Posted by SLS on April 10, 2014, at 23:56:28
In reply to Re: Reintroducing Trileptal..., posted by baseball55 on April 10, 2014, at 19:55:25
> > Are you absolutely sure that swelling is not a symptom of hyponatremia?
> I'm not medically trained, but I know enough A&P to know that sodium attracts water.
Thanks.
Water molecules diffuse osmotically across a semipermeable membrane according to a concentration gradient, right?
What if the sodium is retained INSIDE the cell (which it is)? Where is the excess water in the blood stream attracted to? Is cerebral edema (brain swelling) dangerous enough to be concerned with? Trileptal causes hyponatremia. Hyponatremia causes brain swelling. Brain damage is a possible result if the onset of hyponatremia is acute enough. Swollen ankles is also a symptom of hyponatremia, and will hopefully dispose one to having a blood test for electrolytes before more serious symptoms emerge. Intracellular and interstitial fluid accumulations both cause swelling, but for different reasons. They are not "opposites".
- ScottSome see things as they are and ask why.
I dream of things that never were and ask why not.- George Bernard Shaw
poster:SLS
thread:1063878
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20140328/msgs/1064011.html