IV Potassium.....is that like oooowwwww???

[MissD]

I just saw something elsewhere that reminded me I wanted to ask:

When you have had iv potassium pumped into you, was it like the worst stinging pain up your arm you have ever had to endure? I had many arguments with the nurses regarding it while I was in hospital. One of em suggested I should just shut up and suffer for my health. I told her to shut up I had suffered enough for my health thanks. What I dont get though is, sometimes it stung so badly I was bawling my eyes out begging them to take it out, and other times it was just fine, no idea it was even going in. Why would it sting so badly sometimes, and do nothing other times?

And why did I manage to get a bitch of a nurse anyway? The others were all awesome, she just pissed me off. She was the only one who always wore the apron, the gloves, and the mask when she attended to me too.

 

[lola99]

I took the pill form when i was in the hospital but I had a reaction to the anti naseua medication phenagrin(or however you spell it). I had a red streak up my arm and it itched horribly. The nurse took it out and put it in the other arm. I can't imagine getting a nurse like that.

 

[woops!]

IV postassium it can sting.

If stinging your arm ask them to try slowing the rate. This will mean you will have to stay connected to your IV for a little longer. They should be running it with a primary fluid like normal saline. Some hospitals get very picky when it states on the IV bag run over 1 hour, some won't slow it down. If you get a good enough nurse they should be albe to do that wihout any problems. The only reason that I can think that they wont slow it down is.... Pharmacy wont let them, you are only alloted a certin amount of time, or you have many different IV meds to get that are all on a schedule and they can't mix the potassium with them. They should not let it burn you!
Woops!

 

[lulu2]

I've had IV K but mixed with a bag of saline (or dextrose)...... I'd never dream of giving my patients it any other way unless they had horrendous ECG changes cos of it being so low. IV without a mix is kinda venotoxic.... it's also a little unsafe to give it as a straight bolus if I recall correctly.... should only be done in exceptions as mentioned above....... just confered with my man and he agrees with me on this one!
Might be an idea next time to ask why and if there are alternatives such as mixing it with a bag fluids?
xxx
xxxx

 

[Keona]

more like - YYYYYEEEEEEEOOOOOOOWWWWWWWWWWWWW!

 

[ameslouise]

Yeah! What she ^^ said!

Any nurse that tells you to stop complaining and suffer for your health should be banned from medicine. Anytime I had IV potassium, the nurses were so kind and sympathetic, warning me that it was going to hurt and burn and check on me to make sure I was tolerating it okay.

Glad you told that nurse off!!

- Amy

 

[Jennifer]

I can't imagine a nurse being so rude. Whenever I was in obvious pain with anything concerning an IV all the nurses went out of their way to make sure the pain stopped by either using a different vein or adding a warm compress or slowing down the feed etc. I would have told that nurse off too.

 

[lulu2]

Oh my word cant believe you guys havent had it mixed with saline or dextrose?!?!

Ive had heartless nurses before.... one came on my most recent admission to give me IV cyclizine (anti sickness drug)... I asked her what is was mixed with, she told me saline..... I'm a Dr (newly qualified, graduate this summer) and i told her mixing it with saline is bad for the vein and really hurts and it should be mixed with dextrose.... she pretty much told me tough this was what she'd made so this was what i was having! It hurt a LOT! If I'd been well I'd have argued, but its amazing how vulnerable and powerless you feel the minute your lying in a hospital bed unwell.......

 

[soretum]

wow, IV potassium should always ALWAYS be given diluted in either dextrose or saline and given over a minimum of an hour....15 years of nursing and I know this much to be true!! I'm an ICU nurse have patients doing crazy ECG things all the time and never given it neat, it'd blow your veins to bits

Lulu, I've never mixed cyclizine with dextrose or saline, always dilute it in at least 10 mls of water if not 20mls...and in fact it technically doesn't have to be diluted with anything it can be given neat. It was only after a collegue told me how she's had it and now ALWAYS dilutes it due to how irritating it is that I now dilute it....I'm hoping my do unto others attitude in my nursing practice comes back to me 10 fold if I ever need this stuff!

 

[ChefShazzy]

Oh boy, I remember when I was first admitted to hospital, and they moved me from the ER to a regular ward. In the transport, my IV line must have come disconnected or blocked or something, because when they hooked it back up and started the potassium, my arm burned SO BAD. I called the nurse, and she's like "Oh yeah, Potassium will sting a bit", and I said "NO, this is more than just stinging!!"... she told me to give it 5 minutes. My forearm swelled up like a balloon, I was sweating and crying, and then she figured she'd better put in a new IV line for me. Worst. Pain. Ever. Ugh.

 

[farm]

I've had it "straight" before also. I think due to the many other IV's in all available veins. It hurt. It also kept blowing veins and when in my forearm, I looked like Pop-eye several times.

 

[butterfly]

.... Yeah it blew!! Oh gosh, the worst thing happened to me, i had two IVs in me, and the left arm's vein gave out, i had been feeling stinging, but it did NOT compare to the terrible thing that happened in my hands, both of them, when the IV was put in, it missed the vein and was pouring straight out into my hand, swelling each up like balloons. It literally is one of the craziest things that ever happened to me.

Other times, though, I have remembered the painful stinging of Potassium, I was kept in the ICU unit for low levels in this vitamin multiple times. Ouch...

