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    Neobladder and high potassium levels

    Posted by dlj on October 21, 2015 at 11:14 pm

    Start of Discussion
    0 of 0 replies June 2018
    Now

    My husband had the neo- bladder surgery in April and 6 months later he continues to have elevated potassium levels with fatigue, nausea, and ill feeling. He was put on high doses of Sodium Bicarb. and told to continue to drink plenty of water, which he does. He sees a nephrologist, endocrinologist for diabetes and will see his surgeon in December. We are frustrated because he doesn’t feel better and no one has a clear answer as to why this is. So, we are turning to this forum for some clarity. Has anyone else experienced the same symptoms after neo bladder surgery??

    CatherineH replied 9 years, 5 months ago 2 Members · 1 Reply
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  • catherineh's avatar

    catherineh

    Member
    October 22, 2015 at 2:23 pm

    Hello dlj… I’m very sorry your husband continues to have issues post-surgery. There are other members who have undergone cystectomy and hopefully one of them might share some insight as to how long they continued to feel poorly after the surgery.

    We are not medical professionals here. Has he gone back to his nephrologist recently? I think I would start there. Perhaps the level of sodium bicarb he is consuming may need to be adjusted. And maybe just a thorough workup by his primary physician may be in order as well.

    Clearly something in his system is out of balance. You may have to be a bit pushy with his doctors to get to the bottom of it. This is from the website http://www.drugs.com:

    “Along with its needed effects, sodium bicarbonate may cause some unwanted effects. Although the following side effects occur very rarely when this medicine is taken as recommended, they may be more likely to occur if it is taken: in large doses, for a long time, or by patients with kidney disease.”

    • Frequent urge to urinate
    • headache (continuing)
    • loss of appetite (continuing)
    • mood or mental changes
    • muscle pain or twitching
    • nausea or vomiting
    • nervousness or restlessness
    • slow breathing
    • swelling of feet or lower legs
    • unpleasant taste
    • unusual tiredness or weakness

    Best wishes… Catherine

    TURBT 1/21/10 at age 55
    Dx: T2aN0M0 Primary Bladder Adenocarcinoma
    Partial Cystectomy 2/25/10
    Vanderbilt Medical Center
    Nashville, TN

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