Susan's Place Transgender Resources

Community Conversation => Transitioning => Hormone replacement therapy => Topic started by: Sluggy on April 21, 2017, 01:31:07 AM

Title: How do you settle the salt cravings?
Post by: Sluggy on April 21, 2017, 01:31:07 AM
For those of you on diuretic medications, how have you found yourself dealing with the salt cravings (if any)?

Tbh, I've taken to eating tons of Mexican candy and fruit seasoning, which is almost entirely made of salt [emoji14]

What are your favorites?
Title: Re: How do you settle the salt cravings?
Post by: Barb99 on April 21, 2017, 01:54:48 AM
OMG, I put salt on everything! I could not get enough of that stuff, I got so bad I was adding salt to individual bites, fork in one hand, salt shaker in the other.

I've had SRS now so I'm done with the Spiro (I don't miss that stuff at all) and my salt intake is back to normal, the cravings are gone.

Title: Re: How do you settle the salt cravings?
Post by: IdontEven on April 21, 2017, 02:15:48 AM
Yeah I pretty much just salt the hell out of everything. One of my favorites is a cheddar omelette, with a bunch of seasoned salt on the bottom so it hits your tongue all at once. Dear god, sometimes it's just like OM NOM N...where'd all the eggs go? Dammit now I have to make more.

Also, anchovies. And pickle juice. If they sold just pickle juice in a jar, I'd buy it at this point.

And this is just to maintain low blood pressure. If I don't eat tons of salt I start passing out when I stand up. Wheeee!
Title: Re: How do you settle the salt cravings?
Post by: Brooke on April 21, 2017, 02:51:44 AM
Salted Mexican plums, I also have a soda stream for carbonated waters, usually do fruity flavors and add in some salt.

I will also go for the Cajun wings from wingstop those are extra salty and delicious.

Also do the tajin seasoning on lots of stuff.

Low carb diet so no Mexican candy :-( I miss those mango suckers!

Sprouts has some good dried Mexican style mangos in their boxed candy area too


~Brooke~
Title: Re: How do you settle the salt cravings?
Post by: Deborah on April 21, 2017, 03:04:55 AM
I drink a glass of water with 1/4 tsp salt and apple cider vinegar in it every morning.  During the day I drink two or three cups of bouillon soup.  I also salt my food. 

Since I used to buy into the notion that salt was bad, this has been quite a change.


Conform and be dull. —James Frank Dobie, The Voice of the Coyote
Title: Re: How do you settle the salt cravings?
Post by: Kylo on April 21, 2017, 03:44:38 AM
I'm not supposed to take any additional salt but smoked meat I can get away with.
Title: Re: How do you settle the salt cravings?
Post by: SophieD on April 21, 2017, 11:39:49 AM
Salted watermelon.  Wierd, I know.... I'm another one that used to avoid salt.  Boy, has that changed.
Title: Re: How do you settle the salt cravings?
Post by: JeanetteLW on April 21, 2017, 12:10:40 PM
  Perhaps I'm a different sort. I've been taking Spiro for 4.5 months and do not notice any real changes in needing more water or salt. I quit adding extra salt after a few admonitions from my doctor in reference to my high BP at the time. I still don't add salt when I cook. My sister will but I don't add any more. So nothing has changed there.
I have never been a "water drinker", never have drank what a lot of people say you should a day. I do drink water every day. I freeze plastic bottles of water which I drink from as in melts. (ice water is the only way to drink it IMO) I will some times drink up to 2 of these 16 oz bottles a day, but usually one is enough for me. Some days I realize I have had any water yet and then get a bottle out. This may be late afternoon or early evening.
  I drink when I'm thirsty which is not that often. I would drown drinking the amounts I hear others say they drink.

Hugs,
    Jeanette
Title: Re: How do you settle the salt cravings?
Post by: KarynMcD on April 21, 2017, 12:56:37 PM
Quote from: SophieD on April 21, 2017, 11:39:49 AM
Salted watermelon.  Wierd, I know..

My ex-wife liked it that way too. She said it made it sweeter. I understand the science behind that, but I never could try it.


Quote from: JeanetteLW on April 21, 2017, 12:10:40 PM
I've been taking Spiro for 4.5 months and do not notice any real changes in needing more water or salt.

I never noticed any need for more water either and I never had salt cravings, but once I started to get leg cramps often, I had to increase my salt intake to make them go away.
Title: Re: How do you settle the salt cravings?
Post by: Devlyn on April 21, 2017, 01:09:56 PM
I've eaten more chips and Doritos in the last three months than I did in the last three years!

Hugs, Devlyn
Title: Re: How do you settle the salt cravings?
Post by: sarah1972 on April 21, 2017, 01:39:08 PM
Same here. Pretty bad salt cravings.

I eat a lot of salad and carrots. Drowned in Ranch Dressing  ;D.

