Urinary tract infection and low sodium levels. What do I do?

What does the Dr. advise that you do? Did the Dr. put your dad on an antibiotic for the UTI?

Yes antibiotic for UTI. However, with low water intake, the toxins aren't clearing from his body. If we increase the water intake, sodium levels drop.

Can you substitute the water for drinks that contain sodium? I'm thinking some sports drinks maybe. Also salt his food. We usually avoid certain foods with high sodium content such as lunch meat and canned soups, but that might help him at this point.

Not sure if this will help but - my dad had CHF and took Lasix which makes the patient urinate a lot - a lot! My dads cardiologist also prescribed something called K-tab which is basically a prescription strength potassium supplement. I don't know the science of it all but the potassium was to help fight dehydration and low sodium. I wouldn't try this approach without consulting your dads doctor- but maybe some potassium rich foods like bananas might help.

Hi - this may be a time to request referral to a specialist like a urologist? Sports drinks sounds like a good trial, if you can find one not laden with sugar and other chemicals. Good luck to him and you!

Unary tract infection often appears as back problems making it difficult to get up in the morning.Drink 2 jiggers (ounces) in a glass of water or cool aid about 3 or 4 hours before bed time . You should see a big improvement in about 3 days . Its also good for blood pressure. --Ed L. Cole

Give him electrolytes with his water - you can get sachets of Dioralyte or similar at your local pharmacy. Try to pick a flavour he likes because it's terribly important for him to stay well hydrated.

Classic home remedy for urinary tract infections is Cranberry Juice. If he doesn't like Cranberry juice, there are pill forms which are available without prescription. One brand that ihave used is Uri-Stat. As for Lasix and Potassium pills, DO NOT mess with those without the doctor's specific instruction and/ or presription. The body's normal parameters for potassium are very narrow and even the tiniest bit too much or too little can cause cardiac arrythmias or worse. (The reason a doctor gives Poassium to a person taking Lasix is due to the fact that Lasix to cause loss of that electrolyte, and that can be dangerous)

We tried pedialyte for those times when we needed to keep sodium up. Also ask doctor for cranberry tablets. Those are helping my 95 year old dad.

This is one of the frustrating things about older people's needs - so much advice is "more water" and yes, it's necessary. However, too much and low sodium can cause huge issues. The doctor can prescribe a sodium supplement so you may want to ask about that. That would raise sodium to a higher level - hopefully enough so that lots of water doesn't negate the effect.
Best wishes,
Carol

Maybe a second opinion from a different doctor would yield a prescription for an antibiotic since most UTIs are caused by bacteria. You can buy an OTC remedy used to treat a female UTI which makes the urine slightly reddish orange. Be careful as this red pill can stain clothing. Then get a product like Pedilyte to replace electrolytes, eat a non-sugar yogurt (I like Stonyfield Greek plain yogurt), and eat potato chips. Add to this bananas, so you can keep the sodium-potassium pump (in your system) balanced. When it gets off balance problems arise. One can actually drink so much water as to get "water intoxication", so try to get the color of the urine a straw-like yellow. But, get the antibiotic to treat the UTI. If there is a reason why this doctor is not prescribing an antibiotic, then either get another doctor or use the OTC method. I am sure it is painful to urinate. The OTC product is called "Uricalm". Best wishes!

All cranberry juice is not created equal! The less sugar the better, but it will taste more bitter. You need pure juice, which I find to cost about $6-7 per quart. I started my mom on a concentrated cranberry powder. It was about $40 for a 12-16 oz bag on amazon, and I have her aides stir a teaspoon into her apple sauce or ice cream or yogurt a couple times a day, and that has helped tremendously. Her doctor told me something in the cranberry lubricates the urethra so the bacteria can't adhere or stay around. Something like that. So the concentration of the cranberry itself is key. Also, changing the depends or diapers or inserts more frequently, even if they haven't peed, can help. If he can walk, activity helps, also.

