Low Mineral Blood Levels

[22Sunpuperwolf22]

Last week, I phoned 911, and went by ambulance to the ER for various symptoms of a possible heart attack. I was having chest pain, severe vertigo, shortness of breath, and nausea.
After repeated blood work for 6 hours at the ER, EKG's and a Cat Scan of my brain, it was determined I had extremely low Sodium, Magnesium, and Potassium blood levels. I was given a liquid cocktail of Potassium, an IV of D5W, Sodium and Magnesium to balance out those blood levels. When the doctor attempted to discharge me from the ER, my symptoms weren't any better. The chest pain was better, though the Vertigo was through the roof. I normally suffer with Vestibular Migraines and Vertigo though I had not ever had it so severe as that night. I was finally admitted at 12 am. The following morning, my Sodium had shot up sky high. Magnesium and Potassium levels were good. The pharmacy at the hospital created a measured amount of specialized dosage of medication in my IV to lower the Sodium in my blood since it was dangerously high. By the end of Tuesday, my Sodium Level got dangerously low and my Vertigo and Migraines were tremendously severe. That night the Doctor decided that in combination with the food I was eating at the hospital he was going to add a Sodium Chloride tablet, 500 mg x 2 per day. Wednesday was another really bad day, as the sodium level climbed very slowly upward, still at very low levels. By midnight, I was able to finally get some relief and I could get to the restroom with some help, and early that A.M. in the restroom alone, I managed to change my ileostomy bag with wash cloths, rubbing alcohol pads, and shampoo wipes from the hospital together my ostomy supplies which my brother brought from my home. I was so proud that I managed to get that done without them having to change my bag as I laid in bed, especially after the past 2 days of suffering that I had. I have been independent with my ileostomy since I had my surgery in 2007, and there was no way I would have wanted to have them help me with my bag change. Honestly, I would have had to instruct them throughout the procedure, since I have found that this particular hospital has no knowledge of those matters. And I never change my bag lying down, as my stoma and belly is much different to apply a bag to when standing than it is when lying.

On Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday, several more tests were run, including a Chest Cat Scan, Heart Ultrasound, Limb and Groin Doppler to test for blood clots, Nuclear Isotopes Lung circulation scans, to test for circulation in my lungs since my D-dimer test was elevated, indicating blood clots somewhere in my body, and numerous more blood tests to check my mineral levels.

What the tests found Is that I have a 4 cm dilation of my Ascending Aorta, which is an Ascending Aortic Aneurysm, which can eventually progress to a deadly Ruptured Aortic Aneurysm. Frightening stuff. Another test determined I had Bilateral Pleural Effusion in my 2 lung bases, which means that there is fluid between my lungs and chest wall causing pressure on my alveolar air sacs, collapsing some of them. All has to be monitored frequently with testing by a Cardiologist and Pulmonologist. Thursday and Friday were excellent days with my mineral levels, and I finally got discharged on Friday at 3:30 pm.

The physician prescribed Sodium Chloride tablets to take home, to take in combination with the food I eat at home. What the nurses realized about my fluid intake , Is that I was drinking approximately 140 oz of water per day , like I do at home. My salt intake in the hospital was much lower than the high salt intake I have at home. When the doctor prescribed for me to take the 1,000 mg of sodium at home that I was taking in the hospital, he didn't realize my sodium intake in my processed foods was much higher than what I was eating in the hospital. The next day at home, on Saturday, I was great. On Sunday eating a high sodium content in my food plus the 1,000 mg of sodium tablets, raised my sodium level dangerously high, and I was suffering with severe vertigo and migraines, which are symptoms for both high and low sodium. I have never measured my portion sizes in my life, usually I adjust my portions to my very big appetite that has progressively increased over the past 2 years. (the reason for my weight gain the past two years). So when Monday rolled around, I thought I would work on an experiment and combine whole foods in combination with limited processed foods and limit all my foods I took in to portion sizes listed on Nutrition labels and continue to take the Sodium Chloride tablets along with those measured portion sizes all while drinking my normal 140 oz of water I drink every day... and wow, what a difference in my health!!

I no longer suffer with vertigo, my migraines are less intense, I have tons of energy, I am no longer weak and sluggish, I am awake longer in a 24 hour time frame, I am sleeping better, and I feel great! No more extreme vertigo!!! Before my hospital admission, I was having vertigo nearly every day. I can continue to drink what I normally drink, take the 1,000 mg sodium tablets, and eat better foods, all by eating measured portion sizes! It was an experiment I didn't realize would even work, and that the doctors never suggested to me! I'm blown away with my discovery!!

[Mara]

22sun, what a horror story!! So glad you are feeling better now and have things more under control. I hope you have excellent cardiologists and pulmonologists to follow up as you seem to have some severe health issues.....

[Shamrock4806]

Electrolyte Dynamics

Sodium: Both low and high sodium can produce neurologic symptoms—vertigo, confusion, headache, nausea, even seizures.

