Potassium for sensory overload?!

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Hi.
I was just wandering in the internetz and found these:
....A woman who experienced this sensory overstimulation found that it subsided about 20 minutes after taking a potassium supplement..... Source link

.....The authors were not originally focused on ADHD. They were drawn into the area when a woman described to a neurologist that one of the core features of ADHD, a sense of being bombarded by sensory input, suddenly went away, ?as if a shade had been pulled down.? This occurred 20 minutes after she took an oral potassium supplement for muscle cramps.......Source link 2

So basically I thought lets take some potassium and see what happens (not like a ton. just as much as the package says, which happens to be 1200mg. got it from my pharmacy. I have extended release potassium-chloride.)

Today, my perception is very different. I can actually look at a tree and enjoy what I'm looking at (a long lost ability). I can see the trees as a whole and the moving leaves just add to the beauty instead of distracting me. like I feel like generally there is a movement instead of lots of individual movements. feels nice.

I'm also much more resistant to stress. just had a stupid dispute with a family member but that's not killing me at all. I also feel smarter and can show my feelings better. yelled at the family member a little bit but she had deserved it. I normally cant show my feelings at all.

Am I having a placebo effect or something or is this real? It feels real for sure.

I sprinkle No Salt (it's a potassium salt that tastes like sodium salt) on my supper nightly plus take a magnesium supplement powder that has potassium in it and I haven't noticed any difference in sensory issues.

Although I doubt my daily intake is 1200 mg.

All placebos feel like that - that's the point!

The paper that Psychology Today links to is not available online, so I can't check that the results add up. The abstract isn't too impressive but maybe it is just badly written.

Maybe someone who knows more about neurology could comment on whether it seems feasible, but I think this is pretty cutting edge so it's probably going to be hard for anyone to say right now.

Potassium is an important part of the electrical exchange of positive and negative ions across nerve cell membranes, so I wouldn't be too skeptical of this idea.

On a related note in that it involves another mineral, a daily dose of magnesium can help to prevent migraines, also a neurological issue.

on "our" case it's doing interesting things.
I told my father my mother and my sister I'm taking it and it's helping and they tried it too.
my sister has changed 180°. She is sooo different now. in a good way.
my father sais he has become more relaxed and has more concentration and can sleep much better.
but it didn't do anything for my mother so I suppose my father, sister and me have some stuff going on that my mother hasn't.

I'm still autistic but I feel soooooo much better. I also realized I'm much more in connection with nature. the clouds and trees and woods and such look so good to me! like they look as they should look. like... REAL. I saw the world like this last time when I was 5.

maybe it's helping with something other than AS that I might have. like psychosis or something. read somewhere that "potassium-channel-whatever" has some "implication-whatever" in Schizophrenia. Didn't understand a thing they said though.

Oh my mom is a genius!
she figured it all out. When we lived in Iran we used to drink horrendous amounts of black tea, like all iranians. and it's packed with high amounts of Potassium. And back then I was doing sort of ok.
Then we moved to Germany and discovered cheap instant coffee (not that it's not available in Iran) and stopped drinking black tea altogether, and my problems started. caffeine reduces potassium levels also. at the same time I developed dry skin and severe acne which I still have with 31, eventhough I didnt have acne as a teenager..... (WTF?). note that acne and dry skin is a sign of potassium difficiency.

I'm going to order a samowar (those russian tea machines) and drink tea like a crazy person.

Eek.. my first response to a thread got kicked back.. I didn't realize I couldn't post a link to a study until I've posted five times or have been a member for five days.. so if you want a better article about this topic you may want to Google Dr. Michael Segal Md Phd.. rare sensory overload potassium and see if you can find his article which is available on line. I came across the article while searching for natural treatments for Attention Deficit Disorder. I immediately recognized my symptoms and physical signs and related to the article 100 percent. Five years later I am diagnosed with a rare mineral metabolic disorder have changed my diet to low carb low sodium high potassium and proteins and fats and my life has changed dramatically. I have even been able to determine a potassium level that I function well at at the higher end of the normal range. If you can find his article it may clear up some of your questions. It is also on Wikipedia.
Both my daughter and I are on the spectrum. I function much better than my daughter does but definitely experience much of the sensory overload issues and social awkwardness that accompanies the diagnosis. Adding potassium has changed my life significantly along with vitamins and magnesium. Key for me is balancing diet with supplementation and limiting stress physical and emotional makes such a large difference.