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Prednisone & Potassium, watch it

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Ulcerative Colitis
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Meesh
Veteran Member
Joined : May 2006
Posts : 619
Posted 9/10/2007 7:17 PM (GMT -6)

I am tapering off Prednisone and have been on it since April 2006. I had a blood test the other day and am quite low in Potassium. They gave me a food list of things to eat that are high in Potassium and they are mostly foods I like and eat regularly, so I was surprised about the low Potassium. I did a little Web search and low and behold, Prednisone can cause low Potassium. Now I was well aware about the link between Pred and needing to watch your Calcium and to be careful of high sodium foods, but I was not aware of the Potassium link. Just thought I'd mention it in case anyone else was similarly unaware.

Mmmmmm..... banana smoothie here I come ....

Meesh

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happydays
Regular Member
Joined : Sep 2007
Posts : 69
Posted 9/10/2007 7:31 PM (GMT -6)
Thank You i didn't know that. I'm still learning about all of this. I have UC. And now in 3 years its in my whole colon, when it started very small and then last year it was left side UC. I've just now stopped bleeding 6 days ago. When i've always bleed for the whole 3 years!!!! So i'm still learning thank you so much..
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bk1579
Regular Member
Joined : Sep 2007
Posts : 100
Posted 9/10/2007 7:42 PM (GMT -6)
I had heard that prednisone would cause low potassium but had forgotten until I started getting leg cramps in the middle of the night...Almost every night while sleeping, I would get a cramp in the back of my leg or in the bottom of my foot...I've been on pred for several months now, anywhere from 40mg to 10mg...Then is when I decided I must be low in potassium...I stocked up on bananas and ate plenty of them...In March when I had my colonoscopy, they took blood and then called me and said I had low potassium then...Probably from not eating for 2 days!!! My GI told me to eat a couple of bananas a day to get it back up...I did look up on the internet what food had lots of potassium besides bananas...I can eat a few of them, but then I get incredibly tired of them...Thank goodness there are lots of food that contain a good amount of potassium...
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ach13
Regular Member
Joined : Jul 2007
Posts : 41
Posted 9/10/2007 8:17 PM (GMT -6)
Thanks for the heads up. Bananas are a part of my life since my UC went crazy on me for the past 7 years (I had UC since 1997 but I was living normally, i.e. just the occasional bleeding but only 1 BM per day, before 2000), so its good to know that even if I eat them I still could be at risk for low potassium levels.
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Meesh
Veteran Member
Joined : May 2006
Posts : 619
Posted 9/11/2007 1:07 PM (GMT -6)
Where abouts in the Philippines are you? I lived in Ayala Alabang from 1996-1998.

 

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kb5
Veteran Member
Joined : Jan 2007
Posts : 1015
Posted 9/11/2007 4:03 PM (GMT -6)
My Gi told me to eat 3 bananas a day on 40-60mg and drink lots of Oj (I water it down a lot though). He said that prednisone sucks out potassium. Unfortuneatly I hate bananas! I eat them but ugh...so glad i'm almost done with steroids!
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Beth75
Veteran Member
Joined : Jul 2007
Posts : 2158
Posted 9/12/2007 7:07 AM (GMT -6)
yes, I have low potassium and was also told to eat banana's and tomatoes, which I love, except I love salt on my tomatoes too......I am now on a low salt diet, awesome!
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ediekristen
Veteran Member
Joined : Apr 2007
Posts : 1366
Posted 9/12/2007 12:18 PM (GMT -6)
Yep, after this last time on prednisone, I'm stuck on potassium supplements now because my potassium was 1.8 (I think it's supposed to be around 3 or 4) and it wasn't changing with my diet so I have to take even more meds now. Yay!

Don't forget to take calcium supplements as well on prednisone, as it leaches it from your bones.
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