Fluid restriction

[ElenaP]

Good morning everyone

I was trying to start a new thread but unable - perhaps an 'operator fault'. Anyhow, I would welcome advice on fluid restriction. A week ago yesterday, I was admitted (via paramedics and A&E) for hyponatraemia. I was discharged on Wednesday, after blood sodium levels reached 126. I need to continue with only 1litre of fluids in 24-hrs. I am really struggling. I need minimum 50mls of water just to swallow tablets and I've had to cut down on soups, and tea. I feel thirsty all the time. I have had lower than usual blood sodium, about 127, for decades. I never drink excessive amount of water but this one litre until foreseeable future is is an effort. The discharge letter to GP asked for weekly blood tests, and says that if the sodium level increases I could start having 1.5 litres in 24-hrs.

 

[Marie 2]

@ElenaP I am used to water all day and would go nuts restricting it too. I have a girlfriend that had bad kidneys her whole life and eventually she had to restrict her liquid intake. She would freeze a water bottle of the size she was allowed and as it melted would drink it. That way she always knew how much she had drank and would control how much she could drink at one time as she was going through dialysis for years.. She since got a kidney transplant and does fine now.

Another person I know has SIADH and she sees a nephrologist for it. The nephrologist did run tests on her to see if there was a reason she got it. In her case they couldn't figure out why, but she had to restrict her liquid intake too. She was allowed 50 ounces which I think is close to your 1.5 liters.

I think if you go on facebook there is probably some sites on kidney disease, CKD or SIADH that would probably have some good ideas on how to handle fluid restriction if you ask.

 

[Antje77]

I need minimum 50mls of water just to swallow tablets

I find it much easier to swallow tablets with a spoonful of yoghurt or applesauce or such than with water. Those are watery foods too, of course but at least the volume needed to swallow is smaller.
Would this help with not 'wasting' your water ration on tablets?

 

[Antje77]

Did you find your new thread, @ElenaP ?
Just let me know if you'd prefer a different title.

 

[ElenaP]

Did you find your new thread, @ElenaP ?
Just let me know if you'd prefer a different title.

Thank you, Antje. You chose a good title.

 

[Riva_Roxaban]

I have been on fluid restrictions for over a year since being discharged from hospital, I was on 1.2 ltrs a day to get rid of the massive build up of fluid in my legs. The fluid in my legs was causing more blood circulation problems causing me to go into Afib..

I lost nearly thirty kgs over a five week period in hospital, I was glad to have the catheter removed in the end, and the end of the infusions of diuretics.

Keeping my weight at a certain level has been hard to do at times, but I am now allowed 1.5 - 2.0 ltrs a day which i find easy to manage now at around eighty kgs. I take all of my medication with food so they get washed down with what ever fluid I am drinking / eating with my meals which are also salt free.

Being on fluid restriction means I had to give up my weekly session of beer with the boys, but have got used to not drinking booze that it is not a worry any more.

I have to keep a log of what fluid I have drank and how much I have passed, and what my weight is each day to keep the cardiac nurse practitioner happy at the hospital.

Edit: Typos

 

[Struma]

I would go with the dr's advice, it’s good. I probably wouldn't include any soup unless it is in large amounts or very watery like French onion.
Perhaps, try smaller containers to be able to drink more of a variety, ie 2 half cups of tea instead of 1 full one. Maybe different temperatures, maybe sugar free sucking sweets or different flavours of chewing gum. It’s hard, no getting away from it.

Edit: I guess your dr's have gone through your medicines to see if they are contributing to the hyponatraemia, such as some antidepressants?…

 

[ElenaP]

I have been on fluid restrictions for over a year since being discharged from hospital, I was on 1.2 ltrs a day to get rid of the massive build up of fluid in my legs. The fluid in my legs was causing more blood circulation problems causing me to go into Afib..

I lost nearly thirty kgs over a five week period in hospital, I was glad to have the catheter removed in the end, and the end of the infusions of diuretics.

Keeping my weight at a certain level has been hard to do at times, but I am now allowed 1.5 - 2.0 ltrs a day which i find easy to manage now at around eighty kgs. I take all of my medication with food so they get washed down with what ever fluid I am drinking / eating with my meals which are also salt free.

Being on fluid restriction means I had to give up my weekly session of beer with the boys, but have got used to not drinking booze that it is not a worry any more.

I have to keep a log of what fluid I have drank and how much I have passed, and what my weight is each day to keep the cardiac nurse practitioner happy at the hospital.

Edit: Typos

Intersting to read of other peoples's experiences on being on restricted amounts of fluids. Although yours is for a totally different reason. I weigh 53 kilos and have no fluid build-up, just the blood sodium being too low. I am worried what it is doing for my kidneys. Perhaps i should ask if they could do tests for Addisons disease.

 

[ElenaP]

I find it much easier to swallow tablets with a spoonful of yoghurt or applesauce or such than with water. Those are watery foods too, of course but at least the volume needed to swallow is smaller.
Would this help with not 'wasting' your water ration on tablets?

Thanks, swallowing tablets with yogurt works well.

 

[Antje77]

Thanks, swallowing tablets with yogurt works well.

Glad to have been of help, even if it only helps a little!

 

[Riva_Roxaban]

If you find yourself really thirsty, and to save on the fluid allowance, get hold of moisturising mouth spray, one squirt on the tongue last for around four hours.

The brand of mouth spray I use is called Biotene it helped me a lot when I was in hospital.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Biotene-Mouth-Spray-Gentle-Bottle/dp/B00IC4XC6K

 

[Marie 2]

@ElenaP I would try to see a nephrologist that way you can get your kidneys thoroughly checked. In the US they are also the ones that oversee the care of SIADH which causes a low sodium level.

 

[ElenaP]

Edit: I guess your dr's have gone through your medicines to see if they are contributing to the hyponatraemia, such as some antidepressants?…

Yes, my the doctors know the medication I'm on. The one medication they stopped during my recent hospital stay was beta
blockers because of side effects of shakiness. I had been on the beta blockers only two months whereas the hyponatremia was first identified about twenty years ago. Ever since I have been told that there is no treatment. But this was the first timer that there has been a sudden drop in blood sodium levels. I will try to find how low it actually was, all it says on the discharge letter was that when the sodium rose to 126 the consultant 'was satisfied'. While on the endocrinology ward, the consultant in charge was the same one that I see about Type 1 diabetes, but two other (more junior to her) doctors were also involved. However, between them they could not find the cause of the sudden drop, nor could they offer any treatment apart from fluid restriction. The reason the A&E doctors were able see a sudden drop is that the morning before I also had attended A&E but for a heart related cause.

 

[ElenaP]

I would try to see a nephrologist that way you can get your kidneys thoroughly checked. In the US they are also the ones that oversee the care of SIADH which causes a low sodium level.

Thanks. I'll see if I can find one by recommendation.