Katybug Posted December 18, 2011 Report Share Posted December 18, 2011 On my last visit to POTS neuro, I told him how much better I feel after eating fast food and that I figured out it was the ridiculously high salt content (because when I eat processed foods at home with high salt contents I also feel much better). I asked him if I should be taking salt tablets so I can eat healthier foods and still get that kind of salt dose. He said yes, take 1 tablet after lunch and 1 tablet after dinner. When I bought them today I was surprised to see that each tablet is only 180 mg of sodium. When I feel better from eating high sodium foods, it is from foods that are upwards of 900 mg. Does anyone ever been given a number as far as how many milligrams we should be taking each day, especially those of us on Florinef?I feel like I'm better off eating a can of soup than taking one of these tablets. Any input is appreciated, as always.Katie Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
janiedelite Posted December 19, 2011 Report Share Posted December 19, 2011 I take in between 6-10 grams of sodium a day. I do check my BP regularly and drink lots of fluids (at least 3 liters). I was not able to tolerate florinef. It made my BP go too high and gave me bad headaches. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
songcanary Posted December 19, 2011 Report Share Posted December 19, 2011 I take 1 teaspoon, which is 5 grams, in two liters of water every day. I am also confused about the salt tabs dosage. I bought them last year but never used them because I read they can cause nausea. No thanks to that! The salt water helps me so I get my sodium that way. I also salt my food. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chaos Posted December 19, 2011 Report Share Posted December 19, 2011 My POTS doc told me 10 grams MINIMUM a day of salt. I take Sodium Chloride tablets that are 1 gram each...taking 4 a day plus salting heavily. When I was using thermotabs it seemed impossible to get the amount of salt he wanted. I still can't get my urine sodium level up to what they want. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
caroline Posted December 19, 2011 Report Share Posted December 19, 2011 I was told at Mayo Arizona to take 10 grams of salt a day. Remember that salt and sodium are not the same. To get salt content of a food, multiply sodium by 2.5 . Salt tablets are one gram but i had to stop them because they were causing stomach burning and upset ppssibly leading to ulcers. . I now salt food heavily and use bouillon and soy sauce as well as consuming salty foods such as V8 and ham. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
potsgirl Posted December 19, 2011 Report Share Posted December 19, 2011 I was also told at Mayo Rochester and MN to take in 8-10 grams of salt a day. I salt my food a lot, and have just ordered more salt tablets at 1 gram each to help me reach that level. If anyone is interested in a good place to order the 1 gram tabs, please PM me. They can be very difficult to find.Songcanary, when I went to a site that converts teaspoons to mg to grams, I understood that 1 teaspoon was approximately 2.3 grams. Am I doing something wrong with the equation? I know it's not a simple calculation, more of a rough estimate, because grams measure mass, and teaspoons equal volume. Rather confusing! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lemons2lemonade Posted December 19, 2011 Report Share Posted December 19, 2011 Honestly, i have found that this salt loading really does work for increasing bp. I take 2 grams each day. One day, after hearing about what doctor goodman had been saying, i tripled the dose and took 6 grams instead. My bp usually runs in the 105/70 even before i got sick. Then that day, my bp was almost too high 130/100 and i was having really bad chest pains. But i also take .2mg of florinef. I want to reduce the florinef and increase the salt but am waiting until february when i can run this by dr. goodman. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
songcanary Posted December 19, 2011 Report Share Posted December 19, 2011 Hi Potsgirl,Gosh, I based my info on the handout Cleveland Clinic gave me. It specifically states that 5 grams salt equals 5,000 mg equals 1 tsp. This appears to be confusing to a lot of us, and it seems like it should be so simple! It also says that the terms salt and sodium are interchangeable on nutrition labels. I've been feeling better on my dose so I just stuck with it. I'm not a whiz at math so when things get too complicated I'm pretty lost. Please help me out here if I'm missing something. Now, ask me about pets and I'm right on board LOL . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
janiedelite Posted December 19, 2011 Report Share Posted December 19, 2011 I've also read that 1 teaspoon of table salt equals just over 2 grams of sodium. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Katybug Posted December 20, 2011 Author Report Share Posted December 20, 2011 Thanks for all the info! I was really confused by the very low dose in the ThermoTabs (I'd have to take almost the whole bottle in one day to get to the levels that were recommended to you all!) Looks like I need to look for a pharmacy that carries a much higher dosage tablet.I wish the docs had told me to intake that much...they just said increase (which I did) but 5-10 grams per day is something you have to make an effort to do. I bet I feel quite a bit better when I get on those levels. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
caroline Posted December 20, 2011 Report Share Posted December 20, 2011 I think people are still confused about salt and sodium. They are NOT synonyms. Thermotabs have 180 mg of sodium but 452 mg of sodium chloride (salt). Check an equivalency table online and you will find that you can convert sodium readings on a can of soup or anything else to salt readings by simply multiplying by 2.5. Eat 10 mg of sodium and you will really be overdoing your consumption, perhaps dangerously. Caroline Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Katybug Posted December 20, 2011 Author Report Share Posted December 20, 2011 Caroline,That makes sense...so, for example, a meal that contains 1000 mg of sodium is equivalent to 2500 mg (2.5 g) of salt. Right?Katie Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
caroline Posted December 20, 2011 Report Share Posted December 20, 2011 Right, Katie. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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