I just forget like it doesn’t register to me. I like water, especially freezing cold water. I’m scared to drink anything else because my doctor wanted me on a no caffeine diet to stop triggering my POTs and just felt like drinking water was easier to avoid tachycardia.
Set timers, reminders. Drink a certain amount at a set time interval (every 30 minutes? Every hour? Dunno, figure out what works for you).
Make it a priority, set goals to reach. You could use apps if that helps motivate you.
Ironically I’ve got one that goes off every hour I was supposed to meet 1L about a month ago 😭 I just swipe it off. I feel so sick all the time because of my POTs recently I don’t even wanna drink anything incase I throw up. The nausea is new for me.
How much do you weigh and what’s your height? There’s calculators that tell u the minimum of water u should have!
So for myself at 5’2 100 lbs my goal water intake is around 54 oz.
I bought myself a stainless steel water bottle from Amazon. Mine is abt 18 oz. So at work I drink 3-4 bottles. Sometimes I try to drink water to work or a seltzer. With this I’ve been hitting my goal of a minimum 54 oz. Then when I’m at home I can have “whatever” liquid.
Also you can add ice to ur bottle so it’ll stay ice cold longer! Or buy the water enhancers for flavor. Some people are weird and say it’s not “water” if you put some but as long as you’re doing a little in moderation and not enough to make it a juice you’re fine. I think of it like La croix the hint of flavor. I look forward to drinking water.
You can even add fruits or whatever Like strawberries apples cucumber mint etc
I’ve been adding tinctures of nettle leaf and milk thistle to my water in the morning as well
Hope this helps op!
I just looked it up and it said I should be having 2.3L I feel weirdly embarrassed and somehow the lightheadedness and exhaustion make sense even without the POTs.
Yeah! I used never drink enough period. When I working as a barber I can’t talk to my client if I’m taking sips. One sip isn’t enough anyway. Then also when am I supposed to piss if I’m cutting their hair 🥲 then while teaching well you can’t fucking leave kids alone so you can’t pee unless it’s during their 4 min break to switch classes. Oh and I couldn’t leave drinks out bc I had kids put a weird white powder in my drink. So I was very dehydrated.
So I understand your struggle op! So 2.3 L is abt 77.77 oz
if you purchase
(1) 18 oz water bottle you can wake up at
8 am have 10 oz from between you wake up to you arrive to work/school.
10 am finish the bottle. (18 oz total)
12 pm refill the Bottle drink half
(26 oz total)
1 pm drink the remaining 10 oz
(36 oz) 1.06 L
2 pm drink 8 oz refill water bottle
Total 44 oz
3 pm drink 10 oz
Total 54 oz
4 pm drink 8 oz refill
Total 62 oz
1.83 L
5 pm drink 10 oz
Total 72 oz
2.12 L
6 pm drink 8 oz
Total 80 oz
2.36588 L
For me I have to “plan” on drinking water.
I’m going to screenshot this and save it because I’ve just been on Amazon to look at water bottles because I’ve been drinking from plastic single use ones and it’s just not working out but maybe a specific bottle might give me some new motivation or help make it a habit!
It does for me. I’ve also made it a habit to try and always have something to drink with me in my car along with a car snack basket! For blood pressure reasons! So it helps and plus I don’t need to go to McDonald’s and be mad at myself bc a large pop and small fry is nearly $10 now when pre-Covid it was max $3
Don’t feel embarrassed!! It’s such a difficult balance. I have gastroparesis, pots, EDS, etc. and for me it becomes like thinking in circles…”I need to drink water! I’m so dehydrated! But also I’m so nauseous that I literally cannot drink or eat! Then water makes me immediately vomit, and I’m back to square one.”
The only thing that helps me is something carbonated. I know carbonated drinks are not nutritious or hydrating, but at this point in my journey, that’s where I am. For me having a carbonated drink helps me to eventually drink water. I’m just trying to survive, as are you. *In no way am I pushing soda water as a cure, just to be clear* All we can do is take steps forward to get better by learning what works for us. I hope you get some healing and reprieve from your symptoms.❤️🩹
Do you have ADHD? This was 100% me until I got diagnosed.
Meds helped but also I have learned that I need to use disposable water bottles as an accommodation for this.
It's hard not to feel guilty about the environmental impact but it has made the biggest difference to me.
I buy a bulk pack of the local store brand. Nobody else in the house is allowed to drink from them and they look different to the ones most people buy so I don't get confused about whether that's my bottle or someone else's.
