Whats going on ?

[KICKSTART]

Phew , i woke up this morning and felt like i had been hit by a steam roller and someone has tied 10lb weights to my arms and legs!  Whats going on ? Anyone else had this ? I was fine yesterday.

[Amanda From OZ]

When did you last dialyse? I have felt like that twice, both times my potassium was VERY high. If you continue to feel unwell maybe get a bloodtest done.

Hope you feel better.

Amanda
xxoo

[KICKSTART]

I do 4 x daily , recent bloods show my potassium very low. So dont think its that?

[tamara]

Low Potassium Symptoms
Usually the symptoms of low potassium are mild. At times they can be vague. Sometimes you may have more than one symptom involving the gastrointestinal (GI) tract, kidneys, muscles, heart, and nerves.

Weakness, tiredness, or cramping in arm or leg muscles, sometimes severe enough to cause inability to move arms or legs due to weakness (much like a paralysis)
Tingling or numbness
Nausea or vomiting
Abdominal cramping, bloating
Constipation
Palpitations (feeling your heart beat irregularly)
Passing large amounts of urine or feeling very thirsty most of the time
Fainting due to low blood pressure
Abnormal psychological behavior (depression, psychosis, delirium), confusion, or seeing or hearing things (hallucinations)


from the website http://www.emedicinehealth.com/low_potassium/article_em.htm

[KICKSTART]

Ahh thanks , looks like low potassium could be the cause then !  Better  break out the bananas ! 

[Zach]

I do 4 x daily , recent bloods show my potassium very low. So dont think its that?

How low is low?  What are your numbers?

[KICKSTART]

Tbh dont know how low , hospital just said it was low, they tend to just say high, low, and dont give figures, but it does sound like that could be my problem today ?

[Zach]

You need to know your values -- the numbers, not just "high, normal or low."
I ask how low, because if it's too low, you could have a heart attack.

Information = Power (and life)
 

[RichardMEL]

I totally agree with this. I insit on knowing my numbers with the monthly bloods and usually the nurses print it out for me (nice!) - they certainly don't mind me reading it in my folder.

The way I see it is that the more I know about where MY body is at the more I can be responsible for what goes on. Also *I* can see what affect stuff I do has. For example usually my Potassium is around 4.0-4.5 which isn't bad as it's under the 5.5 high mark for normal. Well this one time (not at band camp!) I pigged out on PEANUT SAUCE at a Thai restaurant.. mmmmm.. peanut sauce... sooo good... anyhoo the bloods came back and I had shot up to 5.1. I could SEE the difference there and that enough is motivation (for me) to be good with my diet (guess who hasn't had Thai since? lol).

Anyway the more I know about the figures and what they mean really helps me. But I like to know that stuff. Some people don't and let the docs or nurses worry about it.. but I figure it's MY body.. nobody's going to care about it as much as I do (or should) and I also feel it is good to double check stuff.. so that if someone says to me "your potassium is a bit high" then I could counter with the actual figure and that by my understanding it is well in the normal range (nobody has ever said that to me, it's an example). Information is power and I like to have as much as I can.

That's also why I follow the machine setup and from time to time I pick up errors with the setup. Just today the Heparin was wrong and I called them on it and they said yes I was right (score one for me!). I'm sure they don't apprieciate that aspect of my interest, but I do know they apprieciate that I want to know my figures and that I do show an interest in these things. I like to be informed.

Anyhoo KS I hope you are better by now and have figured out whatever the problem was.

xox

[Zach]

But I like to know that stuff. Some people don't and let the docs or nurses worry about it.. but I figure it's MY body.. nobody's going to care about it as much as I do

RichardMEL, you're right on target.  Just letting the docs and nurses worry about it and not knowing is a bad idea.
 

[KT0930]

My nurse always calls me and tells me what my numbers are, then the dietitian follows up with her own phone call then mails me a form with what my numbers are and what range they're looking for for each test. Just like RM, I like being able to see what effect my effort is having on my numbers.

Also, I used to get UTI's a lot, and I had more than one ER doc or nurse (b/c they always hit on the weekends) tell me that my creatnine was "slightly elevated", when it would be perfectly normal for someone who had had a kidney transplant or two (1.4-1.. So I always know what my numbers are and what range they should be in.

[Sluff]

Hope you are feeling better Kickstart. 

[carolynt]

I have been thru a lot of the websites and I cant find anyone talking about constipation.  Can someone help?

[goofynina]

I have been thru a lot of the websites and I cant find anyone talking about constipation.  Can someone help?

Are you on dialysis? if so, which kind?  There are threads that have discussed this very matter in a couple of these threads, the best way is to go to search bar (above the banners toward the top of the page) and type in constipation, and you will see quite a few posts that discuss it, also in the home dialysis thread, you can do the same thing there as well.  Good luck and please let us know if you continue having problems finding it, we can help you