Drinking Too Much Fluids?

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gavin

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Hi everyone,

Summer is here and it's making me wonder about something. I'll be playing a lot of outdoor sports, and therefore sweating a lot, so I'll constantly be re-hydrating myself with lots of water and sports drinks. I'm wondering if all this liquid passing through my body could dilute the medication in my bloodstream. I take 150mg of Lamictal twice a day.

Let's say I exercise or play sports for 2 hours, I'd be sweating very heavily and I could easily go through 2 or 3 large bottles of Gatorade and lots and lots of water. Probably a gallon or so. I read that low levels of electrolytes in the body could possibly lower the seizure threshold, so drinking Gatorade would be good for that, but when all this liquid passes through my body, does it flush out some of the medicine in my blood along with it?

I'll be talking with my doctor about this, but I'd like to know if anybody here has any knowledge on the subject.
 
I believe it's a fine balance. I drank too much water and I think it probably did wash out some meds. I've also heard that electrolytes are really necessary, so it's probably good you're drinking them so you're not dehydrated.

Is it possible to take medications after a sports event or can you take half of the medication prior to an event and half right after it? That way, if you drank too much fluid, you get half of the medication still in your system. Just a thought.

I also sweat a lot during workouts that last for an hour. I do not drink caffeinated beverages since they dehydrate me. Sports drinks without the caffeine and without all those other additives like ginseng are the best, in my opinion.
 
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Which medication are you on? Some, like Topamax, you are supposed to drink a ton of water to avoid kidney stones.

I can't wait to hear what your doctor says about this. My vote is that it's more important to stay hydrated, because sweating will decrease the amount of water in your body and you need to replenish that to keep your system balanced. If you drink the right amount of water it probably wouldn't affect how much water is processed by your kindney. But I'm not a doctor. Will you share what your doc says about this? It's a hot topic in here. There was a survey about water, but I did a search and couldn't find it.

Dehydration is a seizure trigger for some people in here, too.

Gee, if you love math, there was an answer at epilepsy.com.

http://www.coping-with-epilepsy.com/forums/f23/drinking-too-much-fluids-9767/

At that page you'll find some really "fun" equations for drug plasma levels. Two of the variables are concentration of the drug in the urine, and urine flow rate. I would assume those are affected by dehydration and the amount of water you drink.
 
If I am incorrect please help me out... but doesn't Gatorade have High Fructose Corn Syrup as a major ingredient?

Bad stuff... I would look there rather than at the amount of liquid you are consuming.
 
I dink a ton, it's usually crystal light or something similar to that. I bet I'll drink at least a half a gallon a day if not more. I try to drink a good bit of water but I like stuff that has flavor to it. I am on Topamax with a couple other meds so I don't know if that makes me thirsty in general. I will drink the same ammount in the summer and winter, it just seems like I'm thirsty all the time. When I am eating I'll drink a ton too.
 
Crystal light has aspertame. A seizure trigger for some.

Try flavoring your own water with lemon, apple, lime, orange, etc., adding in some Stevia for sweetness. You can get pure stevia without additives at your local health food store. To make it even better use plain carbonated soda water. It's like having pop!
 
gavin said:
Hi everyone,

Summer is here and it's making me wonder about something. I'll be playing a lot of outdoor sports, and therefore sweating a lot, so I'll constantly be re-hydrating myself with lots of water and sports drinks. I'm wondering if all this liquid passing through my body could dilute the medication in my bloodstream. I take 150mg of Lamictal twice a day.
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I wouldn't worry about water diluting your medication any more than too much water could dilute the vitamines & minerals from food in your body. Your body takes what it needs & expels the rest.

I think overall we have a tendency to dehydrate ourselves with too little water. The only thing that I noticed from personal experience is that a full bladder is one of the things that can contribute to provoking a seizure. That said I'd say be aware of how full your bladder gets but stay hydrated.
 
Ok .... you cannot "flush " stuff out of your body just by drinking water ( unless you plan on drinking ridiculously large amounts of water say 7-8 liters and even then you would be peeing away to compensate). Most AEDs are metabolized in the liver , a few in the kidney and a few in plasma. in any case it wont alter your metabolism significantly. i've never heard of anyone getting a seizure from low drug levels because they drank too much water.You're kidneys are the ultimate balancing act. If you drink more than you need , you pee more dilute urine. if you driink less you pee concentrated urine. Only at extremes will your drug levels be affected ... and in which case you have way more to worry about than blood levels. the variables you mention do vary , but in inverse proportions and relatively independent of water intake. the concentration of urine relies more on sodium and water balance than anything else. compared to the regular , everyday crap your kidneys filter out everyday , the drugs are a piece of cake.

As for Gatorade , it is flavored athlete's sweat. it has the same electrolyte concentration. I don't know about the corn syrup thingy. personally i can't stand the taste of it.
 
hydration

dehydration - a trigger for those WITHOUT seizure brains. bank on it being a trigger for us folks. However you get it; illness, alcohol, exercise. I have had a seizure from all three. There are recipes for electrolyte drinks, look up on internet. My favorite is -
1 quart boiled water; 2 Tbsp. honey; 1/2 tsp. table salt; 1/2 tsp. baking soda. Stay away from sports drinks.
Hope that helps - have been living with this insanity for over 30 years now. Nothin' like experience. ugh. Get ur med. levels checked regularly. the body will metabolize differently as time goes by. The good doc. is right about that.:bigsmile:
 
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