I went to the doctor because I thought I had hyperthroidism.. My throat feels like it's closing up a lot, i've lost weight without effort and some other issues.. However, I got a call that my blood work showed elevated level of potassium, I thought I was having thyroid problems.. What could that be? Has anyone had issues with their potassium being too high and what happened?
Hi Tori. Were you on steroids recently? Do you have other medical problems besides lupus?
I was taking extra potassium, my PCP ordered labs and he called me with the results....and he said "GET OFF THE POTASSIUM!" I have thyroid disease and SLE.....
Yes, I had that two labs ago…my rheummy thought it was because I ear too many brazil nuts, but I discovered a suppliment I was taking was high in sodium and potassium.
Did you have a repeat test? Potassium can be falsely elevated if the collection was difficult, the specimen got too hot or too cold or otherwise handled incorrectly. I’ve worked in labs for years and have seen many many falsely elevated potassium results which were normal when repeated.
I went today for retest I’ll know the results next week… hopefully I’ll find out what’s going on… I’m not on anything right now and haven’t been in a while…
Be careful, my husband was just in the hospital with what we thought was a diabetic issue (DKA). He did, indeed have DKA, but his cardiac enzymes were elevated and his doc was concerned about cardiac issues.
well my retest came back normal... however I did have to ask the nurse what is next in finding out what is wrong, she was confused then said she'd call me back.. When she called back she said they would refer me to an ear nose and throat doc to see what's going on with my throat.. I just want some answers
I can’t seem to get my potassium high enough! We need to share some of our secrets and meet in the middle. 
Hi Torie,
I too had that feeling where your throat feels like it's closing up. I don't believe your elevated potassium level has anything to do with that though. It is probably 2 different issues at once. I know when my throat was like that, I always felt like I was going to choke. I had a swallowing study done at the hospital. And it finally just went away and thank God never came back.
Good luck!
Nancy