Hello everyone, I’ve read in many places that supplementing with methylcobalamin (B12) can lead to depletion of potassium in the body, and I know mrsD has often mentioned it too.

I’ve been supplementing with oral methylcobalamin for the past four months, starting with 2000 mcg daily and increasing it gradually to 5000 mcg per day. My usual schedule is a divided dosage of 3000 mcg in the morning and 2000 mcg in the afternoon, hopefully for better absorption.

After three months of this regimen, I started developing two sporadic problems: heart palpitations and muscle spasms in my leg. At first I thought I might have developed a heart condition, as I would experience fluttering and skipped heartbeats, but tests showed no problems with my heart. I initially assumed that my muscle spasms, which were often leg jerks, were being caused by my demyelination condition, but it turned out I was wrong about this too.

After doing a little research, I discovered that both of my problems are also symptoms of low potassium. Now whenever either of these problems occur, I usually drink a low sodium V8 (which is very high in potassium) and the palpitations or spasms are gone in a short time. I’ve found from experience that one V8 at night will alleviate my leg spasms for about eight hours. I still have numbness and tingling in my legs, which I assume is being caused by nerve damage.

I’ve also experimented with taking the 99 mg tablets of potassium that you can find in retail stores, but although they work for me, the effect doesn’t last very long so I’ve stopped using them. I now get all of my potassium from foods or drinks. Two good sources of high potassium are V8 and Revive fruit punch.