Cardiologist told me to eat more salt! Anyone else...
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I had a doctor many years ago that suggested that I keep up my salt intake and recommended a particular kind of sea salt. Fast forward to this year, I was taken to the ER with bradycardia, low blood pressure, low sugar. The ER doc said to increase hydration, protein, calories. I got to thinking of the other doctor who recommended the salt, and have since been trying to increase my salt intake, as well as potassium and magnesium (because I also get muscle spasms and cramps.) My HR is now normal, but my BP is still slightly low, but normal for me, around 90/60. Listen to your doctors and your body. If something seems off, its time for a second opinion or to do something different.0
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I think I'd take your Doc's advice and start eating more salt. What DC Mitchell said above seems to make sense.
As a more general comment I think that sodium gets demonised in an unnecessary way here on MFP. People start eating less processed foods and chugging down water like there's no tomorrow. There needs to be recognition that sodium is required for adequate hydration because our body fluids aren't just water. When we drink water we actually dilute these fluids and if your diet is low in sodium you can dilute them too much. This is why athletes hydrate with sports drinks. For your average person eating a highly processed diet this will never be an issue but on here where everyone's eating "clean" and avoiding processed foods it can be. I personally add salt to nearly everything. Other salts like magnesium and potassium are also important for hydration.0 -
I am a cardiac nurse practitioner who has worked in advanced heart failure and heart transplant for 8 years at a large academic medical center. Here's the reason we tell people to liberalize their sodium intake. Sorry if this is more than you really want to know
- but I really do know exactly what this is all about.
Blood pressure and body hydration are inter-related (probably pretty obvious). Blood that flows through your arteries is in great part water. One of the roles of sodium (based on osmotic pressure) is to hold water inside vessels. Yes, with inadequate sodium, water will literally seep into tissues. Fluid has to stay in the vessels to keep blood moving smoothly to get to organs and provide tissues with oxygen and nutrients. Kidneys (very finicky, but smart little creatures) need good blood flow and adequate fluid volume in that blood to function appropriately. Also, the fluid volume in blood helps maintain blood pressure. Your cardiologist is trained to adetect whether you have adequate fluid volume by looking at the veins in your neck to see how distended (or not) they might be. Also, blood tests will reflect your fluid balance (directly impacted by your dietary sodium) by looking at your kidney function numbers (BUN and creatinine). Your kidneys, again very smartly, can regulate sodium and try to maintain "normal" sodium levels. A "normal" level on labs does not equal sufficient sodium intake. There is ALOT more to blood sodium concentrations than just how much you eat. Basically what I am saying is that your "sodium levels" in your blood will likely stay within normal limits - regardless of intake. It's just much more complex than just diet.
So, not knowing your specific diagnosis, I will make a stab at the reason your doctor told you this. Presuming that your cath and stress tests were normal, perhaps the reason you are passing out is related to blood flow to your head. As in, periodically, some people have issues with the tone or elasticity of blood vessels (a phenomenon know as dysautonomia or autonomic dysfunction). If you have lower fluid volumes (are in a sense dehydrated without enough fluid in the vessels) you may not be able to maintain blood pressure if the vessels spontaneously relax or dilate. So if he/she looked at you and your test, had no other good explanations for your fainting episodes (as in all of your tests were normal - no heart attack or rhythm disturbances and NO 40% partial occlusion is not significant enough to cause this sort of issue) then it makes sense to eat more salt, hold onto a little more fluid to help support blood pressure in an attempt to maintain upward blood flow (against gravity) to your brain - thus (maybe) preventing fainting episodes.
I found this really informative, thank you for taking the time to post it.0 -
You're afraid of following doctors recommendation of increasing sodium because of a possible minor water retention weight gain of a pound or so?0
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p.s. having normal sodium levels will not stop you from losing weight.
also, make sure your getting enough calcium, potassium and magnesium... as these also effect your heart. Having too little or too much can cause major issues.
truth.
The more water you drink, the more weight you'll lose. It will balance the amount of sodium you intake.
8 oz isn't enough, you really should have over a gallon a day.0 -
I am a cardiac nurse practitioner who has worked in advanced heart failure and heart transplant for 8 years at a large academic medical center. Here's the reason we tell people to liberalize their sodium intake. Sorry if this is more than you really want to know - but I really do know exactly what this is all about.
