My terrible and scary day!

[del]

Glad to hear that scary incident is over.  Hopefully it never happens again but if it does now you know the symptoms.  Watch the potassium!!! Don't scare us again. Don't want to lose somebody so young!!   

[Earlinda]

Amanda I am so happy to hear that you are doing better.  I would have been so sad if something terrible had of happened to you.  Just sharing your experience has helped me more than you will ever know.  I have been having crazy high blood sugar lately.  I will have to keep my blood sugar my top priority as I think this is the scariest dialysis story I have heard yet.

Love ya kiddo!   

Earlinda

[boxman55]

your heart is to big to be bothered by a little potassium get better soon....Boxman

[Amanda From OZ]

Aw your guys are all so cute! luv you all!  Thanks for all the kind words and good advice.

My legs still feel a bit funny, but maybe thats from the gym? hmm i hope so. You are all right i am very lucky i didn't carck it (Aussie slang)  , and if any of you ever experience those things make sure you go asap to the hospital, and not wait as long as i did!

A few of you talked about the insulin and glucose that is used to lower blood sugar, they apparently used some of that on Wednesday when this happend, but it made me feel very strange, cold sweet and shakey. (i think they used to much insulin).

Jeff you said your potassium was 7.5.. holy moly... and you drove yourself to the hospital?? i couldn't of done that. But i guess what the nurse said was right, when she said that everyone can handle different amounts of potassium before showing symptoms. She told me that she "new" someone who had a cardiac arrest with a potassium of 6.2.

I get a bit freaked out thinking about what could of happend, but oh well i came out of it okay, thats the main thing.

Amanda
xxoo

[RichardMEL]

Hey Amanda,

Just caught up with this (haven't been on for a bit) and wow scary... at least now you will know when you feel weird like that to not let it go or ignore it... Am so glad you are recovering well and your bf was there to take care of you - imagine you'd made it to uni and been in a class or something?!! That would have been bad.

Glad to hear you are better! *hugs*

[Zach]

Thanks everyone for your concern and well wishes. I'm on dialysis again today for another few hours to get rid of any extra nasty potassium.

My nurse called me this morning and she said that everyone handles different amounts of potassium and she said that if i would of gone to class she doesn't think i would of made it. 
My potassium was 6.8, which was obviously high enough to kill me.
Amanda
xxoo

Are you a diabetic?  Do you normally take insulin?

[thegrammalady]

just found this, i've been at my mother's since the 30th. her connection is still the phone line, gotta get her off that! and every time i use her computer she hovers. haven't been on much. anyway....................SO VERY GLAD YOU'RE BETTER...take care of yourself, we need you. your boyfriend is aces.

[Amanda From OZ]

Thanks again for the nice messages. 


Zach i am not a diabetic. And the i've only had insulin twice, due to high potassium.

[lcamanini]

Wow, I'm glad you're ok. That's really scary. I'd been feeling weird for the past week: my arms were weak and tired, my chest felt tight, and when I first got up in the morning I would have trouble walking. I have a cold and have been anemic so I attributed it all to that. Luckily they drew my regular labs last week because they found that my potassium was 6.7. It must have been something I was eating because I felt that way for a week or two even with dialysis. After they found out it was that high, I felt better after one treatment because I watched what I ate extremely closely. I still don't know what it was that was causing it though.

[Lulu]

Hi Amanda - Just wanted to share two meds that work really well for reducing hyperkalemia quickly. I have had problems with high potassium (from CKD and Addison's) for 16 years. I have had so may high potassiums that when a new doc calls me paniced because it is 6.5 I tell them don't worry my highest one was 7.4. I don't know what type of kidney disease you have, but there is a type that I have called RTA Type 4, here is a link for it:

http://kidney.niddk.nih.gov/kudiseases/pubs/tubularacidosis/


I have had kidney disease my whole life and just finally got an amzing nephro who diagnosed the RTA, Type 4. Anyways, I take sodium bicarbonate 650mg 1 or 2 a day. Ever since I started doing the bicarb, my potassium has been in check. Amazing after a dozens of hospital trips, outpatient I.V.'s and I.C.U. stays for hyperkalemia. The strange thing is I used to lose all my motor function in the low 6's and ever time my level would get higher - my symptoms would decrease. Like my body would adjust to higher potassium levels. I used to get blurry vision and a funny battery taste in my mouth. I got so used to having them that I would walk into my docs office amd ask for labs because I know my potassium was high. Now if I do have a high potassium I don't even know it. Dangerous.

Anyways, before I got diagnosed with the RTA Type 4 and went on the bicarb I used to take kayexalate (pre-mixed) orally to reduce the potassium. It tastes like cherry flavored cement. It actually works in the colon by exchanging a sodium ion for a potassium ion. It can be taken orally or by retention enema. I hated the taste of it, so I eventually started doing the retention enema. That method was reccommended by an I.C.U. nurse I knew. Also, if you do it by retention enema, it is sooooo very important to do a water rinse afterwards. This is becuase it can cause necrosis of the colon. No doctor ever told me that. I found out from the nurse, oh and it says it in the fine print on the med insert.

So, there you go. If you can take either med, sodium bicarbonate or kayexalayte, they both work remarkedly fast. I have actually been sent to E.R. and had to wait in the waiting room and just pounded my bicarb and then they hook up and i.v. with isotonic saline and more bicarb. Then they run my labs and my potassium will be nearly normal like 4.5 down from 6.5 in a period of hours. I will tell you, it is a roller coaster ride when your electrolytes change so quickly. It is, for me, totally exhausting.

Sory so long. Hope you feel better, and if it happens again I hope this info will be helpful.

[Lulu]

One more thing Amanda, I remember a long time ago when I was at 7.2 they put the glucose in me. I guess they put too much because I ended up in anaphalactic shock. That's when the doc switched to the kayexalate. Like I said, now I am on the bicarb due to the RTA, Type 4. And it has been all clear.

[Lulu]

Luckily they drew my regular labs last week because they found that my potassium was 6.7. It must have been something I was eating because I felt that way for a week or two even with dialysis. After they found out it was that high, I felt better after one treatment because I watched what I ate extremely closely. I still don't know what it was that was causing it though.

lc - here is a great book I use. It lists the potassium content of 300 varieties of fruits, vegies, legumes. It is very, very useful. I found I had a lot of misonceptions due to docs before I started using the book. Also, side note star fruit is considered toxic to kidney patients. Yes, toxic. I loved that fruit so much when I lived in Hawaii. Had to stop eating it.

Book Name: Dr. Richter's Fresh Produce Guide
Author: Henry Richter, MD
ISBN # 0-9703139-0-X