Is Too Much Potassium Bad?

Potassium is necessary for proper heart function, muscle contraction, nerve impulse transmission and metabolism. Although you need a certain amount of potassium for good health, you can consume too much potassium if you take high doses of potassium supplements. This is especially risky if you have kidney disease.

Risk for Potassium Toxicity

Potassium toxicity, also known as hyperkalemia, occurs when you consume too much potassium for your liver to handle. People who take diuretics, have kidney disease or Addison's disease and people on certain medications, including beta-blockers and ACE inhibitors, are at a higher risk for hyperkalemia. Severe hyperkalemia can cause a heart attack.

Signs of Excess Potassium

Signs of excess potassium include difficulty breathing, fatigue, nausea, irregular heartbeat, numbness, tingling, paralysis, vomiting and weakness. In some cases, there might not be any obvious signs of excess potassium, but an endoscopy will find lesions in the intestine, notes the Council for Responsible Nutrition.

Upper Limit Recommendations

Single doses of more than 18 g can cause hyperkalemia in otherwise healthy people. Those at increased risk for hyperkalemia should keep their potassium intake in line with the adequate intake recommendation of the Food and Nutrition Board, which is 4,700 mg per day for adults.

Treating Hyperkalemia

The commonly prescribed medications to treat hyperkalemia either promote potassium excretion, help move potassium from your blood back into your cells or stabilize heart function. Those with kidney problems may need hemodialysis to get the excess potassium out of their bodies. Underlying conditions that brought on the potassium toxicity need to be treated, and if the excess potassium was due to a medication, you may be prescribed an alternative medication. You may also need to follow a low-potassium diet.