Potassium Chloride Side effects

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• Side effects of Potassium Chloride in details
• Potassium Chloride contraindications
• Potassium Chloride reviews

What are the possible side effects of Potassium Chloride?

Get emergency medical help if you have any of these signs of an allergic reaction to Potassium Chloride: hives; difficulty breathing; swelling of your face, lips, tongue, or throat.

Stop using Potassium Chloride and call your doctor at once if you have any of these serious side effects:

• confusion, anxiety, feeling like you might pass out;

• uneven heartbeat;

• extreme thirst, increased urination;

• leg discomfort;

• muscle weakness or limp feeling;

• numbness or tingly feeling in your hands or feet, or around your mouth;

• severe stomach pain, ongoing diarrhea or vomiting;

• black, bloody, or tarry stools; or

• coughing up blood or vomit that looks like coffee grounds.

Less serious Potassium Chloride side effects may include:

• mild nausea or upset stomach;

• mild or occasional diarrhea;

• slight tingling in your hands or feet; or

• appearance of a Potassium Chloride tablet in your stool.

This is not a complete list of side effects and others may occur. Call your doctor for medical advice about side effects. You may report side effects to FDA at 1-800-FDA-1088.

Side effects of Potassium Chloride in details

One of the most severe adverse effects is hyperkalemia. Gastrointestinal bleeding and ulceration have been reported in patients treated with Potassium Chloride (Potassium Chloride extended-release) ® Extencaps®. In addition to gastrointestinal bleeding and ulceration, perforation and obstruction have been reported in patients treated with other solid KCl dosage forms, and may occur with Potassium Chloride (Potassium Chloride extended-release) ® Extencaps®.

The most common adverse reactions to the oral potassium salts are nausea, vomiting, flatulence, abdominal discomfort, and diarrhea. These symptoms are due to irritation of the gastrointestinal tract and are best managed by taking the dose with meals, or reducing the amount taken at one time. Skin rash has been reported rarely with potassium preparations.

What is the most important information I should know about Potassium Chloride?

• Do NOT take more than the recommended dose or use for longer than prescribed without checking with your doctor.
• Check with your doctor before you use a salt substitute or a product that has potassium in it.
• If you have trouble swallowing Potassium Chloride extended-release tablets, or if it seems to stick in your throat, check with your doctor.
• You may notice undissolved parts of the tablet shell in your stool with some brands of Potassium Chloride extended-release tablets. This is normal and not a cause for concern.
• Lab tests, including blood potassium, kidney function, and electrocardiogram (ECG), may be performed while you use Potassium Chloride extended-release tablets. These tests may be used to monitor your condition or check for side effects. Be sure to keep all doctor and lab appointments.
• Use Potassium Chloride extended-release tablets with caution in the ELDERLY; they may be more sensitive to its effects.
• Potassium Chloride extended-release tablets should be used with extreme caution in CHILDREN; safety and effectiveness in children have not been confirmed.
• PREGNANCY and BREAST-FEEDING: If you become pregnant, contact your doctor. You will need to discuss the benefits and risks of using Potassium Chloride extended-release tablets while you are pregnant. Potassium Chloride extended-release tablets is found in breast milk. If you are or will be breast-feeding while you use Potassium Chloride extended-release tablets, check with your doctor. Discuss any possible risks to your baby.

Potassium Chloride contraindications

Potassium supplements are contraindicated in patients with hyperkalemia since a further increase in serum potassium concentration in such patients can produce cardiac arrest. Hyperkalemia may complicate any of the following conditions: chronic renal failure, systemic acidosis such as diabetic acidosis, acute dehydration, extensive tissue breakdown as in severe burns, adrenal insufficiency, or the administration of a potassium-sparing diuretic, e.g., spironolactone, triamterene, or amiloride.

Potassium Chloride (Potassium Chloride extended-release tablets) tablets are contraindicated in patients with known hypersensitivity to any ingredient in this product.

Controlled-release formulations of Potassium Chloride have produced esophageal ulceration in certain cardiac patients with esophageal compression due to an enlarged left atrium. Potassium supplementation, when indicated in such patients, should be given as a liquid preparation.

All solid oral dosage forms of Potassium Chloride are contraindicated in any patient in whom there is structural, pathological, e.g., diabetic gastroparesis, or pharmacologic (use of anticholinergic agents or other agents with anticholinergic properties at sufficient doses to exert anticholinergic effects) cause for arrest or delay in tablet passage through the gastrointestinal tract.

References

1. DailyMed. "AMINO ACIDS; CALCIUM ACETATE; GLYCERIN; MAGNESIUM ACETATE; PHOSPHORIC ACID; POTASSIUM CHLORIDE; SODIUM ACETATE; SODIUM CHLORIDE: DailyMed provides trustworthy information about marketed drugs in the United States. DailyMed is the official provider of FDA label information (package inserts).". https://dailymed.nlm.nih.gov/dailyme... (accessed September 17, 2018).
2. DTP/NCI. "potassium chloride: The NCI Development Therapeutics Program (DTP) provides services and resources to the academic and private-sector research communities worldwide to facilitate the discovery and development of new cancer therapeutic agents.". https://dtp.cancer.gov/dtpstandard/s... (accessed September 17, 2018).
3. European Chemicals Agency - ECHA. "Potassium chloride: The information provided here is aggregated from the "Notified classification and labelling" from ECHA's C&L Inventory. ". https://echa.europa.eu/information-o... (accessed September 17, 2018).

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Information checked by Dr. Sachin Kumar, MD Pharmacology