Sorry folks, I need to amend my previous post. I mentioned Uristat, and that is incorrect. Thatdrug helps with the discomfor from UTIs, The pill form of cranberry that I've used is AZO Cranberry. I've used both in the past. AZO actually makes several urinary treatments, so look for the one that matches yourneed.

I would not do anything on your own. Lasix is for people who are retaining water, like those with heart failure. A normal person would dehydrate and that beomes another problem. My Mom is on a cranberry tablet to help prevent another infection. UTIs in men are more serious than women. You need to discuss these suggestions with the doctor.

Edocarces, 2 jiggers (ounces) of what? in water or cool aid?

Mother is 89yo, on home hospice for last 12 months. I started her on Gatorade - 1 to pints daily 4 years ago. She still needs an antibiotic every 2-3 months apart.

Huge issues is right! My dad was advised to drink water to keep gout away (it was working) but his sodium levels fell fast in a 10 day period (had just had perfect score sodium blood test) and because he has three different aides and a day care, no one saw a pattern. Just that he wasn't eating much and that he vomited the last day. Adult day care actually sent him home to me for vomiting "we think he has a hangover?! " because it was clear water (and what looked like vodka???) I had a visiting nurse come from a home care agency that day who said "give it a day or two,he has a little hypertension" and 5 minutes after she left, he pitched forward and broke his neck. He is 84 with soft bones so he can't have surgery. 6 months later he is now only getting out of rehab next week and finally coming home but he can hardly walk now (would do a half-mile before) has nerve damage that affects his coordination and his fingertips are numb and he must where a neck brace probably for the rest of his life. I had never heard of this before. Plus I am depending on professional assessments (and operating on burnout because he lives with me) so I am going to listen to them. Come to find out that low sodium levels are "a thing" with old people. We are lucky things are not far worse. But they still are pretty bad now. So be careful and listen to your gut more than you listen to the so-called professionals.

Nature itself provides an excellent solution! Pick up pure cranberry juice (not concentrate or cocktail) available at most health food stores. 2 oz, twice a day for 3 days should do the trick. I use this system with my mom and it works wonderful. (She has congestive heart disease and is liquid restricted as well). To maintain, ensure that he has a 2 oz glass of cranberry juice (can be sweetened with Stevia) everyday at lunch. The UTI's will be a thing of the past! Good luck!

Olive leaf capsules are great for treating an UTI, plus warm lemon water with a 1/4 teaspoon of pink Himalayan salt will help with hydration and low salt levels. The salt provides many trace minerals without raising blood pressure.
Simply drink an 8 oz glass of warm water with 1/2 of organic squeezed lemon in it and dissolve the salt on your tongue and drink six to eight glasses a day.
This also help with digestion and keeps acid reflux and heartburn away too.
Drinking pure filtered water also helps.

UTIs in the elderly are tough and can be problematic. If the colonization of bacteria is low (under 50,000-100,000) the doc may not prescribe antibiotics as they too can cause a host of problems. Is your dad symptomatic? Changes in mental status, fever, loss of appetite, suprapubic pain, etc.? If so, press the doc to treat the infection. Otherwise cranberry juice does a better job of flushing the kidneys and urinary tract. The molecular weight along with studies that show that active components that fight bacteria are not neutralized thru the digestive system. In addition, cranberry juice has sodium, potassium and Vitamin C. If he doesn't like straight cranberry, they have all kinds of flavors with the cranberry juice now. Mom likes the Raspberry Cranberry. Don't know if your dad has hypertension or any other conditions that might mitigate against sport drinks. Keeping hydrated is key, but water alone in large quantities can also cause problems (as you have noted) . Bananas are a natural source or potassium. Probiotics (like yogurt with active yeast) etc can help. If managing with these simple remedies do not clear his UTI and it continues to bother him then press his doctor or go to another one. Seniors can get into big trouble with UTIs and they can go south pretty quickly. Good luck!

