pick up pescription tomorrow though. I am still amazed at the difference. Much, much improved.

Which sets me to wondering- why don't neurologists consider the possibility that electrolyte uptake anomolies are a factor in PD? Particularly advanced stages?

I swear, if you had seen me careening about, you'd have called for help. And the symptoms all were within the PD circle. We may be too ready to accept the "inevitable progression" at times.

Sinemet depletes potassium in our bodies -
I will find you a authoratative link - brb
my neuro agreed when I asked him...

this is on the Sinemet package insert -
I was a pharmacy technician...
http://tinyurl.com/2f33c2

This is the html version of the file pdf
http://packageinserts.bms.com/pi/pi_sinemet_cr.pdf.

Laboratory Tests: Decreased white blood cell count and serum potassium; increased BUN, serum creatinine and serum LDH; protein and glucose in the urine. The following adverse experiences have been reported in post-marketing experience with SINEMET CR: Cardiovascular: Cardiac irregularities, syncope. Gastrointestinal: Taste alterations, dark saliva. Hypersensitivity: Angioedema, urticaria, pruritus, bullous lesions (including pemphigus-like reactions). Nervous System/Psychiatric: Neuroleptic malignant syndrome (see WARNINGS), increased tremor, peripheral neuropathy, psychotic episodes including delusions and paranoid ideation, increased libido. Skin: Alopecia, flushing, dark sweat. Urogenital: Dark urine.
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14Other adverse reactions that have been reported with levodopa alone and with various carbidopa-levodopa formulations and may occur with SINEMET CR are: Cardiovascular: Phlebitis. Gastrointestinal: Gastrointestinal bleeding, development of duodenal ulcer, sialorrhea, bruxism, hiccups, flatulence, burning sensation of tongue. Hematologic: Hemolytic and nonhemolytic anemia, thrombocytopenia, leukopenia, agranulocytosis. Hypersensitivity: Henoch-Schonlein purpura. Metabolic: Weight gain, edema. Nervous System/Psychiatric: Ataxia, depression with suicidal tendencies, dementia, euphoria, convulsions (however, a causal relationship has not been established); bradykinetic episodes, numbness, muscle twitching, blepharospasm (which may be taken as an early sign of excess dosage; consideration of dosage reduction may be made at this time), trismus, activation of latent Horner's syndrome, nightmares. Skin: Malignant melanoma (see also CONTRAINDICATIONS), increased sweating. Special Senses: Oculogyric crises, mydriasis, diplopia. Urogenital: Urinary retention, priapism. Miscellaneous: Faintness, hoarseness, malaise, hot flashes, sense of stimulation, bizarre breathing patterns. Laboratory Tests: Abnormalities in alkaline phosphatase, SGOT (AST), SGPT (ALT), bilirubin, Coombs test, uric acid. OVERDOSAGE Management of acute overdosage with SINEMET CR is the same as with levodopa. Pyridoxine is not effective in reversing the actions of SINEMET CR. General supportive measures should be employed, along with immediate gastric lavage. Intravenous fluids should be administered judiciously and an adequate airway maintained. Electrocardiographic monitoring should be instituted and the patient
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15carefully observed for the development of arrhythmias; if required, appropriate antiarrhythmic therapy should be given. The possibility that the patient may have taken other drugs as well as SINEMET CR should be taken into consideration. To date, no experience has been reported with dialysis; hence, its value in overdosage is not known. Based on studies in which high doses of levodopa and/or carbidopa were administered, a significant proportion of rats and mice given single oral doses of levodopa of approximately 1500-2000 mg/kg are expected to die. A significant proportion of infant rats of both sexes are expected to die at a dose of 800 mg/kg. A significant proportion of rats are expected to die after treatment with similar doses of carbidopa. The addition of carbidopa in a 1:10 ratio with levodopa increases the dose at which a significant proportion of mice are expected to die to 3360 mg/kg. DOSAGE AND ADMINISTRATION SINEMET CR contains carbidopa and levodopa in a 1:4 ratio as either the 50-200 tablet or the 25-100 tablet. The daily dosage of SINEMET CR must be determined by careful titration. Patients should be monitored closely during the dose adjustment period, particularly with regard to appearance or worsening of involuntary movements, dyskinesias or nausea. SINEMET CR 50-200 may be administered as whole or as half-tablets which should not be chewed or crushed. SINEMET CR 25-100 may be used in combination with SINEMET CR 50-200 to titrate to the optimum dosage, or as an alternative to the 50-200 half-tablet. Standard drugs for Parkinson's disease, other than levodopa without a decarboxylase inhibitor, may be used concomitantly while SINEMET CR is being administered, although their dosage may have to be adjusted. Since carbidopa prevents the reversal of levodopa effects caused by pyridoxine, SINEMET CR can be given to patients receiving supplemental pyridoxine (vitamin B6). Initial Dosage Patients currently treated with conventional carbidopa-levodopa preparations: Studies show that peripheral dopa-decarboxylase is saturated by the bioavailable carbidopa at doses of 70 mg a day and greater. Because the bioavailabilities of carbidopa and levodopa in SINEMET and SINEMET CR are different, appropriate adjustments should be made, as shown in Table II.
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OK, I went to bed at 11:30 slightly off but no freezing - unusual.

