Sodium deficiency

Hi everyone.

I was practicing hot yoga (not strictly Bikram, but same temperature) for a little under 3 months, from February to May this year, going 5+ times a week. Unfortunately I was forced to stop after a blood test showed my sodium levels to be at a point that my doctors considered “dangerously low”. I’m not sure exactly what the numbers are/were, but I’m going to ask when I see the specialist again this week.

I always drink a lot of water, at least a few liters a day. When I was going to hot yoga this went up by a lot. I truly felt really thirsty and drank more because I thought I was somehow dehydrated and felt like I needed to drink. And because I started retaining water, I ended up cutting my sodium intake more and more. Which led to me retaining more water. What I realize now is that the low sodium level was probably what was causing me to retain the water – but I didn’t know that then.

My sodium level went back up very quickly. It was retested a week later and was apparently fairly normal. It was retested a couple of weeks ago and it still normal. All my other electrolytes have been completely fine.

However, my doctors are completely against me going back to hot yoga. I don’t think that they trust that I can keep it in check. I’ve tried a couple of non-heated classes and they were okay, but I really missed the heat.

I was just wondering if anyone here could give me some advice… Can some people just not “handle” the heat? How much water should one drink/how much sodium should somebody have? I’ve tried looking this up, but it’s hard to find information that’s not pertaining to people that are not either serious athletes or sedentary.

I should also mention that I do have some issues in regards to disordered eating which is sort of how I really got into this mess (and probably why my doctors don’t trust me). But I do not see any of my other ‘health issues’ as problematic and going to hot yoga truly helped my mood and my body image. I don’t think they believe this. [For the record, I have a low white blood cell count and osteopenia. I had low Vitamin K and Vitamin D, but those should be normal now].

Any advice would really be appreciated. I do have problems with my mood, sleep, migraines, and joints… All of which I’ve been told for years would be helped by yoga. And all of which was helped so much. I really would love to go back. Sorry for the long post, and thanks!