Strokes, Seizures, Low Sodium Levels

About stroke Medication and treatments
1

Strokes, Seizures, Low Sodium Levels

You’ve had a stroke and very likely you will have been put on medication to prevent further strokes.

It is possible you have been put on some blood pressure reducing medication e.g. Amlodipine or Candesarten.

The medications may be dependant on the type stroke you had or the cause.

All medications tend to have some side-effects and it is well worth familiarising yourself with these for the medication you are taking. The medication comes with a leaflet or you can find the information on the NHS website or similar.

Seizures

A stroke sometimes causes seizures, either soon after the stroke or some time later.

The below is quoted from the pages on the Stroke Association website.

“A seizure is most likely to happen within the first few days after a stroke but can also happen months or years later. Around 5 in 100 people (about 5%) may have a seizure soon after a stroke.

You are more likely to have a seizure if you had a severe stroke, a haemorrhagic stroke, or a stroke in the cerebral cortex, the large outer layer of the brain where vital functions like movement, thinking, vision and emotion take place.

Overall, your risk of having a seizure goes down over time.”

Hyponatremia - low sodium levels

Low sodium levels can cause seizures/epileptic fits as well as other medical conditions such as muscle weakness, drowsiness and fatigue.

Since some BP lowering medications are known to cause low sodium levels, there is a chance that if you are put on a BP lowering medication, you may end up having low sodium levels (which is not normally monitored as part of routine healthcare) and end up having seizures, fatigue etc.

Beware of the relationship between BP lowing medications and low sodium levels. As with anything, only some of us are affected by this whilst others will continue to lead normal healthy, happy lives, but the 5% of us who might be affected might be forewarned, forearmed.

2 Likes
Stroke and heart problems
2

Thanks for info @ManjiB.

BP meds are the one thing I don’t need. Phew. But I do have bloods done very regular for other medical conditions. I will check if sodium is one…i did have low potassium in hospital & had some yucky, thankfully short term, meds for that. They worked though & never had an issue since :grin:

2 Likes
3

Thanks for the info,.Some of which I was aware because of being hospitalised several years ago due to very low sodium levels. I also am aware of the symptoms of low sodium ie headache feeling dizzy confusion. None of which I had perhaps because sodium can reduce slowly and can only be detected by blood test another of which I am due to have on Friday. Anyway to date I have started to take Candesarten again, because I,m on a low dose and the ANP said it (sodium) was low probably because of the other medication I was on ; Indapamide. So I am not taking that!

2 Likes
4

Can I just add that these sort of symptoms can also be due to a certain vitamin or other nutrient deficiency. But which one can really only be detected by a blood test.

When I had these symptoms in my first year post stroke, I found out that I was low in Folic Acid. After being on a prescribed high dose for a couple of days, it was like someone had removed the straight jacket and led boots from my body, I felt so light and free by comparison.

So it’s well worth having this checked out. You burn a lot more nutrients in healing after any major illness/surgery. But you don’t necessarily feel or notice the symptoms straight away, not until your body has started tapping into and draining any reserves. It’s a bit like having a slow leak in your tyre. And it doesn’t matter if you only had a blood test a couple of months before these symptoms started and they were fine; nutrient levels can still slip below the accepted range in that time since.

Lorraine

2 Likes
5

Very well put Lorriane and I am not suggesting, or at least not intentionally that BP meds and sodium are the only causes. As you rightly point out there are all sorts of reasons and causes including genetic inheritance, accidental overdoses. One of my sisters started drinking almond milk instead of dairy milk and after a while her calcium level had risen so high she was having problems walking). The slow build up meant she was not aware of the effect of drinking almond milk with added calcium. Luckily she was sensible enough to badger the GP until they did the right tests to identify the root cause of her ailment.

I guess the advice here is if ever you feel something is not right see the GP in the first instance and get tested. There is no harm in doing that and you could save yourself a lot of bother later on.

Absolutely not a one cap fits all.

In fact this post what I wrote might affect only 5% of stroke survivors at best !!

But as I said, if I was one of the 5%, I’d want to know.

Take care y’all.

:pray:

1 Like