IV fluid water weight

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elphie754
elphie754 Posts: 7,574 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
I am in the hospital and receiving large amounts of IV fluid. I am not allowed to eat or drink anything or get up and move around much. Any tips on how to reduce the water weight gain from all the sodium in the fluid?

And no, I am not even allowed to do bed bound exercises. I should hopefully only be here a day or two.
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Replies

  • _Zardoz_
    _Zardoz_ Posts: 3,987 Member
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    If your in hospital forget about it. You're being given the fluids for a reason. Get better then any weight gain from the water will be temporary and will go once you are at home. If your obsessing about water weight (which isn't real weight anyway) while in hospital your priorities really are screwed up. Look after your self get better and go back to your plan when you have recovered. Good luck.
  • SuperCrsa
    SuperCrsa Posts: 790 Member
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    Concentrate on getting better,
    once you are out of the hospital and ready for it get back in there.
  • elphie754
    elphie754 Posts: 7,574 Member
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    Last time I gained almost 10 lbs of water weight and was really swollen and painful. I was just looking for ways to minimize this be ause having my fingers as fat as sausages does not help the situation at all. That is not a screwed up priority. Obviously I care about my health because I am here even though I really did not want to stay over night. I just want to minimize bloating if I can because that adds more pain to the pain I'm in. I was thinking along the lines of maybe hand/foot massages.
  • elphie754
    elphie754 Posts: 7,574 Member
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    Only reason I am getting so much fluid is to try to bring down heart rate from the pain I am. I really wish they would use a lower sodium fluid (yes it does exaiat. Normal is .9%. They have .45% for those who need to watch sodium. ) I usually have low blood pressure but it is high now because of the pain and sodium. I want to try my best to keep fluid moving while bed bound so that when I am allowed up again it is not painful to move.

    I am allowed to have legs raised which I am doing. I name also flexing and rotating feet every hour so fluid does not build up. I am massaging my hands every so often as well as squeeze gripping them. I was just seeing if maybe anyone hand anymore simple ideas on how to keep circulation going. Usually they have those leg machines that help in circulation but because of my particular problem they can not use them.
  • traceywoody
    traceywoody Posts: 233 Member
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    Can you ask the doctors if you could possibly reduce this side effect? Other than that, I can see no real way of doing it except waiting it out.
  • elphie754
    elphie754 Posts: 7,574 Member
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    They are concern since I can not keep any food or water down that my electrolytes will be problematic. The stopped after 3 liters (very quick liters) for the night. They will re evaluate if I need more tomorrow as well as make the determination if moving is safe for me.

    I am having symptoms of a gall bladder attack but so far both ultra sound and a cheat X-ray came back normal. Since I am on birth control and have been for years, and it hurts when I breath, they believe I may have a blood clot at the base of my lungs. They can't do a normal ct because I am allergic to the dye, so they are waiting until morning to do something different. They do not want me up and a out for fear if it is a clot, it could break free and cause heart problems. No food or water incase they need to anytime of emergency procedure. They are however giving me pain medication.

    They may also do an endoscopy tomorrow since there is no clear reason for my symptoms. They are pretty much just ruling one thing out at a time. I really hope I get to go home tomorrow. The fluid retention would not be so bad if it didn't hurt to walk after a day/fluids. I have also been applying cool compresses and might ask for compression socks. I can't do the circulation machine for get of the possible clot moving. It is very frustrating.
  • LKArgh
    LKArgh Posts: 5,179 Member
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    Focus on getting better and forget weight. No, you will not get fat because of IV fluids and if you gain water weight, it will just go away after a while. You are in the hospital, not binging on pizza!
  • elphie754
    elphie754 Posts: 7,574 Member
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    I did not say I was getting fat or that I was concerned about the actual weight. I said I did not enjoy the side effe ts of fluid retention and it makes it hard to return to normal. That is very, very different. I am trying to prevent being uncomfortable and prevent adding more pain to my body. Not sure why you would want to accuse me of something as silly as thinking it is fat. I have consumed only up to 200 cals yesterday (vomited and decided to hold of on trying food again) and none yet today (not allowed) there is no way that I would be able to gain fat on those calories. Please be a little bit more respectful instead of talking down to me like I am an idiot.

    Will drinking n e tra 4-5 cups of water for the next few days when I get home help push the retention out? What about lemon water as a natural diuretic?
  • elphie754
    elphie754 Posts: 7,574 Member
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    Good news. Spoke to nurse during vital signs check and she said she can see about the physical therapist coming in the morning to show me what I can safely do without causing more harm.
  • GertrudeHorse
    GertrudeHorse Posts: 646 Member
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    Drinking plain water is the only thing you can do to offset water retention from sodium. However, I genuinely think this shouldn't be a concern right now. Water retention can be uncomfortable, sure, but it pales in comparison to the seriousness of whatever is causing you to be hooked up to a drip. Hope you get better soon. Let your body do what it needs to do to heal itself...that might involve holding on to some water weight.
  • elphie754
    elphie754 Posts: 7,574 Member
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    Extra sodium and increased blood pressure are not healthy to me right now. Hypertension can dislodge a clot if it there. They are trying to reduce my blood pressure but over looking the obvious.
  • SmangeDiggs
    SmangeDiggs Posts: 238 Member
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    If your that concerned about the extra fluid then just refuse it, anything charted from now will be at maintenance level anyway while your fasting and shouldn't cause any further increase in oedema.
  • beautifulwarrior18
    beautifulwarrior18 Posts: 914 Member
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    Is this a serious question? You don't gain water weight from being too hydrated, you gain water weight from being too dehydrated. And who cares, you're in the hospital. Unless you have CHF your weight should be the least of your worries.

