I have been on blood pressure medication for a few years and although it has lowered my BP (initally 180/105), it´s still borderline high according to GP (never < 130/90 in doctor´s office). I also tend to retain fluid and look puffy. My GP says that is what you´d expect in someone who eats too much salt and has recommended I switch to low sodium table salt (iodized). I gave up on table salt years ago and now only use Celtic sea salt (also said to be good for adrenal health) or Himalayan salt. My GP says all salt will raise blood pressure and it´s the amount you consume that´s important, not the type. I should not use more than 2 tea spoons of low sodium salt daily in an attempt to lower BP and reduce the fluid retention. I always get the "too much salt is dangerous" speech...apparently, my GP considers anything above 2 tea sppons daily "too much". To me, the advice to eat table salt sounds as crazy as the advice to eat margarine instead of butter back in the 1970s...
However, it seems both highish BP and fluid retention can be caused by low FT3 levels at cellular level which of course cannot be measured.
I am reluctant to use table salt of any kind and would like to know if others have experienced the same problems and found them to be T3-related?
Thanks, HB, that´s really interesting! It never ceases to amaze me how little doctors know or understand about thyroid disease...it´s like the minute we start taking levo all symptoms are supposed to just disappear, and any remaining symptoms have absolutely nothing to do with our thyroids...I spent a fortune on a so called functional doctor in October last year, had expensive bloodwork and a 24 h urine analysis which showed below range aldosterone levels. However, I was told that since I have high blood pressure I cannot take aldosterone. So I have no idea why they waste money on tests when they cannot prescribe treatment even in case of deficiencies...??? Anyway, the doctor also said cortisol levels were suboptimal, but that I cannot take HC because of hypertension so need to be on prednisone or Medrol. I decided not to go down that road, and have now ordered adrenal tonic recommended by a forum member.
I've had the same lectures too, and I've just ignored them! High blood pressure almost all my adult life, but I don't think my salt consumption was high. I've never been one of these people who automatically covers their food in salt the minute the plate is put in-front of them, without even tasting it.
My blood pressure came down when I was optimally treated - which for me is 75 mcg T3 only. Blood pressure tablets never helped. Unfortunately, I have not found it helped with the water-retention.
BUT, I don't believe it's excess salt that causes it. Low-salt diets are far more likely to cause water-retention, I've read, because when the water goes, the salt goes with it. The body needs the salt, so holds on to the water to keep the salt. And, in the past, I have had success at reducing water-retention by increasing salt intake, via the Adrenal Cocktail.
Yes, doctors are amazingly ignorant, aren´t they?! They also all seem to think that being overweight is just the result of eating too many calories and not exercising enough, and that being hypo has nothing to do with weight gain or inability to lose weight...
They just know nothing about thyroid, thyroid hormones, what they do and the effect hypothyroidism can have on you. And they seem incapable of learning by experience!
Wow, that´s really interesting, thank you so much! It makes so much sense when you think about it...BTW, I saw an error in my OP, I had written "tbsp" when it should be tea spoons...I´ve corrected it now.I am very wary of table salts. It´s amazing how much processed foods doctors want us to eat, including hydrogenated fats. I would never touch margarine again after reading how it´s made, but all doctors I´ve seen over the past 20 years continue to claim that it´s healthier than butter.
It was originally invented to feed turkeys. But, the turkeys all died after eating it. So, as the manufacturers didn't want to waste all the margarine they'd produced, they decided to sell it to human beings, as a 'healthy' alternative to butter. Because it's well-known that human beings will eat anything if it's labelled 'healthy'.
That's a true story! lol
But, doctors know absolutely nothing about nutrition. They don't get any more training in it than you or I. Difference is, you and I educate ourselves!
Stop taking non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs like Advil, Motrin, etc.) These interfere with the stomach lining’s capacity to heal.
I'm not disputing that NSAIDs will damage the stomach and shouldn't be taken willy-nilly. But they are effective at reducing pain for many people. I wonder how people living with chronic pain are supposed to cope with it once they've given up their NSAIDs. People suggesting that NSAIDs be given up are obviously people who have never suffered from much pain, and I envy them.
I agree! Same thing with cortisone - if you need it, you need it, despite the side effects. It´s not like we are taking drugs because we want to but because we have to...!
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overmedicated adrenals causing very high BP?
Salt & water retention
Hypothyroid Water Retention
High cortisol & Hypothyroidism 
