Potassium (cream Of Tartar) Is No Joke! Be Careful!

Insomnia

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Hi people,

I do not want to share horror stories but I'll give you my take on potassium and the caution behind it.
I've been following a protocol for almost 2 years now and another thing I felt that was missing was (enough) potassium in the diet. So having said that, last friday I got my potassium (cream of tartar) powder and started dosing it at a maximum of 2-4g (1 small teaspoon / 1 teaspoon). One of the best things I got out of it, was that my shoulders got extremely relaxed and the shoulder pain (snapping scapula, because of sports injury) that I have been experiencing for years got substantially less. It was quite comfortable. I got no more aches in my muscles and I had so much more energy.

Yesterday I got a total of 5g over the day, 2.5g in the morning and 2.5g in the evening (1 big teaspoon) and everything was okay. This would equal 1g of potassium because of the molecular structure of cream of tartar (which is bitartrate), approx 20% of it is potassium.

Today however, I dosed around 2g with a scale (after eating buckwheat with milk, approx 400ml of milk, so count that contains potassium aswell). I took my multi, 5mg of k2 and 2mg of copper 5-10 minutes prior to that. Approximately half an hour later I got hit with extreme fatigue and it felt my pulse was getting very low, my hands were getting extremely cold and it felt I was gonna faint. I usually am very cautious with supplements and it didn't feel like I was messing around. My heart was pounding hard and I just layed on my bed. My parents got mad at me while I was going delirium. So I called my doctor and they wanted me to come over immediately and measured my pulse. Luckily that was okay when it was being checked. However, my hands were extremely cold, as if I was staying outside in the winter, no joke really.

I mean, I've read about someone taking 6 big spoons and that didn't end well from what I read. So in my opinion I was actually very cautious with my dosages since it was nowhere near that, just a small teaspoon which was measured with a scale at 2g. The days before I dosed 3g and a bit over that, but on those days I didn't experience anything weird except for the relaxed feeling. It just shows how powerful supplements can be, since I haven't experienced anything like this for the past 2 years (following my protocol) where I've taken different things without a big serious problem.

I'll be very cautious and I hope people will be too. I hope no one gets mad at me, but I felt like I needed to share this.

Here is the problem, while I want to throw away the cream of tartar, it has benefitted my muscles so much that I simply not know what just happened today. My body going into a state of hyperkalemia, showing that I have enough potassium or was it an "acute dose" that gave me these symptoms? It helped me tremendously with muscle aches and the shoulder, that's one big benefit. I just do not know whether it outweighs the potential and dangerous side effects of it. If I ever do decide to dose it again, I'd not take more then 1g-1.5g daily in total (=200mg - 300mg of potassium) because until now it was around 3-5g a day so far, which equals 600-1g of potassium). the highest amount of potassium I hit in a day was around 4000mg with food included (1g was coming of the potassium bitartrate).
 

Soren

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There are very few supplements I take on a daily basis. I used to but I think it is not a very good long term solution. If you are trying to treat a specific issue there is often reason for long term daily supplementation or supplementation at a low dose (aspirin for example). Probably the only one that you could say is a "supplement" is the caffeine in my coffee. The body does not always have the same nutritional needs on a day to day basis and I think supplementing based on your own assessment of how you feel is a very important thing to practice. The body is pretty good at telling us what it needs, its why we have "cravings" its the body telling us that it needs something.

If I were you I would cut back significantly and only supplement when you feel that you might need to. For example if I am under a lot of stress and need a lot of focus I will eat more sugar and maybe supplement with thiamine and other b vitamins.

If I am not getting much sunlight in the winter I might supplement some vitamin d and try to get some red light exposure.

In my experience supplementing with the same thing every day often can lead to problems because your body is not able to self-regulate it certainly caused problems for me.
 
OP
Insomnia

Insomnia

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There are very few supplements I take on a daily basis. I used to but I think it is not a very good long term solution. If you are trying to treat a specific issue there is often reason for long term daily supplementation or supplementation at a low dose (aspirin for example). Probably the only one that you could say is a "supplement" is the caffeine in my coffee. The body does not always have the same nutritional needs on a day to day basis and I think supplementing based on your own assessment of how you feel is a very important thing to practice. The body is pretty good at telling us what it needs, its why we have "cravings" its the body telling us that it needs something.

If I were you I would cut back significantly and only supplement when you feel that you might need to. For example if I am under a lot of stress and need a lot of focus I will eat more sugar and maybe supplement with thiamine and other b vitamins.

If I am not getting much sunlight in the winter I might supplement some vitamin d and try to get some red light exposure.

In my experience supplementing with the same thing every day often can lead to problems because your body is not able to self-regulate it certainly caused problems for me.