Blood pressure and body hydration are inter-related (probably pretty obvious). Blood that flows through your arteries is in great part water. One of the roles of sodium (based on osmotic pressure) is to hold water inside vessels. Yes, with inadequate sodium, water will literally seep into tissues. Fluid has to stay in the vessels to keep blood moving smoothly to get to organs and provide tissues with oxygen and nutrients. Kidneys (very finicky, but smart little creatures) need good blood flow and adequate fluid volume in that blood to function appropriately. Also, the fluid volume in blood helps maintain blood pressure. Your cardiologist is trained to adetect whether you have adequate fluid volume by looking at the veins in your neck to see how distended (or not) they might be. Also, blood tests will reflect your fluid balance (directly impacted by your dietary sodium) by looking at your kidney function numbers (BUN and creatinine). Your kidneys, again very smartly, can regulate sodium and try to maintain "normal" sodium levels. A "normal" level on labs does not equal sufficient sodium intake. There is ALOT more to blood sodium concentrations than just how much you eat. Basically what I am saying is that your "sodium levels" in your blood will likely stay within normal limits - regardless of intake. It's just much more complex than just diet.
So, not knowing your specific diagnosis, I will make a stab at the reason your doctor told you this. Presuming that your cath and stress tests were normal, perhaps the reason you are passing out is related to blood flow to your head. As in, periodically, some people have issues with the tone or elasticity of blood vessels (a phenomenon know as dysautonomia or autonomic dysfunction). If you have lower fluid volumes (are in a sense dehydrated without enough fluid in the vessels) you may not be able to maintain blood pressure if the vessels spontaneously relax or dilate. So if he/she looked at you and your test, had no other good explanations for your fainting episodes (as in all of your tests were normal - no heart attack or rhythm disturbances and NO 40% partial occlusion is not significant enough to cause this sort of issue) then it makes sense to eat more salt, hold onto a little more fluid to help support blood pressure in an attempt to maintain upward blood flow (against gravity) to your brain - thus (maybe) preventing fainting episodes.
I know.... a lot of information, but....you asked for it LOL! J/K
Feel free to message me if you don't understand, or want more explanation.
Dana
This is a lady who knows her stuff - and has a really clear way of communicating it! Listen to her!0 -
I am a cardiac nurse practitioner who has worked in advanced heart failure and heart transplant for 8 years at a large academic medical center. Here's the reason we tell people to liberalize their sodium intake. Sorry if this is more than you really want to know - but I really do know exactly what this is all about.
Blood pressure and body hydration are inter-related (probably pretty obvious). Blood that flows through your arteries is in great part water. One of the roles of sodium (based on osmotic pressure) is to hold water inside vessels. Yes, with inadequate sodium, water will literally seep into tissues. Fluid has to stay in the vessels to keep blood moving smoothly to get to organs and provide tissues with oxygen and nutrients. Kidneys (very finicky, but smart little creatures) need good blood flow and adequate fluid volume in that blood to function appropriately. Also, the fluid volume in blood helps maintain blood pressure. Your cardiologist is trained to adetect whether you have adequate fluid volume by looking at the veins in your neck to see how distended (or not) they might be. Also, blood tests will reflect your fluid balance (directly impacted by your dietary sodium) by looking at your kidney function numbers (BUN and creatinine). Your kidneys, again very smartly, can regulate sodium and try to maintain "normal" sodium levels. A "normal" level on labs does not equal sufficient sodium intake. There is ALOT more to blood sodium concentrations than just how much you eat. Basically what I am saying is that your "sodium levels" in your blood will likely stay within normal limits - regardless of intake. It's just much more complex than just diet.
So, not knowing your specific diagnosis, I will make a stab at the reason your doctor told you this. Presuming that your cath and stress tests were normal, perhaps the reason you are passing out is related to blood flow to your head. As in, periodically, some people have issues with the tone or elasticity of blood vessels (a phenomenon know as dysautonomia or autonomic dysfunction). If you have lower fluid volumes (are in a sense dehydrated without enough fluid in the vessels) you may not be able to maintain blood pressure if the vessels spontaneously relax or dilate. So if he/she looked at you and your test, had no other good explanations for your fainting episodes (as in all of your tests were normal - no heart attack or rhythm disturbances and NO 40% partial occlusion is not significant enough to cause this sort of issue) then it makes sense to eat more salt, hold onto a little more fluid to help support blood pressure in an attempt to maintain upward blood flow (against gravity) to your brain - thus (maybe) preventing fainting episodes.
I know.... a lot of information, but....you asked for it LOL! J/K
Feel free to message me if you don't understand, or want more explanation.
Dana
Thank you very much very informative. I appreciate it.0 -
You're afraid of following doctors recommendation of increasing sodium because of a possible minor water retention weight gain of a pound or so?
[/quote
Not afraid... Just confused by it all and its all new to me. Thx0 -
Hey there so just went through some major health scares....always been a fainter all my life and had dizzy spells but recently went down three times well visiting someone in the hospital....the right place to be right?
So went through stress test, ct scans and eventually an angiogram....now on three medications. The weird thing is though my resting heart rate is in the 40's.
