What should your potassium level be

Products and services. Thank you for Subscribing Our Housecall e-newsletter will keep you up-to-date on the latest health information. Please try again. Something went wrong on our side, please try again. Show references Adams JG. In: Emergency Medicine: Clinical Essentials. Philadelphia, Pa. Accessed May 5, Accessed April 5, Mount DB, et al.

Causes of hypokalemia in adults. Clinical manifestations and treatment of hypokalemia in adults. Potassium, serum. Mayo Medical Laboratories. High potassium usually develops slowly over many weeks or months, and is most often mild. It can recur. For most people, the level of potassium in your blood should be between 3. If high potassium happens suddenly and you have very high levels, you may feel heart palpitations, shortness of breath, chest pain, nausea, or vomiting. This is a life-threatening condition that requires immediate medical care.

If you have these symptoms, call or go to the emergency room. If you have high potassium — or are at risk for getting it — speak to your doctor about the various options you have to manage your potassium levels. To help keep your potassium levels within normal range, your doctor may recommend the following:.

Skip to main content. Six Steps to Controlling High Potassium. February 25, , pm EST. Who is at risk? It is the job of your kidneys to keep the right amount of potassium in your body. If there is too much, healthy kidneys will filter out the extra potassium, and remove it from your body through urine. However, when kidneys do not work well, they may not be able to remove enough potassium. If your condition is severe, you may need to get potassium through a vein IV. Eating foods rich in potassium can help treat and prevent low level of potassium.

These foods include:. Taking potassium supplements can usually correct the problem. In severe cases, without proper treatment, a severe drop in potassium level can lead to serious heart rhythm problems that can be fatal. In severe cases, life-threatening paralysis may develop, such as with hypokalemic periodic paralysis.

Call your provider right away if you have been vomiting or have had excessive diarrhea, or if you are taking diuretics and have symptoms of hypokalemia. Mount DB. Disorders of potassium balance. Brenner and Rector's The Kidney. Philadelphia, PA: Elsevier; chap Seifter JL. Potassium disorders. Goldman-Cecil Medicine. Philadelphia, PA: Elsevier Saunders; chap