Sodium is an important electrolyte and plays a vital role in controlling the distribution of fluids throughout the body. To integrate sodium or not usually means to integrate or lose water in the body, respectively. Sodium is also needed to maintain the electrical connection between the inside and outside of cells, allowing them to function properly. Hyponatremia or hyponatremia indicates a sodium level below normal. To make sure you are maintaining the right sodium intake, you need to treat the causes of sodium loss and restore normal levels.
Steps
Method 1 of 2: Treat the Root Cause
Step 1. Take anti-nausea medications to stop vomiting and increase sodium retention
When you vomit, most of your stomach contents are expelled, including water and sodium.
- If you have excessive vomiting, such as during an intestinal flu or other bacterial diseases, you risk losing too much fluids and sodium, the levels of which can be dangerously reduced.
- Take anti-nausea medications to stop the excessive fluid loss caused by vomiting.
Step 2. Take antidiarrheals to stop diarrhea and prevent sodium loss
If you suffer from severe diarrhea, you may even lose nearly 10 liters of fluid from your body every day.
- In this way, various nutrients contained in the body's water are lost in the process, including sodium.
- At the same time, when the body eliminates a large amount of fluids, it does not have time to absorb the necessary minerals, including sodium.
- Take antidiarrheal medications to stop diarrhea and give your body time to restore sodium levels.
Step 3. Seek medical attention to manage complex conditions
In the most difficult situations, treating the cause of low sodium levels can exceed your medical knowledge.
- In this case, it is important to go to health care facilities to make sure your problem is being treated correctly.
- Consult your primary care physician to set up effective treatment.
Step 4. Treat large areas of burns on the body
If you have had burns on a large surface of the body, the body fluids tend to focus more on that area to try to heal it.
- With water, sodium will also concentrate in the burned areas, reducing the level in the blood.
- Therefore it is vital to treat burns properly and prevent a further drop in sodium levels.
Step 5. Pay attention to the side effects of heart failure
High blood pressure and reduced cardiac output associated with heart failure can trigger a body response that activates to keep blood pressure and blood volume as normal as possible.
- This can cause an increase in arginine vasopressin, a hormone secreted by the pituitary gland that increases blood volume.
- If the blood increases in volume, it means that there is more water and therefore a low concentration of sodium.
- Consult your doctor to learn about medications that can help you deal with the after-effects of heart failure.
Step 6. Focus on kidney disease to ensure proper fluid circulation in the body
If you have chronic kidney disease, your kidneys' ability to regulate fluid homeostasis (the process by which the body regulates its functions to allow for stability of internal conditions) will be impaired.
- The balance between fluid intake and their loss will be disturbed.
- This will result in excess water diluting the body's fluids, reducing the sodium concentration.
- Consult your doctor about medications and treatments that can help you cope with the effects of kidney disease.
Step 7. Determine if you have liver cirrhosis to increase sodium levels
A common feature of this disease is the deterioration of fluid homeostasis.
- In this case, the kidneys hold much more water than sodium.
- The inability to regulate the amount of water that is excreted through the urine relative to the amount of water ingested consequently leads to lower sodium levels.
Step 8. Consider the causes of dilution hyponatremia
This increases when the water in the body causes the sodium content to dilute.
- This disorder causes more water in the body to dilute the sodium concentration, the levels of which would actually be adequate in themselves.
- Syndrome of Inappropriate Antidiuretic Hormone Secretion (SIADH) is another disorder that can cause dilution hyponatremia. In this syndrome, the antidiuretic hormone (hormone that causes pee) works in excess, causing a loss of water through the urine more than normal. This causes increased sodium-free water retention, causing dilution hyponatremia.
- Another problem to consider is hyperglycemia. When the sugar concentration inside the blood cells is higher than that of the extracellular environment, the blood cells tend to absorb, by osmosis, more liquids, thus diluting the blood and lowering the relative sodium levels.
- Excessive water intake can also cause dilution hyponatremia.
Method 2 of 2: Treat the Symptoms
Step 1. Reduce your water intake to reduce the volume of water retention
If you have too much fluids in your body, limit your consumption from 1 liter to half a liter within 24 hours.
- In this way you help the body to naturally increase the percentage of sodium present in fluids.
- This is a much safer and more effective method than replenishing sodium.
- The reduction of liquids is done by monitoring the serum sodium at the same time.
- Serum sodium levels in the blood should be measured regularly (once or twice a day) to see if the imbalance worsens, improves or has been corrected.
Step 2. Eat foods that are high in sodium
Consuming more sodium is a good way to ensure a high level.
- Sodium is easily replenished as it can be consumed abundantly in a normal diet.
- As a general rule, most preserved, canned, and packaged foods are high in sodium.
- For example, a broth made from a beef cube contains about 900 mg of sodium, while a can of 230 ml of tomato juice contains 700 mg.
- You can also add table salt to various dishes.
Step 3. Get intravenous sodium replenishment if your blood is too low and you can't get it with food
For those who cannot consume too much sodium in their food, due to a medical problem or emergency, isotonic saline (0.9% NaCl) may be prescribed.
- Hypertonic solutions are also available, but are used only in a medical emergency in an intensive care setting and under close observation.
- This remedy is generally used only as a last resort when neurological symptoms of hyponatremia are encountered.
- Intravenous treatment is usually given over the course of 12 hours and is prescribed in conjunction with serum sodium monitoring.
Step 4. Drink oral rehydration solutions (ORS) to increase sodium in case of excessive fluid loss
Oral rehydration solutions are particularly useful in cases of diarrhea, vomiting and excessive sweating.
- They can also be useful during dilution hyponatremia, when taken in combination with fluid restriction.
- Commercially available ORS can be purchased without a prescription and are usually diluted in 1 liter of water.
- You can prepare them yourself at home with 6 level teaspoons of sugar and half a level teaspoon of salt, diluted in 1 liter of water.
- Coconut water is a great substitute for ORS.
Step 5. Drink sports drinks to replace electrolytes lost after exercise
These are excellent solutions to replenish temporarily reduced sodium levels after intense physical activity.
