- Joacim Osterstam almost lost his life last month due to extra salty licorice
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A nurse was rushed to hospital for fear of suffering a stroke, but was shocked to discover she had accidentally poisoned herself with a popular delicacy.
Joacim Osterstam, 56, nearly lost his life last month because he couldn’t get enough of extra-salty black licorice.
The Swede from Böste, near Trelleborg, in the south of the country, about seven hours from Stockholm, had been eating different liquorice delicacies for a month when he began to feel unwell on March 8.
‘The first thing was that my vision changed. I had difficulty concentrating at a distance and at first I thought it was time to change glasses,” she told a Swedish media outlet. Aftonbladet.
To feel better, Joacim continued eating his favorite candy, but his symptoms worsened.
Joacim Osterstam (pictured in hospital after his ordeal), 56, almost lost his life last month because he couldn’t get enough of extra-salty black licorice.
The Swede from Böste, near Trelleborg, in the south of the country, about seven hours from Stockholm, had been eating different licorice delicacies for a month when he started to feel unwell (file image of salty licorice)
His head and stomach hurt, before he began to feel like his feet were shaking due to recurring muscle cramps in both legs.
“In the end I couldn’t even go out with the dog and that’s when my partner wanted me to contact the health center,” she said. Once there, a doctor sent him in a taxi to the emergency room.
But even access to A&E on March 11 was difficult and painful for Joakim, making him feel “like 86” instead of 56.
He was quickly scanned to rule out a stroke, but blood tests soon revealed the true cause of his symptoms.
Joacim had a severe potassium deficiency with a low and “life-threatening” value of 1.8; the normal level is around 3.5.
Doctors weren’t sure what had caused this massive drop in his potassium level, until one asked Joacim if he liked sweets and they quickly determined that his symptoms were caused by the enormous amounts of salty licorice he consumed.
The licorice lover had to stay in hospital for a week, where he was given a potassium drip and had his heart rate monitored.
When he was finally discharged from the hospital, his legs were still quite shaking and he enrolled in physical therapy. He also needs to use canes.
However, another health problem caused by licorice seems unlikely, as Joacim said he now can’t think about sweets without feeling sick.
‘If I imagine putting licorice in my mouth now, I feel like shit. I’ll probably never eat licorice again. Now there is zero tolerance,” she stated.
Even without eating more licorice, Joacim still has a long recovery ahead of him.
Last week he had to postpone a planned motorcycle trip to go to the hospital, he told German media. image: ‘My potassium level had dropped again and I had to be treated again.’