Re: Re: Coumadin Rash/drinking too much water can be bad for you

[Guest guest]

I just wanted to add to this that my elderly mother also was eating barely

enough food and we could not encourage her to do so, as she was in the first

stages of a Dementia type illness. Of her own accord she took to drinking

water, and we had no idea this was harmful for her.

She was on anti depressants at the time and thyroid supplements. She was

drinking 'Ensure' which is a highly concentrated vitamin drink in a can for

sick

and or elderly who are not eating a balanced solid diet. (The Ensure was on

prescription from her Doctor)

We found her unconscious on the stairs and a trail of vomit in the

house..she was rushed to hospital, and she was put on the diabetic ward

although

never had been diabetic..they soon had her stabalised and we were told that she

had collapsed through

'drinking too much water' and her electrolyte balance had become disturbed.

This is a 63 yr old woman who wasn't really interested in much by mouth at

that stage, so wasn't drinking MUCh water, but it seems that constantly

sipping water all day can be very very bad for you!

I too have been conscious of this since the events with my

mother..everything in moderation, even water it seems!

Haze in UK

> Get him to flush his system by

> upping his water intake so there isnt any excess in his system.

>

>

Barb and Lis,

I am a bit paranoid on the point of upping water intake to flush out the

system because that advice was given to my brother and me by a doctor (on

call in

the absence of my mother's regular doctor) in regard to my mother who was

extremely ill. It turned out that the medications she was taking, about

which

this doctor did not know, already were working to " flush " her system, so the

water which we poured to her, acting on that doctor's advice, just

exacerbated the

effect of the meds and the interaction of two incompatible drugs. The

result

was an extremely low electrolyte level, including a low sodium level

(hyponatremia) which caused brain damage. The least of her problems caused

by this

mistake was afib. She was in constant afib after that episode until the

time

she died whereas previously she had paroxysmal afib.

Since that episode I have been very sensitive on the subject of

electrolytes,

not just because of their relation to afib but also because of the many

other

dangers of low electrolytes. I would advise everyone to carefully and

thoroughly discuss with a doctor who knows their medical history and meds

the issue

of drinking extra water in an attempt to flush the system. I learned the

hard

way that extra fluids are not always beneficial under some circumstances.

in sinus in Seattle

[Guest guest]

In a message dated 10/24/04 1:11:52 AM Pacific Daylight Time,

whisper2Uxxxx@... writes:

> she

> had collapsed through

> 'drinking too much water' and her electrolyte balance had become disturbed.

> This is a 63 yr old woman who wasn't really interested in much by mouth at

> that stage, so wasn't drinking MUCh water, but it seems that constantly

> sipping water all day can be very very bad for you!

> I too have been conscious of this since the events with my

> mother..everything in moderation, even water it seems!

>

Haze,

Your mother's experience sounds very similar to that of my mother, who was

also drinking Ensure at a doctor's suggestion. At that point, the only way I

could get her to eat was to sit by her side, literally place the food on her

fork, and lift it to her mouth. I did this for every meal after she became

sick,

but I guess she still was not getting enough nutrients to counteract the

water which was flushing the electrolytes out of her body. Water was the only

thing that she took readily and without forcing, unfortunately. If our mothers

had been eating adequately, the water probably would not have caused afib, at

least in my mother's case, or the other problems associated with low

electrolytes. I wish I knew then what I know now, as the old cliche goes. The

knowledge of the connection between afib and electrolytes as well as the

possible

danger in too much water drinking was hard-won for me.

in sinus in Seattle

[Guest guest]

Hi ,

I am wondering now, after the other post regarding Ensure...was it was the

water drinking or the Ensure that caused the electrolyte imbalance do you

suppose? I have never even considered it might have been the Ensure before

a's post re: her boyfriend and 'Ensure'.

May I ask who told you it was too much water that caused the electrolyte

imbalance in your mother?

I am sorry your knowledge about the connection between electrolyte levels

was hard won ..I am sure my mother would wholeheartedly agree with you and

many others too. I do not think enough information about electrolyte balance is

made generally available to the public.

I think it is particularly important for the sick and elderly, carers of

them, and the not so elderly, and AFibbers, or those

predisposed to AFib possibly from a familial link, to know about risks of

low electrolyte levels, and what brings that about.

We are given little information about the role of electrolytes and effects

on our hearts, at least I was not personally, by our specialists,

cardiologists, EP or General Practitioners.

Haze in UK

In a message dated 25/10/2004 07:52:07 GMT Standard Time, Starfi6314@...

writes:

Your mother's experience sounds very similar to that of my mother, who was

also drinking Ensure at a doctor's suggestion. At that point, the only way

I

could get her to eat was to sit by her side, literally place the food on her

fork, and lift it to her mouth. I did this for every meal after she became

sick,

but I guess she still was not getting enough nutrients to counteract the

water which was flushing the electrolytes out of her body. Water was the

only

thing that she took readily and without forcing, unfortunately. If our

mothers

had been eating adequately, the water probably would not have caused afib,

at

least in my mother's case, or the other problems associated with low

electrolytes. I wish I knew then what I know now, as the old cliche goes.

The

knowledge of the connection between afib and electrolytes as well as the

possible

danger in too much water drinking was hard-won for me.

in sinus in Seattle

[Guest guest]

In a message dated 10/25/04 10:34:16 PM Pacific Daylight Time,

whisper2Uxxxx@... writes:

> Ensure...was it was the

> water drinking or the Ensure that caused the electrolyte imbalance do you

> suppose? I have never even considered it might have been the Ensure before

> a's post re: her boyfriend and 'Ensure'.

