This section is a place to share stories about Living with Electrolyte Imbalance.
Below are entries of those who have already shared their stories. We hope that you find their experiences helpful to your own situation.
I have been ill for about 10 years since I had had mononucleosis. After the mono illness last for about 6 months I began to have IBS and panic attack as well as acid reflux symptoms that worsened over a 5 year period. In year 6 all hell
broke loose and new symptoms appeared that
included severe stomach pain with horrible
IBS where I needed to go to the toilet with
diarhea about every 15 minutes. I
was given narcotics for the pain that
I used for about 3 years while I attempted to
find the cause. Eventually I was given
antipsychotics, anti-depressants and then
anti-seizure medicine. I got myself
off of the narcotics, the anti-depressants
but am still on the anti-seizure medicine
and the anti-psycotics. The anti-seizure medine was actually the best at controlling
the symptoms making the IBS and all pain
disappear. The doctors could not find
any EEG readings but the anti-seizure medicine seemed to be the medicine that
worked the best since I was given this
after the others did not work. It really
made a huge difference. I also developed
high blood pressure during the same period
and am taking a thiazide for this. I
discovered that I must have as little sodium
(salt) as possible however to keep the symptoms as bay since eating normal
levels of sodium in my diet seems
to undo the effect of the anti-seizure
medicine. I know that the anti-seizure
medicine (trileptal) takes sodium ions
out of the neurons which seems to
be consistent with my not being able
to tolerate sodium in my diet. Recently
I have developed other symptoms
including numbness in my hands and
my face as well as electrical feeling
attacks that over whelm me as well
as stiffening of my hand and face
muscles. My medical checkup
showed low levels of sodium in my
blood but nothing else that a routine
physical with urine and blood tests
would find wrong. I am not
sure of exactly what tests were done
but I am guessing that my kidneys
etc are fine. Sodium seems to be
the key - between the high blood
pressure, the intolerance to sodium
in my food and the need for anti-seizure
medicine it seems that maybe my
body cannot regulate this electrolye.
If I eat sodium or salty foods the exact
same symptoms come back that the anti-seizure medicine corrects. I had
these symptoms before taking any
medicine so I am guessing that it
is not the medicine that is causing my
difficulty at the moment but who
knows. At the moment I am suspecting
that maybe the mono virus may have
affected either a gland or my kidneys
enough to cause an electrolyte imbalance
but not enough to show up as severe
renal failure. How can I find this
out and out can I balance my electrolytes
through diet or medication. Can I take
a different non-diuretic medicine for
the blood pressure. I am getting quite
ill again with these new symptoms that
are somewhat new inspire of
changing nothing in my medications or
diet.
