Low sodium and potassium

I'm sorry I can't help but you could ask the  team on the Macmillan Support Line 0808 808 0000.

KateG

Hi, could your mother's low sodium and potassium levels be drug related ?  The anti-seizure drug Oxcarbazepine which my hubby used to take caused him to have low sodium levels (potassium was ok). Maybe there are other drugs which cause this problem too ? When he was taken off this drug and given alternative medication, his sodium levels returned to normal - which for an adult is between 134 - 146 (blood test).  If your Mother is on medication it's worth checking out the side effects. When my husband first developed low sodium levels - instead of starting with the basics (I had asked if it could be drug related) they started checking his piturity gland and kidney function!  We got there eventually though!  I hope all goes well and they can find the cause. Best wishes to you both, Debs x

I do apologise for referring to your Mother-in-Law as your Mother in my above post. Debs x

Hi Val, My mum had both low sodium and low potassium.  It was the low sodium that caused her confusion and they did give her a drug to increase her sodium level which worked as she became less confused.  I can't remember the name of the drug but I'm pretty sure it'll be somewhere in my blog so I'll look for it and if I find it I'll let you know.

In terms of the potassium mum was asked to eat a banana each day and that was sorted within a few weeks.  

Caroline XX

Thank you all for your messages. Most of her medication (apart from blood presusre tablets) has been stppoed, so we wait to see the outcome. She is improving, but getting information is still tricky - never any doctors around at visiting time!

Love to all Val XX