Ingesting potassium chloride adds potassium to your blood stream. Potassium is an essential mineral that helps keep your heart beating. A health condition accompanied by vomiting or diarrhea may cause potassium depletion, explains Drugs.com. Hypokalemia is a medical term indicating low blood levels of potassium; hyperkalemia indicates the opposite condition.
Pre-Existing Conditions
Drugs.com warns you not to ingest "potassium chloride if you have kidney failure, Addison's disease, severe burns or other tissue injury, if you are dehydrated, if you take certain water pills, or if you have high levels of potassium in your blood." It goes on to say that high potassium levels can pose complications in pre-existing conditions including, but not limited to, adrenal insufficiency, chronic renal failure and diabetic acidosis. At the doctor's office, Drugs.com urges you to disclose if you have kidney disease, heart disease, high blood pressure, a blockage in the intestines or stomach or Crohn's disease before taking potassium chloride.
Dose
Follow the potassium chloride dosing instructions from your health professional and take your dose "with food or just after a meal" and a full glass of water. Drugs.com warns not to "crush, chew, break, or suck on an extended-release tablet or capsule." It explains that dissolving potassium chloride in your mouth may cause "mouth and throat irritation" and breaking it into pieces "may cause too much of the drug to be released at one time."
Side-Effects
If you think you are experiencing side effects from taking take potassium chloride, contact a medical professional immediately. Common side-effects of potassium chloride extended-release tablets include, but are not limited to, "diarrhea, gas, nausea, stomach discomfort and vomiting," according to Drugs.com. It goes on to describe a host of severe side effects than can also occur, including black, tarry stools, difficulty breathing, irregular heartbeat, confusion, paralysis and "vomit that looks like coffee grounds."
De-Icer
Potassium chloride is not just a medication. According to U-Healthy, a program of Northwestern Health Sciences University, it has industrial purposes, such as fertilizing crops and de-icing your sidewalk in the winter. It is one chemical substance used by municipalities to de-ice highways. However, the National Wildlife Federation says that too much potassium chloride can cause damage to plants, soil, water and fish. It adds, the most "damage occurs within 60 feet of the road and is greatest close to the pavement."
Water-Softener
The winter 2002 issue of "Pipeline, the National Small Flows Clearinghouse newsletter, reports, "Potassium chloride is as effective as sodium chloride for water softening." It explains potassium chloride has benefits over sodium chloride, a commonly used water softener, including decreasing levels of sodium in your drinking water and drain field, along with adding potassium to your diet. Additionally, unlike wastewater containing sodium chloride, water softened with potassium chloride "can be recycled to irrigate agricultural land."
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