Also noticed I put a lot more salt on things than I used to. And then I am with Devlin: Chips and Doritos. All the time.

Also noticed I drink almost three times as much water than I used to. At least I cut back on coffee quite a bit.
Title: Re: How do you settle the salt cravings?
Post by: Barb99 on April 21, 2017, 03:49:10 PM
Quote from: SophieD on April 21, 2017, 11:39:49 AM
Salted watermelon.  Wierd, I know.... I'm another one that used to avoid salt.  Boy, has that changed.

I was 30 years old before I discovered most people DON'T put salt on watermelon. Where I grew up everyone in the neighborhood used salt. I brings out the sweetness!
Title: Re: How do you settle the salt cravings?
Post by: RobynD on April 21, 2017, 03:51:26 PM
Pickles (also olives, pickled veggies etc ) and drinking the pickle brine. All VERY low in calories but very high in salt.
Title: Re: How do you settle the salt cravings?
Post by: Devlyn on April 21, 2017, 03:52:44 PM
Salted watermelon is a Southern thing, and it's done for no other reason than they salt EVERYTHING......twice!  :laugh:

Hugs, Devlyn
Title: Re: How do you settle the salt cravings?
Post by: SophieD on April 21, 2017, 04:00:21 PM
Quote from: Devlyn Marie on April 21, 2017, 03:52:44 PM
Salted watermelon is a Southern thing, and it's done for no other reason than they salt EVERYTHING......twice!  :laugh:

Hugs, Devlyn

If we can't fry it, we salt it.  Sometimes both!
Title: Re: How do you settle the salt cravings?
Post by: Devlyn on April 21, 2017, 04:35:02 PM
Amen!  ;D
Title: Re: How do you settle the salt cravings?
Post by: Dena on April 21, 2017, 05:34:13 PM
I don't eat much salt normally but you have to put it in bread, chili, soup and it's a must on watermelon. This is from a girl who was born in Wisconsin so it's not just a southern thing.
Title: Re: How do you settle the salt cravings?
Post by: josie76 on April 21, 2017, 07:59:41 PM
Quote from: IdontEven on April 21, 2017, 02:15:48 AM
Also, anchovies. And pickle juice. If they sold just pickle juice in a jar, I'd buy it at this point.



Oh my God, reading this just gave me the most intense craving for pickle brine! This made me want to get out of the bath and go find some. Crazy ;)

So my big thing since I'm out driving most of the day is McDonald's french fries. They are sooo good if they pour the salt on right. A big negative of the Spiro, it's not even summer and just a bit of work makes me feel weak and light headed. Yeah, that part is sucking.
Title: Re: How do you settle the salt cravings?
Post by: Stevie on April 21, 2017, 08:35:39 PM

Green olives, preferably stuffed with jalapenos.
Title: Re: How do you settle the salt cravings?
Post by: Pisces228 on April 21, 2017, 10:30:06 PM
I have been known to crack open a jar of pickle juice and chug away haha
Title: Re: How do you settle the salt cravings?
Post by: Dena on April 21, 2017, 11:12:44 PM
All this discussion of cravings and pickle juice brings to mind the cravings of a pregnant woman.   ::)
Title: Re: How do you settle the salt cravings?
Post by: JeanetteLW on April 21, 2017, 11:34:32 PM


  Shades of Startrek...

Planet: M-113. The last of a vaguely humanoid species sometimes referred to as the "salt vampire" because of its need for salt and its willingness to kill to satiate its own hunger. The creature is now extinct.

  LoL

Hugs,
   Jeanette
Title: Re: How do you settle the salt cravings?
Post by: Deborah on April 22, 2017, 06:59:35 AM
Before HRT I didn't use salt for anything, as recommended by the medical establishment.  That caused me to get dehydrated on many occasions and twice drove my heart into arrhythmias.  The second time that happened it took me three days to get it beating the right way again.

I function a lot better with a lot of salt, Spiro or not.  I've also found that my blood pressure itself is pretty independent of my salt intake.  What it does react to is sugar.  If I eat a lot of sugar my blood pressure goes up.  It also goes up and down as my body weight changes.

So bring on the salt!


Conform and be dull. —James Frank Dobie, The Voice of the Coyote
Title: Re: How do you settle the salt cravings?
Post by: laurenb on April 22, 2017, 07:28:57 AM
Well for a while it was 3-4 garlic stuffed green olives but now I'm on Kosher Dill Garlic spears. 5 calories each so a whole jar does't last long. Usually the craving starts at 430pm. Yum.
Title: Re: How do you settle the salt cravings?
Post by: Pisces228 on April 22, 2017, 10:26:02 AM
Quote from: laurenb on April 22, 2017, 07:28:57 AM
Well for a while it was 3-4 garlic stuffed green olives but now I'm on Kosher Dill Garlic spears. 5 calories each so a whole jar does't last long. Usually the craving starts at 430pm. Yum.
My cravings come on in the late afternoon as well!  I start fantasizing about salty food almost daily around 5 pm haha
Title: Re: How do you settle the salt cravings?
Post by: IdontEven on April 22, 2017, 10:37:38 AM
Quote from: Dena on April 21, 2017, 11:12:44 PM
All this discussion of cravings and pickle juice brings to mind the cravings of a pregnant woman.   ::)

That comparison has been made in my general direction before. I think the most common phrases in my life at this point are "Welcome to ***, sir", "Welcome to being a woman", and "You sound like a pregnant chick".

