Husband's high potassium

[texasstyle]

Hi there family!  you probably guessed it was me right away after reading the topic lol.  This week his K came back at 6. They drew more blood today. How long does that take to come back? I'm guessing they will run that lab STAT. The lab would do that ya think? If higher I'd hope they'd call with results but tomorrow is Saturday too. They must have a small crew in because I'm sure there must be a few people who go Saturdays for certain reasons. The thing is...darn, he's been watching his diet lately too. I was so happy to see that. Now I'm worrying again. Always scared.....

[kristina]

When I worked out my potassium-intake,
I checked up my weight & my daily allowance according to weight & kidney function
and worked out each food/vegetable/fruit/bread/cousous, half a cup of coffee etc.
for its potassium-contents and so I worked out my daily allowance of potassium.

It is a very boring and frustrating task, but it becomes easier with time
and only needs to be checked-up occasionally to make sure,
that “artistic licence” does not creep in.

Good luck from Kristina.

[AguynamedKim]

I'm sorry his tests came back high even with him watching his diet.  Pardon my ignorance on this, everyone, but do they prescribe potassium binders?  I know the drugs exist, but I havne't heard about them here very much.  Texasstyle, does your husband have anything like that?  Or is that the liquid he drinks when he doesn't go into dialysis?  I hope he's able to get this under control soon.  Perhaps a longer dialysis session would be warranted?

[Willis]

...potassium binders?  I know the drugs exist, but I havne't heard about them here very much.

I'm not on dialysis yet (very soon unfortunately), but SPS Solution (Sodium Polystyrene Sulfonate) each evening and a teaspoon of sodium bicarbonate (ordinary kitchen variety baking soda) in the morning helped bring down my very high potassium levels. This was prescribed by my neph. This treatment does have the disadvantage of raising sodium levels however and my BP went up too. Something you could ask the doc about.

 

[sullidog]

How does that lower potassium levels? Unfortunetly k is one of those things where you can't be too low or too high.

[RichardMEL]

LOL!! TS' hubby knows all about the potassium binders! 

re how long do the bloods take? when I do the labs at hospital they come back in around 90 mins - sometimes in an hour if we jam an urgent sticker on them. Of course that was when I was doing tests then seeing the doc post-tx for a few months. Now I do the labs on a Friday and go to clinic on the Monday so the results are in well and truly. K, PO4 etc tests, part of the FBE, are all pretty quick to come through though. Some of the others take much longer (eg: PTH)

[texasstyle]

well no news is good news I guess (I hope). I also hope even with this somewhat of a set back it does not discourge him  from trying to maintain a better diet. Willis, I am wondering also about the baking soda. I have to "assume" (you know what they say about that), that because you are not on D yet you have a little kidney function left makings things maybe a little different for you. Hmm..... Some people take potassium binders to help control high potassium. My husband has a binder to take ONLY in emergency, but he usues it in place of dialysis on occassion. (baaad boy). When we were in the hosp. once with high potasium 7.8, they injected with a giant needle of a milky  substance. The nurse took some time to explain the procedure to me. That medication in the needle was going to push the potassium out of the cells, and into the bloodstream where they could then dialyize him a number of times to get it down. Most of your potassium is in your cells, only a small percent in your bloodstream actually. Now do the binders you take at home work exactly the same way? , I'm not positive but I'm very curious now too. Next time you see your Neph Willis maybe you could ask more about the baking soda. I'm glad it worked for you! The one thing about potassium binders is that they make you get the poatssium down by often having a side effect of dirrahea, and/or vomiting. In lower "maintainence" doses may not be so harsh with the sides. But in general if your K is Critical, they will give you enough to get K out FAST! lol. So now we need someone who may take a binder at home to help us sort this out lol.