I'd rather it be a dessert in my mouth

[whowhatwhen]

Than a desert.
Holy moly I'm dehydrated, does being on spiro expect you to mainline 4 litres of water per day or something?

I'm up to 1L and I'm feeling dry as a bone, even my lips are dry and sore.
Bah.

I'll get some gatorade tonight to level things out I guess.

[Kathryn Martin]

Be careful with Gatorade and potassium content.

[whowhatwhen]

Whoops!
Well today is a fine day lol.

I'm also making banana bread later on too.
The stars align only in the worst ways :P

[Kathryn Martin]

Living it up is great but ya gotta be smart about it ..... just don't crash on us we need you

[whowhatwhen]

Is there a daily max % of potassium I can work off then?
Would it be maybe half?

[Kathryn Martin]

Just a reminder:

High potassium levels

Hyperkalemia is higher-than-normal levels of potassium in the blood.

Causes

The kidneys normally remove excess potassium from the body. High potassium levels are more likely to occur when the kidneys are not working properly and are less able to get rid of potassium.
If your kidneys are not working well enough, taking extra potassium (for example from using salt substitutes that contain potassium or taking potassium supplements prescribed by your health care provider) could lead to problems.
Certain medicines may cause potassium levels to build up because of their effect on the kidneys, including water pills (diuretics) and blood pressure medicines.

Any time potassium is released from the cells, it may build up in body fluids, including the bloodstream. Acidosis (http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/ency/article/001181.htm) leads to the movement of potassium from inside the cells to the fluid outside the cells. Such injury includes:

Burns over large areas of the body
Damage to muscle and other cells from drugs, alcohol abuse, coma, surgery, injury, or certain infections
Disorders that cause blood cells to burst (hemolytic anemia (http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/ency/article/000571.htm))
Severe bleeding from the stomach or intestines
Tumors

Addison's disease is a disorder that causes an increase in total potassium.

Water helps the kidneys flush out increased potassium

Read more (http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/ency/article/001179.htm#)

[Persephone]

Spiro is "potassium sparing" so you may not want to overdo potassium intake, or, at the very least, you may want to make sure you maintain a level of sodium to offset the potassium. Some varieties of Gatorade appear to offer a higher sodium to potassium balance. Powerade seems to offer less sodium. Your doctor is best qualified to offer advice on your individual requirements.

(Note: I am not a medical doctor nor do I pretend to offer medical advice)

Hugs,
Persephone.

[whowhatwhen]

Per 591ml

11% daily sodium
2% daily potassium

Should be okay I think.

[LeaP]

My potassium is borderline. One lab test came in so high my doctor almost had me admitted to the hospital. I also find it a struggle to keep sufficiently hydrated. I have gotten better – I find that small sips more often work a lot better for me than trying to remember to drink a whole glass of water here and there. So every time I walk past the watercooler I take a sip. I also keep water in the car, and my wife is always on me to drink water, too.

Sodium management has turned out to be one of the benefits of Spiro for me. I have always consumed enormous amounts of salt. Yet on Spiro, my sodium levels are well in the normal range. Plus I have to consume even more salt to keep the potassium in balance. Weird, but it works.

It is interesting that you mention dry lips. I don't seem to feel thirsty when my body needs water. I never have. So I have learned to rely on things like dry lips to tell me.

[thechic]

Hi there

All getting to tech for me, but I have not notice any more dehydration than normal on spiro. I drink under 1 litre of water in a average day.

[donnalee]

I have a suggestion, if dry mouth is one of your problems. I have been taking spiro along with another diuretic for about a dozen years now. This is for a heart condition and is a relatively small dose, but is quite effective so I often feel very dry. Try using hard candy to relieve the dry mouth (Walgreens Nice has a variety of sugarless versions; my favorite is caramel creme) and keep as hydrated as possible; keep water around where you like to settle (bedroom, your favorite chair, etc) and carry some with you. Keep in mind that whatever goes in comes out, so adjust as appropriate.

[mikiSJ]

Sheesh, you girls are talking about K being too high and here I am typing this comment because my calfs were cramping and I took a K/Mg pill to replace the K I lost during the day.

[Angela Campbell]

watch your urine color. It should be almost clear with only the slightest hint of yellow. The more yellow it is the more dehydrated you are. You would be surprised at how much time you spend dehydrated.

Drink lot, pee a lot.....at least it keeps us busy and out of trouble.

[Starling]

Thanks for starting this thread, whowhatwhen, and why not? I'm constantly worried about my sodium/potassium balance, as I'm prone to arrhythmias. I try to keep my urine in the pale range, but hydration is only half the story. When I'm not deathly ill, I try to get my electrolytes from tap water and food, as my doc advises that the sports drinks basically have too much of everything for anyone but an athlete under stress.

