Elevated K ... Diebetic ... almost died ... why?

What causes it? I was just released from the hospital due to going into a diabetic coma and my potassium was really high. I go back in two weeks for more blood test.

When my chocolate lab found me and got no responds from me he went and found my husband and I ended up waking up in the hospital. I did hear the doctors say that they have never had a person with a reading of 14 leave the ER alive.

I guess I broke the record. But my potassium was really high and I don't know why or what it even does.

Anyone know of any answers?

REPLIES:

Hello I am a nurse in canada so I dont know if in the US the lab references are different (ie the unit of measurements) but by the measurement standards we use here a level of 14 would be incredibly high ( I am srue would be considered unsustainable w/ life). Here is a little info i have found from a website we use at work

Potassium (K) in Blood
Results
A potassium test checks how much potassium is in the blood. Potassium is an electrolyte and mineral. Normal values may vary from lab to lab. Blood potassium levels also vary with age.

Results are ready in 1 day.

Potassium (K) Adults:
3.5–5.0 millimoles per litre (mmol/L) or 3.5–5.0 milliequivalents per litre (mEq/L)

Children:
3.4–4.7 mmol/L or 3.4–4.7 mEq/L

Infants:
4.1–5.3 mmol/L or 4.1–5.3 mEq/L

Newborns:
3.9–5.9 mmol/L or 3.9–5.9 mEq/L

Many conditions can affect potassium levels. Your doctor will talk with you about any abnormal results that may be related to your symptoms and medical history.

High values
High blood potassium levels may be caused by damage or injury to the kidneys. This prevents the kidneys from removing potassium from the blood normally.
High blood potassium levels can also be caused by conditions that move potassium from the body's cells into the blood. These conditions include severe burns, crushing injuries, heart attack, and diabetic ketoacidosis.
Taking too many potassium supplements can also cause high levels of potassium in the blood.
Too much acid (pH) in the blood makes potassium levels higher by causing the potassium in the body's cells to "leak" out of cells and into the blood.
Some medicines, such as angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitors, can cause high potassium levels.

Causes
Hyperkalemia is a symptom of some other underlying medical condition. Diseases and disorders that reduce the kidney’s ability to excrete potassium are often the causes of the excess potassium. Such disorders include inflammatory disease of the kidneys (acute tubular nephrosis); acute or chronic kidney failure, excessive acid production (metabolic or diabetic acidosis), or a deficiency of the hormone aldosterone (Addison's disease). Other causes may include multiple transfusions of stored blood, internal acid-base disturbances, sickle-cell anemia, excess sugar in the blood (hyperglycemia), and excessive dietary intake of potassium. The use of drugs that act in opposition to the hormone aldosterone (aldosterone antagonists), muscle relaxant succinylcholine, extensive burns, crushing injuries that cause bleeding into surrounding soft tissue (e.g., fatty tissue) or conditions causing bleeding in the gastrointestinal tract may also cause hyperkalemia.

My sister Mary died while in a group home, after she supposedly went into a diabetic coma. Here K levels were extremely elevated. She was an insulin-dependent diabetic that was diagnosed at the age of 3.

Our bodies need K for heartrate, etc. An elevated K level can be fatal.

A piece of the puzzle to consider is a chemical that is in widespread use since the 1930's and I suspect in a stronger version before that. We can have some effects if a parent was poisoned prior to our conception (as it is a teratogen chemical). We can get our own direct exposure/s and the easiest thing to FIND is the elevated blood sugar.

Exposure looks like the flu or ongoing diarrhea, sniffles, farting, etc. I think abnormal blood sugar and abnormal body temp and abnormal blood pressure are autoimmune hypothalamus issues.

Did you have blood in urine? One of the clues to 2-butoxyethanol overexposure or exposure to BUTYL in some form. Even horrible headaches as a part of CFIDS, FM, CFS. It is the autoimmune causing chemical and any hormone can be high or low, and be part of what this chemical does.

http://www.valdezlink.com/re/medhelp/whyheadaches.htm

There are many wrong views in medical science that prevent the discovery of how much harm this chemical exposure does.