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mechanicalgirl39
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19 Apr 2010, 4:52 pm

So I'm sick at the moment, if that might be anything to do with it, and I have come down with a raging salt craving. I just ate what must have been enough of it to kill a small animal, and I have finally stopped feeling like I'm dying of hyponatremia..

I normally feel the need for lots of salt anyway (little bit hypotensive), but this is way more severe than usual. ????


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19 Apr 2010, 10:29 pm

I'd check with your doctor & make sure your consuming LOTS of water as well. Also, I've read craving salty foods can signal having a fast metabolism.


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19 Apr 2010, 11:43 pm

Didn't you post something about postural hypotension? Salt craving and low blood pressure are signs of adrenal hypofunction. If you're wanting to do something about it, I would get your cortisol levels checked. If you're just wanting to know why, those would be my first guess.



mechanicalgirl39
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20 Apr 2010, 7:03 am

astaut wrote:
Didn't you post something about postural hypotension? Salt craving and low blood pressure are signs of adrenal hypofunction. If you're wanting to do something about it, I would get your cortisol levels checked. If you're just wanting to know why, those would be my first guess.


Yeah I just wanted to know why it had flared up like that. If I had mild adrenal hypofunction, would it be likely to get worse when sick?


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20 Apr 2010, 3:55 pm

As a little kid I craved salt so bad my parents had to hide it. I was also constantly thirsty and every diabeaties test came back negetive. I've heard it can be a sign of low zinc. My salt cravings go into overdrive when I get sick.



mechanicalgirl39
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20 Apr 2010, 3:57 pm

PunkyKat wrote:
As a little kid I craved salt so bad my parents had to hide it. I was also constantly thirsty and every diabeaties test came back negetive. I've heard it can be a sign of low zinc. My salt cravings go into overdrive when I get sick.


Do you also have low blood pressure, or feel it drop when you stand (head rush, dizziness, or temporarily blindness?)


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astaut
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20 Apr 2010, 11:29 pm

mechanicalgirl39 wrote:
astaut wrote:
Didn't you post something about postural hypotension? Salt craving and low blood pressure are signs of adrenal hypofunction. If you're wanting to do something about it, I would get your cortisol levels checked. If you're just wanting to know why, those would be my first guess.


Yeah I just wanted to know why it had flared up like that. If I had mild adrenal hypofunction, would it be likely to get worse when sick?


Probably so, yes. Those with actual adrenal insufficiency definitely get worse when sick. For instance, I have to increase my steroid medication when I'm ill or there is a possibility of my body going into adrenal crisis. Those with adrenal fatigue (I was referring to it as hypofunction since adrenal fatigue is a fad diagnosis now) wouldn't go into actual crisis, but might feel worse or have a harder time recovering when ill. I don't know as much about adrenal fatigue as actual adrenal insufficiency, but I think that would be accurate. There are home tests to do for adrenal insufficiency but of course they are not definitive.



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21 Apr 2010, 12:05 am

mechanicalgirl39 wrote:
PunkyKat wrote:
As a little kid I craved salt so bad my parents had to hide it. I was also constantly thirsty and every diabeaties test came back negetive. I've heard it can be a sign of low zinc. My salt cravings go into overdrive when I get sick.


Do you also have low blood pressure, or feel it drop when you stand (head rush, dizziness, or temporarily blindness?)


I recently had dizzy spells that were so bad I couldn't stand up without vomiting and a weird sensation I can only describe as "brain spasams". Supposly I get the dizzy spells because of high blood sugar but I don't know.



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21 Apr 2010, 12:06 am

mechanicalgirl39 wrote:
So I'm sick at the moment, if that might be anything to do with it, and I have come down with a raging salt craving. I just ate what must have been enough of it to kill a small animal, and I have finally stopped feeling like I'm dying of hyponatremia..

I normally feel the need for lots of salt anyway (little bit hypotensive), but this is way more severe than usual. ????


omg your preggers, start chugging the caffeen



Avarice
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21 Apr 2010, 6:26 am

astaut wrote:
Didn't you post something about postural hypotension? Salt craving and low blood pressure are signs of adrenal hypofunction. If you're wanting to do something about it, I would get your cortisol levels checked. If you're just wanting to know why, those would be my first guess.


That was me. But I have salt cravings as well. It might have to look into that...



mechanicalgirl39
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21 Apr 2010, 6:42 am

astaut wrote:
mechanicalgirl39 wrote:
astaut wrote:
Didn't you post something about postural hypotension? Salt craving and low blood pressure are signs of adrenal hypofunction. If you're wanting to do something about it, I would get your cortisol levels checked. If you're just wanting to know why, those would be my first guess.


Yeah I just wanted to know why it had flared up like that. If I had mild adrenal hypofunction, would it be likely to get worse when sick?


