I avoided caffine altogether for a while but am able to have one soda or one coffee a day and be ok now. I know that at the time of my worse attacks, I was drinking "powerdrinks" left and right to keep up with my schoolwork/housework/life. But now I just take every day at a time and do not let my day get me too stressed.

Every once in a while I crave a good ol pizza, Chinese food, (frozen) or a Sonic hamburger or Mexican food. I know that I'll pay for it the next day. We seldomly eat out (2x's a yr)becauses chefs use alot of salt when cooking. Right now, I cook alot with Mrs Dash, or McCormicks. IF I need a little salt, then I'll use a small pinch Kosher as it has less sodium than table salt.I have one (real)cup of coffee in the morning, then I switch to decaf if I want more. If I try to sneak in another cup of real coffee, it makes me feel bad. When my sister comes, we'll make microwave popcorn, when we watch a movie..and there are consequences to that too. Fresh produce, meat, & milk all have sodium, so when it comes down to it, it's "moderation" and "experimentation" for each of us.

Giving up alcohol is a good thing as well as caffine, msg and artificial sweetners.
You may also want to try drinking spring water and giving up on flouride toothpaste. The chlorine in the drinking water and flouride have effects on the body.
It's all worth a try to have less chemicals in our bodies.
Good luck.
M

THank you all for your feedback. I never really thought of fresh food haveing salt in it! An eye opener. I already do not drink caffine or artificial sweetners. Water is all I drink. There is just times when I can't handle my dizziness. I have learned that when I tend to get my spells, walking seems to subside it.

Most bread, butter and margarine have too much salt for a low sodium diet. Another hidden source is self-raising flour. It takes a while to get used to reading and interpreting food labels but it gets easier over time and is well worth the effort.

pay attention to certain fresh fruits and veggies as well! for example cantaloupe has a pretty high amount of sodium. I also try to steer away from processed foods . cook a lot of your own meals. watch for salt/ msg in sauces, dressings etc.

cantalope??? Wow I would of never thought, I figured if its fresh its good for you! I will defenetly keep that in mind thank you!

Hi all. A different point of view here. May I suggest that you check a nutritional site (I keep FoodCount.com on my Favorites tool bar for instant access) before being too concerned about sodium in fresh foods? As an example, cantaloupe has 14 grams per cup. Unseasoned chicken has about 80 mg for 4 oz. All people, even us, need SOME sodium in their diets. Not having enough can actually cause serious heart issues. My doc recommended that I try to keep sodium to 1000 mg a day. As we all know, that is very challenging. Simply having a sandwich can use up half or more of one's sodium allowance for the day. 2 slices of bread typically have around 300 mg. Restaurants are always a challenge, although I find I do okay by going to places that don't marinate their meat and will accommodate my requests. My husband LOVES eating out, so I have to make it work. Of all the foods we eat, fresh produce and meat, unseasoned, are the least of our concerns. A low salt diet is not easy, for sure. Good luck.

Thank you for that insite, I will defenitly look into that website. And yoiur right, it seems that anything that is going into my mouth I eat with fear! I am so misserable sometimes I would rather go without eating for the day. I know that is not healthy either, but I am so tired of feeling this way, dizzy, unbalanced so forth.....
Again thank you all for your input! God Bless

MSG makes me very very sick. It makes eating out difficult because you don't know what they use. I make my own soups and watch the salt and caffine..