Low Sodium & Potassium Causes

Sodium and potassium play many important roles in the body, including fluid regulation and managing blood pressure. Low levels of sodium and or potassium can cause a number of problems including weakness, irregular heartbeat and confusion. Several things can cause low levels of these nutrients. They range from medications to certain medical conditions.

Medications

• Certain medications can cause side effects that affect levels of both these substances. Medications that interfere with potassium levels include gentamicin, tobramycin, amphotericin B, laxatives and prednisone. Those that interfere with sodium levels include diuretics, vasopressin and drugs containing sulfonylurea.

Excessive Loss

• Excessive vomiting and diarrhea can cause your body to excrete excess levels of sodium and potassium, according to Drs. Melissa Conrad Stoppler and Benjamin C. Wedro, both writing for Emedicine.com. Profuse sweating also can account for low sodium levels.

  Potassium loss can occur through the kidney, Wedro said. This can result from diuretic medications, elevated corticosteroid levels that result from steroid medications or conditions that produce excess steroid hormones, renal acidosis, adrenal tumors, low magnesium levels and high levels of the steroid aldosterone.

Medical Conditions

• Villous adenomas, a kind of colon polyp, and undergoing an ileostomy, a procedure to create waste removal through the stomach rather than the anus after bowel surgery, can contribute to low potassium levels. Notes cirrhosis of the liver, adrenal insufficiency and hypothyroidism can trigger low sodium levels, Stoppler said.

Fluid Build Up

• Low sodium levels can result from excess fluid build up from conditions such as kidney failure, congestive heart failure and a condition in which the body produces excess amounts of a anti-diuretic hormone.