"Water Toxicity" or "Hyponatremia". Drinking too much water can kill you!

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  • marymickaela
    marymickaela Posts: 190 Member
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    I want to reintegrate how much I TRULY APPRECIATE ALL OF YOU for taking the time to respond so insightfully to my post. Yes, I know I need to follow dr's instructions, but also feel they aren't always available to ask so it's people like you, esp. the people who have gone thru similar experiences who help me. Saying to drink Tequilla with salt? Well that was just my stupid brother trying to be funny. However, my cousin saying "eat pickles and watermelon" was her being very serious. Oh and a good friend saying she got extremely healthy focusing on her gut and probiotics. It just went on and on, which is why my ICU nurse d wrote the post telling everybody to "stop, this is serious!" I loved her for that. I love all 3 of my d's and my middle 1 with 4 kids was leaving them and heading to Mexico with me after I promised her her own Cabana Boy. LOL!!
  • marymickaela
    marymickaela Posts: 190 Member
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    [/quote]

    I *have* read the entire thread, but the bolded above from your previous post jumped out at me.

    Firstly, why are you on Trileptal, which is an anti-seizure medication? Do you have seizures? Yes, it can also be used in conjunction with other psych drugs as a mood elevator, but that's not intended as a primary use. Are you on other pysch meds with the Trileptal as an add-on?

    Secondly, you state that your psych doctor cut your dose in half, but then it appears that - on your own and without medical advice - you decide to further reduce it to 1/4?

    Am I following this correctly?

    [/quote]

    Let me clarify. I am on Trileptal as a mood stabilizer for what my psych doc feels is a form of Bipolar. I hesitate to use that word as it scares a lot of people. Many just use the word "Mood Disorder" which is ok too. So please don't judge me too harshly that "oh she's just mentally ill." So not classic, but some form. It has been a great med and for the most part I've been stable. I cut the dose by 1/4th on my own, but the psych doc cut it by another 1/4th, thus 1/2 the dose now. However, after getting the news my sodium was back to normal I think I'm been having some form of mania or hypomania the past week. I've just been so damn happy and I can't help it. I want to shout it from the roof tops. I love my therapist of 2 yrs and I see for her for EMDR for PTSD. For 2 years she has raged about the BP dx saying so many want to label people with PTSD with a BP dx when that's not the problem.

    Well I see her once a week. I saw her two days ago and rattled on and on and on about the past week, how happy I was, on and on and on, saying I really don't think I need therapy anymore. For the very 1st time in 2yrs I heard her use the word "mania". I stopped but didn't say anything as I was so stunned. I definitely will bring it up next week. However, my H and I discussed it in depth last night as he said I'm definitely manic. Whether it't due to cutting the Trileptal or the stress that triggered it, not sure. Only got 3 hrs sleep last night. I honestly don't want to ruin my happiness, but as one specialist pointed out to me several years ago "what goes up, must come down." Meaning if you go into mania, the opposite is going into a depression. Haven't been in a serious depression for many many years, but it wasn't pretty when I was in it. I don't want that to happen. So I'm getting ready to rest for awhile and try to stay calm. I can't focus or accomplish and have so much to do it really bothers me.

    I don't want this to turn into a mental illlness thread, but wanted to honestly answer your question. I see my psych doc in 2 weeks and if still this way will probably get another med added or I may even call him sooner if not feeling stable. The problem when you're feeling happy you don't think it's a problem so why would I want anybody to ruin it. I've worked so hard to get off of so many meds it will be a hard pill to swallow. So going to try to use some self care to come down.

    Thanks for taking the time to respond.
  • orangegato
    orangegato Posts: 6,570 Member
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    Just make sure your psychiatrist is aware that you cut the Trileptal dose on your own as well, so there is no confusion about how much they think you are taking. Good idea to call him sooner than the appointment if you are still manic. Maybe he can see you sooner.
  • Packerjohn
    Packerjohn Posts: 4,855 Member
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    marymickaela wrote: »
    jgnatca wrote: »
    Or maybe not add some self prescribed item to the mix and listen to medical professionals.




    Well last week I had 4 medical specialists all giving me different advice so how do I handle that?

    Internist-"stop all free water and only drink Gatorade or start having seizure."

    Neurologist-"Oh, you're fine".

    ICU Nuse d who sees the worst of the worse-"mom, stop drinking so many fluids".

    Internist-"Don't listen to ICU nurse d regarding limiting fluids, drink as much as you want as long as it contains electrolytes and eat lots of salty foods like potato chips, in fact salt all food".

    ICU Nurse d-"you should follow your dr's instructions."

