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mild hyperkalemia (high potassium) should I be concerned
by cduval04, Oct 07, 2009 10:39AM
Hi my name is carlie I am a 23yo female with a medical record longer than a lot of 50 year olds..... apologize for the long post but please read it if you have time...thanks!
but I am focusing on my most recent test result....I was diganosed with postural tachycardia )which seemed to surface as a reaction to a medication I was on (pergolide) to try to shrink a 7mm pit. adenoma) 4-5 years ago and put on a low dose of beta blocker (inderal generic)...it served its purpose until about 5 days ago.....I was having a couple bouts of chest pain...EXTREME sleepieness...loss of appitite (cant remember the last time that happened) and my most concerning symptom was a very eraatic heart rate...it has jumped almost 20bpm just sitting here typing this post....it is going up and down up and down all the time now....sitting still it ranges anywhere from low 100's to the low 70's...worried....I went to my PCP...and since I have been to the er and doctor a lot lately and they have been stumped as to my condition..as soon as I told her my symptoms the first thing that came out of her mouth is "are you seeing a psycologist" as soon as she said that I burst into tears because I had been up the entire night before fearing that it what she would say....she is a brand new PCP only the second time i have seen her, she doesnt know me....so I think she looks at my history and judges me unfairly...what I mean my that..is I had about a 3 year period of childhood pshycosis (inappropriate behaviors, 8 pshyc hospitalizations, and institutionalize at age 11)...every one I know is 100% convinced that this was medication induced b/c I was dxed with tourette syndrom (syndrome) at age 6 and my parents were more naieve then and just took any dr.s reccommendations and had me loaded up on whatever drug any dr. suggested in an effort to make me normal and not get teased all through school. Unfortunaetly it had the opposite effect. We know now, that if you put people on meds like I was on and they are totally sane, it can have the opposite effect. I dont even remember half my childhood (the drugs?) and I cant fathom how I did some of the sick things I did SO anyway by age 13 I was able to come back home, excelled in school, graduated high school with honors, attended a community college and got straight A's till graduation, graduated with highest honors and a 3.92, wrote an essay for transfer to 4 yr school and it won me a FULL paid scholarship...it is my 3rd semester and I still maintain a 4.0. If I was really "crazy" do you think I would have been able to rebound like that? but unfortunately that is on my record and it is going to stay there for the rest of my life and despite 10 years of being totally normal some drs see that and that is all they can focus on, esp when they dont have an answer to give me....I feel like it is always there to haunt me...and the saddest part is it wasnt my fault I was only a child I had no clue what was going on....do you think I was going to say "I dont want depakote" or "haldol causes pshycosis" at age 6??? well that is kind of a rhetorical question. so anyway that my history and I had to explain that to explain why I think my new PCP is unfairly judging me.
so anyway, here comes the question...I left the office in tears frusterated with no answer to take home except "you're crazy" said in a polite way...but she did order some blood tests...she ordered electrolytes a CBC and something else which was normal (you have to understand if I sound a bit overworked, but for 18months my health has been getting in the way of every thing and no one seems to give me an answer) but my potassium was 5.4 on a scale of 3.3 to 5.0..I know severe hyperkalemia is an emergency, but is a mild case (mild is defined as 5.1 to 6.0 my medicinenet.com) something to be worried about, esp. if I am symptomatic?? If my dr. doesnt call me back or think this is a problem..shouls I switch PCP's?? I do take an NSAID or 2 most days of the week for headaches, and I do use diurex (the caffine free kind) but only during PMS to reuce bloating, and I eat a lot of bananas, but should my kidneys be able to filter that out?? also on my CBC something called the MHC (Mean corpuscular hemoglobin) was flagged as high which is the amount of hemoglobin per red blood cell that you have...is this all something not to be worried about, or should I be very concerned with my heart rate symptoms and my chest pain and occasional breathlessness, fatigue etc....I just dont trust my PCP yet and am wondering what you guys think..I know this is not the dr forum but sometimes I like to hear from regular people b/c they tell you the truth straight out and sometimes you are lucky enough to run into someone who has expericened the same thing....so any thoughts? please help me b/c the drs dont seem to be.
