Sodium Problems...

[silvermander]

I've stated a number of times that my mother also has Crohn's Disease. She's 68 years old, was diagnosed at age 12. While she doesn't deal with most of the issues I have and really doesn't have anywhere near the problems I have with it, she's at a total loss over what her body has been doing lately and is looking for help. Actually, it's kind of interesting that if anything happens to her body, illness, allergies, etc., it WILL happen to me at some point, but to a much worse level. Such fun, but I know much of what will happen at some point in my life? Okay, not cool, but it is what it is.

I'd love for her to come here and hang out, it would be great for her, she'd post twice and then never figure out how to get back here or sign in. She earned a 'Black Screen of Death' award from friends over ten years ago and hasn't become any better. So here I am asking this for her.

She had low blood pressure as a teen when Crohn's was really kicking her in the guts. It was only after she had me did she develop high blood pressure. Almost all my life she's been told to avoid sodium as much as possible.

This past year or so she's had a couple of bouts where she's ended up in the ER with dangerously low sodium. She now travels with sodium pills because of this and usually know when it's dipping.

One of the times in the ER, then speaking with her GP she was told the low sodium meant she has cancer, but they never did anything about it. Just put this fear into her, then dropped it. I'm not happy about this.

Okay, yes, they ran blood work and every time they do her white blood count is low, further indication possible cancer, but they don't do anything further.

She has had a colonoscopy recently. It showed a little 'irritation attributed to Crohn's Disease'. She's have a few polyps removed during previous scopes over the past couple years and she has an esophageal polyp she needs removed, but other than that she's really doing quite well.

After shooting the bull about her sodium issue she popped out wondering if it might be Crohn's related. We discussed changed is pooping during/around the times her sodium crashed. She didn't think of it up until then. I'm wondering if her system might have sped up or slowed down and dumped the sodium somehow, for some reason.

Okay, I'm really grasping and totally babbling, but it feels like there's something really obvious that we're missing. She's visiting for a couple more days before flying home and I'd love to see if anyone has any ideas for her to go home to her docs with. Questions, ideas, anything!

Thanks so much for reading all of my ramblings. I really appreciate it!

 

[Jennifer]

Hrmmm, I haven't heard mention of Crohn's causing low sodium levels but we're learning new things all the time on here aren't we? This is my first time looking up this info so I'm learning along with you here. There's this site http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/low-blood-sodium/AN00621 from the Mayo Clinic which talks about hyponatremia (low blood sodium) and how its quite common among older adults due to many possibilities which I think Crohn's and side effects from medications that treat Crohn's could contribute to such as water retention, severe vomiting or diarrhea, anti depressants, pain medication, liver failure, the list goes on. Finally found something that metioned cancer but its towards the end of the page and isn't even listed under "causes." "In some cases, cancer may cause the condition, and radiation, chemotherapy, or surgery to remove the tumor may correct the sodium imbalance." http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmedhealth/PMH0001431/ There's more information in those links than I posted on here so check them out.

It seems like this condition is a silent killer just like high blood pressure (hypertension). Did they not put your mother on any medications that lower your blood pressure? Both my dad and fiance have hypertension and take medication for it now.

 

[Rebecca85]

The majority of sodium is actually absorbed in the terminal ileum. As there are mechanisms there to extract the last bit of salt from foods. Elsewhere, salt is only absorbed if the food is high in salt, and a little bit gets through the intestines by accident. (for the scientific amongst you, active transport occurs in the TI, elsewhere it is passive diffusion). So it does make sense that a low salt diet, plus active Crohn's (or scarring) would equal low sodium levels.

 

[DustyKat]

I was thinking along the same as Rebecca if your Mum's Crohns is located in the terminal ileum and she is actively flaring and/or had scarring. I know after Sarah had hers removed she was told she would likely have issues with salt absorption and it would be something she would need to keep an eye on.

Dusty. xxx

 

[Cat-a-Tonic]

Silvermander: I'm undiagnosed, so I can't say for sure that this is IBD-related for me since I don't know what exactly I've got (most likely IBD, but it's being stubbornly elusive on test results). I do seem to have chronically low sodium levels. Like you said about your mother, I can feel it when my sodium level drops (usually when I am dehydrated and/or after a long bout of diarrhea). I get dizzy and light-headed and sometimes I get some tingling in my fingers & toes too. Eating something salty almost always makes me feel soooo much better. I've found that a few spoonfuls of soy sauce works best for me, even though it's kind of gross, it's super high in sodium. Since I'm undiagnosed, like I said I'm not quite sure how all my symptoms tie together, but I most likely have some form of IBD and I never had sodium issues until I got sick with this gut illness. I know that doesn't help much, but tell your mother it might be a good idea to try something like soy sauce the next time she feels her sodium drop. Just one or two spoonfuls should be enough for her to feel a difference, if she's anything like me!

 

[Astra]

Here is an extract from 'Eating right for a bad gut' by James Scala

The diarrhea associated with IBD causes potassium loss. If you couple this with a diet of processed foods high in sodium, then add the side effects of medication, you've got a recipe for electrolyte imbalance. Such an imbalance can lead to high blood pressure.

An excellent book! Gives a good insight into food selection a how to balance the ratios of sodium and potassium - called the K Factor.

Do you have Bovril over there?
A good drink of this soon speeds up sodium levels. In moderation.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bovril

xxx