Electrolyte Problem - Or So I Think

[epeavy]

Alright, so I've had an interesting few months of various symptoms, and lately, a variety of symptoms have come up. Since March, my diet has been off-and-on and I have been drinking copious amounts of water (mostly 1 liter or more per day). When I say my diet was off-and-on, I mean there were days of not eating, eating little, or eating junk food. Around the end of April, I was drinking alot of water while I was having a bout with diarrhea (which is quite common - not diarrhea as in liquidy stool, but soft stool) and I realized I wasn't replenishing electrolytes, so I switched to Gatorade and Smartwater. I started feeling funny when I drank Gatorade, as in my skin dried up, my body would warm up, my veins would dilate (not abnormally), I would become more mentally alert and my heart would beat faster. When I switched back to water, it felt like my body slowed down. My breathing seemed too slow, and my veins thinned out (they looked irregular), and my mental clarity vanished. This continued until I went to an urgent care facility because I started getting cramps in my neck, jaw, back, abs, and thigh. They sent me to the ER where they gave me a saline solution and told me that my final diagnosis was weakness and said I tested negative for diabetes insipidus (they thought I had this because I was urinating ever hour or so, but I was drinking a lot of water (not because of thirst, but by choice).

After that, I was feeling fine. My diarrhea was clearing up, my stools were normal, my stomach no longer ached whenever I ate something. On May 5th, however, I ate a Lean Cuisine that had been left out for a couple hours before I put it in the freezer again. Diarrhea came back and so I did the Gatorade-Water cycle. My appetite left as well. I stopped eating for a day or so. The night of May 6th, the cramps in my neck came back and continue to this day. As the days go on, I am beginning to have more and more light headedness upon standing up, even more fatigue, and I also notice the difference in my veins after eating something salty - I continue to have dilated veins after consuming something salty. Also, my fatigue goes away when I consume something salty as well - which is the same thing I noticed when I drank Gatorade.

In general, I just feel off. I have had blood tests taken. Although, I'm not sure if the doctor is looking in the right direction. Could this be an issue with my diet and lack of eating because I have lost a lot of weight (probably due to the diarrhea). Any comments or help would be highly appreciated.

[Marina_busybee]

do you  ever  check you  blood pressure???
sounds  like  a low  B/p  prob  to me.

By  reading your  post, I  gather  that  you  don't  eat much, you  lack the  nutrients  our  bodies  need  to  survive.
Then you had  a  lean cuisine  which had  been  sitting out,    when  frozen  foods  sit out,  bacteria  begins  to  grow.  It might  be  minuscule  but  it's  present.  You  ate  it,  and your  bodies  first  reaction  was  to  get  it  out  of your  system.  There  are  two  ways  our  body  will do  to  get  rid  of  something  that  can  makes us  sick.  one  of those  ways  you  had  (diarrhea)  the  other  way  is  vomiting.
  When we have  diarrhea  and/or  vomiting  we  lose  alot of  water  as  well as  electrolytes.   Some of those  electrolytes  the  body  nees  to  keep  B/P  regulate  are  sodium,  potassium  and  magnesium. If  we  don't  replace  them,  of  course  our  bodies  are  not  going  to  work  properly.
             If  you're  lacking  sodium  and  are  dehydrated  your  B/P  will be  low  and you  will feel  lathergic  and  dizzy.
My  recommendation,  see  a  Dr  get your  lab  results  and  try  to  start  eating  a  balanced  diet.  You  will fee the  difference  immediately.
Take  care!

Marina

[epeavy]

additional information: I'm a 20 y.o. African American male in good health and no history of kidney illnesses in family