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Low Potassium/svt


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Well I went to the new cardiologist today (not the one I seen previously that just told me to ride a bike ;) ). Anyways, she said nothing about Dysautonomia or anything to that matter. I told her about the Sarcoidosis diagnosis and she has scheduled me to have a Cardiac MR to make sure that there isn't any sarcoidosis in my heart, but she said my heart is doing the opposite of what a normal cardiac sarc heart would do so that sounds good, I guess (she said their hearts are normally slower). She has also scheduled me with an electrophysiologist for the SVT/high heart rate. My HR was 100 while sitting in there and BP was 118/78. The EKG today was fine. I told her about my low potassium in the hospital so she ordered these tests ... Potassium, Magnesium, BUN, Creatnine, EGFR, and Glomerular Filtration Rate. I was surprised that there were so many kidney function tests. Is this normal just because of some low potassium? Do I now need to worry about my potassium levels?

It's so crazy how one doctor focused on the blood pooling in my legs and put in mychart dysautonomia but told me nothing about it and then another doctor is only focused on the SVT and Sarcoidosis. I don't know which way to turn, but I'm guessing that's how a lot of you started, as well.

One last question, I have lost weight since all of this started. I don't know if it's nerves, or the sarcoid, or the POTS (if I have that), but I seem to have no appetite. Is that common?

Thanks!!

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I also wanted to note that when my potassium was low, I was in the hospital for SVT, I hadn't ate a lot that day, if any and probably had drank a lot either. Not sure if that would affect that test. Secondly, they ran a BUN and creatnine test at the same time and both of these levels were fine. Is that a good sign that my kidney function is fine even though they didn't do the extra tests that they did today (above)?

Thanks again!

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I get frequent low potassium and my heart rate at the time is typically slow, they have also seen abnormal rythyms a couple times. My kidney function has been good almost every time. Sounds like your dr is trying to be thorough investigating the low potassium which is good. My Dr had me on RX potassium supplements for over a year, my levels seem to be maintaining better since Starting my tube feeds so we are trying to get off of the supplement completely.

I have seen that my potassium level is variable especially depending on what I've taken in. I have dropped from normal to very low in a single day, After determining my associated symptoms it has been easier to recognize and treat before it becomes an emergecy.

As far as appetite goes there could be many causes... I have trouble because my stomach moves slow and also passing out makes me very nauseated. I currently use a j tube for sustenance and my dr and I are working on exploring different regimens to get my gut to function better.

I hope that your drs are able to help you figure things out. God bless.

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