Woke at 3:00 AM, moderately off, slight "threat" of freezing, took Sinemet CR just in case.

Went back to bed at 4:30 little changed either direction - unusual.

Woke at 6:30 buzzing like a bee, fully functional almost immediately with a little dyskinesia - very unusual.

It has been taking me 1 to 2 hours to even get to "on" and early AM meds have been ineffective lately.

I'm going to hold off on more meds until I see what happens. Normally it is one Sinemet CR and 8 mg Requip immediately.

here is a site with some food values of potassium, to help you choose foods,
naturally high in this mineral/electrolyte.

With all due respect, 200mg of potassium from 2 OTC supplements is like spitting in the ocean in comparison to what food delivers.

To remain healthy we are encouraged to eat 4700 millilgrams 4.7 grams a day.
Two 99mg tablets provide 4% of the daily amount of potassium you need to eat. The previously recommended level was 3.5 grams minimum a day, but that has been recently raised.
This compares to 1/2 of a nine inch banana (200mg potassium).

http://www.healthtouch.com/bin/ECont...ST+&cid=HTHLTH
This is also a very good explanation of potassium:
http://lpi.oregonstate.edu/infocente...als/potassium/

You would have to be sweating buckets to be losing enough potassium daily that way to cause significant losses.
Or you are not eating properly.
Or you are losing potassium from the kidneys (renal tubular acidosis).
Or you are having diarrhea/vomiting daily.

Many people have very poor diets and are walking around on suboptimum levels of potassium. When this happens, blood pressure can go up.

It is always best to get your potassium from foods.
Some foods are extremely high in this and easy to consume.

All tablet forms of potassium have some risks involved (the OTC is the lowest risk because it is so small). Tablets of potassium can dissolve poorly and
erode the lining of the stomach and/or small intestine. Some forms have been made to help prevent this... Effervescent tablets and liquids.
K-Dur has been formulated to try to minimize this danger. But older forms like SlowK can over time cause ulcers etc.

If you are NOT taking a diuretic for blood pressure (except for Dyrenium and spironolactone) you need to determine why you are showing up low. It may be dietary or something more serious. Levodopa shows up in papers as a potassium depleter, as well as SAMe depletions. Whether this is significant for you is hard to answer:

Thank you for the info. I've been reading up on it and have realized the following-

1- The last few weeks my diet has included almost no potassium due to a series of disruptions

2- Even before that, I came nowhere near the 4.7 g mark

3- As you point out, the 200 mg is not a drop in the bucket and

4- In light of 1 - 3, if 200 mg makes such a striking difference in my symptoms, then I have been treading very close to the edge without realizing it.

It is quite humbling to be tripped up by such a basic requirement. I urge anyone who is having trouble walking and keeping balance to evaluate their diet. Well, heck, make that all of us.