but I am focusing on my most recent test result....I was diganosed with postural tachycardia )which seemed to surface as a reaction to a medication I was on (pergolide) to try to shrink a 7mm pit. adenoma) 4-5 years ago and put on a low dose of beta blocker (inderal generic)...it served its purpose until about 5 days ago.....I was having a couple bouts of chest pain...EXTREME sleepieness...loss of appitite (cant remember the last time that happened) and my most concerning symptom was a very eraatic heart rate...it has jumped almost 20bpm just sitting here typing this post....it is going up and down up and down all the time now....sitting still it ranges anywhere from low 100's to the low 70's...worried....I went to my PCP...and since I have been to the er and doctor a lot lately and they have been stumped as to my condition..as soon as I told her my symptoms the first thing that came out of her mouth is "are you seeing a psycologist" as soon as she said that I burst into tears because I had been up the entire night before fearing that it what she would say....she is a brand new PCP only the second time i have seen her, she doesnt know me....so I think she looks at my history and judges me unfairly...what I mean my that..is I had about a 3 year period of childhood pshycosis (inappropriate behaviors, 8 pshyc hospitalizations, and institutionalize at age 11)...every one I know is 100% convinced that this was medication induced b/c I was dxed with tourette syndrom (syndrome) at age 6 and my parents were more naieve then and just took any dr.s reccommendations and had me loaded up on whatever drug any dr. suggested in an effort to make me normal and not get teased all through school. Unfortunaetly it had the opposite effect. We know now, that if you put people on meds like I was on and they are totally sane, it can have the opposite effect. I dont even remember half my childhood (the drugs?) and I cant fathom how I did some of the sick things I did SO anyway by age 13 I was able to come back home, excelled in school, graduated high school with honors, attended a community college and got straight A's till graduation, graduated with highest honors and a 3.92, wrote an essay for transfer to 4 yr school and it won me a FULL paid scholarship...it is my 3rd semester and I still maintain a 4.0. If I was really "crazy" do you think I would have been able to rebound like that? but unfortunately that is on my record and it is going to stay there for the rest of my life and despite 10 years of being totally normal some drs see that and that is all they can focus on, esp when they dont have an answer to give me....I feel like it is always there to haunt me...and the saddest part is it wasnt my fault I was only a child I had no clue what was going on....do you think I was going to say "I dont want depakote" or "haldol causes pshycosis" at age 6??? well that is kind of a rhetorical question. so anyway that my history and I had to explain that to explain why I think my new PCP is unfairly judging me.
so anyway, here comes the question...I left the office in tears frusterated with no answer to take home except "you're crazy" said in a polite way...but she did order some blood tests...she ordered electrolytes a CBC and something else which was normal (you have to understand if I sound a bit overworked, but for 18months my health has been getting in the way of every thing and no one seems to give me an answer) but my potassium was 5.4 on a scale of 3.3 to 5.0..I know severe hyperkalemia is an emergency, but is a mild case (mild is defined as 5.1 to 6.0 my medicinenet.com) something to be worried about, esp. if I am symptomatic?? If my dr. doesnt call me back or think this is a problem..shouls I switch PCP's?? I do take an NSAID or 2 most days of the week for headaches, and I do use diurex (the caffine free kind) but only during PMS to reuce bloating, and I eat a lot of bananas, but should my kidneys be able to filter that out?? also on my CBC something called the MHC (Mean corpuscular hemoglobin) was flagged as high which is the amount of hemoglobin per red blood cell that you have...is this all something not to be worried about, or should I be very concerned with my heart rate symptoms and my chest pain and occasional breathlessness, fatigue etc....I just dont trust my PCP yet and am wondering what you guys think..I know this is not the dr forum but sometimes I like to hear from regular people b/c they tell you the truth straight out and sometimes you are lucky enough to run into someone who has expericened the same thing....so any thoughts? please help me b/c the drs dont seem to be.
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I know exactly where you are coming from. I would never tell a doctor I had past "anxiety issues" for the same exact reasons you are concerned about.
The high potassium might suggest an electrolyte imbalance of some sort though probably minor. it doesn't take much though to throw off your heart. The electrolytes work to balance each other. So being high in one might mean being low in another. just a thought.
For instance, you are taking a diuretic which is known to deplete magnesium levels. Serum blood tests for mag might not paint an accurate picture as cellular levels are more important and these can be low when serum is high. Also, mag is not part of the normal electrolyte profile. you have to ask for the test.
Do more research on a low mag level.