The medical team will restore the sodium level over the course of several hours or days, depending on the severity of your condition.
Intravenous fluids.
Your doctor may recommend IV sodium solution to slowly raise the sodium levels in your blood. This requires a stay in the hospital for frequent monitoring of sodium levels as too rapid of a correction is dangerous.
Drink sports drinks or electrolyte solutions
If you have low sodium levels due to excessive sweating or dehydration, sports drinks or electrolyte solutions may help increase your sodium levels. These drinks contain a mixture of water, sugar, and electrolytes, including sodium, potassium, and chloride.
Hyponatremia occurs when your blood sodium level goes below 135 mEq/L. When the sodium level in your blood is too low, extra water goes into your cells and makes them swell. This swelling can be dangerous especially in the brain, since the brain cannot expand past the skull.
In particular, the consequences of acute hyponatremia on the brain may be severe, including permanent disability and death.
The medical team will restore the sodium level over the course of several hours or days, depending on the severity of your condition.
Goal rate of sodium correction is 6 to 8 mEq/L in 24 hours, 12 to 14 mEq/L in 48 hours.
A low sodium level has many causes, including consumption of too many fluids, kidney failure, heart failure, cirrhosis, and use of diuretics. Symptoms result from brain dysfunction.
In general, having too much water in your body is usually the main problem. The excess water dilutes the sodium levels. Much less frequently, hyponatremia is due to significant sodium loss from your body. Too much water in your body causes your blood to become watered down.
Tolvaptan (Samsca) is used to treat hyponatremia (low levels of sodium in the blood) in people who have heart failure (condition in which the heart cannot pump enough blood to all parts of the body), syndrome of inappropriate antidiuretic hormone (SIADH; condition in which the body produces too much of a certain ...
Our bodies need a small amount of salt for a variety of functions, such as the working of nerves and muscles. However, there is enough sodium present in all foods that a lack of sodium does not generally cause any problems in these areas. It is rarely necessary to add extra salt to food.
Symptoms of hyponatremia can include nausea and vomiting, loss of energy and confusion. Serious hyponatremia can cause seizures, coma and even death. Hyponatremia is more common in older adults because they're more likely to take medicines or have medical problems that put them at risk of the disorder.
Treatment involves the use of hypertonic saline to gradually correct the hyponatraemia, with the goal of ensuring that the sodium level does not rise by more than 6 mmol/L in the first 6 h or 10 mmol/L in the first 24 h. Rapid overcorrection leads to a risk of osmotic demyelination syndrome.
Once the patient is stabilised, treatment is usually directed towards the underlying cause - for example: Intravenous fluids in lack of fluid in the body (dehydration). Stopping medications which may have caused the low blood sodium. Diuretics for cardiac failure.
At-home sodium tests are available and require either a urine or blood sample. A home sodium urine test comprises a container, a test strip, and a set of illustrated instructions. The procedure includes collecting fresh urine in the container and then briefly dipping the test strip into the urine.
Other symptoms include; lethargy, anorexia, nausea, agitation, dizziness, disorientation, seizures, coma. Moderate hyponatraemia (Na 120-125mmol/L) will need careful assessment. If there are any symptoms or there is a risk of the Na falling quickly admission may be appropriate.
Isotonic saline (0.9%) infusion
Intravenous isotonic saline is used to treat acute hypovolaemic hyponatraemia. Especially in the elderly population, immobility, reduced cognitive function, comorbidities and malnutrition are the main compounding factors that may lead to dehydration.
Fluid Restriction to Correct Sodium Deficiency
A person with mild sodium deficiency because of over-hydration may be able to treat the condition by drinking a quart or less of fluids each day, according to The Merck Manual.
If left untreated or inadequately treated, patients with hyponatremia can develop rhabdomyolysis, altered mental status, seizures, and even coma. Rapid correction of chronic hyponatremia (greater than 10 mEq/L to 12 mEq/L of sodium in 24 hrs) can lead to osmotic demyelination syndrome.
Na <130mmol/L is associated with a cognitive decline even when not reported by the patient. Other symptoms include; lethargy, anorexia, nausea, agitation, dizziness, disorientation, seizures, coma.
Salt water contains salt in the form of sodium chloride. Drinking salt water can thus help replenish your body's sodium levels. It can help level out your blood pressure if you tend to be on the lower side.
But you might not know that a banana a day keeps high blood pressure at bay. This fruit is packed full of potassium — an important blood pressure-lowering mineral. Potassium helps balance sodium in the body. The more potassium you eat, the more sodium your body gets rid of.
The water excretion rate of a healthy adult is about 20 L/day and does not exceed 800-1,000 mL/hr9). Thus, the maximum amount of water that a person with normal renal function can drink is 800-1,000 mL/hr to avoid hyponatremia symptoms.