As for salt cravings, I'm having them this morning...might be time to make salty eggs. Yum!
Title: Re: How do you settle the salt cravings?
Post by: JeanetteLW on April 22, 2017, 11:11:47 AM
  This talk of pickle and olives made me rethink... I have been eating quite a few green Sicilian and Greek olives of late.
Tortilla chips have been especially good too.

  Hugs,
    Jeanette
Title: Re: How do you settle the salt cravings?
Post by: Deborah on April 22, 2017, 11:20:20 AM
Mmmmmmmm,  black olives have become one of my diet staples lately.


Conform and be dull. —James Frank Dobie, The Voice of the Coyote
Title: Re: How do you settle the salt cravings?
Post by: KristyWalker on April 22, 2017, 09:19:15 PM
Boiled peanuts I can't get enough of them.

Sent from my SM-G920T1 using Tapatalk

Title: Re: How do you settle the salt cravings?
Post by: KayXo on April 23, 2017, 10:34:34 AM
The reason pregnant women have these cravings too is due to progesterone levels increasing because similar to spironolactone, progesterone is also a diuretic and a mineralocorticoid antagonist. I get those cravings too with progesterone, I take a high dose and my levels are high because I take it with food. Pickles, olives, chips, nuts, etc.
Title: Re: How do you settle the salt cravings?
Post by: Sydney_NYC on April 23, 2017, 03:00:52 PM
(https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/51lSkKx01CL._SY355_.jpg)

Herring in Wine Sauce right out of the jar is my favorite with salt cravings go into overdrive.
Title: Re: How do you settle the salt cravings?
Post by: Kylo on April 23, 2017, 05:50:30 PM
Oh yes, green olives. I can always eat too many of those.
Title: Re: How do you settle the salt cravings?
Post by: Devlyn on April 23, 2017, 06:32:08 PM
Quote from: Sydney_NYC on April 23, 2017, 03:00:52 PM
(https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/51lSkKx01CL._SY355_.jpg)

Herring in Wine Sauce right out of the jar is my favorite with salt cravings go into overdrive.

Funny you should mention it. The herring are running right now in my town. We have several fish ladders in town to help them make the climb to their spawning grounds and get around the dam we inconveniently put in their way.  ::)
It's a good looking run this year, they're big and healthy. There's a counter at the top so they know how many enter the pond every year. Ah, going to the fish ladder and watching them climb...that's a Weymouth thing!  :laugh:

Hugs, Devlyn
Title: Re: How do you settle the salt cravings?
Post by: RobynD on April 24, 2017, 12:23:01 PM
Another one for me is V8 juice. The spicy version is my favorite but the regular is good too.

The low sodium version? How dare they? how dare they.

Title: Re: How do you settle the salt cravings?
Post by: Axolotl on April 24, 2017, 12:38:30 PM
The salt shaker.  I am hoping to end Spiro usage by surgical intervention ASAP.
Title: Re: How do you settle the salt cravings?
Post by: AshleyP on April 24, 2017, 12:41:00 PM
Quote from: RobynD on April 24, 2017, 12:23:01 PM
Another one for me is V8 juice. The spicy version is my favorite but the regular is good too.

The low sodium version? How dare they? how dare they.

That's a favorite of mine, too. Try it with a squirt of soy sauce either stirred or as a "depth charge."  ;)

All the best,
--AshleyP
Title: Re: How do you settle the salt cravings?
Post by: Sluggy on April 25, 2017, 12:43:45 AM
Quote from: RobynD on April 24, 2017, 12:23:01 PM
Another one for me is V8 juice. The spicy version is my favorite but the regular is good too.

The low sodium version? How dare they? how dare they.
Oooooo try the spicy version with a lemon squeezed in; that's my favorite
Title: Re: How do you settle the salt cravings?
Post by: mako9802 on April 25, 2017, 06:08:29 PM
Snap into a Slim Jim!  Delicious!
Title: Re: How do you settle the salt cravings?
Post by: IdontEven on April 26, 2017, 01:18:16 AM
I swear to god I have to go eat salty things every time I open this thread. It's like "oooh yeah, salt!" nomnomnom.

Cool to know about the progesterone though, I did not know that. I do know that it triggers really annoying nesting impulses, but that's a story for another thread, I suppose.