I work on the railroad in the car shop Have a GFR of 21

[Alfred HUS1974]

I work on the railroad in the car shop, have a GFR of 21. I'm 6' 6" 326 lbs

I work with heavy bars, tools and jacks. It's an extremely physically demanding job.

I have a claim with the Railroad disability board and waiting for a determination if it approved or not.

I was out of disability for a year when my feet started to burn(Small fiber neuroprathy)

I was feeling the need for purpose and like to work in the shop so I told them I wanted to return and see what happened.

Before I started working in the shop my labs showed BUN 35, CREAT 3.02, Potassium 4.5

A few weeks working in the shop BUN 31 , CREAT 3.27, (Potassium 5.9 Min 3.4 Max4.8)

I also have a copper taste in my mouth all the time.

I told my company of the lab results and I can't work in the shop if my Potassium was going to rise to 5.9 to a danger level. I sweat so much in the shop soaking my shirt and pants. I drinking a lot of water but my kidneys can't process the Potassium.

They took me out of service with pay till I come back with the forms they gave me filled out by my Dr.

I knew I was taking a risk but wanted to give it one more shot. I did drop some lbs but didn't expect the Potassium to rise like that.

What do i do now?

Thanks!

[dac0214]

Re: I work on the railroad in the car shop Have a GFR of 21

Did you, by any chance, drink a lot of Gatorade or other such drinks? A lot of hot working environments make such drinks readily available, and they are usually loaded with potassium. Most sports drinks should be avoided by people with kidney disease.

BTW, about 1 year ago, I took a temp position at a forge, and even though I wasn't on the 'labor force', it was a very hot and demanding position. My numbers went downhill quickly, and I had to leave this place for a 'safer' position with lower pay. Sometimes you need to make tough decisions...

[Alfred HUS1974]

Re: I work on the railroad in the car shop Have a GFR of 21

I told my Kidney Transplant clinic that I wanted to return working in the shop and asked if I should be drinking some sort of sport's drink or just water? They said just water. So I only drank water but the potassium still went up.

It's been a week, Iv'e been resting at home. I had my labs taken again and the potassium went down a bit.

I have an appointment on the 5th with my kidney Doc and we'll see what he thinks.


Thanks for the response.

[MassGirl]

Re: I work on the railroad in the car shop Have a GFR of 21

Hi Alfred,

Sounds like we are in the same boat... I just had some blood work done.. and my creatnine is at 1.9, GFR 27.. and my potassium is 5.0, doctor told me it should be below 5.. I use to have problems with low potassium.. now it's problems with high potassium.. all I drink is water and 1 cup of black coffee a day.. and I don't put salt on my food.. and I've tried eating less potassium in my diet...

I also didn't expect my potassium to rise...