Dehydration and Low Sodium Count HELP??

Question

I had to take my mom to the hospital on tuesday. She is 81, diabetic and was not talking correctly. Her Blood Sugar was 150 which is within her range. After 11 hours in a hallway in the ER she was diagnosed as being dehydrated and low sodium level (119) 135-145 was normal. She is still in the hospital. They are not giving her any fluid now and giving her a high sodium intake. The dehydration and low sodium is two different things. I am not getting any answers at the hospital... Does anyone have any words of wisdom. Her sodium level has not changed since tuesday. Please help! thank you all!

Answer 1

I have a few answers for you. I actually had a patient last week with a very low sodium level.
Typically, as in your situation they give patients with that low of sodium, Hot Saline (3% saline), which has a larger sodium concentration than normal saline (0.9%, 0.45%). Often times they give the loading dose of hot saline to begin to raise the sodium level in the blood. When people have hyponatremia (low sodium levels), they often act 'weird'. Hallucinations, talking funny, euphoria, disorientation is very commonplace in people with low sodiums. Basically, what they will do, is treat the sodium level first, and then treat the dehydration issue next. If they would start to pump her full of fluids right away, it would drop her sodium level even further, so it is important to get the sodium levels back up. Otherwise, she could incur heart arrhythmias and other such problems. As soon as sodium levels return to an acceptable range (per doctors order), they will most likely put her on normal saline (0.9%) to help increase her fluid level, and help her sodium level as well, and probably start her on sodium pills.

any other questions just ask!

Cory, RN