electrolyte cautionary tale

mickjcat · Post by **mickjcat** » Wed Aug 08, 2012 9:05 am

I woke up this morning feeling very shaky and my heart pounding.....after calling off work I call my doc. My blood pressure was 80/50 and heart rate was 77. I usually run low on BP and hr, but this was too low BP and fast for heart.
The nurse first ask how much water I was drinking, and I go through 3-24 oz Tervis tumblers usually a day. She suggested that I was off on my electrolytes.
Fortunately I had some coconut water, after one 12 oz coconut water, it immediately perked up my BP to 103/64 and heart rate down to 62. Whew, it really freaked me out.....

I have been having cramps in my feet lately, I just thought it was due to keeping my feet elevated for swelling.........by the way, I am on a potassium pill and I eat 2 bananas a day.......I was craving them, for good reason I guess.

So, moral of this story is......listen to your body and know what symptoms it is telling you.

This is going to be a long journey, good thing I like to travel

Post by **tex** » Wed Aug 08, 2012 9:13 am

Hi Mickey,

I'm glad you got that resolved quickly. Electrolyte deficiencies can really throw a monkey wrench into the works. That's probably our most serious risk, with active MC.

Foot cramps and/or leg cramps are often connected with a magnesium deficiency, but plain old salt, calcium, and some of the "B" vitamins can also be factors, if they're deficient.

Tex

mickjcat · Post by **mickjcat** » Wed Aug 08, 2012 10:44 am

It is difficult knowing what to do sometimes. I used to eat a diverse diet and a balanced one I think .
Still pretty weak, but pressure is up.
Feeling a bit nauseous too.
Thanks Tex.

humbird753 · Post by **humbird753** » Wed Aug 08, 2012 3:38 pm

Hi Mickey,

Although I usually have low BP, I also found myself with very low BP (my lowest at 82/53) mid-January due to low fluid intake and electrolyte deficiencies. I found that even though I drank fluids constantly throughout the day, it wasn't enough. Since I am still in a flare, it has been difficult to gauge how much fluid I lose versus what my intake is. Whenever I get lightheaded and weak, I find my BP is lower then I increase the fluids. Tex is right that this is important to monitor a lot of things when we are in a flare.

I am glad I read your post. It's been very hot in the Midwest so I have been drinking Gatorade every day (along with a lot of water). The amount of sugar in Gatorade is probably too much for my system. I was not familiar with coconut water, but will try that.

I am glad to hear you're feeling better.

Paula

nancyl · Post by **nancyl** » Wed Aug 08, 2012 4:26 pm

My doctor told me to drink coconut water and stay away from the sports drinks because of the amount of sugar.

Nancy

mickjcat · Post by **mickjcat** » Wed Aug 08, 2012 4:55 pm

It has been a rough day, low grade fever, 99.0 and threw up a couple of times. Now I have an adversion to coconut water for the time being. Thanks for the support.
I have been able to eat some white rice and keep it down. Small victories. The weird thing is I could wake up tomorrow and be fine.

mickjcat · Post by **mickjcat** » Wed Aug 08, 2012 7:10 pm

As I learn more about this condition, mostly by experience

I realize something my water I use daily.....it is reverse osmosis, so I have not been getting any minerals from it. The doc put me on a day round of lasix because of swelling......she did give me some potassium, I think that just made my heart feel weird.
I am able to eat some ground turkey and rice thus evening and keeping it down. Hopefully the low grade fever will reside soon. And I got some Fiji water.
Thanks everyone for letting vent. And your input.

Post by **tex** » Wed Aug 08, 2012 9:10 pm

Mickey,

It takes a while for the body to get back to a state of equilibrium after a bout with dehydration/electrolyte imbalance, but with any luck at all, you should be back to normal by tomorrow.

Tex

mickjcat · Post by **mickjcat** » Wed Aug 08, 2012 9:41 pm

Thanks Tex!
My fever is down......feeling better.

Zizzle · Post by **Zizzle** » Wed Aug 08, 2012 9:58 pm

Do you add minerals to your reverse osmosis water before drinking it? I thought about getting it for my house, but the risk of not having "complete" water freaked me out a little, so I opted for a good quality 2 stage filter, but it doesn't get all the fluoride out.

Tex and I are both fans of Redmond brand salt, available in most grocery stores. It has loads of minerals and micronutrients, but tastes less salty than other salts, even sea salt and himalayan salt. I use it liberally on food.

mickjcat · Post by **mickjcat** » Thu Aug 09, 2012 6:35 am

Zizzle,

No, I have not.....I don't think it mattered until my restrictive diet

I do have himalayan salt, and I think I have seen liquid minerals that you can add to water at the local health food store. I may look into that. I am wondering also, what harm I am doing to my poor kittys by giving them that water. Although, I think their diet is more complete than mine!

