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LOW LOW SALT

Discussion in 'Your Living Room' started by Lacebug, May 23, 2020.

  1. Lacebug

    Lacebug New Member

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    I have gone on an extreme low sodium diet. In fact, I'm hardly eating ANY sodium at all (i'm basically living on fruit and vegetables, and pasta). My weight an blood pressure are dropping, but I still had aural fullness this week and a dizzy attack last night. BTW: I never have TRUE vertigo and for this reason my ENT (the renowned Sean Flangan) believes I may have vestibular migraine rather than Menieres. What happens is I come over all wonky when I tilt my head to the side of my bad ear. If I continue doing it, I throw up. MRI's are completely clear. Any thoughts?
     
  2. Marta

    Marta Active Member

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    Hi Lacebug
    I used to be on a very very low sodium diet myself. It had no effect on me whatsoever and I still had regular attacks. I think it would be worth investing vestibular migraines in your case. There are many threads on this forum with regard to the topic.best of luck
     
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  3. Nathan

    Nathan Well-Known Member

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    I would suggest removing the emphasis placed on deceasing sodium consumption, as it's not so much low sodium intake that's important, per se, but rather maintaining consistent moderate intake levels. Which is to say avoiding spikes in sodium consumption within the moderate & healthy zone of the intake spectrum.

    Individuals void of inner ear disorders experience this basic dynamic also, as an exceptionally low sodium diet will induce fluid retention when moderate levels of sodium is consumed, Ménière's or no. Caeteris paribus & other health related issues aside, fluid retention fails to occur in individuals who consume the salty pizza slice, for instance, if they consistently consume moderate levels of sodium.

    Mutatis mutandis water intake, as this becomes the flip side of the same coin. If water intake varies dramatically from day to day, or week to week, the body in return attempts to either retain or release water more aggressively than it otherwise would, leading to, in those suffering from Ménière's—though subject to many variables & factors such as hight, weight, gender, altitude, season—spikes in aural fullness, or in my case, aural fullness, tinnitus, & hyperacusis.

    That said, from the point of view of measuring convenience, it may be easier to maintain consistent intake levels if focusing on low intake—as opposed to moderate intake—much the same way it is easier to avoid g-forces while driving a car with a top speed of 3 km/h—it's not that g-forces can't be avoided at higher speeds, however higher speeds generate greater margins of potential forces acting on the object.

    In addition to investigating migraine-associated vertigo, I would encourage you to also investigate benign paroxysmal positional vertigo, which is commonly abbreviated as BPPV.
     
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  4. June-

    June- Well-Known Member

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    When my sodium got too lo, I became so weak I bordered on incoherence. The body needs sodium. I dont think lo lo sodium has any thing good to offer. I think the advice was moderate sodium and keeping it even throughout the day. However, sodium and Diuretics never did a thing for me. Antivirals and allergy shOts returned my life to normal.
     
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  5. Cheryl

    Cheryl Active Member

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    The human body needs 500 mg of sodium a day to survive. If one goes too low with sodium, then they're probably not eating enough food to get other required nutrients a body needs.
     
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  6. IvanA

    IvanA Active Member

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    People with meniere are recommended to consume between 1.5 and 2g of sodium a day, divided between meals better. 2 grams is a very low amount of sodium, I eat everything without salt or low salt and bread with salt; Only with this I already cover the daily dose, sometimes I treat myself and eat something salty.

    My dizziness has improved slowly since February, but they never really went away. A medical friend is convinced that it is from the cervicals because I have them very badly, but on the other hand this week the cold caught me and it was when I was more dizzy, which makes me suspect that it could be due to a virus that attacked stronger lowering my defenses from the cold.
     
  7. Pupper

    Pupper Active Member

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    Just here to confirm that a big blast of salt can mess you up. I just made guacamole. Recipe calls for kosher salt. So I grinded a bunch of salt into it. Ate it with Tostitos corn chips. 150mg of sodium per 7 chips. Boy, I haven't felt this unsteady in a long time. I'm not spinning. Not even close to it. But yeah, need a Xanax. Kinda feel like I put on someone else's prescription glasses. I don't think the serrano chili helped either. I know it's the salt because I rarely get ringing in my "good" ear. And now it's ringing. Thing is, I'm used to lots of sodium. So I'm surprised it's affected me like this. I must have gone crazy with that salt grinder. Hah. eeeesh.
     
