Will Potassium Sparing Diuretic Cause Fluctuations In Serum Potassium Levels?
Question: I has been getting palpitations and got blood drawn on thursday. I remember being asked to clench my fists as the nurse was finding it hard to get blood. On friday (24 hours later) I got a call from my doctor telling me my labs showed a serum k of 6 and that I was to avoid all potassium rich foods and supplements. I immefiately took myself to the ER where they retested the result was 3.5.
Now my question is, without the opportunity to alter my diet, could serum k have fallen from. 6 to 3.5 in 24 hours? I know that there is a risk that due to fist clenching the first result was an error but is there a chance that it was accurate and fell natirally to 3.5 the next day? I am concerned becsuse i take a potassium sparing diuretic and i worry it is causing issues with my seum potassium levels. Thanks for your snswer.
Brief Answer:
normal
Detailed Answer:
Hi,
it is possible that your values were normal. 6 is not very high and its just above normal which could be a lab error. Since immediate next value was normal there is nothing to worry. Just relax and live normal.
Regards,
Dr. Mahesh Koregol
Above answer was peer-reviewed by :
Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar
So you are saying it's possible for serum potassium to fall in 24 hours from 6 to 3.5 without a change in diet or supplementation and there may not have been a lad error.
The point of my question is to see how volatile my potassium is. Can it move so much is such a short time?
Your other colleague said I would have been in intensive care with a k of 6 and you're saying it's not that high. I am very confused. How can I keep my potassium stable if it can jump from 3.9 to 6 to 3.5 with no kidney problems.
Brief Answer:
wrong report
Detailed Answer:
Hi,
What I meant to say was 3.5 seem to be fight value as there cant be such a wide variation. You were fine when levels were 6. Hence your potassium level seems to be within normal range. Therefore I don't recommend any treatment based in one wrong value of 6 especially with normal kidneys
Regards
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Above answer was peer-reviewed by :
Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar