Salt and morning headaches

[HeronNS]

I've held off posting about this for a few days, although I've mentioned it where it seems relevant in replies. For a long time I've often woken up with a headache in the morning, which usually goes away after I've been up for a while and had breakfast. I don't know when this first started but it was several years ago, and I noted it because I never woke up with headaches before that.

While I was away on holiday a fellow traveller suggested that I was low in sodium and should eat some salt. I did this, finding that a little salt on my fingertip tasted really good! The following morning, no headache. A couple of evenings later I did the same thing, and after a few tastes suddenly I was overwhelmed with how disgusting the salt tasted and knew I finally had taken enough!

The good part of this is I have not since had a single morning headache, in fact I wake up feeling remarkably well, and I honestly can't remember when I last was waking up consistently feeling well with no headache or feelings of incipient headache.

I suppose the next step is for me to check my blood pressure somehow to make sure I haven't done anything dangerous. I can say, however, that a couple of years ago, having been on pred for about a year, I noticed my heart seemed to be skipping beats and I often had moments of faintness. My doctor being completely uninterested in this symptom I had to take matters into my own hands. I wondered whether I needed more salt as I've eaten little added salt for many years and did take in a bit more salt with my breakfast, and this seemed to help. But the morning headaches increased in frequency as time went by.

So, just wanted to share this experience in case it helps others.

[SheffieldJane]

Thank you for posting. I love natural wisdom like this.

[HeronNS in reply to SheffieldJane]

This is only my personal experience. If you look up sodium intake on Dr Google I think what I've done would be considered a no no! On the other hand it appears that the low sodium mantra preached by the medical profession may turn out to be a mistaken generalization.

[HeronNS in reply to HeronNS]

And, by coincidence, this book from the library was waiting for me when I got home:

thesaltfix.com/

[Hidden in reply to HeronNS]

We need salt/sodium and if someone cooks from stratch and doesn't season with it, especially if dehydrated then perhaps it can make a difference. Perhaps a homemade isotonic drink might help headaches as well.

[HeronNS in reply to Hidden]

I've always been careful with hydration, but that's not much good if your body can't retain the fluid if there isn't enough sodium! We removed the salt shaker from the table decades ago, and usually reduce salt called for in recipes. No more!

[Longtimer]

Oh, this does make us wonder what is right or wrong, we are always led to believe there is enough salt in our foods....but I cook from scratch, and never add salt to food or at the table, but my husband does and always has.....funny how they tend to reverse what they tell us after a few years. I have said all along we are guinea pigs!.....

Hope the headaches keep at bay!

[Constance13 in reply to Longtimer]

You’re right! we’re “guinea piged”😀 over and over again.

[DorsetLady PMRGCAuk volunteer]

My DIL went through a stage of faintness etc a couple of years ago, and it was put down to low sodium levels. Very careful about drinking the right amount of fluids during the day, and not adding salt to anything!

She now has a sodium tablet once a day dissolved in water, and voila, no more fainting fits!

As we say...moderation in all things!

[HeronNS in reply to DorsetLady]

A simple fix for what had been, I'm sure, a very inconvenient and worrisome problem.

The reaction to the book, The Salt Fix, has been rather negative. For example:

theguardian.com/science/201...

On the other hand, the author isn't proposing a "high salt" diet. He's simply stating that normal salt intake should be higher than the recommendations have been for many years. He says that given freedom to regulate their own salt intake human beings throughout the world tend to settle on the same level, which happens to be higher than that recommended in the Western world, where, perhaps not coincidentally, heart disease and diabetes remain at very high levels. It's also important to maintain the right level of potassium and reduce if not eliminate added sugar. I'm certainly not recommending we all start eating tablespoons of salt, but if people have the symptoms of low sodium and they've actively reduced their salt intake for a while, as I had, then it could be a very simple fix for a lot of problems. I can honestly say I can't believe every morning when I get up how much better things are for me, and this is the only change I've made. And I must emphasize that the book only backs up what I'd already discovered independently.

[DorsetLady PMRGCAuk volunteer in reply to HeronNS]

As we’ve said before, the advice about what to eat or not eat seems to change daily, if not hourly!

Today I read that, following a study in China, we should be eating more eggs - and on a daily basis. How long ago were we told no more than two a week, it’s not good for cholesterol levels!

We obviously need certain minerals, vitamins etc every day, and as humans we must have been doing something right to have lived this long.

I think the problem is maybe in the concentration of certain foods (although you would assume the variety we have available to us nowadays that shouldn’t apply) and the quantity we consume. In the civilised world we all eat more than we actually need, and unfortunately don’t live the life to work it off.

We are hunter-gathers by nature, and like it or not evolution hasn't yet caught up with us now being sedentary creatures!

[Hidden]

I,m with you on that, a good book to read is called' Too little salt, 10 annoying symptoms. I got it for Kindle for £0.99. Since adding salt to my food I feel much better. All blood test results good, blood pressure stable and within good range. Doctors told me years ago not to add salt to any thing. However, for me, that was bad advice. When you eat home cooked food, you need salt.

Like you, morning headaches have stopped. 🤗

Pete 😉

[HeronNS in reply to Hidden]

Unfortunately I don't think I can get the book. Have a different kind of ebook. It's not available at my library. Amazon says paperback available from $51! Now I just have to convert my dietitian daughter. It shouldn't be too difficult. She collapsed at the end of the Boston Marathon the first time she ran it. Had to be taken to the rehydration tent and has no memory of the moments when another runner stopped and helped her stagger across the finish line. She learned her lesson and fared much better the second time. But when I mentioned The Salt Fix to her she responded with some skepticism.

