We're always told to stay hydrated, but it's not always that easy when we get busy. We tend to forget the simplest things like drinking enough water or even to put on lotion for the day.
🐡When you have Cystic Fibrosis, it can be difficult to tell whether or not you are truly dehydrated or if you were just having an issue related to our sweat glands making us lose a lot of our salt. So, it is tricky to tell if we are in fact, dehydrated.
⚫Here a few ways to figure out if you're starting to get dehydrated and what you can do about it.
The first signs are simple, when you are talking to someone and all of a sudden it seems like you're eating sand, that's a MAJOR tell to take in more water. If you're thirsty use common sense and drink something hydrating.
☡Pop (soda or coke depending on where you are from), alcohol, and energy drinks will all dehydrate you.
Chapped lips and dry skin are the two signs that are the easiest to see and feel when it comes to being properly hydrated. When you notice either issue it normally isn't a severe sign of dehydration and can be corrected with moisturizers and a few extra glasses of water or a nice cucumber salad.
Not so common signs of dehydration, that i tend to get to are weakness, dizziness, fainting, swollen fingers/hands, stiffness, confusion. All of these separate from one another can be many medication side effects, but if any of these symptoms come together with nausea, vomiting, and or diarrhea you need to grab a watery snack, like watermelon and Gatorade.
🏳Even if it is something else healthwise sneaking up on you, treating yourself as if you need more H20 won't harm you. It will actually help you, no matter what your underlying issues are.
A visual way to stay alert is by watching your urine. It should stay a pale yellow, darker urine is a sign of needing more liquids.
🚑Of course if your symptoms continue to get worse, you have a temperature over 101°, or your breathing gets more difficult ignore me and get to a hospital. Please, do not take dehydration lightly, as severe dehydration CAN kill you. I'm not saying this is going to happen if you're dehydrated. So, don't panic when you get dehydrated. Just take it seriously.
Most of the time when you eat you don't think "I wonder how much water is in this meal". Just remember that fruits and vegetables contain 80 to 98 percent water. I know, they aren't as tasty as chips and chocolate.
🍉Foods containing water are watermelon, strawberries, lettuce, cucumbers, tomatoes, beets, carrots or celery. Adding them to a meal or snack is one of the easiest ways to improve hydration without drinking a ton of water.
We don't always love water as it has no flavor and we love flavor. Plus, if you're me water has to be almost frozen cold for me to drink it. There are several things you can drink that will keep you hydrated and have full flavor.
☕Starting with Gatorade or POWERade, fruit smoothies, skim milk, coconut water, and some even say coffee is a good way to stay hydrated (not a whole pot of coffee.)
Rule of thumb with staying hydrated is roughly 20 cups of water a day. This does include the water contained in foods and the water in your system already. So, it's not as much as it sounds.
💦Now, that I feel like Bobby Boucher, go grab some high quality H2O and stay hydrated.
Made of water,
Sandi
Sandi
For more information on Cystic Fibrosis, my life, and health tips follow me on Facebook.
