Dehydration

humbird753 · Post by **humbird753** » Sun Jan 15, 2012 9:24 pm

Some days I forget about watching out for dehydration. I know the D can cause it, but I also have had severe hot flashes for 9 years. When they started they were 30 minutes apart 24 hours a day. I apparently did not drink enough fluids yesterday. I woke up in the middle of the night, went to the kitchen, and shortly after that had extreme thirst, dizziness, and sweats. I did take a couple sips of water, then remember I wanted to get back to the bed to lay down. I don't remember anything that happened from the kitchen to the bathroom floor where I woke up, except for a brief awareness that I had been hit hard in the face by something. Not sure what I hit. Although my mouth and nose are very swollen and sore, I know I am fortunate I didn't fall down stairs, or hit anywhere else on my body.

Reminder to everyone with D to watch your fluids. I know I will try harder.

Paula

brandy · Post by **brandy** » Sun Jan 15, 2012 9:29 pm

Wow, Paula, be careful, glad you are okay! Brandy

Gloria · Post by **Gloria** » Sun Jan 15, 2012 9:45 pm

Wow, that's pretty scary, Paula. I didn't think that getting dehydrated could cause one to faint. I hope you heal quickly.

Gloria

Post by **tex** » Sun Jan 15, 2012 9:46 pm

Whoa! You were waaaaaaaaaay short on water. I'm glad it wasn't worse - it was bad enough as it was.

Tex

Post by **tex** » Sun Jan 15, 2012 9:49 pm

Gloria,

Dehydration can cause blood pressure to drop significantly, due to hypovolemia - that's one of the symptoms associated with shock, and that's reaching a dangerous level of dehydration.

Tex

Gloria · Post by **Gloria** » Sun Jan 15, 2012 9:58 pm

My PCP keeps telling me that I'm dehydrated. I don't know how he knows; he looks in my mouth and can tell. I try to drink water all day, but I guess I'm not drinking enough.

Gloria

Lesley · Post by **Lesley** » Sun Jan 15, 2012 10:05 pm

Paula,

That is SCARY!

I am so glad your adventure has a happy ending. How have you rehydrated?

starfire · Post by **starfire** » Mon Jan 16, 2012 7:09 am

What an experience. I sure hope you are able to avoid anything like that in the future. I'll bet it will make you more aware of possible dehydration in the future..........

Take care

Love, Shirley

Kari · Post by **Kari** » Mon Jan 16, 2012 8:27 am

Paula - what a frightening experience - I'm glad you're OK and hope you'll heal quickly.

One way to ensure you get enough water is to fill a pitcher in the morning with what you think you need, which then of course should be empty by the end of the day. I keep meaning to do that, and you have just given me a powerful reminder - thanks.

Love,
Kari

Stanz · Post by **Stanz** » Mon Jan 16, 2012 10:21 am

Paula,
I hope your swelling is brief. Are you still taking Pepto? I know you posted about this awhile back. Pepto makes me dizzy, I nearly fainted last Th.after the antibiotics I was taking gave me horrible heartburn and in desperation I got up and took one dose, forgetting that it had done that to me before. I finished the antibiotics w/o another "fainting" episode, so it wasn't the antibiotics. If I hadn't had a chair nearby, I'd have been on the floor too.

Zizzle · Post by **Zizzle** » Mon Jan 16, 2012 10:46 am

I have low BP and can't seem to retain the fluid I need, even when I drink a lot, so I'm on a high salt, high electrolyte diet.

Martha · Post by **Martha** » Mon Jan 16, 2012 11:35 am

Paula, I'm glad you're okay. What a scary experience!

mzh · Post by **mzh** » Mon Jan 16, 2012 2:54 pm

I had low body temp for years and felt lousy. I thought it was all from the MC (or a tumor!) but it was from dehydration. My body temp went from 96-97 all the time with dips to 95 to near 98.6 when I drank 40 oz of water a day. I drink Sam's Club purified water. It has added potassium and magnesium compounds. Oh, and it stops leg and foot cramps! When I stopped it and used Brita's filtered water boy, did I have cramps! Same thing happened to my husband - terrible cramps while off the Sam's water.

Drinking water is imperative for us! No, the doc didn't tell me; my husband did!

humbird753 · Post by **humbird753** » Mon Jan 16, 2012 10:27 pm

Thank you all for your comments. As many of you know, MC when not in remission, can limit one's ability to be connected with people. This was a very scary experience. I have since gone back to the Welcome area where Polly (and others) wrote about dehydration and low electrolytes.

Tex, you are right about the low BP. I didn't check it that night (of course), but did check it Sunday morning and it was at 90/60, so I would assume it could have been lower than that when this episode occurred. I rechecked BP today and it is up to 100/72.

Kari, your idea about measuring water each day is a very good idea. Many (if not all) days it is hard to remember how much fluids I take in.

I have had dehydration difficulties in the past but not to that degree.

Lesley, what I did to rehydrate was like in Polly's article - gatorade and lots of water. I still don't feel up to par yet, but I think that's understandable. I've read it can take several days to get back to "normal."

Again - I thank all of you for your comments.

Paula

humbird753 · Post by **humbird753** » Mon Jan 16, 2012 10:27 pm

Zizzle, what is a high electrolyte diet?

Paula