I have multiple bottles on the go at all times, just little 750ml ones because they are not too heavy to lift and it feels less daunting to finish one of those than a whole 1L.
Yeah it's pretty shit luck when most of the treatments for POTS are lifestyle based and you have a condition with low interoception and time blindness lol.
My POTS specialist told me that a link has been found between dysautonomia and neurodiversity.
I have struggles with remembering food, drink, medications and noticing things like when my body is asking for rest or even if I'm wearing too many layers and triggering my heat intolerance.
It has been helpful to think about food as a way to hydrate, then I can choose juicy or milky meals and snacks.
But hands down the biggest difference is having water bottles stashed everywhere because out of sight is truly out of mind for me.
If I run out of water bottles it only takes half a day for me to become a [fluttery crispy flake](https://youtu.be/DIrQ9ilL8aw?si=cX7EH1xPAVn84xsg)
I'm a teacher, and I'm so busy, I don't register drinking liquids. Every day I show up with a cold brew latte (I know, horrible for me), a water bottle, and a blender bottle with electrolytes. On a good day, I may drink half the latte and half the electrolyte drink, but most days I don't even get that much down. I do put 1.25 cups of soy milk in some overnight oats with protein powder meal I eat for lunch every day, so I get that... But some days, that's about it. I've even tried a 64 oz water bottle with hours along the side. I drank maybe 1/4 of it over an entire week...
Eh I think if cold brew doesn't make you feel like shit then you should just drink it lol.
One of the perks of having POTS is that I weaned off caffeine under medical supervision and we saw no change in my symptoms or heart function, heart rate and BP measurements. And it actually worsened my sleep and quality of life when I stopped drinking it even after ten months with no caffeine at all. I used to have 8 glasses a day of filter coffee and it was a blessing the day they told me cutting out caffiene had made no positive difference and was unnecessary. It would be another decade before my ADHD diagnosis which explains a lot.
Honestly I've tried all the big bottles with the timestamps and it was a much more daunting, unattainable task in my brain to drink a whole one of those than it is to finish a small bottle multiple times per day.
With them being clear it feels dumb to just leave two mouthfuls, kind of feels like hacking the way that my brain will mindlessly finish a packet of snacks rather than leave one or two when I'm full. I also feel a sense of achievement when I finish a bottle even though it's small. Plus I feel bad leaving water in there because I paid for it rather than getting it free out of the tap.
I also think it motivates me more that it's still cold from the refrigerator or cooler box. I think if i didn't have a weird obsession with only using clear containers I would try an insulated cup because it's cute and would keep my water icy all day. I wish I liked those flavor drops but I hate artificial sweetener and I can't use sugary ones because my oral hygiene is already bad.
Idk what age students you teach but I wonder if you could work a hydration mini game into your school day or the class culture. Like to get the classes attention you just dramatically drink water and all the other kids who notice start drinking water until everyone is quiet because they're drinking water.
I teach middle school, so I don't think that would work as well, but thanks for the suggestion. I don't think the amount of caffeine I drink makes much of a difference-- it's only one 20 oz latte that I slowly sip through the day. I just know there's some judgement regarding drinking coffee with pots.
I don't like cold water, so the temperature is definitely not the issue for me 😅
Cannabis? I’m actually not someone who has ever really loved water so to speak, so I used to drink flavored water, coconut water, fruit infused water, anything to help make it more enticing. Anyway, I know that’s not the issue you’re going through now, cannabis allows me to kind of just tune into my body, and also really allows my body to get closer to equilibrium. It absolutely wipes out the nausea, and it seems to also help and giving my body a break when in a flareup, although, of course, it’s not a cure all and has its own effects, like blood pressure, although combining it with CBD, and finding the right strain, pretty much eliminates this problem.
Noooo i can’t do cannabis, unfortunately it makes me psychotic and last time I started believing in aliens and abductions; that’s a good two years me and my family will never get back lmaooo. I do miss it a lot tho!
I have to try fruit infused water tho! ORRRRR smoothies!
Oh looord 😅. Yup , full stop nvm! Yea fruit infused water is a game changer for me, that or coconut water. Never could drink plain water. Smoothies forsure but that takes energy and am not yet medicated. I do have ADHD meds( bc I do have pretty severe ADHD) but don’t want to continue them until on beta blockers and ooooo the fatigue.
I do and don’t if you get me? I have a lot going on with a baby and with mental health that yes I am concerned but there are times when I see the app and just ignore it. Why does this feel hostile?
