Adding salt to water helps me

[caledonia]

I've had to do this too, but now that my adrenals are somewhat better, I've been able to discontinue. The celtic sea salt is fine, but plain salt (with the least amount of additives you can find) also works. So - non iodized table salt, or pickling salt are cheap alternatives.

As far as dry mouth or lack of saliva, I've actually found this to be an EFA deficiency issue and taking a really good pharmaceutical grade fish oil solves this problem. You may also have dry eyes and it works for this too.

I've also found that both are tied to the adrenals, so the better your adrenals get, the less salt and fish oil you need to compensate.

You may also benefit by electrolyte supplementation in general (magnesium and potassium) as these will also leak out with adrenal fatigue. Same deal - the better my adrenals get, the less mag I need. So far my potassium needs have stayed the same; I think this has something to do with taking methylation supps.

Over the years, I've tried all the standard treatments for adrenal fatigue and do not tolerate them. Working on methylation has helped my adrenals go from a flat line to about 50% of normal. I've also recently started Dr. Wilson's Adrenal Rebuilder and am doing well with that.

 

[ahimsa]

@Andrew - the recommendations that I have read for POTS patients (which may or may not apply to all OI patients) usually suggest loads of sodium.

Here's one document that recommends "between 150–250 mEq of sodium (10–20 g of salt)" for hypovolemic POTS patients (those with low blood volume):

http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1540-8167.2008.01407.x/pdf

10 grams salt is roughly 4 1/2 teaspoons of salt (a little less). So 20 grams salt is close to 9 teaspoons.

I'm surprised more by your water intake than your salt intake. 8 liters daily is a huge amount.

Some ME/CFS patients have posted about diabetes insipidus. (edited to add a link - http://www.webmd.com/diabetes/guide/what-is-diabetes-insipidus#2 )

Have you looked into that diagnosis? I don't remember what the treatment is - some prescription drug can be helpful, I think.

Note: As always, these are just ramblings of a patient who has read stuff on the forums and remembers some of it (so much gets forgotten).

I hope this helps!

 

[Gingergrrl]

The doc who first diagnosed me with CFS (but was not a specialist) told me that I could literally drink the entire ocean and it would not be enough salt for me.

I add massive amounts of salt to all my food and also take salt stick tablets every day. I don't really like the taste if salt water but water with dextrose and salt is okay for me.

 

[Little Bluestem]

If I'm not up to brushing my teeth like a civilized person, I rub the crud off using my shirt sleeve at the end of the day.

A fingernail will do a better job of getting all of the plaque off.

So - non iodized table salt, or pickling salt are cheap alternatives.

Non-iodized table salt may have flow agents in it. I learned the hard way that it should not be used in a neti pot.

I do not add extra salt to my food. I am still hoping that I will not need the extra salt some day and do not want to become accustomed to salty food.

I have recently resumed drinking salt water. I use 1/4 tsp. sodium chloride and 1/8 tsp. potassium chloride in a cup of water. Could too much of this cause diarrhea?

@Andrew, if you drink a lot of plain water, it can reduce your sodium and cause problems. If you are going to drink that much water, I think (but do not know) that salted would be better.

 

[caledonia]

Non-iodized table salt may have flow agents in it. I learned the hard way that it should not be used in a neti pot.

This is true. You may or may not react to it. It was fine for me.

My doc recommended pickling salt, which has absolutely no additives.

Additives are listed on the label, so just read the label to be sure.

Trader Joe's sea salt was also fine, although I suspect this is not a true sea salt, as it's white and not gray or pink.

 

[Andrew]

Trader Joe's sea salt was also fine, although I suspect this is not a true sea salt, as it's white and not gray or pink.

Maybe it's bleached sea salt. From what I read, regular table salt is bleached.

 

[Andrew]

For a few days I felt like my heart was pounding. Then one day my wrist felt like the pulse was pounding there. I put my finger on it to see what if felt like, and my pulse was so powerful it concerned me. So I started taking my blood pressure again. A couple times in the evening it was over 150. I got so concerned I stopped the salt. I no longer feel my heart pounding.

As a side note, it's very hard for me to tell what's going on. A few weeks ago I started to get a heavy feeling and now my fatigue is bad. Fatigue was never my worse symptom, but now it is. Maybe I have an infection. But I feel so awful it is hard to even think about what my next move should be regarding salt or other ways to deal with OI. Not to mention that I have an endless stream of post-cancer doctor appointments that are so stressful to deal with they usually make my ME worse.