Other reasons for hyperkaleamia

[flipperfun]

Hi everyone, I have just come out of hospital having treatment for excess potassium.  I know of course that some foods cause this, but can a leg injury, I have severe pain in my calf muscle due to a Bakers Cyst.  Would this also elevate potassium levels.  Any thoughts would be most welcome.  Thank you - Denise

[obsidianom]

I dont see how a Bakers cyst can elevate potassium. Muscle tissue has potasium in it but only a severe crush type injury should effect blood chemistry.
Did they check your kidneys? What is your creatinine and BUN ? What medicines are you on , as some meds can do this.

[flipperfun]

Thank you for your reply. I am on Haemodialysis 3 times a week.  To cut a long story short, I could not dialyse last Monday even though I needed to, and ended up in hospital wiith high BP.  That is when the high potassium was discovered.  It was 7.2.  I was shocked.  I am careful with what I eat but clearly made a bad error of judgement with eating 2 hot cross buns over the weekend!!!

The only other time my potassium was 7.0 was when I was admitted to hospital with severe pain in my calf muscle.  It was a severe stabbing pain and I could not put any weight at all on my leg.  I do not know what I ate that time and it is wishful thinking that it is just food related.  The nurse was insisted that only food affects the potassium levels.

Meds are: lanzoprazole, prednisolone, calcichew, amlodipine and kappra

Thanks for listening.

[obsidianom]

I have never heard of Kappra. What is it?
Meds like ACE inhibitors and ARBs can raise potassium but not any of the ones you listed . It sounds like missing dialysis did it . Dialyisis lowers potassium .

[jeannea]

Keppra is an anti-seizure med. Missing dialysis can definitely result in raised potassium, esp after your 3rd day break over the weekend.

[flipperfun]

Sorry to not have replied earlier.  I'm in so much pain with my leg I've been in bed.

Yesterday I saw the dietician and she says exactly what you all have.  It was missing dialysis after the weekend that put my potassium up so high.  I had one of my epileptic siezures just as I was getting on the dialysis bed.  The unit wouldn't dialyse me because of that and very high BP, even though I needed dialysis!!!  I was then transferred to my local hospital for investigation, they do not have a dialysis unit.  It's barking mad, so I had to wait yet another day before being transferred to a London hospital for dialysis. 

I really thought it was something I had done wrong.  It freaked me out!  Thank you all for your support.  Denise

[nursey66]

I think being ill or having surgery can affect the potassium, for some people. When my husband had his bowel perforation,the hospital found his K to be at 7.1, even though he had dialysis the day before. And after a surgery he had a while ago, he was rushed to ICU and started in D because his K was over 7, even though again, he just had it the day before. In both cases he had not eaten in a while, so wasn't his diet.