Who is at risk? It is the job of your kidneys to keep the right amount of potassium in your body. If there is too much, healthy kidneys will filter out the extra potassium, and remove it from your body through urine.
However, when kidneys do not work well, they may not be able to remove enough potassium. This means that potassium can build up in your blood to harmful levels. Eat a diet high in potassium. Eating too much food that is high in potassium can also cause hyperkalemia, especially in people with advanced kidney disease.
Foods such as melons, orange juice, and bananas are high in potassium. Take certain drugs that prevent the kidneys from losing enough potassium. Some drugs can keep your kidneys from removing enough potassium. This can cause your potassium levels to rise. Discuss all medicines that you take with your doctor. Do not stop taking any medicine on your own. Taking extra potassium, such as a salt substitute or certain supplements.
Hormones are chemicals produced by different glands and organs, including the kidneys, to trigger certain responses in your body. Medicines for high potassium are called potassium binders.
A potassium binder works by sticking to the potassium in your body and preventing some of it from being taken into your bloodstream. This helps to keep potassium from building up in your blood. The medicine is a powder, which you can take by mixing it with water and drinking. Talk to your doctor about whether a potassium binder could be an option for you. If you learn that you have high potassium, your doctor might suggest that you change your diet to take in less potassium.
Talk to your doctor or dietitian about how much potassium you should have and how you can control how much potassium you eat. Your dietitian can recommend foods that are low in potassium that you can eat instead of foods that are high in potassium. Plan ahead if you know you will be eating a meal that is high in potassium.
For example, if you are going out for dinner and you know your meal will be higher in potassium, or you know that it will be hard to measure how much potassium is in your meal, plan to eat meals that are low in potassium for breakfast and lunch. When eating out, choose a restaurant that will make changes or substitutions in their dishes.
Bring a list of low potassium foods with you that the restaurant can substitute out for other items. Use this sample potassium log to start tracking how much potassium you eat at each meal.
If you are on dialysis or if you have a loved one who is, you know how difficult it can be to find foods that will work with the strict diet that dialysis requires. Watch our webinar and understand the differences between phosphorus and potassium and learn appropriate food sources of each. You might find it hard to manage high potassium on your own. The good news is that your health care team can help. Use these tips to start a conversation:. Be honest and do not be afraid to start the conversation.
If you are having problems managing your high potassium, tell your healthcare team. Many people struggle with their diet and medicines. Your healthcare team will have lots of experience to help you come up with a plan. Talk about any symptoms you are feeling.
Muscle pains, feeling tired, and other symptoms could be caused by high potassium but there could be other causes. Ask to see a dietitian. If you are a dialysis patient, you may already have a dietitian you can talk to. If you have kidney disease and are not yet on dialysis, many health insurance plans including Medicare will cover at least a few sessions with a dietitian.
Ask if there is a medicine that could help. Medicines called potassium binders might be able to help you if diet is not enough. Ask your healthcare team if potassium binders could be an option for you. Educational content made possible by Vifor Pharma and AstraZeneca. Donate Now. Give Monthly Give In Honor.
High potassium hyperkalemia. Error Email field is required. Error Include a valid email address. To provide you with the most relevant and helpful information and to understand which information is beneficial, we may combine your e-mail and website usage information with other information we have about you. If we combine this information with your PHI, we will treat all of that information as PHI, and will only use or disclose that information as set forth in our notice of privacy practices.
You may opt-out of e-mail communications at any time by clicking on the Unsubscribe link in the e-mail. Our Housecall e-newsletter will keep you up-to-date on the latest health information. Mayo Clinic does not endorse companies or products. Advertising revenue supports our not-for-profit mission.
Any use of this site constitutes your agreement to the Terms and Conditions and Privacy Policy linked below. A single copy of these materials may be reprinted for noncommercial personal use only. This site complies with the HONcode standard for trustworthy health information: verify here.
This content does not have an English version. This content does not have an Arabic version. See more conditions.
0コメント