:) Lallie

[Leah Lynn]

My Dr. keeps telling me to drink more water. I still prefer coffee all day and adult beverages at night. I know it's not good for me, but it's who I am.

Leah

[whowhatwhen]

Tea is my biggest weakness but I do drink lots of water to compensate.
It's just been a really, really, really dry past few days and I think it might be the spiro picking up steam.

I think it's been around 11 days since the first dose, that's the rough lead-in time right?

[Starling]

Here's some good news for you, Corinne. Drink up!

http://theteamaestro.blogspot.com/2012/03/does-drinking-tea-produce-diuretic.html

:) Lallie

[Angela Campbell]

Well that's good because I love tea. Especially green tea.

[LeaP]

I keep a copy of this low potassium diet in Evernote:

http://www.hci.utah.edu/publicweb/content/nutrition/images/LowPotassium.pdf

I don't follow it rigorously at all, but I find it helpful to refresh myself on the things to avoid every one in a while.

[Janelle_C]

Since I've been on spiro I get up two to three times in the middle of the night to go pee. Spiro can also act as a diuretic, and for me it does. I drink a lot of water and it go from not feeling like I have to go to OMG where's the bath room. But it doing what it's supposed to my blood work looks great.

[Rachel Smith]

I was never a big water drinker. Since I started spiro about a year ago, I now find my self water thirsty. I get thirsty like before but I actually WANT water. I still only drink 1 to 2 16oz bottles a day, most days 1.5. If I do that my urine color is all but clear.

[Lorileah]

Spiro is also a weak diuretic so that isn't why you are dehydrated (if it is you need to have your doctor run some blood tests) and you would really have to work to get Hyperkalemic, you won't do that orally unless again there is another problem.

Gotta love wiki medical people

[LeaP]

That's simply not true, Lorileah. Spiro acts within the kidneys to block sodium re-absorption and block potassium secretion. The action is reliable and is even used to build potassium levels in people whose potassium is low. While hyperkalmia while using Spiro may be made worse by an underlying condition, it is better regarded as a something to watch in MTFs, who can be pushed into it without such a condition.

[whowhatwhen]

I take iron pills as well though so that may partly be a reason why I'm so dry.
Sometimes I just want a hot cup of tea though, it's just so awesome and relaxing :)

[rachael.davis]

Sekanjabin (persian mint drink) is very refreshing, and compared to gatorade a whole lot cheaper

this is a pretty good recipe http://www.food.com/recipe/sekanjabin-126517

[LeaP]

Rachel, that's switchel with mint instead of ginger!

[whowhatwhen]

Got blood done on Monday and as of this afternoon my potassium levels are fine.

E:
So far the worst side effect is the dry lips.
They turned into alligators.

[whowhatwhen]

Sort of related but it's been like 2 weeks is it possible for any effects to be really felt or is it all going to be psychosomatic?
Oddly enough though the dryness cleared itself up out of nowhere.

[LeaP]

Like everything else, it differs by individual. My libido tanked quickly. That's not relevant to a person whose libido is low to begin with, for example. I view Spiro as mostly removing things negative, and definitely not adding positive ones. It removed my hair-trigger reactivity, too. If you are the laid back type, that might be irrelevant. So it depends on how you react to T.

[whowhatwhen]

Mine is slightly lower which is great and I seem to be handling it well.
I just had a sore boob and wondered but I guess I must've smacked it on something earlier :P

[LeaP]

Oh, one thing to remember about Spiro – it's reported bioavailability is 100% greater when taken with food.

[gonegirl]

Lea - can you please share the data on that? Links? Is it anecdotal or clinical? Thanks!

[sandra-leigh]

Wellbutrin (Bupropion) causes dryness in a subset of people. It doesn't bother me but it bothers a couple of my family members.

[LeaP]

Lea - can you please share the data on that? Links? Is it anecdotal or clinical? Thanks!

Sure. It's clinical and well-known.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/3769384

See also this monograph, which is an excellent summary of research on Spiro. 4.1.1 has a comment on bioavailability with food, though not quantified here. Also, hyperkalemia is mentioned as the most common side effect in humans in this document.

http://monographs.iarc.fr/ENG/Monographs/vol79/mono79-13.pdf

And this one. See bioavailability comment under Absorption in the Pharmacology section.

http://www.drugbank.ca/drugs/DB00421

[rachael.davis]

Rachel, that's switchel with mint instead of ginger!

yep, and strangely mosquitoes seem to loathe the smell/taste

[gonegirl]

Thanks for that information Lea.