HealthCareMagic is now Ask A Doctor - 24x7 | https://www.askadoctor24x7.com

question-icon

What Causes High Potassium Levels?

default
Posted on Thu, 26 Jun 2014
Question: I just received my lab results and my potassium is 6.3, ALT-47 and AST-53-
Creatinine is 0.80 mg/dL; ALKALINE PHOSPHATASE is 45 U/L; BILIRUBIN is 0.8 mg/dL and my I've been on many different high protein, high fat, low carb diets and I do drink a couple of glasses of wine every night and am wondering if diet could be the cause. I also eat a lot of mushrooms and artichokes which are to my understanding, high in potassium. Can you tell me why those results are so high?
doctor
Answered by Dr. Shafi Ullah Khan (30 minutes later)
Brief Answer:
Dietary excess, needs management

Detailed Answer:
Thank you for asking!
You are having a hyperkalemia .I will explain it a lot as hyperkalemia is a serious business but as your labs are fine i would say it is just dietary excess and limiting that to less than 2 gm a day would suffice .before discussing any thing , do you have following symptoms XXXXXXX muscle paralysis
Dyspnea ( shortness of breath)
Palpitations
Chest pain
Nausea or vomiting
Paresthesias / tingling sensations ?
If so i would like to rush to ER and get the potassium levels down by interventions of excreting potassium out of the body as slight derangements in levels can be lethal.It is game of electrolytes and it needs to be played cautiously.
Hyperkalemia is defined as a serum potassium concentration greater than approximately 3.5-5.5 mEq/L in adults; . Levels higher than 7 mEq/L can lead to significant hemodynamic and neurologic consequences, whereas levels exceeding 8.5 mEq/L can cause respiratory paralysis or cardiac arrest and can quickly be fatal.
Now your other labs are fine. Also your renal functions are look ok as creatinine levels have been in normal range.
above mentioned work up is not enough for this hyperkalemia. you need a complete renal functions assessment like BUN ratios, urea creat ratios, Metabolic profiles, serum electrolytes levels, both serum and urinary potassium to assess, An EKG to sort out any cardiac changes, glucose levels to rule out hyperglycemia as potassium is glucose dependant. also screening for any heart medicines like digoxin if on any as all cardiac medicines does that too,arterial and venous blood gases, serum uric acids and phosphorus tests, serum CPK levels etc to sort out exactly what is causing hyperkalemia.
Restrict your dietary potassium to less than 2 gm a day and say no to these all diets rich in potassium like mushrooms, coffee, tomatoes,chocolates,milk, potato, orange juices,ground beef, bananas , fish and white beans etc. Restriction of dietary potassium will cure the symptoms and prevent future calamities.
Rush to ER and let them treat your this increased potassium.Following measures can be used for that.
Increase potassium excretion using a cation exchange resin or diuretics
Correct the source of excess potassium (eg, increased intake or inhibited excretion)
IV calcium to ameliorate cardiac toxicity, if present
Identify and remove sources of potassium intake
IV glucose and insulin infusion to enhance potassium uptake by cells
Correct severe metabolic acidosis with sodium bicarbonate
Consider beta-adrenergic agonist therapy (eg, nebulized albuterol, 10 mg, administered by a respiratory therapist); preferred over alkali therapy in patients with renal failure
Increase potassium excretion
Emergency dialysis for patients with potentially lethal hyperkalemia that is unresponsive to more conservative measures or with complete renal failure
Medications for increasing potassium excretion include the following:

IV saline and a loop diuretic (eg, furosemide), in patients with normal renal function
An aldosterone analogue, such as 9-alpha fluorohydrocortisone acetate (Florinef), in patients with hyporeninemic or hypoaldosteronism or solid organ transplant patients with chronic hyperkalemia from calcineurin inhibitor use
Cation exchange resin such as sodium polystyrene sulfonate (SPS; Kayexalate); retention enema for hyperkalemic emergencies, oral for patients with advanced renal failure who are not yet on dialysis or transplant candidates.

I hope it helps. I explained it a lot as hyperkalemia is a serious business but as your labs are fine i would say it is just dietary excess and limiting that to less than 2 gm a day would suffice.
Take good care of yourself and dont forget to close the discussion please and time to say no to potassium rich diets.
May the odds be ever in your favour.
Regards
S Khan
Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar
doctor
default
Follow up: Dr. Shafi Ullah Khan (10 minutes later)
I was also curious about the if consuming wine every night, could that also be the cause of the high potassium. I was curious what your thoughts were about the ALT-47 and AST-53-?
doctor
Answered by Dr. Shafi Ullah Khan (11 hours later)
Brief Answer:
avoid wine anyhow, LFTs fine

