Water? Gatorade?

I have POTS and I'm wondering how many ounces of a Gatorade type drink should I drink each day?   How much water?  Also, does anyone know of a brand of a healthier Gatorade drink?   Not with all the corn syrup etc.  

Thanks!

Laura

[Lee9709]

I would think that the amt of water would depend on your weight.  weight divided by 2.  you should drink that number in ounces.  My son drinks the G2 gatoraid it is lower in sugar.

[supineallthetime]

I'm not sure about amounts.  Over time, I've grown very aware of my hydration level (it even shows up on the scale by 5+ lbs within a day as water is the quickest way your weight will vary).  I can tell by "feel" how hydrated I am and the goal is to keep decent and steady hydration level (especially since the "active" stuff in the blood isn't water itself... but other things that take days to build up).

Others electrolyte sources I've heard of are NUUN, GookinAid-Vitalyte, ThermoTabs, BioSalt-Tabs, BlasiSalts, and a couple recipes that you can sweeten as you see fit (a little sugar, fruit juice, tea, artificial sweetener of your choice, or whatever):

A) 1 cup filtered or spring water, 1/8 teaspoon of Sea Salt, 1/8 teaspoon of "No Salt" salt substitute (potassium)

B) very dilute mix of Country Time lemonade mix, or store-brand equivalent, with a shot of Morton's Lite Salt (50/50 sodium chloride/potassium chloride)

C) 1 cup spring water, 1 cup seltzer water, 1/4 tsp sea salt, 1/4 tsp "no salt" brand salt substitute (potassium-chloride)

I eat salt all the time and drink plain water alternated with with some extra electrolytes either in drink form... or just by having a potassium pill occasionally and a magnesium & calcium every now and then (those pills are cheap at most stores).

If you are on fludrocortisone, make sure that the doc checks up on your electrolytes every now and then (mine were checked every few months at first).  Since it tells the kidneys to hang on to salt (and dump potassium) while retaining water, you need to pay special attention.

[halbashes]

I normally drink a lot of water, Pedialyte, and Powerade Zero.  There are several other options available though.  I just started a new health page listing nutrition information, as well as links for a couple of different electrolyte drinks.  I will try to update the page again as soon as possible.

Electrolyte Drinks:
http://www.medhelp.org/health_pages/Neurological-Disorders/Electrolyte-Drinks/show/1000?cid=196

[Groggyfroggy]

LauraB...,

I am diabetic, so I can't drink the regular Gatorade.
I drink G2, the sugar-free form of Gatorade.  I find it tastes ok by itself, but takes yukky with meals, so would rather just drink plain water with my meal.

I also like SOBE Lifewater for a special treat now and then.  The kind that has no calories.  It isn't an electrolyte drink, but has some extra vitamins and tastes good.  It does have sodium.  I can't afford to drink it too much though, it's expensive!! :)

I appreciated the recipes that supineallthetime added.  I could imagine you could do a lot with them.  I might use the one with Country Time Lemonade for my Dad. That's cool to think of using the NuSalt to get your Potassium in!

They only serve NuSalt at the Adult Day Care I attend 3 Days a week.  Since some people can't have salt, they don't have it on the table at all!  I wondered what it was good for, now I know :)  I sneak my salt in in my pocket.

I don't believe we've met.  I'm new here.  My name is Lois

Groggyfroggy

[evo123]

How does Gatorade help with POTS (apart from the obvious of giving us fluids) and can I buy it in the UK?  Sorry if this sounds like a silly question!!!   :) x

[halbashes]

Gatorade is available in the UK, though I am not certain how similar it is to the Gatorade available in the USA.  I would imagine the flavors are somewhat different, though I am not sure about nutritional information.  Here is a link: http://www.gatorade.co.uk

Sports drinks like Gatorade are often recommended in Dysautonomia because they contain sodium, potassium, and other electrolytes.  Gatorade is fairly well known in the USA.  Perhaps there are other electrolyte sports drinks more common in the UK?  I am uncertain myself, but maybe another member will be able to offer you further insight.

[Heiferly]

I don't think Gatorade G2 is actually sugar-free.  Their website says the serving size (8 oz.) contains 7g sugar and 25 calories, and a full 20 oz. bottle has 17g sugar and 70 calories.  G2, as I understood the advertising, is reduced calorie (reduced sugar), with approximately half the calories/sugar of regular gatorade.  Powerade makes the sugar-free calorie-free sports drink, Powerade Zero (that I think halbashes mentioned above).  Someone please correct me if I'm wrong.

http://www.pepsiproductfacts.com/infobycategory.php#chart
(Drop down to Sports Drinks>Bottles and Cans># oz>Nutrition Info)
http://www.thecoca-colacompany.com/mail/goodanswer/POWERade.pdf
(I'm not even going to try to figure out why the bottles say 0 cal/8 oz but the chart says 2-3 cal/8 oz and this is explained on the chart by "rounding" ... )

As for water volume recommendations, they vary by which dysautonomia expert you talk to.  Recommendations I've heard:  drink whenever you are thirsty (personally, this seems least likely to be helpful to me, as thirst levels are so idiosyncratic in dysauto patients), 2L/day, 3L/day, "more" (gee, don't you love it when they're specific!)...

Personally, I tick my fluids off in 32 oz increments because that's the size of the Powerade Zero bottles we get, and that's the size of the giant plastic "souvenir" mugs I bring back from every hospital stay/surgery.  Those mugs are perfect because they have the oz marked off down the side and are insulated to keep drinks cool for longer--steal as many as you can every time you have the misfortune of being in the hospital!!  :-D  Also, 32 oz. is 946 mL, or almost 1L so you can know approximately how many L you are drinking as well.  I try to get in 3x32 oz a day in the hot seasons and will settle for 2 or 2 1/2 in the colder parts of the year.  

[supineallthetime]

I've always been one to "chug" my water, and they say that you get a temporary boost in blood pressure when you do so... so rather than sip a drink all day, I periodically chug it.  If you have generally low blood pressure and big dips when you stand (Orthostatic Hypotension / Orthostatic Intolerance style of POTS) that can be handy to do before getting up (or whenever you anticipate the most trouble upon standing).

Also, some people get help from caffeine and some people end up worse overall.  I have found that chugging water/electrolytes along side modest amounts of coffee (or whatever) works out well most of the time.  But that is said to vary a lot from person to person.  It is a mild diuretic (dehydrator) so treat it with caution and counter with water or just avoid it (and other diuretics)!

It is funny to have a "good" use of "no-salt" substitute!  Perhaps one day there will be a "good" use for "near-beer" :)

[Groggyfroggy]

I appologize for referring to G2 as sugar-free.  I remember now that it is not.  Some of the the drinks that I drink ARE sugar-free and I got mixed up.

I believe that I might have said it was sugar-free in some of my other posts also...better go try to correct that!  Don't wan't someone taking my word for it

Thanks for clearing that up :)

Groggyfroggy

[halbashes]

Not to worry!  There are so many different types of Gatorade, (not to mention other sports drinks), I can certainly understand the confusion.  Thank you to both for clearing that up!  :)