Long story, but if you are interested in potassium and high blood pressure, or if you have low potassium and high blood pressure, my story might be of interest to you.<p>At age 38 I was diagnosed with very high blood pressure. I had not been going to a doctor and was having headaches and bloody noses so it might have been going on for years. The first drug they put me on was a diuretic. They also put me on potassium after low potassium levels which is common with a diuretic.<p>Eventually, they also put me on a beta-blocker, a calcium channel blocker, and an ACE inhibitor. So I was getting all four BP meds and ended up at high or maximum doses. Around age 50 my potassium levels were getting very low and they kept increasing my potassium to no effect.<p>Primary care and cardiologist were flummoxed so they sent me for a kidney MRI. The radiologist looked at my history and decided to also check the adrenal glands, which sit on top of the kidneys so that was his call.<p>Turns out I had primary hyperaldosteronism which causes low potassium and high blood pressure. Not clear if it was the cause all along because I'm not sure I had my potassium checked before starting the diuretic. I saw a very good endocrinologist who had tests done to confirm the MRI and make sure that they removed the correct adrenal gland and then I eventually went down to a low dose of only one BP med.