Singapore Expats

Hi I need suggestion for fluid retention or generally known as liquid retention. I have tried to figure out online and found only few recommendations.
I don't know what should I do? Pls help.

Drastically reduce your salt intake. This costs you nothing medically or financially and actually helps you as salt is a poison to the human body and that's why the body retains fluids in order to surround the poisons from the actual body parts. Having said that, if you are elderly you have to be a bit careful as you could end up suffering from sodium deficiency in the blood.

Of course there probably are some medical reasons some people have fluid retention but the only common one is usually suffered periodically by 50% of the population (Menses and/or pregnancy). But just cutting out salt should be the first and least expensive solution.

That also means giving up soy sauces, even Kikkomins low salt variety.

Yes i would think salt is the culprit. If I take too much salty food the next morning I'll have a much puffier face.

Ironically, people with high BP tend not to drink enough water. The less you drink, the more your body tries to hang on to the little water that is in the system. This mechanism is governed by a biofeedback loop involving ADH.

Not medical advice, but generally, as you drink more water, your body will switch from retention mode to excretion mode. And with the water that's flushed out, a lot of the problem-causing salts are eliminated along with it.

Try to drink 2L of water per day. You body will appreciate it. But make sure you spread it out equally. Binge-drinking is counter-productive.

That said, there are plenty of medical conditions that cause high BP. So get yourself checked out before you start experimenting with advice you come across on a forum.

By the way, the 2L isn't gospel. And things like fruit, milk and flavored beverages are included in the 2L of course.

Also, yes, in all likelihood, you'll still need throw out the salt shaker and ditch most hawker foods and most savory snacks.

Lastly, alcohol and coffee are known diuretics, making you expel more fluid than is good for you.

sundaymorningstaple wrote: ↑

Sat, 16 Dec 2023 6:29 pm

Drastically reduce your salt intake. This costs you nothing medically or financially and actually helps you as salt is a poison to the human body and that's why the body retains fluids in order to surround the poisons from the actual body parts. Having said that, if you are elderly you have to be a bit careful as you could end up suffering from sodium deficiency in the blood.

Of course there probably are some medical reasons some people have fluid retention but the only common one is usually suffered periodically by 50% of the population (Menses and/or pregnancy). But just cutting out salt should be the first and least expensive solution.

That also means giving up soy sauces, even Kikkomins low salt variety.

I've never understood the point of having a low sodium and regular soy sauce. They taste virtually the same, so there's no reason why anyone would ever go for the regular over the low.

abbby wrote: ↑

Mon, 18 Dec 2023 1:41 am

Yes i would think salt is the culprit. If I take too much salty food the next morning I'll have a much puffier face.

Little beauty hack, I like to depuff my face with an ice roller. Feels great.

Max Headroom wrote: ↑

Tue, 26 Dec 2023 6:31 pm

By the way, the 2L isn't gospel. And things like fruit, milk and flavored beverages are included in the 2L of course.

Also, yes, in all likelihood, you'll still need throw out the salt shaker and ditch most hawker foods and most savory snacks.

Lastly, alcohol and coffee are known diuretics, making you expel more fluid than is good for you.

Are included? I'd think flavored beverages should not be.

How so Lisa?

Max Headroom wrote: ↑

Sat, 30 Dec 2023 1:16 pm

How so Lisa?

A liter of soda and a liter of water are not the same.

No, they're not. Sorry, I think I'm missing your point.

Lisafuller wrote: ↑

Sat, 30 Dec 2023 1:23 pm

Max Headroom wrote: ↑

Sat, 30 Dec 2023 1:16 pm

How so Lisa?

A liter of soda and a liter of water are not the same.

I count soda water as 1:1 with normal water when I drink it. But even flavored, sugared soda is mostly water with some bad stuff on the side.

Max Headroom wrote: ↑

Tue, 26 Dec 2023 6:22 pm

Ironically, people with high BP tend not to drink enough water. The less you drink, the more your body tries to hang on to the little water that is in the system. This mechanism is governed by a biofeedback loop involving ADH.

Not medical advice, but generally, as you drink more water, your body will switch from retention mode to excretion mode. And with the water that's flushed out, a lot of the problem-causing salts are eliminated along with it.

Try to drink 2L of water per day. You body will appreciate it. But make sure you spread it out equally. Binge-drinking is counter-productive.

That said, there are plenty of medical conditions that cause high BP. So get yourself checked out before you start experimenting with advice you come across on a forum.

In red. This must be tempered with age as well. If you are elderly, drinking too much water, as you rightly noted with cause the body to go into excrete mode to flush the system. Case in point from actual case history. Earlier this year (5 May 2023) my wife collapsed in the living room and was totally unaware where she was, could not pick herself up off the floor and was more like the dead weight of a corpse which always weighs, it seems, a lot more that what the actual scales would show. This happened around 2330 hrs and nobody heard her fall. From where I found her it appeared she slid of the couch and was sitting propped up against the other couch. How she got there we don't know as it took all my strength to pick her up off the floor and carry her to the bed. She couldn't speak at all so was of little use ascertaining how it happened. To this day she remembers none of the issue until 2 days after her admission to the Hospital. As she was "conscious" but not, eyes open but oblivious to her surroundings and people, I called the SCDF Ambulance and they were there in short order. Question asked & answered. but rushed her to TTSH (I rode in the ambulance with her). Once in the emergency room vitals were done again by the hospital staff, etc, etc,. when they finally got back to me and my daughter, she was already warded and had also been given a CT scan. Cause?

Low blood sodium (salt electrolytes in the bloodstream). She normally drank very little tea (either one cup of tea or milo in the morning and the rest of the day, she drank copious quantities of water. It was flushing out her system including the blood sodium which is necessary in given quantities. She was warded for two weeks but was put on a saline drip for 48 hours to get her blood sodium up to minimum level. I was told by the doctor that low blood sodium for the elderly is dangerous and can actually cause death (and not just by falling down). It was so low they had to then put her on a potassium drip as sodium and potassium in the system have to able to cohabitate in given quantities as both become harmful with either goes out of whack but are absolutely necessary in given ratios.

She was discharged on the 11th of May but we had to keep giving her sodium tablets for a period of time to ensure not relapse.