    Kidney Specialist "Limit fluids of any kind, drink 1.5L of free water and eat normal well balanced diet and d was right and Internist was wrong."

    Psych doc-"it's the Trileptal, not the water."

    So which medical professional do I listen to?

    Has nurse D seen all your medical records? If not IMO, she should not be advising you.
  • collectingblues
    collectingblues Posts: 2,541 Member
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    marymickaela wrote: »
    After re-reading some of your responses I have to say this. I have over 830 days of non-stop logging on MFP. However, due to past bad experiences posting on Community and getting some really rude remarks, such as "I have no sympathy......." Well, this is why I stay away. But is also why I wanted to give you the full picture of my reasoning. After re-reading responses I do think there was some good advice and insight. I should have slowly increased my water intake, going from drinking very little water, Diet Pepsi's, Sprite, LaCroix to the 100+oz of water was not smart. However, I did have my girlfriend cheerleading me on that this was wonderful. How was I to know? I had never of heard of anything like this.

    Please don't judge me. I thought I was getting healthy, but as I am learning more and more realize I also need to be smart. I see kidney specialist the 17th and will follow his orders until I get his permission to increase water or at least not go wild drinking 120+oz.

    Thank you! This is what I wanted to hear and maybe a little tough love talk was good too. Sometimes I need a kick in the You Know What?

    I'm not going to judge you for any of that. But I know I read this exact same post elsewhere on MFP recently. So I'm either going to judge you for multiple posts of the same novel, or because you plagiarized someone else.
  • deannalfisher
    deannalfisher Posts: 5,600 Member
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    collectingblues wrote: »
    marymickaela wrote: »
    After re-reading some of your responses I have to say this. I have over 830 days of non-stop logging on MFP. However, due to past bad experiences posting on Community and getting some really rude remarks, such as "I have no sympathy......." Well, this is why I stay away. But is also why I wanted to give you the full picture of my reasoning. After re-reading responses I do think there was some good advice and insight. I should have slowly increased my water intake, going from drinking very little water, Diet Pepsi's, Sprite, LaCroix to the 100+oz of water was not smart. However, I did have my girlfriend cheerleading me on that this was wonderful. How was I to know? I had never of heard of anything like this.

    Please don't judge me. I thought I was getting healthy, but as I am learning more and more realize I also need to be smart. I see kidney specialist the 17th and will follow his orders until I get his permission to increase water or at least not go wild drinking 120+oz.

    Thank you! This is what I wanted to hear and maybe a little tough love talk was good too. Sometimes I need a kick in the You Know What?

    I'm not going to judge you for any of that. But I know I read this exact same post elsewhere on MFP recently. So I'm either going to judge you for multiple posts of the same novel, or because you plagiarized someone else.

    this is her second post on the topic - so that's probably why you think you've seen it before
  • marymickaela
    marymickaela Posts: 190 Member
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    TooaBurn, I totally agree. Have been trying to rest and can't shut my mind off. May give my psych dr a call, but hate to call him on weekend, but don't want to get worse either. Just so tired right now.

    Orangegato, yes psych doc knew exactly what I was doing, as I filled him in ahead of time, knowing you usually only get 15min for psych appts as that's for meds. You're supposed to be seeing a therapist for the other issues. However, he's great and has many times spent a good half hour with me and did last week too. All my docs are totally informed.

    My actual Neurologist got involved last week. He started sending me messages. 1st he wanted me to get a brain MRI to see if I had any swelling and he wrote again apologizing for his PA's insensitivity and said he had talked to her. She's very young. His nurse called me a 3rd time saying when dr heard my sodium was stable I didn't need MRI and was I still with the practice? Well, I do love my dr, but not wild about his PA who I have to see, but not that often. I said it was such a learning experience for everyone, including my doctors.

    Kidney spec also wanted me to get chest x-ray to rule out cancer, but when sodium came back normal again said I didn't need it. So much happened that I couldn't write, but I have kept my entire care team up to speed. Probablh a little too much as I have a feeling my Internist was getting sick of my daily message to her. However I did get a nice message from my Internist thanking me for keeping them "in the loop and what a great historian I was and asking if my kidney spec would be following up with sodium problem." Said they were there for me if I needed them.

    So, I do feel I'm in good hands now. Lucky for me having a nurse for a d really paid off. The nephrologist (kidney dr) my Internist referred me too never has returned my call, although they took a message and said an Intake person would call me back. My d asked the name and said "she's good, but this other kidney doc is amazing! He's young, but the smartest doc any of the ICU nurses have ever met." Called and they got me in the next day. She was right in singing his praises. He was like Sherlock Holmes trying to solve a case.


