Blood Pressure Question

[friday]

I have been salt loading for quite some time now. I dont' have a daliy dosage or salt tabes or anything. I just adds tons of salt to my food. Luckliy I'm a salt lover.

Anway,

This past year I felt it was really helping. MY BP went up and I felt more energetic and was able to do more. I wasn't doing backflips or anything.LOL but I felt good. I could actually do things again. I noticed at this time anytime my BP was taken it was around 120, sometimes a little lower lower 117 or so. When I was first diagnosed with POTS it was about 90.

This is when it's taken in the doctors office, sitting.

I don't' know what it is doing while I'm walking or whatever.

Now, I recently had my ovaries removed. I felt lousy at first but have improved. I noticed I don't' feel as good ..as much energy as before. I feel a little weaker again. Better than I was when I was first diagnosed with POTS and wasn't salt loading but,. not as good as before, when my BP was 120 . I also noticed that now, every time I go to the doctor my BP is always around 110...again, sitting in the docs office.

I'm starting to wonder if I'd feel better if my BP was higher. I know doctors love it when it's below 120. But they also told me that it was good to be at 90. And I was weak and dizzy as anything.

Anyway, Could this be the optimal BP..for me. I'm thinking of adding more salt and try and raise it and see if it makes a difference.

Does anyone else have a particular BP they feel best at?

Also when adding salt. I can't just add more to my food. I love salt but I already put in as much as I can take. So does anyone have an idea of about how much one would add by day to raise their BP. I can't take salt tabs because I have IBS and it bothers that. And I can't take Gatorade cause I have hypoglycemia and I can't have sugar. So, I guess I would have to add it to water or something.

but, I have no idea of how much to add. Any Ideas?

[flop]

Hi Friday,

I'm a little confused about your statement that you can't have sugar because you have hypoglycaemia. Hypoglycaemia = low blood sugar levels.

Did you mean hyperglycaemia (high blood sugar levels)? Do have you been told that it is a reactive hypoglycaemia that you have?

Regarding salt doses, my cardiologist told me about some research done in the UK by a Prof Hainsworth into salt loading in subjects with prthostatic intolerance and 24hr urinary sodium levels below 170mmol/litre. The paper recommended taking 6g of sodium daily in the form of slow sodium tablets (I'm not sure if that sort are available in the UK but they are a really slow release tablet that doesn't seem to affect my sensitive GI system at all). Caution 6g of sodium is not the same as 6g of salt - I forget the calculation but the UK food industry are hot on salt / sodium quantities at the moment.

I'm not sure how much sugar there is in diarrhoea rehydration sachets, but that is what I take if I am dehydrated and feeling dizzy.

One way to guide tour salt intake would be to ask your PCP to measure your 24hr urinary sodium, I think that if the results come back at over 170 mmol/litre then you are probably taking the optimum amount of salt. If they are lower than 170 then taking extra salt may help you.

Sounds like a chat with your PCP is in order, you don't want to end up overdoing the salt as too much can still be bad for us potsies and cause high blood pressure and put a strain on the kidneys.

Flop

[friday]

Hi,

About the Hypoglycemia . Yes it is reactive Hypoglycemia.

What happens in reactive Hypoglycemia is when the person eats sugar or bad carbs, the body overproduces insulin..for some reason it produces more then the body needs and then the blood sugar drops.

Similar to the way a diabetic would react if they were to inject too much insulin.

In the case of a Diabetic though, they could have something with sugar in it to bring their sugar level up..

But in our case it would just start the whole cycle over again.. since eating sugar would begin the overdose of insulin again.

Since there are no meds to stop this so, the only way we can keep our BSL under control is to cut out sugar completely. Some of us can't even have fruit . I'm lucky enough that I can, as long as I eat it with a protein..

Anyway,

Thanks for the info . I am getting a sodium level done but I didn't think of the 24 hour urine test. The only doc I can really talk about this is is my CFS doc who I see only when I get the money.

Unfortunately most of the others doctors I've seen say .."what is P.O.T.S."? Then I have to explain it to them..so they don't' understand the whole salt loading thing.

Like I said when my BP was borderline low they thought that was good. Didn't matter that I was dizzy and sick..

Anyway,I figured if my BP was to go too high I could always cut back on salt since I take enough of it. I will be careful with this and check in with my CFS doc when I can afford it.

I have been thinking about it and trying to write down what else has changed in the past two months.

I have noticed that my IBS symptoms got worse after the operation.

So, I I have changed my diet lately because to reduce the IBS symptoms. I have mostly been eating soups.

So, I'm wondering if perhaps I am not getting enough protein. I'm going to check into that and get more info on how much protein I should be eating. If I 'm not getting enough that would explain the loss of energy.

I figure I can add foods one by one and see how my body handles them. Tried tofu and it was really good the way I prepared it and it didn't bother my IBS so I suppose that's an option.

Makes since to try this before I do more salt loading.

Again, thanks. It's a good idea about the 24 hour urine test.

Susan

Edited September 8, 2007 by flop
Quote removed

[flop]

Hi Susan,

that makes more sense about sugar - it must be a real pain to sort out your diet. In the UK it has recently become fashionable / popular to follow a low GI (glycaemic index) diet, ie to get only slow release carbs and avoid fast release carbs. A lot of supermarkets have started putting stickers on low GI foods - that sort of labeling would be useful to you I guess?

About the 24hr urinary sodium, it is a really easy cheap test to get done and I'm sure if you asked your PCP they could do it for you. Even if they have no-idea why you want it measuring you only need to look and see if the result comes back as above or below 170 mmol/litre, if it is below then you can safely add more salt to your diet.

Flop