“I have a higher than normal potassium, calcium, and glucose level?”
In July, I had my regular physical in which all of my labs came back as normal on my metabolic panel except for glucose which was 104. My potassium was 4.1 and calcium was 9.4. Everything else was also normal, but these are the ones that I wanted to ask about. With no history of diabetes in my family and the fact that I am in good health and not obese, my doctor told me not to worry.
Fast forward to November, and I had some unusual pains in my lower right abdomen that came and went, so my doctor recommended I come in for an ultrasound (gallbladder and liver) and blood tests. The ultrasound showed no issues whatever, but the metabolic showed my potassium as 5.5, calcium was 10.6, and glucose was now 114. He also requested a Diff/PLT profile which showed my Absolute Eosinophils to be 1135 with everything else looking good. Because of the higher glucose, he requested a follow-up A1c which came back as normal with a value of 5.3.
I had the blood work performed on the Wednesday before Thanksgiving, and my doctor said that the reason for these abnormal values, especially the calcium and potassium, was likely due to the fact that they sat from Thursday onward until Monday before the lab was able to perform the tests on my blood sample. He did not feel that there was anything further to worry about with these results. I do trust my doctor, as I have been seeing him for a long time, but I just wanted a second opinion regarding whether I should be requesting a follow-up because of these abnormally high values.
Fast forward to November, and I had some unusual pains in my lower right abdomen that came and went, so my doctor recommended I come in for an ultrasound (gallbladder and liver) and blood tests. The ultrasound showed no issues whatever, but the metabolic showed my potassium as 5.5, calcium was 10.6, and glucose was now 114. He also requested a Diff/PLT profile which showed my Absolute Eosinophils to be 1135 with everything else looking good. Because of the higher glucose, he requested a follow-up A1c which came back as normal with a value of 5.3.
I had the blood work performed on the Wednesday before Thanksgiving, and my doctor said that the reason for these abnormal values, especially the calcium and potassium, was likely due to the fact that they sat from Thursday onward until Monday before the lab was able to perform the tests on my blood sample. He did not feel that there was anything further to worry about with these results. I do trust my doctor, as I have been seeing him for a long time, but I just wanted a second opinion regarding whether I should be requesting a follow-up because of these abnormally high values.
Male | 44 years old
2 Answers
A metabolic panel usually measures the following blood chemicals: BUN: 6 to 20 mg/dL (2.14 to 7.14 mmol/L); CO2 (Carbon Dioxide): 23 to 29 mmol/L. Creatinine: 0.8 to 1.2 mg/dL (70.72 to 106.08 micromol/L): Glucose: 64 to 100 mg/dL (3.55 to %.55 mmol/L. Serum Chloride: 96 to 106 mmol//L; Serum Potassium: 3.7 to 5.2 mEq/L (3.7 to 5.2 mmol/L). Serum Sodium (NA), 136 to 144 mEq/L (136 to 144 mmol/L). Serum Calcium (Ca), 8.5 to 10.2 mg/dL (2.13 to 2.55 millimol/L). Now, there is a correlation between low K+ and urinary Ca excretion. In other words, low potassium (K+) level causes increase of calcium (Ca), due to decrease in the urinary excretion of it. There is a consistent decrease in the concentration of sodium and ionized calcium and increase in serum potassium with increase delay in analysis and clot contact time. Thank you.
Yes, a follow up would be appropriate, but there is no rush for it now. Just the next time you get blood work done. I would keep an eye on that elevated blood sugar though.