Thanks, I think you are right. It's actually good for me to step back and reconsider everything I do. I mean, supplements have done alot of good for me but I think it's very hard to measure everyone's exact needs on a daily basis. I just don't know what happened today. I'm feeling well now luckily.

i have used up to 10g of cream of tar tar with no sides, which isnt even that much potassium

Case studies used 6tablespoons which is 16.8g potassium. Life-Threatening Hyperkalemia from Cream of Tartar Ingestion

I find it so weird that my body reacted so heavily to this (just 2-3g of cream of tartar). I'm kinda upset on what happened but this mistake has helped me to reconsider what I'm doing and I will take a break for awhile before I continue supplementing anything.
 
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Nighteyes

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Just wanted to say I know how you feel.. Potassium is something that people react quite differently to it seems. On some days I get heart palpitations and slight anxiety/Strange rushing fear from drinking just 500ml of coconut water. Other days I am fine. I Think kidney funktion is a Factor here. As well as progesterone levvels. Apparently progesterone retains potassium. Helen over at hackstasis reports taking absurd doses of potasisum for his recent crash.. I am extremely cautious with it. I feel the effects from very small doses.
 

nwo2012

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I doubt with such small amounts it was hyperkalemia, though its not impossible.
More likely it caused you hypoglycemia or maybe another electrolyte imbalance.
Potassium is very involved in tbe regulation of blood sugar.
 

nigma

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Hi, I have also been experimenting with supplementing potassium. I think it is important to consider physiology when doing such things. Potassium (K+) and Sodium (Na+) acts as counter balances in the body, if you suspect you have a K+ deficiency and you supplement, yes you may get hyperkalemia symptoms, but you should also expect hyponatremia symptoms. For this reason, when I experiment I usually have K+ with Na+. For example some of the salt substitute products on the market contain 3/5 KCl and 2/5 NaCl, I would expect ingesting a balance of K+ and Na+ would be safer than just K+ in form the of cream of tartar.

You know they use K+ for lethal injection right? K+ is the dominant ion present in a cell in the resting state, while Na+ is the dominant on the outside waiting to enter when the cell is activated. If one supplies only K+ guess what happens? no muscle contractions, no brain activity, etc, cells cannot activate. Be very careful.
 
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I doubt with such small amounts it was hyperkalemia, though its not impossible.
More likely it caused you hypoglycemia or maybe another electrolyte imbalance.
Potassium is very involved in tbe regulation of blood sugar.

yeah that's true i wonder if op ate anything with it?
 

michael94

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cream of tartar and rochelle salt arw very serious
important post from op
tartaric acid is in these not just potassium
 

michael94

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Hi, I have also been experimenting with supplementing potassium. I think it is important to consider physiology when doing such things. Potassium (K+) and Sodium (Na+) acts as counter balances in the body, if you suspect you have a K+ deficiency and you supplement, yes you may get hyperkalemia symptoms, but you should also expect hyponatremia symptoms. For this reason, when I experiment I usually have K+ with Na+. For example some of the salt substitute products on the market contain 3/5 KCl and 2/5 NaCl, I would expect ingesting a balance of K+ and Na+ would be safer than just K+ in form the of cream of tartar.

You know they use K+ for lethal injection right? K+ is the dominant ion present in a cell in the resting state, while Na+ is the dominant on the outside waiting to enter when the cell is activated. If one supplies only K+ guess what happens? no muscle contractions, no brain activity, etc, cells cannot activate. Be very careful.
rochelle salt would be safer it is potassium sodium bitartate

rochelle salt is also very piezoelectric
still not to be taken lightly... or ( heavily as in case of OP )
 

Travis

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i have used up to 10g of cream of tar tar with no sides, which isnt even that much potassium

Case studies used 6tablespoons which is 16.8g potassium. Life-Threatening Hyperkalemia from Cream of Tartar Ingestion

I've taken five grams of potassium iodide just fine, which is 25% potassium (K⁺) by mass. Studies indicate that 20 grams is fine, and hyperkalemia doesn't set-in until 30. Perhaps surprisingly to some, there is no toxicity from the iodide ion (I⁻) at these concentrations.
 
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Dude, with something like potassium, you have to use a scale. Using a teaspoon will not cut it. Volume does not equal mass, powders can very easily get packed into a spoon making it appear like a small dose when in reality it could be double or triple what you think it is.
 

Cloudhands

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Anyone still us cream of tar tar? Im considering using 1-2 tbsp a day for potassium supplement
 

ddjd

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i had a semi panic attack after taking too much potassium once, and im pretty sure i took some sodium and it helped A LOT
 

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