Has anyone [else] on Besremi had issues with elevated serum potassium?

[PhysAssist]

My last several chemistry labs have had elevated Potassium levels and my diet hadn't really changed except for adding Curcumin TID...

Now my MPN MD has me on a low potassium diet, but honestly, my intake wasn't very high beforehand...

COMPREHENSIVE METABOLIC PANEL - Past Results

Name

Standard Range 8/28/13 10/1/22 11/3/22 12/3/22

Alk Phos

40 - 130 U/L 123 117 116 130

Creatinine

0.67 - 1.17 mg/dL 1.14 1.29 H 1.22 H 1.10

Potassium

3.3 - 5.1 mmol/L 4.4 5.2 H 5.2 H 5.5 H

The last 2 measurements were on 150 mcg of Besremi at the usual 2 week intervals- I'm up to 200 mcg now, so when I get my next blood draw this Sat, I'll up date this.

Best,

PA

[Ggrana3192]

I’m doing 500mcg Besremi and my Potassium is ok- 4

Maybe it could be the Curcumin? I’m not sure

[PhysAssist in reply to Ggrana3192]

Hi Ggrana,

Thanks for the reply- and especially for including your dosage.

May I ask how your counts have/are responding, and have you had any side-effects?

So far, unless the ecchymosis I spoke about happening after injuring my shoulder is related, I haven't had any other side-effects that I can identify.

Best,

PA

[mhos61]

It may or may not be related to Besremi/Circumin. However, have you checked out Pseudohyperkalemia?

google.co.uk/url?sa=t&sourc...

[Whitehair51 in reply to mhos61]

Yep, that's what I saw on the NIH site too, I have ET and my potassium is always just a tad high or right at the upper limit. Apparently, if your blood clots faster, it can squeeze out some potassium.

[EPguy]

The idea from Ggrana3192 is shown here:

"curcumin interferes with the binding of extracellular potassium to Na-K ATPase, causing an increase in serum potassium levels"

asn-online.org/education/ki...

A single case study but it does point to curc as something to try cutting if K is high, esp the high dose curc. It also discusses hyperkalemia, without the "Pseudo"- in mhos61 reference.

Good thing for most of us is we get frequent feedback from our blood draws so we can investigate effects. I keep my curc to one pill a day, down from two earlier. My K = 4.5 on 140 of Bes, trending slightly up.

[ainslie]

as posted previously us with MPN can have falsely raised potassium, I don’t know much about it but your Haem should be able to explain

[ritaandscooter1]

Hi, my potassium is usually on the higher end and numbers look like yours. My doctor too suggested I go on a lower potassium diet as well which is hard to do when your eating really healthy. ( Potassium in everything healthy) I then realized after a year of lightly elevated potassium numbers that this could be a false reading due to having an MPN. I do take a curcumin supplement that may be playing into this but my readings are sometimes in the normal range and other times elevated.

I am not taking any drugs for my PV besides aspirin so I doubt it has anything to do with your Besremi. Kerry

[DJK12]

I had falsely raised potassium readings leading to emergency hospital visits. Then unfortunately I had very raised genuine ones while on Danazol to try to keep my hb levels up. The low potassium diet is a nightmare and not healthy but the raised levels are dangerous. If Besremi is not the culprit you should discuss with your consultant anything else like curcumin that might be causing it as it is really not worth the risk. Mine went back to reasonable levels when Danazol was stopped abruptly for other reasons.

[PhysAssist]

Hi and thanks to all who commented,

I really appreciate the input, and in addition to asking my MPN MD about it at my appt next week, after a little more review, I decided to stop the Curcumin for now. BTW, my formulation says that 3 caps once daily w/ a meal is the recommended dosing pattern, so my 1 TID was my 'gentler' version of that. I'm hoping that the blood draw the morning of my appt shows the K+ level has dropped back to normal.

If not, and my counts have responded, then I'll just have to figure out how to tolerate a low[er] K+ diet for the long haul, as it's a lot better than the alternatives.

Thanks again so very much, and Best,

PA

[Elizka]

I'm at 165-ish and mine is fine. My sodium continues be low but I'm not sure if that was also true prior to starting Besremi.

[PhysAssist]

I am pending my 2nd 200 mcg dose in 3 days, but luckily, after [and I think because of] stopping taking Curcumin last week, my labs showed that my K+ dropped to 5.0.

That said, my Hct continues to be above goal- it was 46 both on the last draw 2 weeks ago, and the most recent on 12/17/22.

That said, while they MPN MD's NP commented on my K+ level and recommended a controlled-K+ diet, there was no comment made about the ^'d Hct or needing phlebotomy.

I'm going to Roswell on 12/23 for a follow-up visit, during which they'll draw my blood again, so we'll see what they recommend then.

Happy holidays and good cheer to all!

Best,

PA

PS: I almost forgot to say thank you to all of you, and specifically to everyone who responded to, and/or liked my posts, and also those who demonstrated their poor taste and impaired judgement by following my humble attempts at increasing our knowledge base and supporting those who need it- I salute you!