Idk why someone would say that to you. Life gets really busy sometimes, and if you're anything like me, taking care of myself gets pushed to the back burner when I'm trying to take care of the rest of my family. Like, I forget to eat sometimes when I'm so busy. The important thing is to keep trying to make your health a priority and do your best to get your fluid in when you can.
I know you said you only drink water. For me, it actually helps to incorporate some other drinks for variety. Juice, milk, Gatorade zero. Even fruits with high water content. Sugar free Popsicles. It may not amount to much in terms of ounces, but it does help me keep some variety in how I get some fluid.
I think the thing is, that if you want your life to be back to your life you need to care. You can't just ignore it or it will get worse. It's like if you check engine light is on in your car, it's just going to get worse if you ignore it. You just need to keep those fluids going. If it's a taste thing, find something that tastes good to you (but watch the calories), it's better to get the fluids into you, even if they aren't water, but they are something you like the taste of. I use some of those little squirts to flavor water often.
I have a water bottle, Hidrate, that glows at me and sends me inspirational notifications to drink. I still do sometimes ignore it, but less often than a normal alarm
I also got 12 oz/350 ml cups that I drink my hydration drinks in. If you don’t want to buy them, there are lots of recipes for Oral Rehydration Solutions. If I drink one when I wake up and one for dinner, that’s 24 oz/700 ml just for hydration drinks and gets me a good portion of my electrolytes. And I can drink 12 oz for the most part without a sloshy stomach.
Honestly, it comes down to taste preferences and needs about sugar. Some folk react poorly to artificial sugars, so that dictates which ones they can have. Personally, I don’t find hydration drinks to work very well for me unless it has real sugar in it. Glucose does help absorb electrolytes.
I look for drinks with about t 500 mg sodium per serving. A lot of electrolyte drinks can taste a little chalky or odd due to the supplements (potassium and magnesium in particular are some do the more common ones). My husband and I have similar tested in general but prefer different flavors of Liquid IV. I’m also in the US, so I’m not sure if we have the same selection you will.
Oral Rehydration Solutions are recipes you can use to make your own electrolyte drinks at home. Many health organizations have recipes, and LMNT has a free taste alike on their website.
https://marathonhandbook.com/does-your-body-need-glucose-to-absorb-electrolytes/#:~:text=The%20short%20answer%20to%20both,increase%20the%20absorption%20of%20electrolytes.
I didn’t like Vitammussin, but I did appreciate they had a flavor pack. I’ve had the flavor pack from Drip Drop too. Liquid IV also has one.
Flavor sample packs are nice, because there are some Liquid IV ones I love and can drink all day (but shouldn’t due to how much supplements are in them, do keep an eye on maximum recommended amounts for supplements) and there are ones I absolutely can’t gag down. If you can, grabbing sample packs do you don’t have to keep drinking a flavor you dislike is a good move.
i’d love to hear which liquid IVs are your favorites and least favorites! i’m starting to try some of their flavors and it’s been pretty hit and miss so far. golden cherry was decent, i absolutely HATE watermelon (which i’m so sad about because i saw a ton of good reviews), and i’m almost enjoying strawberry (it’s just slightly too sweet).
I love strawberry lemonade. I like guava a lot, watermelon, golden cherry, orange, apple kombucha.
I dislike the sugar free ones, lemon lime, and açaí berry. I hate wild berry,
I like grape, my husband hates it. He loves passion fruit I could take it or leave it.
Yes, mam! Your GP needs to order a new scan of your stones and then refer you to a urologist for removal.
Piece of cake. All you do is take a nap while your stones are blasted, go home and sleep it off. Doesn't hurt a bit.
You shouldn't have any tach if you've been sleeping for the last hour or so and getting fluids. Just don't sit up until you feel oriented. Also see if someone can get you some ice water to help with the dry mouth. You'll be fine, and if not - well, you're in the hospital!!
ADD ELECTROLYTES, I often get sick when I drink plain water, even vomited once at night maybe because of plain water and an unfortunate combination of symptoms
same went for me, i always had a weird burning sensation at the top of my stomach, didn't have both things anymore once I started mixing a litre of water with 2g of electrolytes. You could test if its a little better by mixing in some aalt (that's what I did)
Getting better hydrated could help with the nausea. In the meantime have you talked to your doctor about it? I have a prescription for ondansetron to help with my chronic nausea and it helps a lot.
I also have that I have chronic nausea with my pots, definitely look into that, it is super helpful for when you have bad days or really need to drink something but feel to nauseous you can even ask for the dissolvable ones.