Now I am not a supreme athelete or anything however I am in the gym 6 days a week and have kept my sodium to under 2500mg a day for over two years now as everyone says it's the best thing to do.
Now this cardiologist is telling me that I need to eat at least 4grams of sodium a day as per my heart rate issues/fainting issues. I also have discovered I have coronary artery disease thus the three new medications. Medications do not include a beta blocker however because of my low heart rate....
I have lost over 150 pounds and the cardiologists tell me this saved my life.
The issue i am having here is the increase in sodium. This theory is freaking me out. I know I will see an increase on the scale and I am a big researcher and can not seem to find alot of research on this theory on the web.
Seeking out anyone on MFP that knows anything about this.
I will trust my doctors and do what they say but the theory does not make sence to me.
Anyone?
Perhaps your dizzy spells are due to low blood pressure, if so, extra salt or sodium will raise your blood pressure and so, in turn, stop the dizzy spells.0 -
Yeah it's all new to me..basically I had an angio that showed three 40 percent narrowings in my arteries and really really bad family history of heart disease. I have high blood pressure as well thus the new meds. I dunno what way is up right now. Just seems like weird theory to me as I have high blood pressure but perfect sodium/post levels....I'll figure it out. Thanks for your help/sugesstions.
No offense, but you're a walking example of why "a little knowledge" can be dangerous. The "sodium levels" in your blood are very carefully regulated by your body. They better always be close to perfect b/c otherwise you're going to be severely sick or dead soon. Eating a normal diet that is either relatively high or low sodium diet should not have any effect on the sodium levels in your blood. Instead it affects how much fluid your body is holding on to. You'd have to eat a ton of salt (or not drink any water for a very long time) to become hypernatremic, much more than your doctor is recommending!
The association of salt and HTN is based on a CHRONIC high salt diet, and it's only an association and only seems to affect 1/3 of the population.0 -
I've also been told to increase my sodium intake because my body doesn't regulate my blood pressure correctly. It's already pretty low anyway, but three times I've had seizures & gone into shock because it dropped so low, and two of those times I almost didn't pull through. It did seem strange at first to be told to take in more sodium, but I was desperate to feel better so I gave it a shot and it made a BIG difference in how I feel. FWIW, I didn't notice a big difference on the scale.
Good luck...I hope you feel better soon!0 -
I have Postural Orthostatic Tachycardia Syndrome and one of the treatments besides sodium retention tablets is a high >6,000mg sodium diet. This is to help with my fainting and dizzyness. IT WORKS! Hell i drink pickle juice sometimes when i am sick just to get enough in.
I weigh 115.4lbs as of right now so i wouldn't be to worried about seeing a major scale difference you will still lose fat even if your sodium level is high. You may feel more bloated or puffy in your face though.
(Obviously this diet is for a specific condition and should only be undertaken by individuals prescribed it as a medical diet.)0 -
I've also been told to increase my sodium intake because my body doesn't regulate my blood pressure correctly. It's already pretty low anyway, but three times I've had seizures & gone into shock because it dropped so low, and two of those times I almost didn't pull through. It did seem strange at first to be told to take in more sodium, but I was desperate to feel better so I gave it a shot and it made a BIG difference in how I feel. FWIW, I didn't notice a big difference on the scale.
Good luck...I hope you feel better soon!
Do you by any chance have POTS? i have reflex anoxic seizures from Pots but have been seizure free for over 190days.0 -
At the start of July I shifted from a standard (insert fat girl) diet over to a Low-Carb / 1200 a day job and signed up here.
I've always had a low resting heart rate and blood pressure so the odd bit of dizzy is accepted but not really bothered me.
I found a few weeks in into Low-Carbing - that I was having almost daily headaches at varying scales and a much higher amount of dizzy, several times a day. At first I thought it was just the drop in calories and that my body was adjusting.
The diets working well - I've shifted about 15lbs in 5 weeks and not really struggled to do so - apart from the head and dizzy.
So good old Google helped me out - I learned the following (in layman's terms)
Much less carbs means less water being held in the gut
Less salt gets absorbed as a result
If you are low carbing you need to be careful about your water / salt intake and some sites even suggesting you needed a slightly higher amount of sodium to compensate.
I kept thinking I was dehydrated so drank more and more water and certainly during exercise and straight after lunchtime eating, I'd get an almost instant migraine.
I've always avoided adding salt to my cooking so it really goes against the grain to do it.
I used MFP to monitor my salt and it was well below half the daily 2500. So - I've made a concerted effort to add a little sea salt to my food and ... the headaches have massively decreased. MASSIVELY.
