high phos & pot levels

[TexanSummer]

I'm not sure what to do or where to look....hubby just called me & said he got his blood work back....phos & potasium are both high...they upped his binders to 3 pills 3X a day & are considering upping his D to 5 hrs from 4hrs...his high blood pressure had gotten under control & they took him off the BP meds, but now they are worried about his BP dropping low during D....I don't have the numbers with me, but I will post them when I get them in hand...in about an hour or two....just wanting some feed back in the meantime. We watch his diet VERY closely & his fluid intake/output as well. His memory has been lapsing more over the last week....I'm trying not to freak out....it's not working!!!!

[del]

Binders and increasing his dialysis time should help a lot.  Have you talked to a dietician?

[RightSide]

I'm not sure what to do or where to look....hubby just called me & said he got his blood work back....phos & potasium are both high...We watch his diet VERY closely & his fluid intake/output as well. His memory has been lapsing more over the last week....I'm trying not to freak out....it's not working!!!!

What's your husband's PTH level?

High PTH will cause loss of both calcium and phosphorus from the bones.  And that phosphorus will end up in the bloodstream.  He's going to have difficulty balancing his blood electrolytes until his PTH goes below 300.

Is your husband on ACE inhibitors for high blood pressure? Those can raise blood potassium levels.

If there is no medical cause for the high potassium and phosphorus levels, then it must come back to diet.  That extra phosphorus in the blood has to be coming from somewhere.

It may sound drastic, but this may be a time for your husband to try a semi-vegan diet.  Just stop all dairy products and cut intake of animal protein.  That's how I've always eaten.  I'm not a vegan, I'll have some chicken or fish every day--but the bulk of what I eat is vegetables.  And on dialysis, I never had a problem controlling my phosphorus level.

[Zach]

I'm not sure what to do or where to look....hubby just called me & said he got his blood work back....phos & potasium are both high...they upped his binders to 3 pills 3X a day & are considering upping his D to 5 hrs from 4hrs...his high blood pressure had gotten under control & they took him off the BP meds, but now they are worried about his BP dropping low during D....I don't have the numbers with me, but I will post them when I get them in hand...in about an hour or two....just wanting some feed back in the meantime. We watch his diet VERY closely & his fluid intake/output as well. His memory has been lapsing more over the last week....I'm trying not to freak out....it's not working!!!!

As del wrote more binders and more time on hemodialysis will most likely help.

Some meals, such as dinner, may need 4 binders whereas breakfast may need only two.
It depends on the portion size and amount of phosphorus of each meal.

Which binder does he use?

[TexanSummer]

PTH - 1353.4
Phos - 8.1
Pot - 4.7
Albumin - 3.9
Calcium - 6.6
URR - 59%

binder is Calcium Acetate
not sure why they said his potassium was high....maybe he just misunderstood them...his memory is kinda coming & going sometimes.
no BP meds at this time & he hasn't taken any for about 3 weeks now. He eats mostly veggies...maybe a porkchop, chicken, or the occasional piece of beef....but more veggies than anything, fresh....steamed, boiled, etc....no canned & sometimes frozen....we're too worried/scared to stray from the "diet" too much. He will have a piece of cheese or no more than 4 oz of milk every other day...no sodas, mostly water or fresh juice (grape, apple, etc). We watch the fluid intake carefully too...but the last few days of D, they've taken between 2.5-4.5L. He goes in for every D appt & stays the full 4 hrs like clock work....