Comments on: Apocalyptic charleyhorses

By: Patrick Clare

Patrick Clare — Sat, 20 Feb 2010 00:05:58 +0000

I hear you, but remember high blood pressure is the silent killer and heart disease is quickly becoming a number one killer of women. So, I hope you are taking some sort of blood pressure medication. HCTZ, which will give you cramps unless you eat plenty of potassium, is only $4 at Walmart and Target pharmacies for a month long prescription here in Las Vegas.

Just watch your blood pressure closely and keep it under 120/80 if you can.

By: Patrick Clare

Patrick Clare — Sat, 20 Feb 2010 00:01:51 +0000

Foods high in potassium are meats, especially organ meat (ugh) and preserved meat (I'm thinking SPAM, yum). Dairy products, dried fruit, bananas (duh), cantaloupe, kiwi, oranges, avocados (#1), broccoli, dried beans or peas, lima beans (yuck), mushrooms potatoes (white or sweet), seaweed (sushi, yay), soybeans and spinach.

Eat those unless you go back on the diuretic. An overload of potassium that can occur with potassium sparing diuretics is life threatening. Think of it as stuffing a banana in your heart. It stops it.(that's how they taught us). Perhaps you were on a relatively low dose and they figured you would not need to worry about potassium overload.

By: M.K. Hobson

M.K. Hobson — Fri, 19 Feb 2010 23:58:22 +0000

Thank you for looking that up for me! I'm going to opt for the
avocados route, simply because they are cheaper and more delicious.
Actually the dyazide is pretty cheap, but my doctor won't refill it
unless I come in for an office visit, and ... well, we've already
discussed the vastly huge percentage my insurance covers of those.
Being a perverse and ornery type, I'd rather go off all my medications
than add another hundred bucks to the five I already owe them. So
basically I've turned into one of those old women who "can't afford"
her medication. Can cat food be far behind??

By: Daniel Spector

Daniel Spector — Fri, 19 Feb 2010 23:57:15 +0000

When I woke screaming up with the “holy shit my leg is going to break” cramps, I started taking magnesium and potassium.

No problems since… except when I stoppped.

By: Patrick Clare

Patrick Clare — Fri, 19 Feb 2010 23:49:10 +0000

I looked in my drug books and yes, now I do….you made me learn!!! Dyazide is a combination of HCTZ, a potassium wasting diuretic and trimterine, a potassium sparing diuretic. A potassium sparing diuretic will take precedent and have your body hold onto potassium. So, the discontinuation of that diuretic ended up giving a decrease in potassium. You can either go back on it or wait until your body reaches a type of equilibrium with you eating plenty of delicious avocados.

By: M.K. Hobson

M.K. Hobson — Fri, 19 Feb 2010 22:15:13 +0000

I was using dyazide. Know anything about that one?

By: Patrick Clare

Patrick Clare — Fri, 19 Feb 2010 22:07:55 +0000

What diuretic were you using? There are potassium sparing diuretics, but you would probably know about it if you were using them, because you are suppose to avoid potassium. Maybe that's the problem though. You lost your potassium holding drug and bam got hit with the loss. HCTZ and furosemide are the major potassium wasting drugs. I don't know the potassium sparing ones very well, because I never see them ordered.

By: Serge Broom

Serge Broom — Fri, 19 Feb 2010 00:26:12 +0000

I couldn’t find my post on your blog and HERE it is. I’d better tell Barbara Eden to stop ‘helping’ me.

By: M.K. Hobson

M.K. Hobson — Fri, 19 Feb 2010 00:24:28 +0000

I guess being the ex-Horseman of Famine give you the special superpower of having your blog comments crosspost to Facebook! (When no one else’s comments seem to have done so.) Anyway, I think what’s causing the charleyhorses is that I have too many impure thoughts. Either that, or there’s a ill-tempered witch in the neighborhood putting a curse on me. Someone call the Spanish Inquisition!

By: M.K. Hobson

M.K. Hobson — Fri, 19 Feb 2010 00:20:57 +0000

From your lips to baby Jesus' tiny shell-like ears!