Florinef And Sodium Levels

[autumn]

I'm pulling together all my records for a new cardiologist, and I noticed something about my sodium levels that has me perplexed.

Before I started florinef, my sodium levels were always 138. Since I've been on florinef, my sodium is consistently 137, which is the bottom of the normal range. I know one point isn't a huge drop, but since I'm now on a medication that is meant to increase the sodium in my body, I'm confused as to why my levels would drop slightly instead of increase. I'm on .1mg once a day.

Does anyone know why this is happening? Am I misunderstanding the purpose of florinef?

[juliegee]

Hi Autumn-

The way I understand it, florinef helps your body retain sodium so that you can, in turn, retain more water to plump up your blood plasma. BUT, this is really important, you MUST ingest extra salt and water for this process to work most efficiently. With that dose, you should be taking at least 4 Thermotabs a day & salting your food liberally AND drinking lots of water. A one point drop, if you are not supplementing salt, is probably nothing to worry about.

Potassium, on the other hand, MAY be something to worry about. Keep an eye on that number. Florinef has a tendency to cause potassium to deplete. My son's doc often had Mack supplement with a prescription potassium when he was on a higher dose of florinef. Your dose is pretty moderate and you may be able to replace that lost potassium with diet: oranges, potatoes, bananas, lima beans, etc.

I'm no longer on florinef, but LOVED it when I needed it Good stuff.

Julie

[autumn]

Thanks for the response, Julie.

I haven't taken thermotabs, but I do eat/use a lot of salt -- I've always craved it, even as a little kid -- so I don't think I'm using less salt than I was using before the florinef. If anything, I'm using more because I have a doctor's approval to go nuts with my sodium intake. I know I don't drink enough, and I never have. I can't keep fluid in me, and because I work, it's a serious inconvenience to drink much at all, since I lose so much without drinking to begin with. But maybe thermotabs will help with that, too.

My potassium has been OK, but I've been getting a liter of IV fluids with potassium once a week. I'm not going to continue those, though, so I'll keep an eye on those levels.

[Annaliese]

This has happened to me too. I take 4 tabs of salt a day plus a drink two gatorades. My salt levels are low and my k levels are normal. I take about 1/2 to 1 tab florinef per day.