Doctor’s Orders for Lost in Low Sodium Diet…
It’s been a while since my last post. Quite frankly, I’ve been extremely frustrated and haven’t wanted to admit that it’s not all about the Low Sodium Diet that I did so well earlier in the year losing the fluid that had accumulated.
During the Spring I noticed I was gaining fluid weight again. I was tired and missed several days of work. I had been working out at the gym, watching what I was eating, and still gained fluid and continued to lose muscle tone. My stomach looked like I was going to have a baby. I looked good as a pregnant woman. I kept my cardiologist informed of what was happening and finally she agreed with my request for having my stomach drained. The way I understand it, when you have your fluid drained, it pulls out a lot of protein too. My husband and I felt that like this was the best treatment. I couldn’t go on feeling and looking like I did.
So, off we went to the hospital with the next couple of days. I was very proud of my husband, he stayed the whole time I was being drained. It was actually pretty cool. They inserted a giant needle and then insert a suction tube which is attached to a pump. Once the pump is turned on it sucks the fluid into the first cylinder and then when that one fills up, it jumps to the next one. I filled up four of these cylinders that equaled about 4 liters or 10-11 pounds. We had a wonderful conversation with the doctor and the tech who performed the procedure.
What a way to lose some weight, right? I went from weighing 111 pounds in the morning to 100 pounds before bed. The recovery period was slightly uncomfortable, but normal, while the stomach organs moved back into their regular locations. I felt like I did when I was younger and got off the “Son of Beast” roller coaster with a friend at King’s Island about 18 years ago. Once we were home from the hospital, I felt really good.
In addition to gaining fluid again during this time, we realized that I had “low sodium” in my blood. I thought, “No wonder, I haven’t been eating much sodium, of course it would be down!” This was also causing me to be tired and showing the following official symptoms:
- weakness
- fatigue
- muscle cramps
- irritability
When I started my low-sodium diet, I also had been on an intensive diuretic everyday to assist in the fluid loss. However, this ended up complicating the balance of my electrolytes. Come to find out, eating a low sodium diet has nothing to do with having low sodium in your blood. To be honest, this is a very complicated to learn, understand, and explain. I am still trying to find someone who can really explain it to me.
What Does It Mean to Have Low Blood Sodium?*
Low blood sodium is also known as hyponatremia. Sodium is an electrolyte. It helps maintain the balance of water in and around your cells. Sodium is important for proper muscle and nerve function. It also keeps your blood pressure stable.
Low blood sodium occurs when water and sodium are out of balance. Either there is too much water or too little sodium.
To combat this new problem, I was put on a “fluid restricted diet.” What? Now, I can only consume 48 oz, of fluid a day. That would include ice cream because it when it melts, it becomes a fluid. My diet consisted now of 1,500 mg of sodium per day and 48 oz. of fluid a day. What else could I be restricted on now?
In spite of all of these changes and continuing to work out, the fluid started coming back! Another fluid drain was out of the question with my heart failure cardiologist, but I still felt like my electrophysiologist could maybe help. A couple of years ago, I had my pacemaker/defibrillator replaced because the battery died. My heart rate had been set at 70 bmp and I felt really good most of the time. My new devise was set at 50 bmp because I normally pace at 60 bmp. Keep in mind that I am also in A-Fib all the time now. Basically, what that means is that when my regular heart rate falls below 50 bmp the pacemaker kicks in at paces me at 50 until I get back to my regular rate. The report indicated that this was happening about 32% of the time. I just had this feeling that if I was pacing higher I’d feel better.
After another appointment, my electrophysiologist agreed to compromise and set me at 65 bmp. We had this changed in the middle of June. In addition, I am taking the more intensive diuretic two days a week and have started working with a personal trainer to gain muscle tone back again. I have actually felt really pretty good since these changes.
I met with my heart failure doctor a few weeks ago and she asked me how my “Blog” was coming along. I was honest and told her I had quit because I was mad that I was such a cheerleader for the new low sodium diet when actually it seemed as though it just didn’t really matter.
She told me straight out, “Regina, you have right-sided heart failure with ascites. This is just something you will have to learn to accept and manage. There is no real “fix” for this but doing to keep on doing what you are doing. And, we will keep monitoring you. Just think what you may feel and look like if you weren’t diligent on watching your sodium intake.”
She then proceeded to say, “This is why you need to keep writing your blog. People need to hear that it’s not always going to be great. You can still help people. And that it is easy for your cardiologist to tell patients like you that they just have to deal with it, because she doesn’t have to. You can also, say that she is a ‘smart ass’ sometimes.”
So, I’m revived and back to blogging. My goal is still the same. I am a cheerleader for a low sodium diet no matter if you are a heart patient or not. It’s important for everyone!
Sources:
* http://www.healthline.com/health/hyponatremia#Overview1