Indications
Potassium sulphate is a source of potassium. It is found as an ingredient of some multivitamin and mineral supplements. It is also one of the salts in some bowel-cleansing solutions (together with Sodium Sulphate and Magnesium Sulphate) used to empty the bowel before a colonoscopy.
How It Works
Potassium is an essential mineral that helps nerves, muscles and the heart work and keeps the body’s fluid balance. In bowel-cleansing solutions, sulphate salts hold water in the bowel, producing watery stools that clear it out.
Dosage and Administration
- Supplements: as directed on the pack or by your doctor.
- Bowel preparation: follow the exact instructions from your hospital or doctor, including when to take each dose, how much extra clear fluid to drink and when to stop eating.
Do not take more than directed.
Interactions
Spironolactone, Amiloride, Eplerenone, ACE inhibitors (such as Enalapril and Ramipril), angiotensin receptor blockers (such as Losartan), Trimethoprim, other potassium supplements and salt substitutes can raise blood potassium. During bowel preparation, medicines taken by mouth may not be absorbed properly, so take them at the times the doctor advises; water tablets (diuretics) raise the risk of dehydration.
Contraindications
- Allergy to any ingredient of the product.
- High blood potassium, severe kidney disease or untreated Addison’s disease.
- For bowel-cleansing solutions: bowel blockage or tear, severe inflammation of the bowel, toxic megacolon or a stomach that empties very slowly.
Side Effects
Supplements: occasional nausea, stomach discomfort or diarrhoea. Bowel preparation: bloating, stomach cramps, nausea and vomiting, along with the expected watery stools.
Get urgent medical help if you have: muscle weakness, numbness or tingling, or a slow or irregular heartbeat; severe stomach pain; vomiting so much that you cannot keep fluids down; dizziness, fainting, very little urine, confusion or fits; black or bloody stools; or swelling of the face, lips or throat or difficulty breathing.
Pregnancy and Lactation
The amounts in supplements are considered safe in pregnancy and breastfeeding. Bowel-cleansing solutions should be used in pregnancy or while breastfeeding only if the doctor decides they are needed.
Precautions and Warnings
Tell the doctor if you have kidney disease, heart disease or a heart rhythm problem, diabetes, a history of fits, or low blood sodium. Older people may need blood tests. With bowel preparation, drink the clear fluids as instructed to avoid dehydration.
Overdose
Too much can raise blood potassium, causing weakness and dangerous heartbeat problems. With bowel preparation, overdose can cause severe diarrhoea and dehydration. Seek emergency medical help.
Therapeutic Class
Mineral supplement (electrolyte); osmotic laxative (in bowel-cleansing solutions).
Storage
Store below 30°C in a dry place, away from light and out of the reach of children.
Prepared by the Oshud Alo team from standard drug references. For information only; always follow your doctor's advice.