What is causing my potassium level to be so high? Help?

Question

(I am a 26 year old male and I weigh 153lbs.) I went to the doctor yesterday because I had a little bit of chest pain, and I thought it might be cause I am stressed but I wanted to make sure everything was fine, so... He did a EKG and he said it looked normal but he did see a couple of minor palputations. He said that this could be caused because age or caffeine. He ordered a blood test for me just to be safe and they called me today with the results. They told me that they needed me to come back in because my pottassium level was outrageously high (a Level 8) and they needed to re-take my blood to make sure. I want to know what could have caused my levels to be so high, could it be because I am really scared of needles and I came really really close to passing clean out when she was drawing blood, could it be that I drink too many energy drinks (Monster, Red Bull etc...)(I usually drink a 24oz Monster once or twice a week but I used to drink 1 a day but it has been a while since I did that) I really can't think of much else that I might be doing to cause this. The nurse has made me very nervous about this and I don't get results again until tomorrow. She said that she only sees levels this high right before people are gonna die. For the most part I feel pretty healthy other than the fact that my chest has been a bit tight for the last couple of months and my arms and legs fall asleep really fast if they are in an uncomfortable position. Sometimes my left hand feels tingly like it is asleep and cold and it takes a while for it to stop feeling this way. Also the nurse said that my blood pressure was excellent (just thought I would throw that in there). Also, sometimes it is hard for me to breath comfortably when I am feeling tired or overloaded at work, but it is not this way when I run or workout at the gym (I just recently started working out and was sore for about three days, not sure if that info helps either) If you are a doctor please help me on this one cause I am not going to sleep to well tonight having to wait on the results.

Answer 1

Was there any other lab  value that was abnormal?  Is you kidney function normal? If your potassium was that high there wound of been changes on your ecg (of high potassium) Do you consume foods that are high in potassium? To be safe I would of asked you to have your blood levels checked immediately.  Frequently what can happen was the blood in the tube "hemolysis",  The red blood cells burst and potassium is  released, as potassium is considered a "intracellular" electrolyte.  The lab usually comments as to whether the blood was hemolysed. You would feel a lot sicker if your potassium were 8.  So when you go back, just ask whether the specimin was hemolysed or not.  They'll think your a gigantic smarty pants though !!!

Answer 2

Apparently, you haven't discussed with your doctor

your lovely habit of energy drinks uncontrolled

consumption.

Take a brief look here and then wait till tomorrow to present him a full report of the exact present situation, with all the small omitted details:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Energy_drin...