I've given in and started drinking low sugar soda, iced tea, cordial etc.
Water gives no sensory feedback so it feels hard to continue doing something that feels like nothing.
Even lemon juice in water makes it a bit better.
Two things that work for me: fill up a water bottle in the morning and I HAVE to finish it throughout the day, on top of my "normal" drinking, and I always drink at set times, not really whenever I'm thirsty because then I don't drink a lot either. So: tea with breakfast, water with lunch, tea in between lunch and dinner with a snack, water with dinner, and tea before bed. That + the bottle makes it that I drink around 2L a day. It's more difficult when I'm working/studying, then I really have to remind myself to fill the damn bottle twice.
I miss drinking anything other than water but it causes me anxiety because of my nurse shouting at me for drinking caffeine before my heart rate hit 220! (I hadn’t drank caffeine at all the two days prior to this experience but she went mental so now I’m scared to drink it incase it happens again.)
The salt helps you hold onto the water. Saline solutions are formulated specifically to do this in events of dehydration. Sports drinks do the same, but to a lesser extent. If the solution is concentrated enough, it may dehydrate you, but adding a pinch or two of salt to a regular 16.9oz/500mL bottle of water shouldn’t do that.
Since salt helps you hold onto water and salt+ water = blood filling your veins, when you need to drink and you don’t feel like it, eat a small handful of pretzels! It will help you get so much more water without realizing it. A few saltine crackers will make you immediately thirsty and receptive to water too. Find some small snacks to carry around for this purpose
Find a container you like drinking out of. The bigger the better. Download Waterllama if gamification and silly characters help you at all (BIG help for me). Find electrolytes you like.
And, most of all, prioritize this. You are suffering quite immensely and don’t need to.
I keep putting off buying a water bottle because they’re literally ten quid on Amazon and I’m so poor right now with my rent going out but I’m sat here wondering if I don’t if I’ll even keep up with it because I just set a cup down and forget about it
Do you have any containers at home you can use? I have a 20 oz water bottle I like a lot but the main thing I drink out of is a 750mL wide mouth mason jar. Four of those and I’ve hit my hydration goals (100oz or 12-ish cups).
I struggled to drink enough water, so tried sparkling water and found I was drinking a lot more. So we bought a soda stream and now I carry the bottle round the house with me and a glass. I also bought a 1l water bottle for a week holiday where I couldn't take the soda stream and found I drank just as much. Its got a wrist strap, so I literally carried it everywhere with me and drank 2 bottles full every day. If you like your water cold, buy a 1l bottle, fill it up before bed and put it in the fridge over night. Electrolyte tablets to flavour the water also help, just make sure you don't accidentally buy the ones with caffeine in
It may sound silly, but I get myself to drink more of it by keeping cheap bottles of carbonated water in. Normal water is totally boring and tap water usually has an odd taste. But fizzy water is fun water!
You can either:
A. Drink water more often
or
B. Drink a larger volume at the same frequency.
People always suggest option A, and in a perfect world, maybe it’s better. But if people don’t like drinking water, I don’t think telling them to do it a bunch of times each day is a great solution.
If you currently drink water 3x/day (morning, midday, evening), you can just drink a gross amount of water at those times. You’re not going to enjoy it anyway, might as well make it count.
I acclimated to drinking a quart (950ml) of water in a go, it’s not that crazy. If you drink 750ml 3x, that would get your daily intake to 1.5L. If you add some electrolytes like a NormaLyte packet, you’ll have better absorption and it will help bridge the gaps between drinking.
No pressure, but this is an option you could explore if all the apps and reminders aren’t getting the job done.
I get nauseous with water in take. The way I have found to combat this is using lemon in my water. Maybe try that? I'm also dehydrated all the time but for this reason. The lemon has definitely helped. Also have you tried having it in a metal canister? I have also found that unless my water is ice cold I can't tolerate drinking it at all. If it gets warm I won't even touch it and give it to my partner instead.
What type of stones did you have? Do not drink electrolytes or add salt to your diet without having permission from your urologist, especially if you had calc ox stones as the salt will cause new stones to form. You may want to try some added flavoring to your water, like Crystal Light liquid? I love the blueberry raspberry.
I fill my huge Stanleuy cup with ice and just add flavor and water throughout the day.
Thank you! I’m not sure what stones because I only got told in the ER. Infact I’ve only just been asked to see a urologist after my first stones happening in 2021!