I will check out the Redmond salt, thanks Zizzle!
I am better today, fever is down, I do feel like a Mac Truck hit me though

I do have a respectable bp of 112/73

Tex also reminded me to take my calcuim supplement, which has a bunch of minerals in it. I have be gradually adding in my supplements with the SCD diet intro, phase 1 etc.
I think I created a perfect storm yesterday along with doctors orders...

Ok, another chance to get it right, two steps forward, one back.

Deb · Post by **Deb** » Thu Aug 09, 2012 5:27 pm

My nephew posted on Facebook a primate diet fed at zoos. It's probably no worse than most of our breakfast cereals (and maybe better than some).
At least sugar doesn't come first! The Ethoxyquin could be a problem though.
Ingredients
Ground corn, Soybean meal, Cracked
wheat, Sucrose,Wheat
germ meal, Animal fat (preserved with BHA, propyl gallate and
citric acid), Dried whole egg, Dicalcium phosphate, Calcium
carbonate, Iodized salt,Vegetable oil, Choline chloride, Stabilized
ascorbic acid (source of Vitamin C), Ethoxyquin (a preservative),
Ferrous sulfate, Zinc oxide, Copper chloride, Manganous oxide,
Cobalt carbonate, Calcium iodate, Sodium selenite,Vitamin A
supplement,Vitamin D3 supplement,Vitamin E supplement,
Thiamine (Vitamin B1), Niacin, Calcium pantothenate, Pyridoxine
hydrochloride (Vitamin B6), Riboflavin (Vitamin B2), Folic acid,
Biotin,Vitamin B12 supplement.

mickjcat · Post by **mickjcat** » Thu Aug 09, 2012 6:39 pm

Deb,
I am not sure I follow what you are saying.......

Sue777 · Post by **Sue777** » Mon Aug 13, 2012 9:58 am

mickjcat wrote:As I learn more about this condition, mostly by experience

I realize something my water I use daily.....it is reverse osmosis, so I have not been getting any minerals from it. The doc put me on a day round of lasix because of swelling......she did give me some potassium, I think that just made my heart feel weird.
I am able to eat some ground turkey and rice thus evening and keeping it down. Hopefully the low grade fever will reside soon. And I got some Fiji water.
Thanks everyone for letting vent. And your input.

That may be a BIG part of your problem - the RO/DI unit! I purchased one a few years ago because I have four saltwater fish tanks and that's the only thing you can use in those if you want to keep corals alive and well. But I was warned NOT to use the RO/DI system for drinking water, ONLY for the fish tanks.

It's scary how many things in our lives can cause us harm, especially the things that seem so innocent. Now we have to worry about WATER????? This "staying alive" stuff is becoming more and more difficult the more technologically advanced we become. :(
Sue

Joefnh · Post by **Joefnh** » Mon Aug 13, 2012 10:40 am

Ok I believe there has been a long standing bit of confusion when it comes to the definitions of various types of water and the risks / benefits of the filtration systems.

Lets look at this for a moment:

First there is DI or DeIonized water. This is ultra pure water that has had all minerals removed and as such is ionically unbalanced and therefore 'hungry' for minerals as it tries to balance itself. When you drink ionically unbalanced DI water it will take or leach minerals from your body to achieve a state ionic balance. This is very dangerous and you should never drink DI water. DI water is NOT the same as RO water, RO water is balanced. DI water is mainly used in scientific research and in the production of computer chips. A DI water system is a big water purification system with lots of pumps and various stages of resin filters. I am not aware of a unit that is sold for home use.

Reverse Osmosis (RO) water is fully ionically balanced and has had the excess un-dissolved minerals and contaminants like fluoride, pesticides or any parasites or bacterium fully removed. When you drink RO water it does not take minerals from your body at all, it just does not offer much to the body either, it just provides a good pure source of balanced hydration. It is just a good very clean balanced water source and it is perfectly safe to drink. An RO filter just removes molecules that are larger than the holes in the RO membrane.

As far as needing to drink water that has a high mineral content, I believe that the mineral content —either high or low—isn't nearly as important as some would have you believe. That is, minerals in water are inorganic and hard for your body to use. You get most of your minerals from food, which provides organic, easily assimilated minerals. These minerals are bound and dissolved withthe proteins fats and carbohydrates and therefore readily available for use in the body. As far the mineral intake from salt seasonings and just the vast quantities of minerals in our foods, these readily satisfy our dietary requirements, especially items like sea salt which have a wide range of minerals that our bodies need. Regular well water that has not been filtered has an incredibly small amount of minerals anyway, with most of them in a form that is not readily usable by the body.