[Hidden in reply to HeronNS]

Yes I was sceptical as well, but reading the book highlighted a few of the symptoms I was experiencing. I thought it would be a good idea to try it to see what happened to my blood pressure, because I was having difficulty controlling it. It seemed to be all over place. When I started adding salt to my food and within a few days my blood pressure actually dropped a few points and stabilised. Somehow I feel better as well

It's now six months since I started using salt and blood pressure is still ok. I do take blood pressure tablets but I could never get a stable reading day to day.

I think it is very interesting and I conclude that I may not have been getting the salt that the body required. I avoided salt like the plague. Now I am not so concerned.

However there is a difference between enough and too much.

[Mrs-CJ]

There is a lot of info available about adrenal fatigue.....and it is very frequently advised that you need to get more salt in your diet. It might be that when we need our adrenals to ramp up and they have sluggish periods getting going that we need more salt.

I have been through a few periods, during prednisone reductions below about 4 mgs, when I craved salt......and I not only added more salt to my food but I also put 1/4 teaspoon in a couple glasses of water during the day. Within a few days the craving stopped.

My main symptoms during these periods were fatigue and a bit light headed.

I would like to say I have low blood pressure but they keep tinkering with the official numbers so I think I may now be in the normal range 😊

[HeronNS in reply to Mrs-CJ]

It really is only logical that we humans, like all animals, need a certain amount of salt in our diet. We came from the sea and our blood washes every cell with an ocean of salty water. Our kidneys are capable of filtering pounds of salt every day and probably originated as organs to regulate the amount of salt circulating in our system. Always something new to learn. 👩‍🏫👩‍🎓

[Hidden in reply to HeronNS]

Spot on, the book I mentioned goes into this subject very clearly. I think some doctors have gone overboard with the no salt rule.

[karegodd]

Very interesting. Woke up with a migraine this morning. Going to try a little salt right now. Hope the experiment works.

Just an aside. When I come out of a 2 day migraine the first thing I crave is salt.

Thanks for sharing😊

[Telian in reply to karegodd]

Hope it works karegodd, nothing worse than migraines. Mine were hormonal and suffered them for ten years on the dot on a monthly basis, when I got through menopause they miraculously stopped. My mother suffered the same. Never knew about salt intake at the time though..

[karegodd in reply to Telian]

Yes I’ve had that too. Been a long time migraine sufferer. They eased a lot with menopause but have come back with a furry with pmr.

Glad you know longer suffer from them. That is promising.

[Telian in reply to karegodd]

Strange that I don't suffer any normal headaches, my neck/head pains are the GCA/PMR and OA so that's enough...

[karegodd in reply to Telian]

So sorry. You’re right that is plenty enough.

[Nap1]

When my husband was in rehab for a week after surgery during his rehab he passed out. They took him back to the hospital and after the blood tests said he was fine. When I checked the numbers I found him slightly low in sodium. Gave him salt from the peanuts I had bought and he was back to normal. Some of us are most sensitive to songs and most doctors are afraid of salt.

[Jackoh]

Thanks for posting this Heron. I sometimes have bad headaches and don't have hardly any salt so I'll try this

[Fran57]

Hello.

That's so interesting and I'm so glad for you about the headaches 😉 I always think we should listen to our bodies first and then the doctors.

Just to update on my situation, as I said I would, a while back. I had my parathyroidectomy on Tuesday, so just recovering at home now ( never had an operation before).

I fractured my pelvis in September and discovered to my horror that I have osteoporosis . Doctors said take alendronic acid, but I researched and asked people on this very helpful forum and asked my GP for more blood tests and it turns out I had hyperparathyroidism, a big cause of osteoporosis ( all the calcium is leached from the bones) and if I had taken the drugs it would have made absolutely no difference! Nobody told me this, but thankfully I didn't take them.

Now, the hope is that, if the hyperparathyroidism is sorted the bones will gradually improve at least to the same level as if I'd taken the alendronic acid. I suppose I won't know until I get another DEXA scan in a year or so, but I'm hoping....

Take care everyone! Check your parathyroid hormone levels - it's one of the most undiagnosed things out there ( it affects about 5 in a thousand)

Fran ☺️

[HeronNS in reply to Fran57]

Very interesting. Thank you for posting. Seems like the suggestion from proponents of natural treatments for osteoporosis that it's important to determine the exact reason for thinning bones should be heeded by doctors. What will you be doing to help the bones recover? I think for people who haven't an existing problem like parathyroidism it is possible to increase bone density through nutrition, supplements and appropriate exercise at about the same rate as bone meds can.

Would you consider reposting this comment in a new thread so more people see it? And I'm sure the people on the Bone Health forum would also be interested. A condition like this could explain why many people don't do well with AA, although it seems doctors often prescribe it as a matter of course if you are on a med like pred.

[PMRpro Ambassador in reply to HeronNS]

They should find it before putting people on bisphosphonates since they should check calcium and vit D status. High calcium is almost always due to hyperparathyroidism - not cancer as too many non-specialists seem to think.

[HeronNS in reply to PMRpro]

I have never had my calcium status checked, and only the Vitamin D because I asked, and that wasn't because of bones. How many of us get these tests as a matter of routine if there is cause for concern re bone thinning?

[PMRpro Ambassador in reply to HeronNS]

Probably not enough! But before starting bisphosphonates they should be checked for exactly that reason - but unless the patient knows, it's unlikely the average GP would have a clue!