While a high-sodium diet can raise your blood pressure, low blood sodium can be dangerous too. When your sodium levels dip below 136 mEq/L, you can experience a condition known as hyponatremia, which also is known as water intoxication. This condition can cause adverse health symptoms, which can lead to death if your sodium levels dip too low.
Fluid Balance
Sodium's chemical properties make water naturally attract to it. This is why you feel bloated when you eat a high-sodium meal -- because the sodium in your blood has drawn water to it. Sodium is the most prevalent mineral outside your cells, and it helps maintain fluid balance, keeping the water in your blood from infiltrating your cells. When you don't have enough sodium in your body, the water outside your cells starts going inside your cells.
Symptoms
If your sodium levels dip so low that fluid goes inside your cells, you might start to experience nausea, vomiting, confusion and fatigue. If you continue to experience low sodium levels -- such as drinking more water when you already have had a considerable amount -- you might experience muscle weakness, muscle spasms and loss of consciousness. Eventually, it is possible for the cells in your brain to become too swollen. Because your skull cannot get larger, this can result in brain damage and death.
Causes
Low sodium levels in your body are often the symptom of an underlying medical condition, such as chronic kidney disease, the presence of a tumor or liver cirrhosis. Low sodium levels also can be the result of excess sweating after a long exercise session, which causes you to lose sodium via sweat. If you have been ill with diarrhea or vomiting, you can lose sodium. Low sodium levels also are commonly found in those with eating disorders who might abuse diuretics or vomit, both of which can cause sodium loss.
Treatment
Treatments for low sodium levels depend on how much sodium you have lost. If you have low sodium as a result of exercise, drinking an electrolyte-containing sports drink or adding a small amount of salt to your water can help boost levels. Eating a salty meal also can help. However, if you are experiencing confusion as a result of low sodium, seek medical treatment. Your physician might start an intravenous fluid line to add sodium to your blood to restore fluid balance.
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