Hey folks, I'm back on my shit again. I was in the hospital for the past two days for extremely excessive amounts of potassium in my bloodstream. Like, normal scale is between 2.5 and 5.5, and I was at 7.5 when I went in on Wednesday.

New kidney doc got my blood work back and was like "You need to go to the hospital now and get this handled".

I know why this happened: When I was admitted for BP problems last year, they said I had very low potassium. So my medication included potassium supplements, and a potassium-sparing diuretic.

Turns out, between life style changes and losing so much weight in a short period, I was taking too much medication.

This was why my BP was so low, and is the root cause behind the excessive potassium.

They flooded me with Dextrose, Albuterol, and other dieuretics to get me back into normal ranges, and observed me.

The difficult thing is, spironolactone, the potassium-sparing diuretic, has a long half-life in the body. Like, aboug a week or so. So that's why it took two days to get shit back in order.

I didn't really know that excessive potassium can cause so many problems, nor did I know that albuterol can be used to help remove potassium before this.

Really thankful that I got a kidney doctor that gave a shit, and told me up front to get to the hospital.

I'm feeling the best I have in weeks, and I'm hoping it stays that way. Sucks ass that this happened during my staycation, but the alternatives aren't much better.

Cheers, and happy Easter.

in better news: my BP is leveling out, and according to the nephrologist assigned to me, my numbers improved while I was in the hospital. The Acute Kidney Injury seems to be healing, from having a normal BP, and not having to deal with shitloads of potassium, I guess.

and in even better news than that, my dog sam's TPLO surgery went through very successfully. My boy is on heavy duty drugs right now, and currently sleeping in his dog bed peacefully. Recovery should be very smooth for him.

Many say that ACL tear/TPLO surgery has the pets recovery relatively fast, but with a long tail. I've heard it gets better in a few days, but that full recovery tail is about 4 months.

@da_667 can confirm, have needed 4 of those surgery. straight-legged dogs have a high likelyhood of ACL injury. :(
@da_667 Fuck dude. Glad you're okay-er now. Hopefully you can relax for a bit and get some rest while getting it sorted. 🍻
@cR0w It'll be fine. Doc has me on meds to help level things out, and so long as I don't decide to start my day with a shitload of orange juice, V8, and bananas, things should level out in the next few days.
@da_667 Yikes! I'm glad you were able to get sorted.
@da_667 "swung the pendulum too far" moment, glad you're feeling better.
@prettygood "too much potassium can lead to tired muscles that lock up too frequently" was like "Yup.. that's me."

@da_667 @prettygood

Hyperkalemia aka high potassium can be extremely serious.

TMI, but my partially estranged father did not manage his kidney disease, diabetes, or any of his other conditions appropriately. In fact, he skipped two dialysis appointments and went into cardiac arrest twice due to hyperkalemia. (Potassium chloride is one of the medications used in a lethal injection).

For reasons unknown, they "saved" him, then spent months cycling through ICU, reg hospital, long term acute care hospital, back to ICU, ... repeat. This went on for 11 months then he went home for two months before ending up back in the hospital and dying.

@haicen @prettygood same on my side. I had an aunt who ended up with CKD, in the same straits. Drank, Smoked, didn't make any dietary changes, missed dialysis. She went downhill very fast.

One minute, she's on dialysis, the next, she loses her leg due to severe infection and lack of bloodflow. the next minute she had covid. The next minute she was just gone.

Which is why when I got diagnosed I was fucking terrified

@da_667 @prettygood

Yeah, sorry to hear that. The main thing is just following the treatment plan.

@da_667 yay 4 good doc & hope you get some actual rest 
@da_667 Scary...electrolyte imbalances are very serious. Glad to hear it's straightened out. Your docs will have to keep an eye on your meds as you continue with your new diet & exercise!

@da_667
Too much potassium? K.

(Glad you made it back.)

@FritzAdalis I am the special k.
@da_667 all best wishes to you