High potassium level

[FSB12]

Hi all. For the last two years my husband's potassium level is about 5.1mEq/L. All of his other labs dealing with kidney function are in the normal range. Has anyone else experienced this? The GP says to cut out bananas but that is not the issue since he does not eat them. He is on a vegan/fish diet. We are thinking that he may be dehydrated. Any better ideas? He is not on any medications, just 5 years post primary PC treatment. Thank you.

[LearnAll]

Dehydration can cause false high reading on serum potassium. What is his potassium number....What are his BUN, creatinine numbers ? what kind and how much potassium rich foods is he eating ?

[FSB12 in reply to LearnAll]

I do not know his other numbers, just that they were in the normal range. He eats many beans and other vegetables like tomatoes and sweet potato, which I think are high in potassium.

[LearnAll in reply to FSB12]

Kidneys are normally very efficient in maintaining serum Potassium level between 3.5 and 5.1.

IMO A serum K level of 5.1 should not be cause for concern as it is still within the normal range albeit on higher end of the normal.

Lentils and beans are good source of potassium and I eat them daily . I am on Zytiga which tends to lower Serum K.. . My K level howers between 3.8 to 4.2 even with lots of potassium rich fruits, veggies and lentils.

Please make sure he is not dehydrated on the day of test and repeat three tests..Ser,um K , BUN and creatinine. Hopefully that will clear the picture.

[FSB12 in reply to LearnAll]

Thank you!

[tango65]

I wonder if he is taking sparing potassium diuretics and/or antihypertensive drugs.

[FSB12 in reply to tango65]

He is not on any medication except for synthroid. He is in good shape, no heart problems, does a lot of exercise.

[Ldb01]

Hubby’s potassium also high and were told a few months ago to cut out babana and avocado. Since he is having ACT 225 and always has a dry mouth, these are some of the easier foods for him to eat. Last week Oncologist said not woryy about it.

[GranPaSmurf]

The body works hard to maintain a pH stasis - 7.4 ~~(plus / minus very little).

Certain analytes are referred to as electrolytes - like a sea-saw, if one is up, another has to be down, maintaining a pivot point of 7.4~.

If the K is persistently borderline high then another electrolyte is persistently low. (Na, Ca, Mg)?

If the body is not getting or absorbing enough of an essential electrolyte through diet, it will draw it from somewhere in the body (the stasis pH 7.4~ MUST be maintained.)

eg. Ca drawn from the bones, leaving the bones vulnerable.

A diet low in the essential electrolytes for very long is dangerous.

Nalakrats described this matrix.

Look at the full chemistry profile. If one electrolyte is trending high, look for another that is trending low. This should add more clues.

BTW, IMHO - a doctor advising a minor diet change is like the mechanic saying "I don't know what the funny noise is either - keep driving it 'till it breaks, then we'll know what to fix."

A better diagnostician is indicated.

[FSB12 in reply to GranPaSmurf]

Thank you. I'll definitely have a look at the other values, some were normal but on the low end. I agree with your mechanic analogy, that's why we were not taking the bananas recommendation seriously. My husband does have an oncologist but at the moment he is not on his radar because PSA seems somewhat stable.

[j-o-h-n in reply to GranPaSmurf]

Or the mechanic may say "There's a loose nut in your car and I think it's your wife"......

Good Luck, Good Health and Good Humor.

j-o-h-n Thursday 11/07/2019 8:06 PM EST

[NWLiving in reply to j-o-h-n]

“...and I think it’s YOU” 😁.

[j-o-h-n in reply to NWLiving]

You're right, cause my wife calls me the loose nut behind the wheel... That's why I lock her up in the trunk...Don't worry, she knows how to get out of those duct tape handcuffs..... she's soooooooooooo smart....

Good Luck, Good Health and Good Humor.

j-o-h-n Saturday 11/09/2019 5:49 PM EST

[Lupronzytiga]

Good advice.

[FSB12]

Thank you, I will forward your advice to my husband. He does supplement a bit but I will definitely mention the Taurine. Thank you again.

[Hidden]

L-Taurine is one of the supplements I take for a-fib. I've been taking one 850 mg capsule a day, which is the recommended dose. Wonder if I should double that. The frequency of my a-fib episodes has doubled in the last year despite taking meds for it (propafenone and 'toprol).

[cochlear1]

At our 425 bed hospital, our lab considers a Potassium (K+) of 5.3 to be the end point of high normal. I do agree with others the necessity of learning the Blood Urea Nitrogen (BUN) and Creatinine levels - these will give a better picture on basic kidney function and dehydration status.

The heart can get 'irritable' with VERY LOW Potassium levels (2.3 and lower) -- and also advance to a grave status with EXTREMELY HIGH Potassium levels (7.0 and higher) - which could involve temporary Dialysis to lower the Potassium in the blood (if IV medications failed).

When drawing blood levels, consider requesting the addition of a Magnesium (Mg++) blood draw. The heart can get quite 'irritable' if you have a VERY LOW Magnesium level - which could lead to a lethal heart rhythm (Ventricular Tachycardia and Ventricular Fibrillation).

As you can tell, the heart is very touchy on the balance of key electrolytes - with well-known culprits being Potassium and Magnesium. Both of these electrolytes can cause lethal heart rhythms if extremely low, and if the Potassium is extremely high.

I would suggest obtaining copies of ALL labs, and requesting every 3 month labs at a minimum, to monitor these electrolytes.

[FSB12 in reply to cochlear1]

Thank you. I found out the BUN which is 8 and Creatine which is 0.98. Does this add anything?

[cochlear1 in reply to FSB12]

Both the BUN of 8 and the Creatinine of 0.98 are excellent and NOT in the Dehydration realm. The BUN is at the very low end of 'normal' and the Creatinine is mid-range of 'normal'.

I would monitor the K+ (Potassium) and Mg++ (Magnesium) levels, along with the BUN and Creatinine. In our region, this would be a CMP lab test (Complete Metabolic Panel), and add in a Mg++.

I think our medical community, as a whole, is very weak on nutrition specifics. JimVanHorn's response on the food specifics sounds like excellent advice - to moderately limit intake on.

[LearnAll in reply to FSB12]

His Kidney functions look very good. Again, I would emphasize that potassium 5,1 is not a problem as it is still in normal range,

Reducing quantity of K rich food is all that is needed, Sometimes doing less is more.

Over intervention can cause another set of problems.

Please don't blame vegetarian diet for all this. I am a lifelong vegetarian and have never had any electrolyte imbalances. Billions of vegetarians are doing fine if all of them had electrolyte problems the world would have been upside down. Enough of fear mongering.

[JimVanHorn]

I have kidney disease stage 5 (I no longer have PCa) and I was having problems with potassium levels until I talked to a renal dietitian. These are the foods I needed to watch: potatoes (and fries and chips), oranges (and juice), bananas, tomatoes (and ketchup), black beans, and granola. I am not saying you need to cut them out all together, but this is how I lowered my potassium. Good luck!

[FSB12]

Right now we eat fish maybe once or twice per week. Would more frequent fish meals improve the situation in your opinion?

Thank you.