#to the point that if i dont supplement salt. and drink only plain water. it will make me dehydrated

[itshomobirb]

been on a new med and it's helping my pots symptoms. but also it's giving me headaches -- im not really a girlie who gets headaches unless it's caused by medication, and unfortunately taking otc pain medication for a headache gives me rebound headaches.

im trying to figure out (a) is it the medication itself & hence unavoidable for the unlucky who get the side effect? perhaps would a smaller dose be more fitting?

or (b) is it some sort of electrolyte imbalance?

the med works by basically swapping sodium for potassium in biological processes, which means my body will now hold onto salt better -> helps my pots symptoms. in order to work, i have to consume a lot of salt. but im already just past the limit of the amount of salt my dr is ok with me taking (~10g; im hovering around 2.6g per electrolyte packet i put in a liter of water x 4 liters of water a day = 10.4g).

do i need more salt? do i need more water, without electrolytes? do i need more potassium, since this med can cause potassium levels to drop?

yeah, this could all be solved by just getting a blood test but consider: my schedule is booked with upcoming appts and im still recovering from taking my son to the emergency vet 1.5 weeks ago. i dont wanna add even more to my plate.

#borbtalks #one of the upcoming appts is with a PA from the prescribing dr's office & i can ask then #but again. blood test. #also ok ik that's a wild amount of salt but my body literally will not hold onto water without it #to the point that if i dont supplement salt. and drink only plain water. it will make me dehydrated #bc my body just won't hold onto that water #im actually really hoping this med does work out bc it's doing wonders for my hr + bp #and the med i was on previously would only work in 4 hr increments & i could only take it while i was upright #so it was like. ok hr & bp during the day. and then low bp high hr at night #and so any rest gained from the day for my pacing battery would be easily cancelled out by the night