That is high potassium. On whatever scale they use, it is 5.4 while the normal range tops at 4.6. So not way above. Now I do try to follow a low salt diet, but I do not use a salt substitute (which basically subs K for Na) and I do not eat a lot of (really hardly any) bananas. Any thoughts?
Apparently some drugs have a negative effect on this, so you might Google each of the drugs you take if it has this effect. For example apparently:
Certain medications can increase potassium levels in the blood, leading to a condition called hyperkalemia. Here are some of the common categories of drugs that can cause hyperkalemia:
- Angiotensin-Converting Enzyme (ACE) Inhibitors: These medications are commonly used to treat high blood pressure and heart failure. They work by relaxing blood vessels, but can also lead to potassium retention in the kidneys. Examples include lisinopril, enalapril, and ramipril.
- Angiotensin II Receptor Blockers (ARBs): Similar to ACE inhibitors, ARBs work to lower blood pressure by blocking the effects of angiotensin II, another blood vessel constricting hormone. These can also cause potassium retention. Examples include losartan, valsartan, and irbesartan.
- Potassium-Sparing Diuretics: While diuretics are typically used to increase urine output and reduce blood pressure, some types, called potassium-sparing diuretics, can actually retain potassium in the body. Examples include spironolactone, amiloride, and triamterene.
- Beta-Blockers: These medications are used to regulate heart rate and blood pressure. While less common than the above categories, some beta-blockers can contribute to hyperkalemia. Examples include propranolol, atenolol, and metoprolol.
- Nonsteroidal Anti-inflammatory Drugs (NSAIDs): These drugs, commonly used for pain and inflammation relief, can impair kidney function and potentially lead to potassium retention. Examples include ibuprofen, naproxen, and celecoxib.
- Certain Antibiotics: High doses of some antibiotics, like trimethoprim and penicillin, can affect potassium excretion and contribute to hyperkalemia.
You might also check your supplements to see how much dietary potassium you are taking (multi-vitamins for example).
Well, consider ditching the salt substitute, for one. Or at least use a lot less. Regular table salt has its own problems, but the potassium-based alternative clearly isn’t doing well by you.
How are your kidneys doing? That seems to be a common cause of high potassium.
The OP says he does not use salt substitute.
You are correct. I misread that!
Was this a one-time high reading? A Mayo article suggests that sometimes it can be false, if some blood cells were damaged during / just after the draw.
That would be my first guess. Kidney disfunction or disease can often result in elevated blood potassium levels. There are a lot of normally healthy foods which have high levels of potassium per serving including spinich, peas and lentils, raisins, apricots and prunes, Brussels sprouts, nuts, potatoes, milk, citrus, and tomatoes.
Elevated potassium can cause a number of problems including nausea, fatigue, chest pain and breathing, heart palpitations and arrhythmia, and in extreme cases cardiac arrest, so it is definitely a medical issue to take seriously.
Stranger
I guess you missed that I said I do not use any salt substitute.
I do take an ACE inhibitor, but none of the other drugs on @PastTense’s list. And no supplements.
Yep - Beck caught my mistake too.
Maybe I’d better spend a litlte more time in the “memory” thread, LOL.
Have you talked to your doctor about this? Hyperkalemia should not be diagnosed on the basis of a single lab test, without other investigation. The blood specimen may have been hemolyzed, releasing potassium from within the red cells into the serum, and raising the levels spuriously. Or it could be related to recent ingestion of a med, recent skipping of a med, hydration status, and a myriad of other factors/functions, etc.
Treatment of actual factual hyperkalemia should be addressed to the particular underlying causes.
I’m sure that’s good advice; if only I had a family doctor. The test will be repeated. This isn’t the place to rant, but medicare is fine, until there aren’t enough doctors.
Medical advice over the internet is not worth much. You should see your doctor who is aware of your personal history.
But your blood work does not, on the face of it, sound concerning and would be expected just by taking that medication. Of course, there are additional tests that should often be done to confirm this theory.
Piling on. In my side of the world a high potassium level is spurious from hemolysis greater than 99% of the time.
Poor availability of docs be what it is, someone ordered this test. It is their job, their *responsibility, *to follow up on the results.
IME. Hyperkalemia is not something that is addressed. Rather, the cause of the patient’s hyperkalemia is investigated.
ETA: a friend recently had a CBC and Chemistry Panel run. There were many abnormal numbers. Once those numbers were corrected for lipemia and hemolysis of the sample (collection artifacts) it turned out she was fine.
If I paid out of pocket for the lab work, I’d be pissed off it hadn’t been collected properly.
My universe. Kids have little veins drawn through little needles. Hemolysis is common and we are not usually checking out of potassium concerns. We get the information we are looking for.
To hijack, I feel terrible about your doctor finding problems. I remember you had a thread about it.
And we have a first world country. It’s shameful.
I hope you have some luck soon.
In some hospitals, the upper normal range of K is 5.5; this may not be much of a problem!
A level of 5.4 is borderline high but not critically so. Your doctor would need to look into this further.
I’d just like to add that I’ve watched too many Chubbyemu videos on Youtube to not see a word like “hyperkalemia” and not break it down in my head the way he explains the meaning of the names of blood conditions.
“Hyper meaning high, kal meaning potassium from the Latin word kalium and its symbol K on the periodic table of elements, and emia meaning presence in blood. High potassium presence in blood.”
You might look up dialysis diets for advice on low and high potassium foods. My nephew was in end stage kidney failure from when he was 19 up until he was around 30 when he got his second kidney transplant (the first one failed after about a year). Potassium levels were something they monitored closely and were a contributing factor in him being hospitalized a few times over the years.
There’s more potassium in a lot of foods than you’d think. He was also supposed to avoid low/no salt foods because, as mentioned earlier, they often substitute potassium for the salt.
Anyway, we looked up a lot of information on the diets for people on dialysis, some of which had a lot of helpful details on keeping your potassium lowered.
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