As an electrolyte, potassium sends electrical pulses that power your organs, cells and tissues. Because the mineral makes it possible for muscles to contract, your heart, a smooth muscle, needs it to pump blood. This connection between the nutrient and the heart explains why potassium helps to ease dizziness when used in the right situation. Do not supplement potassium when you are lightheaded without your doctor’s diagnosis and recommendation.
Potassium and the Heart
As with all nutrients, you need the right amount of potassium to thrive. Too much of it causes trouble, and so does too little. Potassium is available from foods, and you may never need to take supplements. In the event a medical condition reduces the concentration of potassium in your body, you may develop a health problem doctors call hypokalemia. Various symptoms result from this mineral deficiency, including an abnormal heartbeat.
About Arrhythmia
Arrhythmia refers to a heart that beats out of pace. It might pump the blood too slowly, too fast or at varying rates. Since your blood carries oxygen and nutrients, a heart arrhythmia affects the health of organs, cells and tissues dependent on the nourishment. Dizziness is one of the consequences of the abnormal blood flow. If you feel dizzy and an electrocardiogram shows an irregular heart rhythm, your doctor may check the potassium level in your blood to see whether you are deficient.
Causes of Hypokalemia
Your potassium level drops for a number of reasons. Inadequate nutrition, for example, can lead to a low concentration of the mineral. The use of diuretics and antibiotics, as well as severe diarrhea, vomiting and sweating deplete your body of the nutrient. Intestinal inflammations may impair your body’s ability to absorb the mineral, blocking potassium from entering your bloodstream. A magnesium deficiency or too much thyroid hormone in the bloodstream can also cause a potassium deficiency.
Treatment
After your doctor determines a potassium deficiency is making you dizzy, she has a few treatment options to consider. The right therapeutic approach depends on the cause and the severity of the hypokalemia. Over-the-counter supplements are usually sufficient to correct a mild deficiency. A more serious one may require intravenous shots to bypass the digestive system and deliver the mineral straight to your blood. If your doctor traces the problem to your use of diuretics, she can prescribe a different type that does not affect potassium. When too much thyroid hormone is the issue, your physician has to treat both the mineral deficiency and the overfunctioning thyroid at the same time.
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