  8. June-

    June- Well-Known Member

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    The advice i got was to make the sodium EVEN throughout the day, and avoid big swings.
     
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  9. Autumninthefall

    Autumninthefall Active Member

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    I learned this hard way when first diagnosed years ago. I went hardcore low/no sodium. WORST IDEA EVER.
     
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  10. djrugg

    djrugg Member

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    Hi Autumninthefall,

    What side effects did you experience from a super low/no sodium diet? Did it help your MD at all?

    Thanks,
    DJ
     
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  11. Autumninthefall

    Autumninthefall Active Member

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    Hi DJ,
    I don’t think my response in agreement with Cheryl was made clear enough. What I did was the WRONG way to go about managing things, and my sodium level became dangerously low. I constantly felt lightheaded and on the verge of blacking out if I stood up too fast. When my doctor mentioned, “you know, you need at least 500mg of sodium/day to live,” boy did I feel ridiculous.

    The low sodium/diuretic thing has never helped me, but I didn’t grow up salting my food. Even now I have to take a potassium supplement.

    NO. There was no benefit to be had from going the extreme route. It was accidental, and I was very lucky I didn’t have a seizure! DO NOT TRY THIS.
     
  12. IvanA

    IvanA Active Member

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    Low Blood Sodium (Hyponatremia)
     
  13. Oddthat

    Oddthat New Member

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    Mrs. Dash no salt teriyaki sauce and Kingsford original no salt spice blend offers flavors. I’ve had similar problems with no salt diet. It’s difficult to get calories without adding salt. I average 500 mg per day. I’ve been snacking on gorp (nuts, M&M, raisins).
     
  14. IvanA

    IvanA Active Member

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    I shared in the food forum that there is a type of salt without sodium and also one reduced in sodium. They use potassium chloride.

    Alternative to sodium salt.
     
  15. Megan Henry

    Megan Henry Member

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    The same happened to me. I got very weak and tired on very LOW LOW sodium. I keep it at 1500 mg and that seems like a good balance.
     
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  16. Oddthat

    Oddthat New Member

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    I try for 800 mg/day. I find sodium and caloric intact follow each other. It is difficult to maintain 1,200 calories per day when I hit the 800 mg sodium limit. I usually move to rice and pasta to get calories up, but then too many carbs.
     
  17. IvanA

    IvanA Active Member

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    All fruit, vegetables, fish and meat can be cooked and eaten without salt. It takes about two weeks to get used to eating without salt, from then on the food starts to taste good without salt.

    Salt flavor alternatives can also be used, for example: lemon, paprika, olive oil, vinegar, peppers, garlic, onion, etc.

    Can be used with anything but more common examples:
    -Fish: Lemon or striped pepper.
    -Meats: minced garlic with striped peppers.
    -Fried potatoes: Lemon or vinegar.
    -Boiled potatoes: drizzle of quality olive oil on top with or without paprika (sweet or spicy).
    -The pasta and rice can be eaten with fried tomato sauce (you can make it homemade or buy it low in salt), also once they are cooked they can be passed through cold water, let it drain for a few minutes and pass through the pan with a little oil and minced garlic (brown the garlic first).
    -The fruit can be eaten without further ado, but if you don't like it you can make a fruit salad, milkshake, with yogurt, the banana can be crushed and eaten in a bread sandwich.
    -Vegetables: Olive oil with or without paprika.

    These are just some examples, in all countries there are different natural condiments that I don't know how they taste, but they can also be used: oregano, thyme, rosemary, mint, ginger, etc.
     
  18. Oddthat

    Oddthat New Member

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    Jul 8, 2020
     
  19. Oddthat

    Oddthat New Member

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    I really like Kingsford no salt spice. Better than perfect pinch or Mrs. dash in my opinion.
     
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  20. recoveringoptimist

    recoveringoptimist Member

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    Are aural fullness and tinnitus symptoms of vestibular migraines and BPPV?
     

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