    If your doctor is worried about fluid retention, you'll be getting daily weights and if you are holding water, they'll give you lasix. Let your doctor do the worrying, you just watch tv and relax.

    The sodium in .9 normal saline is for hydration. There is really nothing you can do to decide where your body is going to store the water. If it goes to the wrong places, they'll put you on a strict fluid restriction and those aren't fun either.
  • elphie754
    elphie754 Posts: 7,574 Member
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    I do not want to refuse the fluid because I do tend to get electrolyte imbalances when not eating.


    Yes, this is a very serious question, and that was very rude, especially since you seem a bit confused. IV fluid is not just water. It contains over 3000 mgs of sodium per bag, multiple that by three bags so far and that is way over my allotment for sodium. It is well known that IV fluid can cause fluid retention which is why it is given in caution to patients with CHF. They are not going to give any diuretics because I need the fluid, not have it pulled out of me. That would cause dehydration. Many patients experience water weight gain from IV fluid. You can even search it in the search bar and find many people talking about it. The ridiculous amount of sodium is what causes it.

    I am actually a paramedic so I know quite a bit about healthcare. Not every doctor should be trusted without question. It already is going to my ankles and hands, and no they do not intend on stopping it. Instead they are giving compression socks and elevation. The benefits far out weigh the risks.
  • mactaffy84
    mactaffy84 Posts: 398 Member
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    I'm sorry that you are in this situation, but I don't understand how normal saline causes all these problems if you don't have some underlying issue? If you are getting the 0.9% that is what is in plasma! hence "normal", how is this the cause of physiological issues? And I have my MS in Clinical Laboratory Science, so I, too, have some background pertinent to this issue.

    Could you possibly be dehydrated, a bit, in your normal life? Now that you are getting hydrated, you feel it? When I have been a bit unfortunate and wound u with an IV, I had to go to the bathroom all the time. This has been with normal saline, half normal saline, D5W. Maybe I'm lucky and it just never affected me the way you are being affected. I think, though, you may not have any choice but to put up with it. I don't think there are any exercises you can do in bed that are going to stop your hands feeling like sausages. Compression socks help with circulation, but I don't see what else they are going to do for you in terms of your IV and worry about sodium....

    I wish you luck, though.
  • TavistockToad
    TavistockToad Posts: 35,719 Member
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    you're getting mad about peoples responses, but very few people on here have any medical knowledge, and it seems like your questions would be better answered by your medical team not strangers on the internet.
  • elphie754
    elphie754 Posts: 7,574 Member
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    I am no dehydrated in normal life. I drink well over 100oz of water a day. While it is supposed to Mach your plasma, everyone is different, which is why they have .45% saline. I have always had issues with this. I have really severe allergies that have left me intubated 18 times. Many of those drugs have burned my veins so I suppose that could be a contributing factor, but I don't have swelling normally. I think it also has to do with the amount and rate they are giving it. Your kidneys can only do so much.
  • paperpudding
    paperpudding Posts: 8,999 Member
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    If your that concerned about the extra fluid then just refuse it, anything charted from now will be at maintenance level anyway while your fasting and shouldn't cause any further increase in oedema.

    Yes it is her right to refuse treatment - but she potentially has a pulmonary embolism.

    Encouraging her to refuse medical treatment seems very irresponsible to me.
  • Froody2
    Froody2 Posts: 338 Member
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    There are so many things wrong with this it's hard to know where to start. I call troll, or someone with problems that shouldn't be discussed with random people on the Internet.
  • elphie754
    elphie754 Posts: 7,574 Member
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    Calling me a troll because I am asking about excess water weight? That is really rude. The only reason I provided so much detail was just so that it did not seem like I was shooting down other people's suggestions for no reason. People ask about excess water weight around here all the time. Mine just happens to be coming from an unusual source. I was just looking for ideas on how to get fluid moving when I can't really exercise at the moment. I know it will all come off in about two weeks from when the fluids stop, but I just don't want it all to accumulate in my extremities. People share medical issues here all the time. Just because this one is maybe unusual to you does not make me a troll. I have been using this site for over 3 months and usually only browse the boards because some people are a bit to quick on the "you're different you must be a troll" train. Shall I upload a wonderful picture of my tiny ICU room with me in it? Like seriously, that was just uncalled for.

    Sorry if my messages are a bit jumbled. I'm on lots of painkillers.

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