I agree with everyone, get professional advice (and yes, I know I should too) which you are doing.0 -
Yeah it's all new to me..basically I had an angio that showed three 40 percent narrowings in my arteries and really really bad family history of heart disease. I have high blood pressure as well thus the new meds. I dunno what way is up right now. Just seems like weird theory to me as I have high blood pressure but perfect sodium/post levels....I'll figure it out. Thanks for your help/sugesstions.
No offense, but you're a walking example of why "a little knowledge" can be dangerous. The "sodium levels" in your blood are very carefully regulated by your body. They better always be close to perfect b/c otherwise you're going to be severely sick or dead soon. Eating a normal diet that is either relatively high or low sodium diet should not have any effect on the sodium levels in your blood. Instead it affects how much fluid your body is holding on to. You'd have to eat a ton of salt (or not drink any water for a very long time) to become hypernatremic, much more than your doctor is recommending!
The association of salt and HTN is based on a CHRONIC high salt diet, and it's only an association and only seems to affect 1/3 of the population.
^^ This. I personally am sodium sensitive and control my blood pressure with diet and exercise, but many people with HTN can't do the same. Follow your doctors advise and increase your sodium. Also, don't increase your fluid intake like another poster suggested unless your cardiologist tells you to
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I was told the same. My blood pressure was regularly low and I was starting to experience "vasovagal episodes". Doctor told me to increase my sodium and lower my stress because unlike most people, when I stress, my blood pressure DROPS to the point where I feel faint. All other blood work is just dandy and I hit the gym 5x a week, 45 mins or so each time. This actually has helped me TREMENDOUSLY. No migraines, BP has gotten better and it's lowered my stress (and fortunately, I'm a saltoholic ..... increasing my salt intake didn't break my heart. I also drink about 2 gallons of water each day so I certainly retain no water. 0
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I'm only 19 so when I started getting lightheaded and nearly passing out several times my primary care doctor was puzzled so he sent me to a cardiologist who told me to eat more salt among other pieces of advice which I thought was weird cause my levels were in the normal range, I only started adding more salt recently but it seems to be helping. Also when these lightheaded episodes were occurring it turns out I was orthostatic so my blood pressure would drop some while my heart rate would go from 60 to 100 which we don't believe to be a functional deficit but I have a halter monititer and an echocardiogram coming up.0
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skiboat1us wrote: »My teenage daughter also passes out. She has NCS and POTS. She has to have a high salt diet also per her cardiologist. She drinks gatoraide, pickles, prezels etc. But she has not put on any weight. Good luck!!
This. I have this and my main symptoms were dizziness and blacking out. Salt Is the first thing to increase in order for prevention- raises your blood pressure. Beta blockers is actually the generally prescribed meds but being pregnant and nursing they didn't like that. The next option bc of that is Anti anxiety meds-
Bc its neurological in scope it keeps the nerves from "over reacting." However, I also buy thermotab supplements on Amazon and probably take 5 a day on a hot day to keep my blood pressure up-- as well as drinking 3 liters of water. In the winter I may only take 1-3 tablets a day.
I would be curious as you're showing silent CAD at this point, about conflicts with that and increased salt.
Hth!
Ps. Prevent and reverse heart disease was a good book if you're interested in health stuff0 -
emancipateurself wrote: »Hey there so just went through some major health scares....always been a fainter all my life and had dizzy spells but recently went down three times well visiting someone in the hospital....the right place to be right?
So went through stress test, ct scans and eventually an angiogram....now on three medications. The weird thing is though my resting heart rate is in the 40's.
Now I am not a supreme athelete or anything however I am in the gym 6 days a week and have kept my sodium to under 2500mg a day for over two years now as everyone says it's the best thing to do.
Now this cardiologist is telling me that I need to eat at least 4grams of sodium a day as per my heart rate issues/fainting issues. I also have discovered I have coronary artery disease thus the three new medications. Medications do not include a beta blocker however because of my low heart rate....
I have lost over 150 pounds and the cardiologists tell me this saved my life.
The issue i am having here is the increase in sodium. This theory is freaking me out. I know I will see an increase on the scale and I am a big researcher and can not seem to find alot of research on this theory on the web.
Seeking out anyone on MFP that knows anything about this.
I will trust my doctors and do what they say but the theory does not make sence to me.
Anyone?
Any increase in weight will be water, and will be temporary. Once your kidneys adapt to the increased salt intake, they will deal with the extra water weight by themselves.0 -
You got a lot of major medical information in a short period of time. It's natural to walk away and then have tons of questions later. You've already scheduled a follow up appointment--great job! Write down all the questions you have. It's so easy to forget in the moment. Why does the Doctor want you to have that amount as your intake? What should that medically accomplish for you? What does that intake mean for your other heart related conditions? What side effects should you watch out for?
If possible, have a good friend or family member go with you. They can support you and help you ask all the questions you want to ask and make sure you understand the answers.0
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