AFIB and Low Blood Pressure

There is no problem finding information on treatments for Hypertension buy Hypotension is not well served.

Unfortunately (for Hypotension sufferers like myself) some of the effective supplements for Afib, such as Magnesium, Vitamin D, E, C, Garlic etc further low our blood pressure as does reducing salt intake to achieve the desired Potassium to Sodium ratio.

Any suggestions will be very welcome.

Thanks

Sam

Sam - Just some thoughts for your consideration:

My tendency is toward LBp and my history/experiences with adrenal fatigue/exhaustion and burnout indicate that when I go too low in sodium intake, that has an adverse effect. The body does require some sodium. As for the K/Na ratio... I add sodium so that I feel 'normal' and then adjust the potassium upward accordingly if what I eat on any given day does not come close to the daily potassium requirement.

The overview of the function of the sodium/potassium pump as it relates to the ratio of K/Na... just means that for the most part, the typical diet usually is too low on potassium-containing foods and definitely too high on added sodium. This is especially true in those who eat commercially-prepared foods..either restaurant or packaged/canned/frozen meals. The food industry intentionally 'doctors' food to appeal to pleasure centers of the brain by adding salt, sugar and fat so people acquire or crave it.

When you "eat clean" ... whole, fresh foods mostly raw or lightly cooked, the problem isn't nearly as pronounced as you avoid the commercial over-salting of foods.. but then, my experience is that I have to add some sodium in order for my adrenals to function properly and then my blood pressure also is typically around 116/ 68. Still might be too low for me on some days... and yet other days, it may be closer to 120/78. I find that as I age, it fluctuates more than previously.

I use adrenal support nutrients that help tremendously.

Jackie

Sam,

Low blood volume may be an issue. See this post: <[www.afibbers.org]

George

Thanks for the replies, folks. I had already started to increase my salt intake - very slowly and very gingerly - so I'll see how that goes. I'm well hydrated but extra salt will enable my body to hold on to more water thereby increasing blood volume.

I don't eat any processed foods or add salt to food so I always did add a small pinch of coarse sea salt to my drinking water. I stopped once some time ago to increase my Potassium-Sodium ratio which resulted in headaches and lethargy but not the slight fainting feelings that I'm getting at the moment. So I'll see but I'm not yet convinced that more salt is the solution. Continued tiny increases in salt over the next week or two will tell me.

Any other suggestions?

Thanks

Sam

Sam,

If you generally have low insulin levels - the primary way would be a diet with less than 50-60 grams carbs/day - the low insulin signals the kidney to dump sodium (higher levels of insulin the reverse). You indicate eating a very "clean" diet and perhaps this could also lead to low insulin levels. I know the advice for people eating less than 50-60 g carbs is to supplement with 2 - 2.5 g/day. This may sound radical, but people that are having issues that follow it feel dramatically better. A 4:1 potassium:sodium ratio also signals the kidney to dump sodium. Your very low sodium levels may be creating this signal and making the problem worse.

At least in the low carb example, sodium may get too low and the kidney will dump potassium to try to correct the imbalance. So you have the kidney dumping both. With n=1 in mind, I'd not be shy about significantly playing with salt intake to see what works best for you.

George

Definitely not low carbs, George.

I'm going very slowly on the salt increase as the small amount I've increased it by so far has given some hardish beats and a tachycardia episode during the night.

Sam - if you eat a high-carb diet, then consider that in order to metabolize those carbs, your body calls upon reserves of both magnesium and potassium.

It could be that you are just too low in both and adding salt for the adrenal issue or blood-volume improvement is counterproductive when your mineral reserves are eitherquite deficient or even just marginally low. It doesn't take much to upset the applecart. I'm not aware of any benefits of a high carb diet... perhaps you are just moderate but definitely now low carb intake?

Jackie