Water Intake

[Viko]

Hi! I am new to this forum, however not new to Reactive Hypoglycemia. I was diagnosed prediabetes and RH along with endocrine issues in 2015 & have changed my eating habits as well as how active I am. However, I am constantly thirsty even though I drink more than 8 glasses of water day (I do not really count how many glasses I drink). I do not know if I am drinking too much water and in doing so causing myself some dehydration or if it's common with RH.
Could somebody help me? I want to know if I should modify my water intake & how should I schedule my water intake. Thank you for all your help!

 

[Brunneria]

Hi and welcome,

If you are thirsty, and your body is asking for water, then I think it is unwise to deny it a drink.

The question is more why you need water?
There are a lot of different possible reasons.

Your profile is incomplete, so we have no idea where you live (hot country? cold country?)
or whether you have any other health conditions that may be affecting you (medication? kidney problems?)
or how you have changed your eating habits (have you changed to lots of small meals and constant carb eating? Or have you changed to a low carb way of eating?) My experience of eating carbs is that they cause quite a lot of thirst and water retention, but not everyone finds that.

There are other factors too
- it doesn't really matter how many glasses of water a person drinks, it all depends on what size those glasses are and how big the person is.
- and you can drink water and combined with a lower carb/keto way of eating flush out minerals
- or you can drink water and make sure you have plenty of electrolytes and minerals

I once saw a very reasonable suggestion by a medical professional in an article suggesting that rather than think in terms of 'you should drink 8 glasses, or 2 litres, or whatever' you should think in terms of 1 litre of water for every 70 pounds or 32 kilos of body weight. Can't find that link now.

There is also a Colour of Urine graphic somewhere on the internet, which is the best gauge that I have ever seen on whether you are drinking enough/drinking too much. It doesn't require measuring or calculating anything. Just a quick glance in the toilet and you can judge whether you are drinking enough.

Here you go:

 

[Lamont D]

The only time I had a thirst as you describe was back before diagnosis, when my blood glucose levels were very erratic and I was getting diabetes like symptoms, this led to my misdiagnosis because at that time I was eating a lot of carbs and didn't know any better!

Can you check your blood glucose levels? Are they high? Do you still eat high GI carbs?
What sort of dietary regime are you on?
What dietary regime did your endocrinologist and GPs advise?

Sorry for the questions, but they may help.

Keep safe

 

[Erin]

Hi and welcome,

If you are thirsty, and your body is asking for water, then I think it is unwise to deny it a drink.

The question is more why you need water?
There are a lot of different possible reasons.

Your profile is incomplete, so we have no idea where you live (hot country? cold country?)
or whether you have any other health conditions that may be affecting you (medication? kidney problems?)
or how you have changed your eating habits (have you changed to lots of small meals and constant carb eating? Or have you changed to a low carb way of eating?) My experience of eating carbs is that they cause quite a lot of thirst and water retention, but not everyone finds that.

There are other factors too
- it doesn't really matter how many glasses of water a person drinks, it all depends on what size those glasses are and how big the person is.
- and you can drink water and combined with a lower carb/keto way of eating flush out minerals
- or you can drink water and make sure you have plenty of electrolytes and minerals

I once saw a very reasonable suggestion by a medical professional in an article suggesting that rather than think in terms of 'you should drink 8 glasses, or 2 litres, or whatever' you should think in terms of 1 litre of water for every 70 pounds or 32 kilos of body weight. Can't find that link now.

There is also a Colour of Urine graphic somewhere on the internet, which is the best gauge that I have ever seen on whether you are drinking enough/drinking too much. It doesn't require measuring or calculating anything. Just a quick glance in the toilet and you can judge whether you are drinking enough.

Here you go:

 

[Erin]

Thanks so much for the chart of urine colors.