Overview

Metabolic acidosis may be a buildup of acid in your body. Your kidneys help keep the right balance of acids in your body. Your body can have too much acid for two main reasons: 1) your kidneys are not balancing or getting rid of enough acid or 2) your body is making too much acid.

Metabolic acidosis is common in people with renal disorder because their kidneys aren't filtering their blood tolerably . It can also happen in people with diabetes or kidney failure.

Doctors will do blood and urine tests to find out if someone has metabolic acidosis.

What are the symptoms of metabolic acidosis?

Many people don’t have symptoms, but some people may have:

Ø  Confusion

Ø  Fast heartbeat

Ø  Feeling sick to your stomach

Ø  Headache

Ø  Long and deep breaths

Ø  Not wanting to eat

Ø  Vomiting

Ø  Feeling tired

Ø  Feeling weak

What problems can happen from metabolic acidosis?

Here are some health problems that can happen if metabolic acidosis is not treated:

Ø     Your kidney disease can get worse

Ø     Bone loss (osteoporosis), which can lead to a higher chance of fractures in important bones like your hips or backbone.

Ø     Muscle loss, because of less protein in your body.

Ø     Endocrine disorders, which mean that glands that produce hormones in your body are not working like they should.

Ø     Slowed growth in children

Ø     Inflammation (swelling, redness, and pain)

Ø     Amyloid accumulation, which is a build-up of protein in your body that can hurt your joints, organs and brain.

Ø     Increased chance of death

How is metabolic acidosis treated?

There are not any FDA-approved therapies for long-term treatment of acidosis . However, some studies show the treatments below may help keep blood acid levels balanced.

Alkali therapy

Bicarbonate can balance out acid in your body. One way to extend bicarbonate levels is thru alkali therapy, which could include taking bicarbonate of soda . Your doctor could also suggest taking another similar supplement, such as calcium citrate, calcium carbonate, or calcium acetate.

Taking bicarbonate of soda introduces sodium (salt) into your body. The problem with this is that most people with later-stage chronic kidney disease have health problems that require them to limit sodium. This includes high blood pressure, heart disease, heart failure, or swelling. In some individuals, using sodium-based supplements could make health problems worse. They may have to take a different type of medication to help instead.

Sometimes there are side effects to sodium bicarbonate, including belching, bloating, flatulence, stomach pain, loss of appetite, feeling sick, and throwing up. You should not take sodium bicarbonate, or any other type of medicine to treat acid in your blood, without your doctor’s approval.

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