What is hypokalemia?

Hypokalemia is when your body has too little potassium, a mineral that helps muscles and nerves work properly.

Imagine you're playing with building blocks. Potassium is like the glue that keeps everything together, it helps your muscles move and your heart beat smoothly. Now, if you suddenly ran out of glue, your tower would wobble, maybe even fall over. That's kind of what happens in hypokalemia.

Sometimes, your body loses too much potassium through urine or sweat, like when you're running around outside on a hot day and sweating a lot. Or maybe you've been taking some medicine that makes your kidneys let out more potassium than usual.

Without enough potassium, your muscles might feel weak or even twitchy. Your heart can also get a little wobbly, it may beat faster or feel like it’s skipping a step now and then. But don’t worry! With the right food or some help from doctors, you can bring that potassium level back up to normal.

It's just like refilling your glue jar so your tower can keep standing tall.