Detailed Answer:
Thank you for asking!
Wine itself is lethal irrespective of the cause and should be consumed to the minimum to almost avoidance to avoid troubles. The effect of wine on potassium levels is likely if the composition of wines have it in excess which varies in its composition mostly higher in red wine. and lower in chilean wine.But that purely depends on the viticulture as The balance between sugar (as well as the potential alcohol level) and acids is going to decide how deranged metabolic profile can go and lead to complications like building up of it. But they may affect the potassium levels at renal levels and liver levels where they metabolised also they may affect the absorption by interfering with it. Also they may exacerbate the effects of deranged potassium levels by reducing the threshold. SO irrespective of the adverse effects wine should be avoided at any cost for being out of woods.
Now the levels of liver function enzymes , they are in normal reference range and thus nothing to worry about. The reference range for ALT is 20-60 IU/L and yours is 47 so fine. and The reference range for aspartate aminotransferase (AST) is as follows:
Males: 6-34 IU/L
Females: 8-40 IU/L
yours is slightly high but totally explainable by wine use and not high enough to worry about.even the technical error and performance redundancy can be compensating here too.Alcohol intake to simple vitamin excessive consumptions specially vitamin A can cause that too also some medicines like ( statins, aspirin, barbiturates, HIV medication, herbs).
But as i said nothing to worry about.
Rest assured you are good to go.Just do as directed in previous discussion to be out of the woods.
Take care
S Khan

Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar
doctor
default
Follow up: Dr. Shafi Ullah Khan (34 minutes later)
Thank you so much for you information as it is very detailed! I will close out the discussion now.
doctor
Answered by Dr. Shafi Ullah Khan (1 minute later)
Brief Answer:
:)

Detailed Answer:
You are very welcome XXXXXX and dont forget to come back with more questions in future if there is anything else you need. Just name Dr XXXXXXX and the team will refer you to me.
May the odds be ever in your favour
Regards XXXXXXX
Note: For further follow up on related General & Family Physician Click here.

Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar
doctor
Answered by
Dr.
Dr. Shafi Ullah Khan

General & Family Physician

Practicing since :2012

Answered : 3613 Questions

premium_optimized

The User accepted the expert's answer

Share on

Get personalised answers from verified doctor in minutes across 80+ specialties

159 Doctors Online

By proceeding, I accept the Terms and Conditions

HCM Blog Instant Access to Doctors
HCM Blog Questions Answered
HCM Blog Satisfaction
What Causes High Potassium Levels?

Brief Answer: Dietary excess, needs management Detailed Answer: Thank you for asking! You are having a hyperkalemia .I will explain it a lot as hyperkalemia is a serious business but as your labs are fine i would say it is just dietary excess and limiting that to less than 2 gm a day would suffice .before discussing any thing , do you have following symptoms XXXXXXX muscle paralysis Dyspnea ( shortness of breath) Palpitations Chest pain Nausea or vomiting Paresthesias / tingling sensations ? If so i would like to rush to ER and get the potassium levels down by interventions of excreting potassium out of the body as slight derangements in levels can be lethal.It is game of electrolytes and it needs to be played cautiously. Hyperkalemia is defined as a serum potassium concentration greater than approximately 3.5-5.5 mEq/L in adults; . Levels higher than 7 mEq/L can lead to significant hemodynamic and neurologic consequences, whereas levels exceeding 8.5 mEq/L can cause respiratory paralysis or cardiac arrest and can quickly be fatal. Now your other labs are fine. Also your renal functions are look ok as creatinine levels have been in normal range. above mentioned work up is not enough for this hyperkalemia. you need a complete renal functions assessment like BUN ratios, urea creat ratios, Metabolic profiles, serum electrolytes levels, both serum and urinary potassium to assess, An EKG to sort out any cardiac changes, glucose levels to rule out hyperglycemia as potassium is glucose dependant. also screening for any heart medicines like digoxin if on any as all cardiac medicines does that too,arterial and venous blood gases, serum uric acids and phosphorus tests, serum CPK levels etc to sort out exactly what is causing hyperkalemia. Restrict your dietary potassium to less than 2 gm a day and say no to these all diets rich in potassium like mushrooms, coffee, tomatoes,chocolates,milk, potato, orange juices,ground beef, bananas , fish and white beans etc. Restriction of dietary potassium will cure the symptoms and prevent future calamities. Rush to ER and let them treat your this increased potassium.Following measures can be used for that. Increase potassium excretion using a cation exchange resin or diuretics Correct the source of excess potassium (eg, increased intake or inhibited excretion) IV calcium to ameliorate cardiac toxicity, if present Identify and remove sources of potassium intake IV glucose and insulin infusion to enhance potassium uptake by cells Correct severe metabolic acidosis with sodium bicarbonate Consider beta-adrenergic agonist therapy (eg, nebulized albuterol, 10 mg, administered by a respiratory therapist); preferred over alkali therapy in patients with renal failure Increase potassium excretion Emergency dialysis for patients with potentially lethal hyperkalemia that is unresponsive to more conservative measures or with complete renal failure Medications for increasing potassium excretion include the following: IV saline and a loop diuretic (eg, furosemide), in patients with normal renal function An aldosterone analogue, such as 9-alpha fluorohydrocortisone acetate (Florinef), in patients with hyporeninemic or hypoaldosteronism or solid organ transplant patients with chronic hyperkalemia from calcineurin inhibitor use Cation exchange resin such as sodium polystyrene sulfonate (SPS; Kayexalate); retention enema for hyperkalemic emergencies, oral for patients with advanced renal failure who are not yet on dialysis or transplant candidates. I hope it helps. I explained it a lot as hyperkalemia is a serious business but as your labs are fine i would say it is just dietary excess and limiting that to less than 2 gm a day would suffice. Take good care of yourself and dont forget to close the discussion please and time to say no to potassium rich diets. May the odds be ever in your favour. Regards S Khan