 

[lulu2]

wow, IV potassium should always ALWAYS be given diluted in either dextrose or saline and given over a minimum of an hour....15 years of nursing and I know this much to be true!! I'm an ICU nurse have patients doing crazy ECG things all the time and never given it neat, it'd blow your veins to bits

Lulu, I've never mixed cyclizine with dextrose or saline, always dilute it in at least 10 mls of water if not 20mls...and in fact it technically doesn't have to be diluted with anything it can be given neat. It was only after a collegue told me how she's had it and now ALWAYS dilutes it due to how irritating it is that I now dilute it....I'm hoping my do unto others attitude in my nursing practice comes back to me 10 fold if I ever need this stuff!

Soretum, cyclizine can damage veins given without a flush apparently.... and dextrose doesnt hurt at all but saline does

Most nurses for the record are FAB.... but there are one or two who just dont seem to care about their patients at all..... same for docs tho too, guess it's just the nature of being human. But still I think if you're gonna be in a caring profession you should.. well, care! Whenever I prescribe cyclizine from now on I'm gonna write in the special instructions bit to mix with dextrose......

xxx

 

[Keona]

I think that is great since we just all established how painful it is. :dog: It makes me glad to know that some people learn best practice.

 

[vickie_x]

ouch, I got lucky that my potassium was always mixed with saline (I think it was... It was a bag of something so my guess is either saline or dextrose) and slowly pumped with an IV pump so it never stung but I've heard how painful it can be! As for the cyclizine, mine was always given neat but with a saline flush and it never hurt apart from the one time my cannula had tissued. Ondansetron on the other hand... that was a stinger even diluted! x

 

[lulu2]

Ooooh ur lucky, I found cyclizine mixed with saline really hurt - I'm told lots of patients do!!

xxx

 

[Sue-2009]

Just give me the address and name of that nurse....Grrr, We can hold her down and give her the IV of potassium and see how it feels...Huh, (Apologies for the anger) But, Really!!! A class of empathy and sympathy should be required no matter what field we major in!!! Sorry you had to endure that! Sue

 

[mom2twogr8tkids]

I had it IV and pill form. I much rather have the IV form...it never burned with me (with a regular IV). It also helps if you have a "pic line". Those are much better on you.
And some nurses are rather rude...they chose their job for the wrong reasons obviously!!!

 

[Joleen23]

Hey , mine was mixed with saline and it was fine (considering had to have about 9 bags of the stuff thank god it didn't sting lol) I found that the I.V steroids really hurt when they gave it me straight(Also as weird as this sounds i got this feeling in my butt like splinters (apparently this was normal) many nurses got really rude when i asked if they could mix it with saline. After they put my pic-line in though i had no problems at all.Think my veins became quite damaged with the amount of iv's i was having.
Loved the drunk feeling i used to get off the IV cyclizine -nurses used to laugh as i would get quite chatty and happy when they gave me that - normally was quite sad and teary.

 

[Keona]

I think it depends on how fast the patient needs it. Sometimes nurses feel they don't have time to be mixing it with other solutions.

I am here. I asked for their help and they helped. ...and they warned me it would be painful.

 

[Fairyelements]

Wow, glad that does not happen to me. It maybe however that when I have a potassium loss I also have a low sodium so they give me both. I have had some meds in my injected in my iv that has hurt but I do not recall what it was.

 

[Mountaingem]

Even when they give it to me slow, it's like millions of needle pricks all the way up my arm-EEEEK!!! If your nurse tells you to quit complaining, ask for someone else. If you're in the hospital getting an IV, the last thing you need is a witch for a nurse!

 

[Anurse]

I just saw something elsewhere that reminded me I wanted to ask:

When you have had iv potassium pumped into you, was it like the worst stinging pain up your arm you have ever had to endure? I had many arguments with the nurses regarding it while I was in hospital. One of em suggested I should just shut up and suffer for my health. I told her to shut up I had suffered enough for my health thanks. What I dont get though is, sometimes it stung so badly I was bawling my eyes out begging them to take it out, and other times it was just fine, no idea it was even going in. Why would it sting so badly sometimes, and do nothing other times?

And why did I manage to get a bitch of a nurse anyway? The others were all awesome, she just pissed me off. She was the only one who always wore the apron, the gloves, and the mask when she attended to me too.

So sorry you had a nurse respond in such an unprofessional and unkind way. IV potassium can sting, but this should never be ignored! Potassium can be very irritating to the veins and there is the risk of infiltration - when the fluid leaks out of the vein into surrounding tissues. I have had patients before who could not tolerate IV potassium in a peripheral vein, no matter how slowly I ran it. Most often the stinging can be stopped by slowing the rate. If the nurse does not have authority to change the rate, a call to the physician or pharmacy can take care of that issue. As to the sting at one time and not another, the IV catheter may have been close to a valve in the vein. Usually a slight adjustment of the catheter position or a change of dressing can help that situation. I have also used warm packs to ease discomfort for my patients after insuring there was nothing more serious going on. I will add this, for a badly as she behaved in regards to your IV and pain, she was right to wear protection. Remember, it protects You from her as well her from you in case there are any infections.

 

[Anurse]

I think it depends on how fast the patient needs it. Sometimes nurses feel they don't have time to be mixing it with other solutions.

I am here. I asked for their help and they helped. ...and they warned me it would be painful.

Potassium is one of the drugs that must ALWAYS be diluted before administration and it should be mixed by the pharmacy. There are strict guidelines about how fast it can be given. If it is given too fast it can cause disturbances in heart rhythm, or worse cardiac arrest.

 

[AndiGirl]

I have had potassium deficiencies before which have required IV Potassium. It hurts! I know they've tried to make it less painful, but it still stings.