I've not been doing well the last month or so. Increasing difficulty walking, freezing, depression, etc. Wrote it off to "progression".

Last night I realized that I had been lax on my potassium intake. That had happened about a year ago with similar symptoms. Ate a few potassium tablets and started feeling better within an hour. The improvement today has been undeniable.

Moral - Check the basics first. Vitamins and minerals can kill you dead if you don't have them and they sure can amplify PD symptoms.

I'm a simpleton,OK, but I can't help wondering about the blood pressure drug that is a calcium blocker and helps pd symptoms by using sodium instead - which restores the youth of the dopamine neurons - or some such. Could your potassium supplements figure in somehow? Just a thought....

Glad you are feeling better! ibby

First, apologies to ibby for the delay, but I am sure it factors in in some way. The electrolytes seem to need balanced ratios to one another as well as proper levels.

Update- Improvement is holding and I am very encouraged. I have been trying to limit my supplements to just the potassium to get a better idea of its value and have managed to do so pretty well.

Major improvements noted-
Increased on time (was 2 to 4 hours, now 3 to 8)
Less med dosage needed (have eliminated one requip 4 mg for the last couple of days)
Less freezing (no daytime at all, nighttime minimal if I don't stay up too late)
Greater function (have caught myself doing chores around house. help me... )
Sleeping much better (was getting up to bathroom 2 to 4 times nightly, now zero)
Feel stronger
No chest pain (had occasional angina which I blamed on too much requip, not so sure now)

I'm taking a cheap, basic 99mg potassium tablet twice a day with my first two med doses.

from Elson M. Haas, MD at http://www.healthy.net/scr/Article.asp?Id=2063&xcntr=3 - my two cents in brackets

Deficiency of potassium is much more common, especially with aging or chronic disease. <If it is common, then all the talk about getting enough in a healthy diet is suspect>
Some common problems that have been associated with low potassium levels include hypertension, congestive heart failure, cardiac arrythmias, fatigue, and depression and other mood changes. <fatigue? depression? who? us?>

Many factors reduce body levels of potassium. Diarrhea, vomiting, and other gastrointestinal problems may rapidly reduce potassium. Infants with diarrhea must be watched closely for low blood potassium, termed hypokalemia. Diabetes and renal disease may cause low as well as high potassium levels. Several drugs can cause hypokalemia-diuretic therapy is of most concern; long-term use of laxatives, aspirin, digitalis, and cortisone may also deplete potassium. Heat waves and profuse sweating can cause potassium loss and lead to dehydration, with potassium leaving the cells along with sodium and being lost in the urine. <so if you are peeing, it's fleeing>

This can generate some of the symptoms associated with low potassium; most people are helped rapidly with potassium supplements or potassium-rich foods. People who consume excess sodium can lose extra urinary potassium, and people who eat lots of sugar also may become low in potassium. <salt? sugar? who? us?>

Fatigue is the most common symptom of chronic potassium deficiency. Early symptoms include muscle weakness, slow reflexes, and dry skin or acne; these initial problems may progress to nervous disorders, insomnia, slow or irregular heartbeat, and loss of gastrointestinal tone.<weak? slow? flakey skin? insomnia? and does loss of GI tone lead to constipation?>

A sudden loss of potassium may lead to cardiac arrythmias. Low potassium may impair glucose metabolism and lead to elevated blood sugar. In more severe potassium deficiency, there can be serious muscle weakness, bone fragility, central nervous system changes, decreased heart rate, and even death. Potassium is the most commonly measured blood mineral in medicine, and deficiencies must be watched for carefully and treated without delay with supplemental potassium.

Requirements: There is no specific RDA for potassium, though it is thought that at least 2-2.5 grams per day are needed, or about 0.8-1.5 grams per 1,000 calories consumed. The average American diet includes from 2-6 grams per day. <This caught my attention. We don't even know how much a healthy person needs! We know that too much or too little will kill you, but that's about it. And we don't know how wide a range is involved. So if 1 gram works for me, it may or may not work for you.>

If you experiment, do remember that too much will kill you, but so will too little. Individual tablets are limited to 99 mg by law in the US, so it takes ten to make up a gram. I'm a big guy and I get benefit from two tablets, so there is a big safety factor at that level. If you find that it works, then you can see your doc and monitor your blood levels until you get stable.

is now 4.5 grams. (as per a CE I attended last year by a nutritionist)

In our hunter gatherer days, it has been estimated at 7 -8 grams.

The amount of potassium in an OTC supplement is FDA controlled at 99 mg. So OTC supplements can be next to useless.

V8 juice just reformulated their low sodium version.
It has 1180 mg of potassium per 12 oz can. That is equal to just about 11 OTC tablets.

Regular V8 is at about 700mg potassium.

When people don't eat well, or eat alot of junk food they miss potassium typically.

One RX potassium K-Dur 20meq is equal to about a can of V8.

1/2 of a cantloupe is about 1,400 mg!

If you would like a good food resource with amounts of magnesium, potassium, calcium, protein, etc this link is very good:

http://www.nutritiondata.com/facts/v...roducts/2357/2
This one for broccoli for example says,
820 mg potassium/280 grm vegetable or one large stalk
58.8 mg magnesium (not bad)

This site also lists foods' inflammatory index!
Broccoli shown, is moderately anti-inflammatory as well.

I love this new site.... it has some really great stuff on it!