lilray said:
Anybody else still dateless?
Out of Flames - have you been able to sleep lately?
Dateless? No way! This is the summer of LOOOOOOOVE!
And without my doctor's help, I was able to determine what the problem is (I'm almost 100% sure anyway). And it's the dumbest thing- I never would have pinpointed it to be a cause for total lack of sleep- Hypokalemia (I'm potassium deficient.)
I'm allergic to high doses of potassium (as in severe acute respiratory failure), so foods like bananas, yogurt, asparagus, certain squash, and any other high dose potassium food not containing folic acid are completely off limits. (If you want to off me, a simple slice of banana bread would do it if I couldn't get to epinephrine in time.)
But I've been working out every day lately and my muscles are really cramping because I can't get enough potassium. So as I was reading up on potassium intake the other night, I ran across two very interesting pieces of information.
1. It assists in the regulation of the acid-base balance and water balance in the blood and the body tissues as well as
protein synthesis from
amino acids and in carbohydrate metabolism. It is necessary for the building of muscle and for normal body growth.
It is needed for the proper functioning of nerve cells, in the brain and throughout the body.
2. The most common side effects of Hypokalemia are muscle cramps, fatigue, and
sleeplessness.
Well smack my butt and call me astounded... So I started taking a potassium gluconate tablet before bed the night before last. And I've started sleeping about 5 hours a night. So when I go in to the doctor on Friday, it will be to determine how much potassium I can safely ingest in order to supplement both my exercise and sleep routines.
And all this time, I thought I was just mental...