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Hyponatremia and dehydration
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Hello all,

Hoping someone might be able to chime in from The Womens (I'm a guy).

I've been struggling performance wise since 2011. I've had multiple tests since July 2012. Negative for Celiac, Crohn's and Small Intestinal Bacterial Overgrowth. Two allergy tests were positive for gluten, soy and some nuts and seeds. I eliminated those foods, found no relief, so, added them back. I've tried many of the usual supplements for GI issues, but received no benefit. Had candida overgrowth from Feb 2017 labs. One GI doc in July 2012 concluded IBS. My intuition tells me it's not the food, and, IBS is just a symptom. Seeing my 13th specialist who also believes IBS is just a symptom. Currently, my chief symptoms are chronic fatigue (no matter how much I sleep), bloated pot belly, stubborn weight gain that diet and exercise will not affect, overall thicker body composition, change in urine and bowel habits, blurry vision, chronic muscle soreness, and gut swelling like a pregnant woman when I drink water, eat and exercise.

Some history:

In Sept 2010, I finished Branson 70.3. I was in the best shape of my life at that time. During the run, my "wheels" fell off. That year, the temps were in the upper 90s. During the run, I got nauseous, bloated belly, water was sloshing around in my gut, felt sore all over and lost my appetite. I went to the medical tent after the race. The EMT gave me an IV of two bags of a saline solution (I assume sodium chloride). My blood pressure was about 60 over 40. EMT said I had diluted sodium levels (hyponatremia). It made sense because I didn't take enough electrolytes, but kept drinking only water. Had some electrolytes on the run, but, the EMT concluded it was too late. I needed the IV because my digestion was compromised. Within an hour of the IV, I felt reborn. All my previous symptoms disappeared. I wasn't even sore. My appetite returned, so, got something to eat. The next morning, I felt great, so, did an hour easy bike ride. Returned to WA a few days later still feeling great.

Fast forward to March 2011. I began to feel something off in my gut. Physical exercise was harder. By October 2011, something was definitely not right in my gut. My weight had gradually increased by 15 pounds since Branson (I've been between 150-155 from 95-2010). Overall body composition was puffier. I noticed no matter what exercises I did and what I ate (been vegan since 95), my body was not leaning out like before. By 2012, my urine and bowel habits changed.

As of today, my symptoms have worsened. One thing I've noticed is when I drink water (up to a gallon a day, with some electrolytes), I don't have to urinate for two hours. When I do go, it's not clear and the volume is low. When I was well from 95-2010, I would drink a quart of water, and have to urinate really bad within 30 minutes. When I'd go, it was mostly clear (unless taking a multi-vitamin) and heavy volume. When I drink water now, it feels like it's sitting in my stomach, but finally evacuates after several hours. It also causes my belly to inflate like a woman four to six months pregnant. My body weight is also heavier. It's now 25 pounds more since 2010. There's also a fat roll around the belly that's impossible to lose. Physical exercise (like SBR) makes my belly bloat more so.

Currently, I'm drinking between 170-190oz of water (with electrolytes) each day. My urine becomes clear and heavy volume only after consuming 90 oz of water. I drink that before I eat breakfast. However, I still have the chief symptoms I cited above in the first paragraph. I thought I've been chronically dehydrated since 2011, but, my symptoms are not improving after increasing my water and electrolyte intake.

I had a specialist draw blood last week (waiting for results) He's checking for lyme among other things.

Hoping someone might have experienced similar issues and found the root cause. Thanks for your input.

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Re: Hyponatremia and dehydration [Recoverie] [ In reply to ]
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I don't understand why you are drinking 5L or more of water everyday. Is this advice from the doctors?
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Re: Hyponatremia and dehydration [edbikebabe] [ In reply to ]
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Not advice from any doctor. Based on my urine being dark and a low volume, that was a sign to me that I'm dehydrated. I've learned one's water needs depend on many factors, so, I increased my water until my urine was mostly clear and a heavy volume. I started increasing it since last Sunday.
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Re: Hyponatremia and dehydration [Recoverie] [ In reply to ]
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Many of the symptoms in my mind point to hypothyroidism. This may have been overlooked since you are male and therefore less likely to have it. I hope that your doc included TSH, T3, and T4 in your blood work.
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Re: Hyponatremia and dehydration [pookie87] [ In reply to ]
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Thanks for your input. I was thinking of hypothyroidism as well. The doc I'm seeing now included a test for it. Should hear of the results next week.
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Re: Hyponatremia and dehydration [Recoverie] [ In reply to ]
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do you use one of those scales that gives you hydration? you should. You can see bone mass, weight, muscle and body fat too. How old are you? keep a bottle of water near your bed for night time. Drink a lot of caffeine? do you drink fast? maybe gulping air? maybe try alkaline water found at the grocery, not tap. I rely on Nuun in a 24 oz bottle and even in my 1.5ltr run pack. If the weather will be hot and humid I make sure to acclimate for at least a month prior and add in salt caps during event. During event i try to sip an ounce every 10 mins so as not to have a whole lot sitting on my belly but I also read some research that says a batch of say 3oz is absorbed faster than little sips.
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Re: Hyponatremia and dehydration [wildhorse] [ In reply to ]
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Never heard of a scale for hydration. Got a link to a product?