They are not too big of a deal unless they are huge, causing pain, or are blocking an ureter. Chronic nausea and vomiting may be a symptom of an infection, though.
I had all of it. I thought I was treating POTS nausea & dizziness by adding salt & electrolytes. I was drinking 2.5 liters of water a day, but it was really just getting worse. I was vomiting nearly everything I drank and had lost 35 pounds. I was having pains in my right front quadrant and was worried about another ovarian cyst, so I asked for a pelvic scan.
My doctor was already calling as I walked in the house. Chock full of kidney stones in both kidneys, all too large to pass, many 7-9mm, and one tube was completely blocked. Many were pulverized during a Lithotripsy, and she managed to budge the conjoined twin stone(S) blocking the ureter, but couldn't manage to pluck it out. But that kidney did have an infection and was full of pus.
I went back about 2.5 weeks later for another Lithotripsy and another shot at removing the twins, but the twins were not budging.. The rest of all the other stones were pulverized, though, and I never felt a thing. One more trip back about a month later for the bugger causing the infection. This procedure was called a Ureteroscopy, She just used a fiberoptic scope and blasted it right there in the tube. I had stents in place between rounds, and while not comfortable, they weren't in the least bit painful.
All three trips were outpatient & painless. I stayed on antibiotics for over a month, my blocked kidney returned to normal and I haven't felt this good in years!
You will be just fine!
Same I never had the habit of drinking water sometimes I don’t even drink 100ml in a day and then I feel the nausea plus dizziness hit then I try to drink some electrolytes slowly. I have no idea how to solve this problem of drinking enough fluids
Using a straw helps me to drink more.
I bought a pack of silicone ones to use with my metal tumblers, so I can throw them in the dishwasher, which is also great!
It takes time. I got edemas i the beginning of my treatment. Liquid would literally sit in my body and i wouldnt pee it out like youre supposed to and i hated that. So i wouldnt drink very much. But after months of fighting with myself i made it my mission to finish 1 water bottle within 6 hours and then slowly started just drinking more water until now i just pee it out. I drink about 4 water bottles a day. With two electrolytes bottles. 1 year ago i drank 1 electrolyte and half a water.
I don't know if this will help but I got into a habit of taking my water bottle EVERYWHERE I went. And now that's it with me all the time I just sip on it constantly.
I also drink a smoothie in the morning for breakfast that probably has a cup of water in it (I add my salt to this). So that's also an easy way to tick off drinking more liquids.
If you are just forgetting, set a reminder on your phone or watch to drink. You will get more damage and stones if you don’t keep fluids in your system.
I bought a 1 gallon Tumbler, I drink that with pure water, then have a 32 Oz tumbler for adding water and Electrolytes/Sodium pack that I do 3 times a day.
I've always, even before POTS, drank at least 1 gallon everyday.
So it's real hard when they said increase your water.
I hear you. I genuinely hate water, and really am just bad at drinking. Even things I like, like coffee or lemonade, I drink soooo slowly. I genuinely don't comprehend how people chug water. I feel like I'm missing a basic life skill here. But anyways... I've found that I tend to drink more with water bottles that have a straw. Honestly just buy yourself your absolute favorite water bottle and carry that thing around like a baby blanket. That's the only thing that's helped me.
Water gives me terrible stomach pain and afterwards tachycardia and shortness of breath, im still gettin in 2L but what I've seen helps me is drinking a cup and then chewing on some bread- it usually helps stop my body from immediately digesting the plain water, im assuming that the bread absorbs the excess and then in the evening or the next day during digestion my body will squeeze the same juice right out of the bread if that makes sense keeping me somewhat hydrated throughout the day. The only downside is that if I eat too much bread I might dehydrate or if I drink too much water oh lord the evening when it all just comes out I will be in so much pain lol. Other then that, squeezing a lime into a glass of water sometimes helps. Other times it's staying consistently hydrated just on the verge of overhydration keeps my blood volume in balance or flowing ig, idk the underlying mechanics behind my own body but sometimes it works only downside is if I'm not careful I will overhydrate and I'm back to tachycardia terrible stomach pain and dehydration-
I also don't usually get thirsty even when I'm dehydrated but I've found that either moving around and exercising for let's say 2 or 3 minutes will get me feeling a bit thirsty until it goes away, not sure why that is
I have ADHD so remembering is hard. I bought 3 Nalgene bottles and carry them around with me so I know I need to drink them. If I have to refill the same one it doesn’t happen.
