I have no idea! I had trauma surgery for total small bowel obstruction with vomiting of feces. Following 12-day hospital stay and surgery I was released and had an uneventful recovery almost. On day nine or 10 post-discharge I was on my daily walk and started feeling dizzy, sweaty, and sick. Next thing I know, I am back in ER with residents asking me why my sodium was so low and if I was confused. I was treated with fluids and released again only to be back in a few weeks. This happened seven times in seven months. o the individual patient and their story.

I have a friend who recently had a knee replacement. She was fine the evening of her surgery and the next day. The second day after her surgery she complained of not "tracking" very well. She hardly ate on that second day and became increasingly foggy and lethargic. She had no IVs since the day after her surgery. The third day, she had a major seizure and became unconscious. After the seizure she was transferred from the orthopedic unit to Intensive Care. There, we were told she had extreme hyponatremia. I wonder why this was not discovered earlier by checking her electrolytes or doing routine labs? She made no secret about feeling "loopy."

My Husband is in hospital for two weeks and been told he has low sodium levels. Test include: liver scan, endoscopy, camera to look into the stomach, CAT scans and various blood tests as well as a echo cardiogram, all which have come back OK. Reading this article has helped me identify some of the symptoms. He started with feeling sick, unable to eat or drink: over the last four weeks. I had the Doctor in the home two times because he was so weak and could barely sit up. I was told to make sure he drank water and he would soon stop being dehydrated. As he had not eaten or drank then for two weeks I took him to A& E dept' and he was admitted to the hospital and put on a drip. It is only now he has regained strength in his arms and beginning to eat small amounts. They are doing more blood tests to check the sodium level before letting him come home. His legs are still wobbly/ weak; his health problems include Emphysema, Liver damage, plus reactivated T.B which left the lungs in a worse condition. His recent drugs to rid him of the Fungi associated with Emphysema are antifungal and he has been taking them for 18 months. He has Bronchiosis inhalers and has his condition in control so when this all happened it seemed out of the blue, in reality his health and breathing has deteriorated over the last six months or so. He is still breathless and I shall ask what caused the low white blood cell count as well as the low sodium levels. This article has helped identify some of the symptoms he has had.