I'd ask his dr first, but when my G'Ma had low sodium, they told her to eat all the salty chip type snacks she wanted, drink sports drinks in place of water (and soda but prob not good for his UTI). When she came home from hospital they put her on Slo-Mag for a few months also. The low sodium they believe was caused by too much IV fluids too fast bc she was sick with a touch of pneumonia. I've also seen something new from Azo that helps with mild UTI, some type of anti microbial I believe. Not sure if appropriate for your father but thought I'd mention.

My son-in-law, a doctor, has me be sure to add salt to mom's diet. The low sodium he said is one of the most common issues with older ladies in particular. He also has me give her a bit of Gatorade each day.
I live in the deserts of Arizona. This past summer we had a number of people die or come close due to the heat. They would go hiking, take and drink plenty of water, but not add any salt. This is a major issue. We always take saltines or pretzels to munch on while we hike, along with lots of water.

I've recovered from several different UTIs and you definitely don't want to reduce your water intake especially not during this time. You don't want to reduce your water intake anytime because this opens the door for any infections to come right back. Maintain a healthy water intake but add some salt back into your diet and exercise as much as possible without overdoing it. Another tip is to get enough rest. Salt is a good thing if used in the right proportions because it has a cleansing effect. what I discovered is drinking warm salt water which really works wonders. I always have to drink a little bit of clear water afterwords but I feel so much better later. One thing you want to be very wary of though is some areas may have problems with tap water. One of our regions in Ohio has had water contamination's such as lead and Legionnaires disease. Do you want to be very careful especially when you have some form of illness, be very careful what source your water comes from in case your area has problems. What I would do is start your homework and see which bottled water would be the safest if your area has a problem with contaminated water. Contaminated water has been all over our news lately, and this would definitely drive people to the stores to snap up all of the bottled water, especially during illness or infections that require patients to drink more water

Big study was recently concluded that showed cranberry juice and cranberry pills do not help with UTIs even though folk medicine has recommended them for a long time.

D-Mannose is a low cost supplement that very effectively helps prevent UTIs. My wife has been bedridden for 6 years and suffered several UTIs, but none since I introduced a very low dose of D-Mannose about 4 months ago. She takes one 500 mg capsule/day . . . only one third the recommended dose.

D-Mannose is used very effectively to prevent UTIs in UK nursing homes. It seems to have negligible side effects. I once got a UTI after visiting a urologist and took ten D-Mannose, 500 mg capsules in ten hours. I had no ill effects, but my urine nitrites dropped from maximum to zero in those ten hours. What's odd to me is that whenever I've told visiting nurses about this amazing result with D-Mannose they have all said, "Oh, yes! That's what I use."

My mom's last UTI almost killed her. She wouldn't drink cranberry juice, so use cranberry supplements. No UTI in over a year since started cranberry. Does your dad have a current infection? If so, he should be on prescribed meds - antibiotics.

My urologist put me in Theracran. I went from 2 UTIs monthly for years to zero. That was almost 2 years ago.

OK, the low sodium can be a medication side effect, or something called SIADH, or something else called CSW (cerebral salt-wasting) and the correct management differs depending with it is. For SIADH, there may be an underlyling cause to look for, and yes, you have to restrict fluids unless you can get on one of those fancy new vasopressin antagonist they have (e.g. tolvaptan). If it is CSW, you add salt to the diet and do NOT restrict fluids - they are actually usually low on internal fluid volume to start with. Trileptal (oxcarbazepine) is a common choice that lowers serum sodium and maybe salt can be added or maybe it can be switched. I teach my rehab residents and others to run simultaneous serum and urine sodium and osmolalities to clarify things. In my practice, CSW is most common but that does not apply in other situations. A good internist who has stayed current SHOULD be able to sort this out if they take the time and don't just assume (used to be some docs did not "believe" in CSW...) .