Hyponatremia likely developed from excessive free-water intake (140 oz/day ≈ 4.1 L) compared to sodium intake.

Hypernatremia developed when sodium was replaced too aggressively and compounded by dietary salt.


Magnesium and Potassium: Low levels often coexist; magnesium depletion can worsen hypokalemia. Correction is essential for cardiac stability.- ChatGPT 5


I have an oral rehydration electrolyte solution that I make occasionally for my illeostomy and keep in the refrigerator.

1: 3/4 ice cold water bottle

2: Tiny pinches of salt one at a time, shake, taste and repeat until you can barely taste the salt.

3: Fill the rest of the bottle with orange juice (potassium) and shake. Sip slowly.


What I see is occurring is your not on an ideal ileostomy diet that requires high protein, a little carbs and virtually no fat. So your water intake is high because your always dumping the bag, thus washing out electrolytes and went into a crisis.

You mention you eat big meals, this will do it as well, as your system is in overdrive. Small 2-3 oz nutritious and non ileostomy problem causing meals throughout the day (about every four hours) has worked for me.

What I do for high energy is consume a glass of lactose free milk mixed with one scoop of Whey Isolate protein powder. (not Whey Concentrate). This stuff is like almost 100% protein and this way you really only need small meals to keep hunger away.

But the meals have to be the right kind of else you get diarrhea and rapid water loss which results in you drinking more water and flushing out your electrolytes.

I'll post some links here to assist you, refresh the page while I go and find them.

Okay this link is the information my ostomy dietician gave me

viewtopic.php?t=27735


I have since perfected my diet here

viewtopic.php?t=27793

Yes it's boring and sort of bland, but I don't have the rapid water and dehydration issues anymore.

I have plenty of energy and do stuff around the house as best I can. The Whey Isolate has been a big game changer for me as it provides nearly all my daily protein in one small glass. Vitamins are important as well and I take a low dose potassium magnesium gummies with a general multi vitamin gummy daily. Also a Vitamin K and an iron pill occasionally.

I could get Whey Isolate with all the vitamins but if one of them overloads me (like magnesium) I'll have 8-12:hours of diarrhea. So instead I just space them out more over the day.

B 12 is especially important for ileostomates because it's taken up in intestines where they may be gone or bypassed.

Also you might be becoming prediabetic and less tolerant of sugar or high carbs, which can trigger rapid diarrhea. And another thing I learned is not to chug water or any fluids but sip slowly until your body has time to adjust. Too much just flows into the bag.

So yea the body is a complicated machine and diet is everything.

This is from my experience, yours may be different so always check with your doctor.

[NEskier]

@22sunpuperwolf22 What a mess!! I will only address the aneurysm here. The important part is they FOUND it before it had a chance to dissect. My doctors watched mine for at least seven or eight years before we took action to repair it. Open heart surgery is no walk in the park but beats the alternative (I know two people who had dissections ).

When/if you get to the repair stage, make sure the surgeon does aortic repairs, not general cardiology. I'm blessed to have been able to go to Boston with a surgeon who only does a lot of valve work but also does heart transplants. He's got the skills and also is a wonderful communicator. Not all cardiac surgeons are, although they might be superb technicians.

Best of luck on your health journey!

[22Sunpuperwolf22]

Thank you, Mara! Definitely wasn't a fun adventure at all.

[22Sunpuperwolf22]

HI NEskier,

Thank you, NEskier, and thank you for posting regarding my Aortic Aneurysm! What you posted is what I was told by my hospital physician and is pretty frightening to imagine happening to me. I'm sure your Open Heart Surgery was really awful to experience and have to recover from. Thank you for stating how vital it is to obtain the proper Cardiologist that is specialized in that type of surgery! Very great information! I'm curious if you had an active lifestyle before your surgery and If you were eventually able to return to your activity level that you had before your surgery. I am very concerned about that since I am a Wildlife Photographer and I like to hike! I'm curious, how old were you when you had to have the ascending aorta replaced? I am age 64.

[22Sunpuperwolf22]

HI Shamrock,

Thank you for all the good information regarding Mineral deficiencies and imbalances! In my case, as told to me by the doctors, I was taking in enough protein, potassium, magnesium, and sodium and all nutrients in my diet at home and in the hospital, though there is a hormone in the back of my brain that is being released that is causing a few of my minerals to rapidly and frequently drop in my blood stream which is being caused by a couple of medications I take which are vital for me to take for my survival. My Physician completely understands those meds are absolutely necessary for me to take and so he told me I don't have to stop taking those and he told me there is another option that he came up with to combat the hormones causing that to happen, by adding 500 mg of sodium chloride twice per day, to my diet every day. Together with my experiment of eating more Whole Foods, drinking 140 oz of water, and limiting my portion sizes, we have come up with a solution to my situation! Thank you again for all of the vital data! Note: I take B-12 vitamin, iron every other day, and calcium with d-3. I get all of the remainder of my nutrients in my foods I eat, which is a much healthier and more efficient way to obtain nutrients in the body!

