When admitted to the hospital app. 10 years ago, my doc was extremely concerned about my low potassium level, so much so, I needed an iv to replenish my potassium, which needed to be checked every couple hours. I assure you, I am not, and never was, bulimic. I understand that one symptom of low potassium is leg cramping....which I continue to have periodically. They seemed to have stopped when I began taking vitamin supplements which contain potassium; it appears my potassium level, without vitamin supplements, is chronically low. I do not know why, except for the fact that my fruit/vegetable intake is not what it should be.....again, that has nothing to do with bulimia.
Did you ever weigh over 200 pounds and then lose about 100 in less than a year?
Terri's hypokalemia was a single episode -- one lone blood test. Even that was a one-time thing, not a chronic condition (more reason to think it had nothing to do with a persistent dietary disorder). It was treated right away and her potassium level normalized within hours. It stayed normal thereafter.
What caused it? Various kinds of stress can do it. Dr. Thogmartin thought it was perhaps the defibrillations or epinephrine administered in the frantic efforts to revive Terri. Or, it may have been from IV fluid. With several good candidates at hand to explain a one-time situation, you don't have to looking for some far-fetched theory like bulimia.
We can rule out bulimia for another reason now, based on the autopsy. If it had been low potassium that caused Terri's cardiac arrest, the damage would have been global. She would have suffered anoxic damage -- oxygen deprivation -- to other organs, including the heart itself. But that was not the case and her heart remained healthy.
Instead, the injury was limited to her brain, and mainly the front part of her brain. Pressure to the carotid arteries, which supply oxygen to that part of the brain, must now be considered the prime candidate as the cause of Terri's so-called collapse.