Amount Of Body Water.

[Tanzanite]

I've just got myself one of those scales that measure body fat and water as well as weight.

I thought mine would be lower than normal because of the dehydration part of POTS that I suffer with quite a bit but I was shocked to see it was only 36% (it gave me a scale of Low as well as the %) Normal is 50%

I drink 3-3 1/2 lts of fluid a day which includes a sport type drink with salt and potassium in it. I eat more salty foods (I never used to eat or add salty foods before the POTS became bad) I'm on Florinef 1 1/2 tablets a day.

About 4-5 nights a week I pee about 3-4 times a night and there's loads, I don't drink at night. In the day it can vary from day to day, some days I pee every 2-3hrs, other times maybe every hour.

What I'm asking is other people's body water reading if they know it, is mine really bad despite I drink loads and take florinef and salt? Is it something I should be really worried about and should see my Dr about?

[yogini]

I bought my scale a few months ago. My body water percentage is usually between 49-51%. I do feel better when it's on the higher side. Maybe you can talk to your doctor about it. I wouldn't get worried just yet, because maybe the scale is not as accurate as tests your dr can run.

[Tanzanite]

My mum's was moderate (47%) even though she doesn't drink a lot but she hasn't got POTS so I'm assuming they are accurate.

What tests do Dr's do to check body water?

[flop]

Hi Tanzanite,

as far as I know doctors don't usually measure body water levels. They can do tests to assess blood volume but I think they are rather complicated and I haven't heard of anywhere in the UK measuring blood volume.

I also have a set of these sort of scales. My average total body water reading is 43% despite drinking like a fish and taking Fludrocortisone 300mcg daily. I think that measuring fluid status in us POTSies can be quite difficult. After my surgery earlier this year I knew I was short of fluid (really thirsty, hardly producing any urine at all, low BP, feeling very dizzy) but getting the doctors to give me IV fluids was difficult (it was too painful to swallow, so I could only sip small quantities of water). My blood tests didn't show dehydration in the way that you would normally expect (urea and creatinine remained in normal limits).

You could try talking to your doctor about the readings, but they may not understand how to interpret them. Are you taking plenty of salt (and maybe fludrocortisone) with your fluids?

I think that it is much more important how you feel rather than the numbers on the scale.

Flop

[doctorguest]

We do not measure total body water in US either, as frankly there is no test that can give you a total body water level. I am not sure how these scales work, but I assume that if it was a reliable test, it would be widely used in medicine. As Flop said, I would not try to interpret these numbers - rather, go by your symptoms and physicial signs - like how concentrated or diluted your urine is.

[flop]

Doctorguest,

these type of scales maesure both "body fat percentage" and "total body water percentage". They have special electrodes that you stand on and they measure the conductivity / resistance to a mild electrical current to calculate the body fat percentage. I guess that it is somehow along the same lines that they calculate the "total body water" value too.

I think that they are often found in gyms but not in professional medical establishments.

Caution these type of devices are not safe to be used by anyone with a pacemaker.

Flop

[Tanzanite]

Thanks everyone. Made me feel more reassured.

Doctorguest: The scales send a small amount of electricity through your body to calculate water and fat.

Flop: I do take 1 1/2 tablets of florinef a day and I have upped salt though could perhaps up it a bit more.

I'll try not to worry then and just go by how I feel. I always feel thirsty though no matter how much I drink but that could be down to possible Sjogren's syndrome as I have dry eyes, mouth and nose anyway.