[NEskier]

HI NEskier,

Thank you, NEskier, and thank you for posting regarding my Aortic Aneurysm! What you posted is what I was told by my hospital physician and is pretty frightening to imagine happening to me. I'm sure your Open Heart Surgery was really awful to experience and have to recover from. Thank you for stating how vital it is to obtain the proper Cardiologist that is specialized in that type of surgery! Very great information! I'm curious if you had an active lifestyle before your surgery and If you were eventually able to return to your activity level that you had before your surgery. I am very concerned about that since I am a Wildlife Photographer and I like to hike! I'm curious, how old were you when you had to have the ascending aorta replaced? I am age 64.

64? You're a kid!! I was 69 for one, 70 for the other. I actually had two OHS ... fixed the aneurysm in 2023 and fixed the aortic valve in hopes of sparing the existing valve. HA. I got a call from my surgeon that he didn't like the looks of my follow up echo. After I got through asking why he hadn't just slapped another valve in when he was in there, and a month to think, I decided to get the aortic valve replaced in 2024. Yay. At the same time they rebuilt the aortic hemi arch. So I'm all kinds of new!

The reason I didn't put off the second surgery was the docs (during the valve/regular cardiology process I had three!) didn't want me racing my sailboat. I missed 2023 ski season since they were concerned about the aneurysm. The place I stay is an hour away from a level one trauma center .... I wouldn't have made it if it dissected. I didn't want to lose another of my sports. So yes, I was and am active. I skied last winter after I did my cardiac rehab and raced my boat this summer. I also walk/jog, lift weights (lighter these days), teach and take Pilates classes etc etc. I consider myself lucky and determined!

I can't see any reason, pending other health concerns, that you won't be back to hiking and wildlife photography. What a cool gig! Feel free to DM if there is something I haven't already answered.

[22Sunpuperwolf22]

HI NEskier,

Yikes, 2 Open Heart Surgeries and valve replacements! Gosh and at 69 and 70! You are amazing! I love how active you are and how active you continue to be after what you have gone through. I hope if I ever have to have my ascending aortic aneurysm replaced, I recover as well as you have! Thank you for giving me hope and encouragement! I have scheduled an appt. in February with my Cardiologist I had in the past. (the earliest my trusted and experienced cardiologist had). I'd been told by my Internist that my dilation of 4cm isn't an immediate emergency as yet, and that all should be good with my appt being in February. I hope so...

[NEskier]

@Sunpup (sorry the rest is just too long to type and no way is my dictation going to spell that out!) - 4 cm is nice and small unless you have something else going on. Usually the surgical point is 5. I have a runner friend who is waiting for 5 (so he can keep his private pilot's license). I figure since he runs with his cardiologist, she can chase him into surgery when it's time!

Since you have a team watching you, and are active now, you are a good candidate. I did a bit of a 'should I have done this sooner' dance with myself. The healthier you are going in, the easier the back side and recovery is. I did add some specific exercises to help work around what I wouldn't be able to do during recovery. That helped a lot.

Sorry everyone for the hi-jack to cardiology!

[22Sunpuperwolf22]

Hi NEskier,

I appreciate all of your input and experience regarding my 4 mm dilation of my Ascending Aortic Aneurysm. I wouldn't have had any knowledge about this condition had you not responded! I just had a bone density test a few days ago, and sadly was diagnosed with osteoporosis in my femoral necks, and osteopenia in my hips and lumbar spine. I have been having pain in my hips and lower back for the longest time when out photographing, so I thought I would get the bone density test. I now have confirmation why. So I am actively attempting to walk 20 minutes on every day that I am not out photographing to hopefully strengthen my bone mass.

Jayme

[NEskier]

Hi NEskier,

I appreciate all of your input and experience regarding my 4 mm dilation of my Ascending Aortic Aneurysm. I wouldn't have had any knowledge about this condition had you not responded! I just had a bone density test a few days ago, and sadly was diagnosed with osteoporosis in my femoral necks, and osteopenia in my hips and lumbar spine. I have been having pain in my hips and lower back for the longest time when out photographing, so I thought I would get the bone density test. I now have confirmation why. So I am actively attempting to walk 20 minutes on every day that I am not out photographing to hopefully strengthen my bone mass.

Jayme

Well, drat (polite term vs actual first thought) on the osteoporosis/osteopenia diagnosis. Especially on the femoral head since it works so much of the time you're active. Any chance of getting PT with a qualified bone density person? I work with a client who is trying to increase her bone density and we find ways to increase the load on bones, muscles, tendons. We have a bone fit class but with active osteoporosis I'd rather see one on one for safety. Best of luck on this front, too!

[22Sunpuperwolf22]

Hi Neskier,

I have yet to get a response from my Internist regarding my diagnosis after the bone density test to see what her recommendations are for medication, PT, exercise, calcium and vitamin d supplements. So we'll have to see what she recommends. Thank you, Neskier!