NCS and Gatorade

I am 24 years old and have been living with Neurocardiogenic Syncope for 17 years. I had my pacemaker implanted 9 months ago to address asystole during episodes. I consume gatorade daily to alleviate symptoms. During a recent episode in the last week, my doctor recommended that half of my fluid consumption should consist of gatorade to raise my blood pressure. I am consuming roughly 3-4 liters of fluid daily and I am not taking any medications at this time. The gatorade is helping, but I am a little put off at the amount of sugar and the volume of gatorade I am consuming.

Is anyone else controlling their NCS by dietary methods?

8 Comments

NCS and Gatorade

by J.B. - 2010-07-02 07:07:13

If the sugar content of Gatoraide is a concern ask your doctor about drinking one of the sugar free sports drinks. There are several on the market with almost identical ingredients as Gatoraide except for the sugar.

?

by LS - 2010-07-02 08:07:07

I agree with you about the sugar content in that stuff.
Why does the doctor want you to consume that??
Liz

an alternative

by Pookie - 2010-07-02 11:07:49

Pedialyte. less sugar. it's for babies. I drink it as I too have Neurocardiogenic Syncope. It's expensive tho. :(

Just a thought.

Pookie

NCS and Gatorade

by slakers - 2010-07-02 11:07:54

The doctor had recommended Gatorade when i was experiencing periods of dizziness from low blood pressure. The electrolytes in Gatorade help alleviate symptoms by allowing the body to retain more fluids, raising your blood volume.

He had suggested to consume around 2.5 L of fluid a day, I have been consuming around 3-4 liters to account for my lifestyle (I live in Florida and run daily) to maintain fluid levels.

Thank you for your feedback,
Sam

NCS

by ccallahan - 2010-07-03 05:07:56

I have POTS which is similar and have been told to increase my salt intake. I use Sea Salt which seems to work better without all the other stuff in it. The soups are good also, I add salt to those too. You do need to keep the fluids up. I would defiinately speak with your physician as to why they suggested gatorade. I would definately use the powerade too, instead of gatorade. I thought they had a sugar free gatorade also? The pedialyte is good as someone said, and yes very expensive unless you can convince your insurance to cover. Extra salt helps keep me from getting less dizzy and has worked the best for me with lots and lots of water.

Good luck and I will say a prayer for something to work for you.

Rev Chuck

gatorade

by Tracey_E - 2010-07-03 09:07:34

I'm wondering why he recommended gatorade. If you read the label, it's mostly sugar water, it doesn't even have that much sodium and electrolytes. A can of soup would give you 5 times the sodium with a lot less calories. I'm not an expert, tho, so maybe I'm missing something and am way off base. When my bp was very low when I was pregnant, i was told to drink more water and eat a can of soup.

I do powerade when I want the electrolytes due to the heat. I don't have NCS but I get dizzy easily when I work out or spend all day in the heat (I'm in FL also) and powerade seems to help more quickly than gatorade.

They make a sugar free gatorade but it has sucralose, which imo is worse than sugar. Have you tried the health food store for one sweetened with erythritol? It's calorie free but natural, made from stevia. Some of the Sobe's have it but I don't know if they'd have the other minerals you're looking for.

Good luck and welcome to the board.

another with NCS

by Max4pups - 2010-07-03 10:07:04

my doctor also recommended drinking lots of gatorade or the like (I do the propel, calories are like 10 and sugar is 1-2 grams). I was simply told it's very important to keep your self hydrated, which only makes sense to me, I was also told to keep your protein levels up to avoid low blood sugar (I keep packs of almonds in my purse).
My type of NCS is Cardio Inhibitory 2B with major asystole (my heart stops for around 30 seconds) and all though my blood pressure runs on the low side (normal 112/60) and my BP isn't causing my problems it's still very important to keep hydrated.

However since my PM implant my episodes have been brought under control...

a gatorade alternative

by justme - 2010-07-03 11:07:07

0 calorie lifewater (with the white label) is a good alternative to gatorade. You get the electrolytes without sugar (they use stevia) and without major chemicals.

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