Just seen letter hospital sent to my gp. My sodium level is 134 and they suggested Hyponapea test.
Any advice welcome on fluid intake. Never had cause to think about how much I drink before.
Fortunately seeing my alternative practioner in 3 weeks so I'll make sure test is done before then
It's such a balancing act we have . Important to do regular blood tests so we can adjust when needed
What does this test mean please?
I'd never heard if it either.
Hyponatraemia is a sodium < 133 mmol/l. In general investigate if persistently Na < 130 mmol/l. Chronic hyponatraemia should be assumed if the rate of Na fall is uncertain. Sodium should not be corrected rapidly to avoid osmotic demyelination syndrome.
Thanks still none the wiser lol
I'll ask Dr. When I make appointment for test . Must be to try and find out why sodium low ?
Just realised spelt wrong in first post.
Oh ok thank you for that
Hydration does affect sodium levels as well as other electrolytes. Hyponatremia can be induced by over-hydrating. I suspect that you should be drinking the same amount of water that you always drink in order to compare apples to apples; however, this is a question for the doctor who ordered the test.
Hyponatremia can be causes by a number of different things, including impaired kidney function. It can also be caused by some drugs, possibly including hydroxycarbamide. Note that this seems to be a rare side effect.
"Hydroxyurea, an orally active agent used mainly in the treatment of patients with chronic myeloid leukemia, also has been implicated as a possible cause of hyponatremia secondary to inappropriate secretion of antidiuretic hormone." ajkd.org/article/S0272-6386....
Hyponatremia does require a proper assessment and treatment. Please do let us know what you learn.
Wishing you all the best.
Thanks Hunter . I have been drinking a lot as thought it was best to when taking hydroxicarbamide. Cutting down down to more reasonable quantity Probably to enthusiastic!!
Will be interesting to see what results are .
Best wishes to you to .
Carolyn
Hi Hunter and Mostew,
I also had hyponatremia off and on while I was on HU- first time in my life that I was ever encouraged to use salt [foods considered salty have always been my personal favorites ;-)]
It has completely resolved now that I'm no longer taking it, and now I intermittently have pseudohyperkalemia instead.
I know this is an older post, but I'm still working back through what piled up while I was indisposed...
Best,
PA
It takes quite a lot of water intake to induce hyponatremia. We do have to maintain good hydration with MPNs, especially when taking any of the meds used to treat. I always drink a minimum of 64oz of water + various tasty beverages. If I am drinking a lot more due to exertion/heat, I be sure to include a drink with electrolytes (none of that nasty sugary weird color stuff).
Hope you get it all sorted ASAP.
She hasn't said I have hyponatraemia. Don't know how low sodium needs to be to say it is? Or are other things measured in that test ?
Hyponatremia is defined as a serum sodium concentration of less than 135 mEq/L but can vary to a small extent in different laboratories. Hyponatremia is a common electrolyte abnormality caused by an excess of total body water when compared to total body sodium content. ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK4....
Thanks . That article explains clearly . Now I understand
Hi, my GP did a range of tests in January and my sodium level was 131. I asked for a retest and I’m waiting for results. I do drink lots of fluids so I’ll see what the result is and maybe reduce. Good luck with your investigations. Keep posting as we all learn so much from the experience of others. Xx
Thank you. Hard to know what's 'enough' isn't it ....
Hope your level goes up this time
How much fluid is enough? I was recommended to check urine colour- needs to be pale straw colour but no paler. You can overdo the fluids. There are standard pee charts with numbers for the various shades.
I’ll have a look . It’s probably been to pale …
I think I have mentioned this in the past, but I always remember a comment from my MPN specialist when discussing water consumption ( I have PV and taking Hydrea and aspirin) and she said best to have a few sips/gulps more often rather than drink a large amount in one go as that will just pass straight through into the bladder. I am just wondering whether this might be affecting your sodium levels and possibly kidney function? We do need to be aware of our liquid consumption but perhaps a little and often is the key?
My sodium dropped to 131 out of the blue. I explained that my dog had surgery around the time and that I was very stressed therefore hadn’t eaten very much and due to stress I had a dry mouth so I drank loads of water. They were not worried at this stage. My lovely dog recovering well, I felt better and used the low sodium as an excuse to treat myself to lots of salt on my chips being very naughty. Next set of results were back to normal as I too, including the neurotic mind, had returned to normal😂. I feel I had washed out the salt and not uptaken enough going in all in the course of a week. I am not recommending what I did but it worked. We can drink too much water sometimes which isn’t good either. Hope it sorts itself out for you by next blood test results. Ps have cut down on the salt again but it was fun while it lasted
Glad you are ok now and your dog . Just shows how body and mind work together
Thank you
Do you think they thought you had 2 problems? I wondered if part of your original question was to do with tests for sleep apnea x Apologies if I misunderstood xRachel x
I'm in a similar situation as my recent blood test found I have low sodium levels. I am recently diagnosed with ET Jak 2 and have been on hydrea and aspirin for 5 months. My GP seems to think it's my blood pressure medication Losartan and has told me to half my dose and he will check my blood again in 4 weeks. My blood pressure has also dropped lately too which I thought was a good thing as I'm usually a bit high but I'm thinking it's all related now. Interesting to read on here that low sodium can also be a side effect of hydrea.
yes it is interesting . Difficult to know what causes what .
Hope your results are ok next time tested
Hi Mostew,
There is no hyponapea in internet. I think it’s hyponatraemia, Ana too low. I had that when I got Covid. If it’s very low, it’s very dangerous. Have you had diarrhea in the last while or have been sweating too much in the heat? If you have and are not taking enough salt, that can happen very quickly. Then you feel extremely run down and can hardly breathe properly. I was in the hospital and the doctor had to add sodium very slowly to my body. There is no quick fix. It has to be done slowly or else it’s dangerous. I am sure there might be some medications also that cause deficiencies with sodium. I would suggest reading up on that. There are electrolyte powders that we buy at the pharmacy. To help with our sodium in potassium balance. Both are super important.
hope to have helped, Anag
Your thoughts and are always welcome Anag Quite right . I made a mistake re. hyponatraemia. Never heard of it till recently.
Fortunately my sodium has returned to normal . ( 135)
I wanted to make sure all tests done when a little low so as not to suddenly find I had a problem .
I love salt so I'm sure I have enough. But possibly overdoing it on fluids . I've been having less
Hope you are doing OK
Xarolyn
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