Is anyone on potassium reducing meds ? What are they and what side affects are you experiencing ? Are the meds working ?
It feels impossible for my husband to eat as little as 2000mg of potassium in a day
He’s 6’3” and 208 pounds
Should the 2000mg daily diet for potassium be based on someone’s body size ?
HI Again Tpicard
Potassium is something that is measured in the blood. I do not believe it has anything to do with size. What your husband consumes can and will influence the potassium levels. Are your familiar with what not to eat for potassium. There are some surprises there. If his level is over 5.1 or 2, he should watch what he eats before going on the medications. If changing his diet does not work, then the meds might help. I told you about Valtessa, but there are others.
medlineplus.gov/lab-tests/p...
Yah we watch pretty close but we will be watching closer now
Thank you
It just seems that keeping it below the 2000 mark is impossible he has to pretty much starve himself
I totally understand! I’ve had to eat 1400-1600 mg of potassium daily. It has been truly challenging.
I used recipes on the Davita web site to help me with this. Also, if I restricted my veggies exclusively to low potassium options that helped.
Then there is a free app I use when I go shopping. It’s called HealthWatch360. It’s available for both android and iPhones. You can take pictures of the bar codes of items you’re considering in the grocery store, eg, almond milk. This app is connected directly to the USDA data base. So you can compare the full nutritional makeup of all the brands of almond in the store and choose that which best fits what you need for low potassium cooking. And finally you can enter family favorite recipes in the app. It will then calculate the nutritional make-up of a serving of that recipe. If you need to modify the recipe, eg, substituting red bell peppers for tomatoes, you can then recalculate the nutritional makeup of a serving,
But no doubt, lie potassium diets are going to be challenging. Have you and your husband seen a renal dietician? They wouldn’t refer me to one until I was in renal failure so you may have to advocate for this. But it was definitely helpful for me to see the renal dietician.
Jayhawker
Jason hasn’t seen a renal dietitian we don’t even hVe a nephrologist yet
He only eats low potassium foods and even those are restricted due to his FODMAP diet for his collitis
Thx for the app advice I’ll check them out
have you tried any of the potassium blocker meds ?
Not yet. My new nephrologist mentioned them but didn’t prescribe one because my potassium was in check and I’ve developed metabolic acidosis. He doubled the sodium bicarbonate I take to deal with the acidosis. But that will also lower potassium levels which was why I was initially placed on that medication. I can now eat more potassium because the increased dosage of sodium bicarbonate has lowered my potassium to 3.9...
I’d start with getting in to see a nephrologist. Then talk with the nephrologist about dietary stuff and a potential renal dietician.
sodium barcarb? isn't that in the orange box...is it baking soda?
Check drugs.com for interactions. You can also read the drug insert when you get meds or online. Take care.
Yes, it is baking soda. But al of my nephrologists have “prescribed” this for me. So I’m diligently taking it as prescribed. No drug interactions associated with this.
Jayhawker
Thanks for info Jayhawker I am ckd 3b and try to keep my potassium below 2,000, usually around 1,600. I use Davita diet tracker .
This is not really the sort of question that we can answer as there are so many factors that could affect your husbands potassium levels and it would not be sensible for us to start listing possible medications or even diet changes. As some of the other members have suggested, I would suggest going to see a nephrologist and a renal dietician who can review all of your husbands blood spectrum and then be in a position to make informed suggestions about medication and diet changes to help him. I wish you and your husband good luck.
Hi I am on potassium binder. I’ve had no side effects and potassium number is awesome. I was taking once a week, last appointment doctor took me off of it because my numbers were so good. Hope this helps!
May I ask Which blocker are you using? Since you have no side effects. The meds I looked up have constipation as a side effect which I can't tolerate as I already have that issue. Thanks. Lynnet
Ok great thx everyone
Hi I just wanted to let everyone know there’s something I learnt today
Jasons potassium lab came back at 4.5 yes we have lowered his potassium even more than we originally orally did when diets diagnosed
But it has only been a week since he was tested last and his potassium was to high
My doctor had told me that sometimes if the lab takes to long to test the sample potassium can rise and there for your results will be high when they actually are not
I’m thankful they went down either way but I thought it best to let everyone know what I learnt
GFR drop-potassium high
0% potassium ketchup
Potassium 6.1
stable potassium level
Should ckd patients stop eating potassium foods even if their potassium levels are normal? 
