Cardiologist Questions Cardio

Cheat day

I have congestive heart failure, have great improvement. I was put on a sodium diet and was wondering if it's okay to have cheat days. My limit is 2000

Male | 26 years old
Medications: Lisinopril, metoprolol, spironolactone and furosemide
Conditions: Congestive heart failure

3 Answers

CardiologistCardio
Try not to cheat
In general, it is your average salt (sodium chloride) intake over a week or so that counts so an occasional cheat day" will not make much difference. You can check your fluid balance by weighing yourself daily and comparing this with your symptoms if your weight goes above a certain level you will start to notice swelling in your ankles and increased breathlessness, so you just need to keep your weight below this level by adjustment of your salt intake and diuretic treatment. As you are already taking two diuretics, furosemide and spironolactone you may not need to be too strict with your salt intake. Too little salt in your blood can cause muscle cramps and a feeling faint when you stand up, especially if you are drinking too much water. So if you have fluid overload AND muscle cramps it may be more important to restrict your water intake than your salt.=20 With congestive heart failure, managing your fluid balance is very important and the details depend on the cause of your heart failure, your kidney function, your medication, your level of activity, and the weather (you lose a lot of salt and water by perspiration in hot weather). So daily weighing and updating a graph to monitor it allows you to take effective control, and ideally also measure and note your blood pressure. In addition to controlling your salt and water intake, you should also discuss how to adjust your diuretic dose with your cardiologist or specialist heart failure nurse. It is also important for your family doctor or heart failure clinic to check your kidney function and potassium level (a blood test) regularly. Best wishes, Jonathan
OK to cheat once a week or a couple of times a month. Enjoy!