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Curing Chronic fatigue - the role of water and salt..?

Bansaw

Senior Member
Messages
521
Has anyone found any benefit in regular intake of water and appropriate levels of sea salt?

In the past week, I've felt fatigued in the afternoon and went for a glass of water and added some sea salt and within minutes I get an energy boost.
This prompted me to do a search on water cures for CFS.

I found some interesting stuff:
Daily drink an amount of water that equals half your body weight in ounces. So if you were 200 pounds, you would drink 100 ounces of water daily. This amount will be divided into 5 or 6 and that is your individual dose.
Divide your body weight in pounds in half. This is how many ounces of water you will need to drink each day.


This is your ideal daily dose of water. If you are in extremely hot, dry conditions, your need will increase. If you are perspiring, exercising, working hard, or experiencing excessive mouth breathing, you will need to increase your water intake.
AS recommended from the research of Dr. Batmanghelidj, for every 16 ounces of water, take 1/8th teaspoon of unprocessed sea salt, dissolved in the mouth.

Anyone got any input on this?

thanks,,
 

misskatniss

Senior Member
Messages
116
Location
Germany
Hey there I am too sad to reply a lot, but I can tell you that I´ve heard that might be quite beneficial: Good for POTS, good for the lowering of histamine. Thus, I drink two glasses of seasalted water daily and find it helpful. If it cures CFS, well, today I am in the mood that nothing ever cures that sh*t. But sorry. That´s my depression sayin´ hello here. Go for it if you tolerate it. Important, seasalt without additives, no different salt. Has to do sth with the chemical structure. Oh, and they say it helps against nasty microbes, too. And the body needs salt for the creation of energy. Sorry for the kinda messy post. Cheers.
 

Bansaw

Senior Member
Messages
521
Thanks Katniss..... I found this guy's protocol interesting. That you drink half your body weight in ounces, and must dissolve the salt in your mouth before you take the water. I know I do a lot better with hydration and might give this a shot. I got a bag of Celtic Sea salt in the mail last week.
 
Messages
233
Bansaw,

The boost you get could be from increasing your blood volume. Several people with CFS have decreased blood volume, low blood pressure, OI or POTS. Regular intake of water and salt may not be a cure for CFS, but a way to help address some symptoms.

I would caution against overdrinking, as you can end up flushing electrolytes out of your body. Overdoing salt can also cause problems.
 

BadBadBear

Senior Member
Messages
571
Location
Rocky Mountains
Yeah, I get hyponatremic if I don't consume enough salt with my water. Without salt, I get super thirsty, drink too much, flush out all my sodium and potassium (and God only knows what other nutrients), and crash.

Salt never did help my OI much, but if I don't have enough salt I would get diffuse bloating from water leaking into extracellular space. For me, salt pulls the bloat-water back into the bloodstream so the bloating can get dealt with by the kidneys.

I do get some 'energy' if I am needing salt water and I drink some. Not sure if it's because of dehydration or ??

YMMV and all that.
 

barbc56

Senior Member
Messages
3,657
I have had hyponatremia in the past where I was hospitalized several times as my sodium level was <125.. Fortunately, it was caused by a medication and it resolved. I've also had the low blood volume related to kidney stones/ dehydration which again resolved. Each time I was very sick.

Both POTS,
and OI can cause the symptoms however the symptoms can also be caused by other health conditions so it's important to investigate the cause.

https://www.clinicalkey.com/topics/nephrology/hyponatremia.html

It used to be though that sodium levels were asymptomatic between 130 and 130 but that's changed. The symptoms are not as severe as true hyponatremia but you can still be symptomatic.

Also, follow your doctor's advice if you have high blood pressure.

Sorry I don't have the equivalent levels for other countries.
Barb

ETA Corrected numbers.
 
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ukxmrv

Senior Member
Messages
4,413
Location
London
I don't get an immediate energy boost from water and salt but I find that it does help a little through the day to keep my water intake and salt intake up.

(I've got POTs and often have low BP especially in the mornings)

You might get some ideas from this old article on making your own drink at home

http://www.dfwcfids.org/healing/gokhmbrw.htm
 

taniaaust1

Senior Member
Messages
13,054
Location
Sth Australia
went for a glass of water and added some sea salt and within minutes I get an energy boost.

ME/CFS people commonly have POTS and/or low blood volume. Increasing salt and water is one of the important treatments for that. I find the extra fluid works vary fast and can start helping me within minutes. This is probably what is going on with you, low blood volume with the illness... (and possible undiagnosed dysautonomia is often attached to us be it POTS or another kind)
 

xchocoholic

Senior Member
Messages
2,947
Location
Florida
Thanks Katniss..... I found this guy's protocol interesting. That you drink half your body weight in ounces, and must dissolve the salt in your mouth before you take the water. I know I do a lot better with hydration and might give this a shot. I got a bag of Celtic Sea salt in the mail last week.

Interesting. I figured out on my own back around 2007 that dissolving salt on my tongue and then drinking water worked best for me.

It was just from trial and error tho. I needed 1000 - 2000 mg of sodium to bring my bp up and couldn't drink water with that amount of sodium without getting a stomach ache.

