Vitamins for gout include Potassium Citrate. It helps to alkalize urine. It's useful for dealing with kidney stones.Potassium citrate is one of the best vitamins for gout. It can deliver huge benefits but you must do it right. If you have gout, or are at risk of it due to uric acid levels above about 7.2 mg/dL(0.425 mmol/L), men, and 6.0 mg/dL(0.354 mmol/L),women, there is quite a risk of kidney stones developing. One estimate is that there is a 20% chance (or greater)that uric acid kidney stones will form in gout patients who have acidic urine. So your urine needs to be alkaline.
Read our pH pages, starting here, if alkalinity is new to you.
Read on for other benefits of this gout vitamin. Potassium is very alkaline. The citrate form of potassium is best, because it is better absorbed in this form. Another good point about this, one of the most important vitamins for gout, is that it's cheap. Please carefully note the caution at the bottom of this page. Potassium citrate, like baking soda (bicarbonate of soda/ sodium bicarbonate) MUST be prescribed by a doctor (physician) who knows your condition and knows the other medications (pharmaceuticals) you may be taking. And your starting (baseline) serum (blood) level of potassium needs to be known. Keeping urine alkaline could also – eventually – help you avoid lithotripsy surgery for kidney stones. How do you achieve alkaline urine? You take potassium citrate, or potassium-magnesium citrate, to raise your urine pH i.e. alkalize (alkalise) urine. Raising pH levels generally will probably raise urine pH, but potassium citrate has been found in studies to be good at raising urine pH. Raising urine pH has also been found in some studies to lower uric acid levels, as has raising body pH levels generally. You can test your urine pH levels with pH test strips . Testing tells you whether your urine is becoming more alkaline, and therefore whether what you are eating/drinking and/or potassium citrate supplementation is taking you towards the objective. With gout you need all the encouragement you can get and this is one way of getting a psychological boost. The testing procedure is easy. Make sure you follow the manufacturer's instructions leaflet exactly and keep your doctor informed. Have him/her check your results periodically. And please carefully note the other important cautions at the bottom of this page. pH testing in general also involves testing the pH of saliva, but here we are talking about the pH of urine. At what pH level is urine acidic? Acidic urine is a urine pH measurement of about pH 5.0 – pH 5.5. How alkaline should your urine be? Accounts vary. We've read of numbers ranging from pH 6.2 up to pH 7.5. It is probably somewhat individual-specific, which is another reason why you must work with a doctor. Dissolving kidney stones Even if uric acid stones have formed in the kidneys, potassium citrate has been found to be often effective in dissolving uric acid stones. This gout vitamin may also dissolve the more usual kidney stones made from various kinds of calcium. Both kinds of stones can become present in the kidneys in tandem. Usually the calcium ones are more numerous than the uric acid ones, but in gout patients they may be exclusively uric acid stones. Gout prevention Potassium citrate is also used to prevent urine acidity rising again and thus someone becoming at risk of kidney stones (of both kinds) re-forming. And it can reduce the risk of excess uric acid turning into MSU gout crystals and causing a gout attack. All this means it is one of the most useful of the vitamins for gout. Low urine pH may also be caused by dehydration i.e. not drinking enough water. So that's another reason why you must drink lots of water on any gout treatment.
Too high potassium levels can cause hyperkalemia. Some symptoms of this are nausea (feeling sick), an irregular heartbeat, and kidney failure. It can even be life threatening. Low potassium can cause hypokalemia. Some symptoms of this are muscle weakness and cramps, fatigue, irregular heartbeats, and heart failure. Certain medications increase potassium levels. Dosage Take this vitamin for gout ONLY as directed by your doctor, (physician). When more is learnt about how well it's working, the dose can be adjusted. Your starting level of blood (serum) potassium needs to be known. The amount in over the counter (OTC) and in for-sale-online potassium citrate tablets (99 mg), is almost certainly not nearly enough. You need prescription (RX) potassium citrate at a higher dosage. On prescription (RX) it may come in liquid form, not a tablet. If you find it unpalatable you can mix it with a fruit juice. Cherry juice or orange juice would be good ideas because both are gout positive. Potassium citrate does not always work effectively. If so, you could try a more alkaline diet (see the pH foods list). Foods high in potassium are usually alkaline. Potassium-magnesium citrate and potassium-sodium citrate have also been found to be effective and could also be tried, if potassium citrate alone doesn't raise your urine pH. If you live in a country where you can't obtain potassium citrate, or the other forms mentioned above, try increasing your potassium intake from foods, and a more alkaline diet. Also, discuss using chelated potassium (the chelated type is also better absorbed) with your doctor.
Test your urine pH, as well as saliva pH, with this product from phionbalance.com. Advanced pH testing. Not expensive - 90 test strips. Used by practitioners. Click on the image. It doesn't commit you, but takes you to this product's page at www.phionbalance.com
If you live in the United States, this pH testing tape (which comes with a dispenser) is from Swanson Vitamins.com Clicking on the buy button does not commit you. It takes you to the product page at SwansonVitamins.com
Clicking on the buy button does not commit you. It takes you to the product page at SwansonVitamins.com
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