Probably so, yes. Those with actual adrenal insufficiency definitely get worse when sick. For instance, I have to increase my steroid medication when I'm ill or there is a possibility of my body going into adrenal crisis. Those with adrenal fatigue (I was referring to it as hypofunction since adrenal fatigue is a fad diagnosis now) wouldn't go into actual crisis, but might feel worse or have a harder time recovering when ill. I don't know as much about adrenal fatigue as actual adrenal insufficiency, but I think that would be accurate. There are home tests to do for adrenal insufficiency but of course they are not definitive.


Thanks :) So I am probably a slight bit low but not dangerously so?


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astaut
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21 Apr 2010, 4:31 pm

http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/adrena ... ue/AN01583

There's a link about it. Yes, I suppose you would say your levels are low but not dangerous (if that's what you have). I find adrenal fatigue a bit confusing because they originally diagnosed me with that, but I turned out to have full-blown Addison's Disease. So I don't know if there are people out there who develop adrenal insufficiency/Addison's Disease or not. I know there are those who recover from adrenal fatigue, though. I wouldn't worry about it being dangerous unless you sometime show symptoms of an adrenal crisis (you'll get a million results if you google it), but you could probably feel better by doing some natural stuff if you have adrenal fatigue.



mechanicalgirl39
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21 Apr 2010, 6:11 pm

astaut wrote:
http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/adrenal-fatigue/AN01583

There's a link about it. Yes, I suppose you would say your levels are low but not dangerous (if that's what you have). I find adrenal fatigue a bit confusing because they originally diagnosed me with that, but I turned out to have full-blown Addison's Disease. So I don't know if there are people out there who develop adrenal insufficiency/Addison's Disease or not. I know there are those who recover from adrenal fatigue, though. I wouldn't worry about it being dangerous unless you sometime show symptoms of an adrenal crisis (you'll get a million results if you google it), but you could probably feel better by doing some natural stuff if you have adrenal fatigue.


Thanks for link :) It sucks that you have the full blown one.

I sometimes get a kind of needlish pain about where the adrenals would be, is that likely anything to do with the low blood pressure/salt craving?


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astaut
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21 Apr 2010, 10:14 pm

mechanicalgirl39 wrote:
astaut wrote:
http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/adrenal-fatigue/AN01583

There's a link about it. Yes, I suppose you would say your levels are low but not dangerous (if that's what you have). I find adrenal fatigue a bit confusing because they originally diagnosed me with that, but I turned out to have full-blown Addison's Disease. So I don't know if there are people out there who develop adrenal insufficiency/Addison's Disease or not. I know there are those who recover from adrenal fatigue, though. I wouldn't worry about it being dangerous unless you sometime show symptoms of an adrenal crisis (you'll get a million results if you google it), but you could probably feel better by doing some natural stuff if you have adrenal fatigue.


Thanks for link :) It sucks that you have the full blown one.

I sometimes get a kind of needlish pain about where the adrenals would be, is that likely anything to do with the low blood pressure/salt craving?


People always say "oh that sucks" and things like that, but truthfully I'm just glad they finally figured out what my diagnosis is :] I have a chiari malformation (causes headaches) and that gives me a lot more trouble than my adrenal issues. I'm not sure about the needle feeling. I have heard some people complain of pain around the adrenal site (I talk to a lot of people with adrenal problems on facebook), but I don't have that symptom. I have gotten severe pain in my side(s) which I've learned is a signal that I need to take more steroids. (Adrenal insufficiency means I don't make enough cortisol, so I take a replacement hormone, hydrocortisone.) If you have a facebook there are a lot of pages/groups about Addison's Disease/Adrenal insufficiency and probably adrenal fatigue if you search, so you might look around on there.



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22 Apr 2010, 1:14 pm

This isn't in response to the OP's question; more about the subsequent line of discussion.

I've had low pressure most of my life, and a constant craving for salt. I've kind of figured the two go hand in hand. I did read the link, above, and weight loss has not, unfortunately, ever been my problem (unexplained weight gain, however, frequently is), so that theory seems to be out the window.

I remember years ago cutting back on my salt because everyone kept harping on it, and the result was an increase in dizzy spells. Stopped cutting back, and the dizzy spells ended.

I think some of us just need more salt. As long as blood pressure is healthy, that should be OK.


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mechanicalgirl39
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22 Apr 2010, 1:19 pm

DW_a_mom wrote:
This isn't in response to the OP's question; more about the subsequent line of discussion.

I've had low pressure most of my life, and a constant craving for salt. I've kind of figured the two go hand in hand. I did read the link, above, and weight loss has not, unfortunately, ever been my problem (unexplained weight gain, however, frequently is), so that theory seems to be out the window.

I remember years ago cutting back on my salt because everyone kept harping on it, and the result was an increase in dizzy spells. Stopped cutting back, and the dizzy spells ended.

I think some of us just need more salt. As long as blood pressure is healthy, that should be OK.


I once had to give up salt for a while because my adrenals were *hyperactive* (the medulla, not the cortex. I had excessively high adrenaline...) The orthostatic hypotension got way worse. As in nearly passing out whenever I stood. Some health advice that was!! !


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