I'm 46. No caffeine. Take little sips slowly. Don't drink with meals.

I used Nuun during the 2012 Branson 70.3. I believe it helped to keep me from getting hyponatremia and going to the medical tent. I also didn't push the bike too hard unlike in 2010. Plus, the weather was mid 70s compared to upper 90s in 2010.

I'm going over the results of my blood tests with a doc next week.
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Re: Hyponatremia and dehydration [Recoverie] [ In reply to ]
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Google Tanita Body Fat Scale or just Body Fat/Hydration Scales and several will pop up. I weigh myself before exercising long in humidity and then when I'm done up to 3lbs lighter (all water) then I know I haven't been hydrating enough-even 1lb loss affects performance too.
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Re: Hyponatremia and dehydration [wildhorse] [ In reply to ]
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Thanks for the tip. Received results from doc yesterday. Negative for Lyme. Low fatty acids. Use a fish oil supplement. Also, he's trying out a natural supplement on me for a viral infection. It's his best guess based on my symptoms. Still not sure treating low fatty acids with a pill is right. I'm thinking, "What caused the low levels?"
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Re: Hyponatremia and dehydration [Recoverie] [ In reply to ]
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Hi Recoverie, and thanks for the updates here and on the main forum. Sorry to hear you are still experiencing symptoms.

I was surprised to see your doctor didn't test your thyroid panel. Are you going to follow up with those tests?

Also, you said you tested positive for gluten and a few other allergies. How long did you wait before adding those back into your diet? It can take months for your digestion to heal enough to see positive results.

I sympathize with you -- a year ago I was in a miserable place health-wise and heard from multiple doctors that my thyroid was fine and I just needed an antidepressant. I was ready to give up (at least if I was medicated I wouldn't care about my health problems as much?) but got a recommendation for an integrative doctor who discovered food allergies (I had known about the gluten but not about eggs, dairy and a few others), my thyroid was actually NOT fine (I was only being tested for TSH levels and not a full thyroid panel), and a few other problems.

If you didn't give giving up gluten (and potentially grains, dairy, etc.) a long enough go it might be worth it to try again for at least a month or two. I follow pretty much an auto-immune paleo diet now and while all the food prepping and cooking from scratch is a giant pain in the ass I can say I finally feel better (and am losing weight).

Hoping you get some relief and some answers.

http://mediocremultisport.blogspot.com
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Re: Hyponatremia and dehydration [Midtown Miles] [ In reply to ]
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Thanks for your feedback, MM!

Checking with another doc for a thyroid test.

For gluten, waited a few weeks. Still unsure if that's the culprit. I eat so-called offending foods, and have not so bad issues. Then, eat "clean" and have symptoms. Looking at what part of this is stress related and in my mind.

Is your thyroid better? What were your major symptoms before getting a diagnosis?
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Re: Hyponatremia and dehydration [Recoverie] [ In reply to ]
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Glad to hear you are following up on your thyroid, just in case. My main symptom that I was tired all the time, like would need a nap after work just to make it to 9 p.m. when I could sleep for 10 hours tired. I was also getting shaky and nauseated after workouts where I wasn't working that hard. I never fainted fainted, but would have to lie down right away and then would wake up an hour and a half later. (Which is how we knew it wasn't diabetes, because I would have never woken up the first time.) I was/am also cold all the time, gained a bunch of weight, feeling blah, bathroom habits slowed way down. The very first things we ruled out were Type 1 diabetes and a heart condition. I felt a lot better after starting Synthroid but had to keep bumping up my dosage and started getting the "maybe you need an antidepressant" speech from my doctors because I still felt blah and wanted a full thyroid panel instead of just testing TSH. My new doc has me on Naturethroid and I am feeling a lot better finally. This has been a 12-year journey and counting; I will be dealing with adjusting my dosages for the rest of my life. Even now every workout over an hour I need sugar, no exceptions.

I ask about gluten because those autoimmune disorders tend to run together, so it was not a surprise to discover I was also sensitive to gluten. (It also runs in the family -- it's not uncommon among people of Eastern European descent, I learned.) I'm curious as if you really stopped eating gluten all together -- like did you read labels for things like caramel color, malt flavoring, etc.? My rule is if it comes in a package and doesn't explicitly say "gluten-free," I don't eat it. My acute symptoms went away pretty quickly (GI upset, eczema, mouth sores) but I really didn't start feeling better until at least a month later. Eating gluten if you are sensitive can also cause things like bloating and brain fog, plus it can inhibit absorption, which could explain some of your digestion issues.

IANADoctor and obviously don't know what is going on with you, so take this with a grain of salt. I'm just throwing out ideas because a lot of your symptoms seem like things I've experienced over the years.

http://mediocremultisport.blogspot.com
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Re: Hyponatremia and dehydration [Recoverie] [ In reply to ]
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Did your MD say anything about your cardiac (heart) function?
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