  • collectingblues
    collectingblues Posts: 2,541 Member
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    deannalfisher wrote: »
    collectingblues wrote: »
    marymickaela wrote: »
    After re-reading some of your responses I have to say this. I have over 830 days of non-stop logging on MFP. However, due to past bad experiences posting on Community and getting some really rude remarks, such as "I have no sympathy......." Well, this is why I stay away. But is also why I wanted to give you the full picture of my reasoning. After re-reading responses I do think there was some good advice and insight. I should have slowly increased my water intake, going from drinking very little water, Diet Pepsi's, Sprite, LaCroix to the 100+oz of water was not smart. However, I did have my girlfriend cheerleading me on that this was wonderful. How was I to know? I had never of heard of anything like this.

    Please don't judge me. I thought I was getting healthy, but as I am learning more and more realize I also need to be smart. I see kidney specialist the 17th and will follow his orders until I get his permission to increase water or at least not go wild drinking 120+oz.

    Thank you! This is what I wanted to hear and maybe a little tough love talk was good too. Sometimes I need a kick in the You Know What?

    I'm not going to judge you for any of that. But I know I read this exact same post elsewhere on MFP recently. So I'm either going to judge you for multiple posts of the same novel, or because you plagiarized someone else.

    this is her second post on the topic - so that's probably why you think you've seen it before

    Ah, OK. So it's "I'm going to use a community forum as my blog" thing.
  • xvolution
    xvolution Posts: 721 Member
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    I have treatments three times a week to remove excess water, which often also causes my sodium levels to drop and thus cause low blood pressure. When that happens I usually just mix in 1/8 tsp sea salt into 4 oz water. That gives about 400mg sodium per serving with none of the sugar.
  • orangegato
    orangegato Posts: 6,570 Member
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    @marymickaela you should not feel bad about calling on call docs over the weekend or calling your internist daily. It's their job. You have to be selfish and advocate for your health. Sounds like you should probably call and need an adjustment of meds.
  • snickerscharlie
    snickerscharlie Posts: 8,578 Member
    edited August 2017
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    marymickaela wrote: »
    orangegato wrote: »
    You started the same thread on August 1st ("Warning to Others...."), but didn't mention Trileptal then. Why didn't you just continue that thread?

    Trileptal is notorious for causing hyponatremia, but as you said there is controversy over if your low sodium was from BOTH consuming EXCESSIVE amounts of water AND from Trileptal. Probably both. Nothing is ever really black and white, all or nothing.

    You should be getting routine and regular blood tests to monitor your sodium forever.

    I didn't mention the Trileptal because I have a tendency to be long winded, perhaps people wouldn't read this, and felt I wanted to give people a snapshot of what happened last week. However, after reading the responses, felt I needed to give you a more precise account. I've been taking Trileptal for several years, no problem. I was at no time told this might cause a problem. My psych did say at my appt he normally has his patients get regular blood work unless he knows they're under another Dr's care, which he assumed I was. Well, I do see quilt a few Drs due to various health problems, but never for this.

    I am also on a lot of other meds. I have no thyroid due to cancer at age 26 so see "Endocrinologist" he tests thyroid. RLS - See "Neurologist". 2 yrs ago started having hematuria in urine. See "Urologist", and of course my Internist for everything else, esp. High Blood Pressure which I finally agreed to start meds in March. Thinking back. When I started feeling so tired and lethargic in May I had many things I blamed it on so started back on Shaklee Protein & Vitamins after reconnecting with best friend. June, still not feeling good. Well, maybe I need to start eating better. So July, start new Sugar Smart Diet and the 20th increase my water. Hindsight is wonderful, but I had no reason to suspect the "Trileptal".

    I am just thankful for that already scheduled physical on the 28th, which found the low sodium. As I tell my family and friends "I try not to think of the "what if's"." or it scares the crap out of me. I would have continued drinking large amts of water, sodium would have continued to drop. I'm driving, pass out, killing myself and others." Those are my "what if's" I try and not think about.

    The bolded also jumped out at me. Was it the long-lost friend who got you on Shaklee, or was this just a coincidence?
  • marymickaela
    marymickaela Posts: 190 Member
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    Point taken. I haven't posted on Community for years so am not at all familiar with what's what. I didn't think I was posting a repeat post as I felt I was replying in more detail to my initial post, which confused many people.

    I will stop talking about this as I'm so tired and need to rest. I can only call my psych doc if it's a true emergency and I think I can manage this until he's back in the office.

    I do find it upsetting to read responses using the word "OP" amd writing responses as if I'm not here. My name is Mary. Thank you all for taking the time to respond and give me some great advice and insight.

    Mary

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