baking soda & diamox

[janeaustenfan]

I’ve just recently done a trial of Diamox, which has worked miracles – thank you Dr Diana! – but when I spoke to my doctor about using baking soda to help stay alkaline she absolutely did not want me to, because of the information on the drug info sheet:

Sodium Bicarbonate: The use of concurrent sodium bicarbonate therapy
enhances the risk of renal calculus formation in patients taking acetazolamide.

So if taking baking soda increases the risk of kidney stones, why is it being promoted? And are there other safer ways of increasing alkalinity? And where can I find credible information that I can present to my doctor?

Just a bit confused! 🙂

janeaustenfan

[Dr. Diana]

Hi Hon, I’m so glad to hear you got some relief from Diamox. Great question. I have two videos concerning this question. Will you check them out? I saw a urologist to help me (and my kids) avoid kidney stones. He monitored our urinalysis fairly closely for a while. We used baking soda with his encouragement, but we also used “alkaline drops” in our water, tried to avoid terribly acidic foods and drinks, etc. He also switched all of our supplements to the citrate form. I was expecting all of us to need Diamox for the rest of our lives, and was happy to see a urologist about this (they deal with this every day — refreshing)). Amazingly, my kids and I only need Diamox once in a while now (usually when inflamed after injury or illness). So it is really a non-issue for us now. Check out the vids? Big hug…

[janeaustenfan]

Thanks for your reply Dr Diana. Yes, I have seen most of the videos on your site. I’m reading up on the alkaline diet, and mostly I’m following it, and I’m using alkaline drops (and buying pH neutral drinking water as I live rurally and our rain water is acidic). And I’m eating bananas every day to replace some potassium. My first lot of bloods have come back great, but this is still very early days as I only started Diamox on Xmas eve.

I did a trial of diamox not because of POTS but because of THE HEADACHE that I’ve been fighting for I don’t remember how long, and it fixed it overnight. I’d have settled for relief from the head pain, but it also gave me back the use of my arms, and I’ve found I’m able to do things I haven’t been able to do for years. Simple things like slice bread, and chop veges, and I’m back driving again.

My dr is impressed with the results but doesn’t have any experience dealing with diamox, so she’s doing research and has referred me to a neurologist. I have no idea yet when that appointment will be – I live in New Zealand and specialists here have a very long wait time.

It’s interesting to me that you no longer need diamox every day – that is great! Please correct me if I’m wrong, but it’s my understanding that Diamox treats the symptoms, not the cause, of hydrocephalus, so what changed? Your meds, or your diet/lifestyle, or ??? Is it because your mast cell issues are better managed?

Thanks for your great work!

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