In case you're interested, I put appr 1/8 tsp of salt on my tongue and let it dissolve VERY SLOWLY. Too much too fast causes me to get a stomach ache and / or sore esophagus and/or raw tongue.

Then once it's completely out of my mouth (normal saliva has been re-established) I follow it with about 4 oz of water. Then put more salt in my mouth. Repeat up to 1 tsp of sodium until I feel better or my finger tips are no longer wrinkly / prunish.

This certainly never corrected my oi tho. I still get hypoperfusion. I don't think I ever tried doing a pmttt before and after this tho. That would be an interesting test.

Himalayan sea salt is different from celtic but I can't remember how. I prefer celtic in cooking but use Him in my drinks or straight. Nowadays I'm using Hain iodized sea salt for cooking. I got tired of buying expensive salt and dulse.

Tc ... x
 
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Keela Too

Sally Burch
Messages
900
Location
N.Ireland
Dr Vallings recommended upping salt intake when I heard her talk. I think she suggested that natural thirst would balance this out.

Certainly when my daughter used to work with horses doing endurance races, they added salt to their feed at stops to help replenish lost salt and encourage more drinking.
 

BadBadBear

Senior Member
Messages
571
Location
Rocky Mountains
I read somewhere in Ray Peat's site about mineral salts possibly being contaminated w/ heavy metals. I have always avoided too much Himalayan or Real Salt for this reason, as I tend to use a couple of extra TSP of salt per day.

I use cheese-making salt mostly, and a bit of mineral salt if I'm craving it. I use a drop of lugol iodine once a day since I don't use iodized salt.

Cheese salt does not contain any flowing agents (aluminum) or additives compared to processed table type salts. Pickling salt might be the same as far as no additives, but cheese salt is milled very fine so it easy dissolves in liquids.

It's just something to consider for the high salt consumer.
 

barbc56

Senior Member
Messages
3,657
Is that a typo? Surely you would be dead!

That should have been an equal sign. Each time I was in the hospital, it was 125. It was 126 and I didn't know it for about seven days. after a blood test when my doctor called. I was immediately hospitalized. I literally don't know how I was walking around., but I was very ill.

It still is at the low end of normal around 136.

Barb

ETA Is the range different in the UK?

ETA Corrected the numbers.
 
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xchocoholic

Senior Member
Messages
2,947
Location
Florida
Hi @BadBadBear

Thanks for the info on cheese salt. I've googled different salts before but never ran into that term.

I noticed that on the cheese making sites they warned that iodine kills bacteria. So iodized salts shouldn't be used for making cheese.

Do you think people with dysbiosis should avoid iodized salt ?

Btw. If I remember correctly, Real Salt is the one with the black specks in it. I stopped using it when I noticed these didn't dissolve in my water bottles. I had diverticuli noted in an endoscopy once and was told to avoid anything that might get stuck.

Tx .. x
 

MeSci

ME/CFS since 1995; activity level 6?
Messages
8,231
Location
Cornwall, UK
That should have been an equal sign. Each time I was in the hospital, it was 25. It was 26 and I didn't know it for about seven days. after a blood test when my doctor called. I was immediately hospitalized. I literally don't know how I was walking around., but I was very ill.

It still is at the low end of normal around 36.

Barb

ETA Is the range different in the UK?

Not AFAIK. I think you use mEq/L in the USA, and we use mmol/L, but the values are the same, i.e. the conversion factor is 1, as shown here.

Are you sure you're not missing a '1' off, so that it should be 125?
 

barbc56

Senior Member
Messages
3,657
@MeSci
:bang-head::bang-head::bang-head::bang-head:

You are correct, there should be a one before the numbers. Thanks for finding this. I'll change it. Then a nap to hopefully restore my brain. Well, as much as possible! :)

Barb
 

MeSci

ME/CFS since 1995; activity level 6?
Messages
8,231
Location
Cornwall, UK
@MeSci
:bang-head::bang-head::bang-head::bang-head:

You are correct, there should be a one before the numbers. Thanks for finding this. I'll change it. Then a nap to hopefully restore my brain. Well, as much as possible! :)

Barb

I beat you then - blood sodium 115 in 2010. :eek: I was walking - but only just. I suspect that it was the same in 2007 when it was dismissed as a panic attack - the symptoms were the same - and horrendous and terrifying. When the paramedics abandoned me, I genuinely feared that I would die. I have rarely felt more alone and afraid.
 

BadBadBear

Senior Member
Messages
571
Location
Rocky Mountains
Hi @BadBadBear
Do you think people with dysbiosis should avoid iodized salt ?

Btw. If I remember correctly, Real Salt is the one with the black specks in it. I stopped using it when I noticed these didn't dissolve in my water bottles. I had diverticuli noted in an endoscopy once and was told to avoid anything that might get stuck.

I have wondered that about iodine, too - if it harms gut biota. Hopefully it gets absorbed before it gets to the large intestine?

Yes, Real Salt does have the little pieces of something - I notice something like sand bits in it sometimes. Interesting that it can plug up diverticuli!!

I only knew about cheese salt because I make cheese when I have access to fresh goat milk. :)