Should We Really Be Pushing Electrolytes?

[chewonmysac]

I was probably drinking my electrolyte packets with water about 4 times a week, as it seemed to mitigate much of the exhaustion typical on Tirz 15mg shot day. Well, that backfired because the blood test showed elevated potassium (6.5). Back to just water now, and went back to normal.

 

[clemochi]

My blood work has previously shown an actual electrolyte balance (pre glp-1 at that) including low sodium so electrolyte drinks are a must for me. I'll feel like hot garbage and get severely dizzy and lightheaded + nasty leg cramps if I don't. Now that I'm on a glp-1 I'm even more careful about it.

 

[Pupsikas]

I think the "everyone needs packets daily" message got way bigger than the evidence; for most people it seems more like a situational tool than a default requirement.

 

[Slogger]

My blood work has previously shown an actual electrolyte balance (pre glp-1 at that) including low sodium so electrolyte drinks are a must for me. I'll feel like hot garbage and get severely dizzy and lightheaded + nasty leg cramps if I don't. Now that I'm on a glp-1 I'm even more careful about it.

Me too -

 

[birdwhacker]

"Should We Really Be Pushing Electrolytes?"

Yes. Next.

I have always been pretty anti-electrolytes.

These are the words of a lunatic. Didn't continue reading.

Starting every day with a big thick glass of salt water with potassium has been literally life changing for me and I pity the fool that doesn't understand how electrolytes work.

I also pity everyone who buys premade electrolyte pouches/beverages. And I pity those who don't know to check how many mg of potassium are in the drink.

More reading here:

Post in thread 'Dosing schedule' [archived internal link]

Wishing you the worst OP!

 

[birdwhacker]

Reta gave me palpitations. I took a packet of electrolyte with Mg and K which helped, so I kept taking them.

I have some kind of condition that makes my heart palpitate. I have to take 200mg or more of elemental magnesium from glycinate every day or I start having bad problems. Been like that for years.

I also started adding salt and potassium to the mix and it's been somewhat life changing. It's not difficult. Get some potassium sprinkle it in a cup, throw some salt in too, about a 3:1 ratio.

 

[DoctaDave]

Personally I’ve sweated like a pig for decades. Even when I was “fit” I still absolutely poured sweat even at 65F with minor activity, always chalked it up to hyperhydrosis and nothing I could do about it. finally had a friend ask if I ever drank electrolytes since I was sweating so much but retained water like mad. She pointed me to a potassium/magnesium heavy, sodium light electrolyte mix. My sweating is down probably 60%. I used to soak my underwear and socks with a decent workout. Now it feels normal and I don’t drip at 70 degrees. It’s wild. I just mix a single scoop in a bottle of water and drink while working out or on rest days just drink it with lunch.

Her thinking was if you are low in electrolytes by sweating them all out. No matter how much fluid you drink you can’t keep it (since electrolytes hold water) so the body has two choices. Pee or sweat to get rid of all the excess fluid. BUT now you are dehydrated so you drink more. Viscous cycle lol

 

[BillC]

Unless the gallon of water you're drinking a day has its own electrolytes, you need to supplement. Drinking plain water, you piss out all of the electrolytes your body has. You will feel the effects. Take a shot of salt water in the morning if you must, at least.

 

[5byfive]

Unless the gallon of water you're drinking a day has its own electrolytes, you need to supplement. Drinking plain water, you piss out all of the electrolytes your body has. You will feel the effects. Take a shot of salt water in the morning if you must, at least.

Yeah... that's not how that works. The point is most people have excess sodium in their diet. Unless you are drinking a pointlessly extreme amount of water, it is not going to cause a sodium imbalance.

 

[BillC]

Yeah... that's not how that works. The point is most people have excess sodium in their diet.

You might need to lay off the fries then.

 

[cujet]

Age plays a role, as does prior weight loss surgery. My wife had the gastric sleeve and she now has trouble with cramping. She has to pound down the Brawndo. I'm 62M, and using Reta for weight loss and touching on my goal weight. No question the FL heat and the fact that I'm working outside in it requires electrolytes from time to time.

 

[5byfive]

You might need to lay off the fries then.

The post is related to a scientific review of literature on electrolytes and your contributions are drink salt and lay off the fries. Trolls are going to troll but that's not going to go over well here. I know a lot of people have been making their way here from Reddit lately, but this board has a much different spirit. If you spend time reading posts, you'll find much more of a spirit of sharing knowledge and experience. Hopefully you will learn to embrace that.

 

[WYSiWYG]

It's not a one size fits all kind of solution - I have a very high sweat rate that is a high electrolyte concentration - which means that during exercise - if I am sweating, I am loosing a lot. If it's a 1 hour gym session, probably fine - if I am running 6+ miles or riding 40+ miles, different story. this doesn't account for heat acclimation or other environmental factors either, which do impact the need

if we are talking about someone taking a GLP and not doing anything other than starving themselves, probly not a big deal - but if you are active and find your self fatigued, crumply regularly and struggling with sleep quality - it absolutely makes a difference. what types and how much are all dependent on the person, their lifestyle and general 'activity'.

My gut also says there's a fair amount that hope on GLP's and go lo-carb, end up with what I describe as the Keto flu - the fix is usually electrolytes

 

[domin8brix]

Age plays a role, as does prior weight loss surgery. My wife had the gastric sleeve and she now has trouble with cramping. She has to pound down the Brawndo. I'm 62M, and using Reta for weight loss and touching on my goal weight. No question the FL heat and the fact that I'm working outside in it requires electrolytes from time to time.

 

[5byfive]

It's not a one size fits all kind of solution - I have a very high sweat rate that is a high electrolyte concentration - which means that during exercise - if I am sweating, I am loosing a lot. If it's a 1 hour gym session, probably fine - if I am running 6+ miles or riding 40+ miles, different story. this doesn't account for heat acclimation or other environmental factors either, which do impact the need

I don't think they are bad overall, they definitely have their place, especially for longer activities; that's what they are really for. And there are other specific instances where they could be helpful as has been discussed, especially low sodium versions.

I just have seen a lot of posts where people start on GLPs and everyone starts pushing electrolytes which just doesn't make sense. Most of the people are significantly overweight, hense the GLPs, and high blood pressure tends to go with that. Pushing salt on them seems like a bad idea. Overall, its just unnecessary for most (I said most) people and likely a net harm.

 

[tendency]

I was probably drinking my electrolyte packets with water about 4 times a week, as it seemed to mitigate much of the exhaustion typical on Tirz 15mg shot day. Well, that backfired because the blood test showed elevated potassium (6.5). Back to just water now, and went back to normal.

Elevated creatinine is another tell-tale blood marker of potentially too much electrolyte consumption as the kidneys have to work extra hard to maintain homeostasis.

 

[CreepyZebra]

Adding electrolytes was the solve to almost all of my really gnarly sides when I was adjusting to taking reta. Now 7 weeks in at the same dose I ran out of liquid IV a couple days ago and seem to be doing and feeling just fine. As someone mentioned above, it appears to be situational for me.