> May I ask who told you it was too much water that caused the electrolyte

> imbalance in your mother?

>

Haze,

I don't think the Ensure caused the electrolyte imbalance in my mother

because it is supposed to contain all necessary nutrients, I think. The Ensure

was

recommended by a doctor for my mother. I think the electrolyte imbalance was

caused by an unfortunate chain of events and circumstances. My mother had not

been eating well and would not even take much of the Ensure, which might have

prevented the problem if she had taken enough of it. Then she began

vomiting; and, worried to death, I called her doctor. Since he was out of town,

his

colleague on call, a kidney specialist, took my call and recommended that we

should have her drink plenty of fluids so that she wouldn't become dehydrated by

the vomiting. It happened that he did not ask about my mother's meds (!) and

at that time I didn't know much about the power of the diuretics she was

taking, which were not potassium sparing or conserving. Also, the doctor

prescribed a suppository to control the vomiting. It turned out that the med he

prescribed conflicted with the diuretic as well as an antibiotic she was taking.

The combination of meds that shouldn't have been prescribed together was the

major problem, I now think in retrospect. So my point in writing about this was

to point out that individual circumstances, like those of my mother, can make

a normally harmless act like drinking too much water, quite deadly. It's the

old " one size does not fit all " theory, I guess. We found out that my mother

had depleted electrolytes when she became nearly comatose and we took her to

the E.R. The doctor there diagnosed her hyponatremia and other electrolyte

depletion. I imagine that drinking the excess water would not have caused the

hyponatremia, which was the major problem, if she did not also have the

circumstances of not eating properly or at all and taking a combination of

conflicting meds. She lived for a year after that sorry event, but she was in

afib

constantly and never returned to her former self. As I said before, afib was

the

least of her problems, but it did complicate the heartbreakingly sad

situation. As you say, I learned lots of information about electrolytes and

afib that

I would rather have learned another way.

in sinus in Seattle

[Guest guest]

Hi ,

I am sorry to hear of the catalogue of sad events that occurred with your

mother.

In brief I would say they sound very similar to events with my mother.

Unfortunately my mother also never came back from the experience but she is

still

alive but living in nursing accomodation for the past 11 years.

It is hard to believe that before the events with the elctrolyte balance and

the drinking of 'too much water' and subsequent collapse and

hospitalisation, that she had been physically very strong but through depression

after the

sudden death of my father had ceased to eat properly and lost a lot of weight.

She also was hypothyroid and was taking tranquilizers and anti depressants,

which in combination with apparantly drinking excess water, caused some heart

arrythmia and brain swelling.

She became an invalid virtually overnight and has had mental problems

eversince, which have meant she cannot be cared for at home any longer nor with

me, as she was initially.

I would have liked a little more information on Ensure and electrolyte

balance (it was prescribed by our Doctor and delivered in cases, with

instructions to be drunk at meal times) and drug use in a person who is

undereating.

It seems like a few of us are learning from sad experiences too late in the

day. I have gone through times when I wished that my mother had died as she

would have been spared all these years of suffering.

Again, I cannot express how sorry I was to read you & your mother's story

, but maybe others can learn a little from our events, even if these

situations seem very unlikely..they seemed so in my family too, until they

occurred. It seems we never know what is around that proverbial corner.

Haze in UK

In a message dated 26/10/2004 10:44:38 GMT Standard Time, Starfi6314@...

writes:

I don't think the Ensure caused the electrolyte imbalance in my mother

because it is supposed to contain all necessary nutrients, I think. The

Ensure was

recommended by a doctor for my mother. I think the electrolyte imbalance

was

caused by an unfortunate chain of events and circumstances. My mother had

not

been eating well and would not even take much of the Ensure, which might

have

prevented the problem if she had taken enough of it. Then she began

vomiting; and, worried to death, I called her doctor. Since he was out of

town, his

colleague on call, a kidney specialist, took my call and recommended that we

should have her drink plenty of fluids so that she wouldn't become

dehydrated by

the vomiting. It happened that he did not ask about my mother's meds (!)

and

at that time I didn't know much about the power of the diuretics she was

taking, which were not potassium sparing or conserving. Also, the doctor

prescribed a suppository to control the vomiting. It turned out that the

med he

prescribed conflicted with the diuretic as well as an antibiotic she was

taking.

The combination of meds that shouldn't have been prescribed together was the

major problem, I now think in retrospect. So my point in writing about this

was

to point out that individual circumstances, like those of my mother, can

make

a normally harmless act like drinking too much water, quite deadly. It's

the

old " one size does not fit all " theory, I guess. We found out that my

mother

had depleted electrolytes when she became nearly comatose and we took her to

the E.R. The doctor there diagnosed her hyponatremia and other electrolyte

depletion. I imagine that drinking the excess water would not have caused

the

hyponatremia, which was the major problem, if she did not also have the

circumstances of not eating properly or at all and taking a combination of

conflicting meds. She lived for a year after that sorry event, but she was

in afib

constantly and never returned to her former self. As I said before, afib

was the

least of her problems, but it did complicate the heartbreakingly sad

situation. As you say, I learned lots of information about electrolytes and

afib that

I would rather have learned another way.