How to combat the heat intolerance

October 6, 2011

Hey everyone! After being diagnosed in April I made it my mission to beat the

anxiety related to PA and try to put my life together. Fast forward 7 months

and I only go to therapy once per month and I have been working full time for 7

weeks now! It feels great to contribute to my family again.

Question for all of you that have been dealing with this condition for much

longer than me. What are some strategies for dealing with heat? I work in an

office, but I live in St. Louis and weather can be goofy. A couple of weeks ago

it was in the 50s and today the high was 88. My office hasn't had the AC on so

the office has gotten kind of hot the last couple of weeks.

This has caused some cramping (charlie horses at night) and made me feel pretty

rotten. I got a blood draw for K the morning after bad leg cramps and I was at

4.5 for k. I still DASH and exercise and seem only to get the cramps at night

if I am in the heat all day at the office.

One of the things I have noticed is that if I eat more salt on the hot days I

feel better and my BP actually goes lower the next day. I found this out by

accident. I was working late (a 12 hour day) and the office brought in food for

all of us. It was pizza and loaded with sodium. It actually helped me feel

better that day (very hot in the office). The next morning my blood pressure

averaged 108/72, down from my usual range of 120-130/78-88.

What are some good ways to deal with the heat? Eating more salt is tough since

I really like my new DASH low sodium diet. Is gatorade or powerade a good way

to go? I am thinking that maybe the cramps and heat intolerance is due to

dehydration due to the spiro being a diaretic. My k has been between 4.2 and

4.9 for all of my draws since starting the Spiro after diagnosis 7 months ago.

Thanks for any help/tips you can give.

34yr old male. 04/2011 diagnosis via salt loading test. CT inconclusive.

Being tested for GRA. 50mg of Spiro per day.

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