Electrolyte packets — how many a day is too many?

Bellemorte1979

Bellemorte1979

Explorer
Joined
Jun 4, 2026
Messages
15
Reaction score
0
Location
Seattle, WA
After some...fun issues this last month, it looks like hydration was the missing piece for me. I had been taking in around 64 ounces a day. Raised that to 80-100 and a lot of the symptoms have eased off. Questions for yall. Each morning starts with a packet of liquid IV in my first water bottle. As an athlete, i know electrolytes go further than plain water. Just the way it is. My worry is going overboard on them. How many packets a day do you all think is too much? Anyone (not in a hot, sweaty or physically demanding job) taking more than one a day? I hold onto water a bit, so becoming a water balloon isnt appealing. Any search terms or good reading you could point me to would be welcome as well!
 
Not sure precisely

For the purpose of boosting how much water my body holds onto, I use psyllium husk (it soaks up a huge amount of water), creatine in the morning and at night, and electrolytes 1 time per day
 
Each morning I add LMNT to my first bottle, and a bit later I drop in another hydration tablet. Most likely I just flush it all out, yet it gives me a sense of being hydrated, and every one of my side effects appears to stem from not having enough.
 
Last week I went through a rough 2-day stretch of low blood pressure. To keep it brief, I let my sodium slip and ended up dehydrated. Potassium and magnesium had been on my radar, but I figured salt was something everyone naturally got plenty of. That was wrong. These days I have a spicy V8 each day (40% RDA sodium), and things have returned to baseline. On a side note, it looks like this may have nudged the scale to drop a little faster too.
 
Reta seems to pull water out of me — that's what I've noticed.

The electrolytes I take are Nutricost berry flavor, ordered through Amazon. Some people jokingly refer to it as Brawndo. It does the job really well, and the price per serving is excellent.

When it comes to going overboard, I haven't hit that ceiling. Each drink only supplies roughly 5% of what you need in a day.
 
It really comes down to the concentration in whichever product you buy. My go-to is Saltt, Magna, or something comparable, and I aim to keep it to a maximum of 2 per day. I only take 2 on days when I'm doing a stepper, a run, and the gym — basically all the activities — or when I've spent the whole day outdoors in 100 degree heat.
 
Too much or too little potassium can unfortunately present in much the same way. Either extreme can lead to cardiac problems and arrhythmia. Since I've dealt with Afib and had an ablation to fix it, I tend to be careful about this. Most of the time I'll take potassium every other day, but without testing there's no solid way to know what's right.

Magnesium is something I take daily alongside my other supplements, and my blood work has consistently come back fine with that.
 
AllCourtTENNIS said:

Last week I went through a rough 2-day stretch of low blood pressure. To keep it brief, I let my sodium slip and ended up dehydrated. Potassium and magnesium had been on my radar, but I figured salt was something everyone naturally got plenty of. That was wrong. These days I have a spicy V8 each day (40% RDA sodium), and things have returned to baseline. On a side note, it looks like this may have nudged the scale to drop a little faster too.
Click to expand...
I also rely on V8 for my sodium. I simply pair it with magnesium and potassium supplements, and hydration hasn't been an issue for me since.
 
Back
Top