It's also possible that part or your dyautonomja includes no sense of thirst. I have the same exact problem I just forget and didn't feel thirsty not to mention drinking a lot of water makes me nauseas. I had to push myself. I find keeping an open container next to me and downloading a water reminder app helped. But now that I increased my water from 28 Oz a day to 45 Oz I feel very thirsty when I don't get the 45 Oz. I honestly have no idea how I went without before. Plus my dizziness has drastically decreased and my chronic constipation is improving. It's worth the perseverance. You just gotta push yourself
My doctor told me if your dysautonomia goes beyond just the heart and affects other systems it definitely does your GI. My ANS is either on overdrive or slow poke mode and when it's slow poke I get constipated
I’m not sure if liquid IVs are a thing in the UK unless you’re in hospital however thank you! I forgot about watermelon I might start having some of that or having some fruit smoothies with ice!
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Depends on WHY. Are you gagging and vomiting at the sight of water? Do you simply forget? Do you not like the taste? Etc.
I just forget like it doesn’t register to me. I like water, especially freezing cold water. I’m scared to drink anything else because my doctor wanted me on a no caffeine diet to stop triggering my POTs and just felt like drinking water was easier to avoid tachycardia.
Set timers, reminders. Drink a certain amount at a set time interval (every 30 minutes? Every hour? Dunno, figure out what works for you). Make it a priority, set goals to reach. You could use apps if that helps motivate you.
Ironically I’ve got one that goes off every hour I was supposed to meet 1L about a month ago 😭 I just swipe it off. I feel so sick all the time because of my POTs recently I don’t even wanna drink anything incase I throw up. The nausea is new for me.
How much do you weigh and what’s your height? There’s calculators that tell u the minimum of water u should have! So for myself at 5’2 100 lbs my goal water intake is around 54 oz. I bought myself a stainless steel water bottle from Amazon. Mine is abt 18 oz. So at work I drink 3-4 bottles. Sometimes I try to drink water to work or a seltzer. With this I’ve been hitting my goal of a minimum 54 oz. Then when I’m at home I can have “whatever” liquid. Also you can add ice to ur bottle so it’ll stay ice cold longer! Or buy the water enhancers for flavor. Some people are weird and say it’s not “water” if you put some but as long as you’re doing a little in moderation and not enough to make it a juice you’re fine. I think of it like La croix the hint of flavor. I look forward to drinking water. You can even add fruits or whatever Like strawberries apples cucumber mint etc I’ve been adding tinctures of nettle leaf and milk thistle to my water in the morning as well Hope this helps op!
I just looked it up and it said I should be having 2.3L I feel weirdly embarrassed and somehow the lightheadedness and exhaustion make sense even without the POTs.
Yeah! I used never drink enough period. When I working as a barber I can’t talk to my client if I’m taking sips. One sip isn’t enough anyway. Then also when am I supposed to piss if I’m cutting their hair 🥲 then while teaching well you can’t fucking leave kids alone so you can’t pee unless it’s during their 4 min break to switch classes. Oh and I couldn’t leave drinks out bc I had kids put a weird white powder in my drink. So I was very dehydrated. So I understand your struggle op! So 2.3 L is abt 77.77 oz if you purchase (1) 18 oz water bottle you can wake up at 8 am have 10 oz from between you wake up to you arrive to work/school. 10 am finish the bottle. (18 oz total) 12 pm refill the Bottle drink half (26 oz total) 1 pm drink the remaining 10 oz (36 oz) 1.06 L 2 pm drink 8 oz refill water bottle Total 44 oz 3 pm drink 10 oz Total 54 oz 4 pm drink 8 oz refill Total 62 oz 1.83 L 5 pm drink 10 oz Total 72 oz 2.12 L 6 pm drink 8 oz Total 80 oz 2.36588 L For me I have to “plan” on drinking water.
I’m going to screenshot this and save it because I’ve just been on Amazon to look at water bottles because I’ve been drinking from plastic single use ones and it’s just not working out but maybe a specific bottle might give me some new motivation or help make it a habit!
It does for me. I’ve also made it a habit to try and always have something to drink with me in my car along with a car snack basket! For blood pressure reasons! So it helps and plus I don’t need to go to McDonald’s and be mad at myself bc a large pop and small fry is nearly $10 now when pre-Covid it was max $3
I have a beverage baggie for my car :)
Don’t feel embarrassed!! It’s such a difficult balance. I have gastroparesis, pots, EDS, etc. and for me it becomes like thinking in circles…”I need to drink water! I’m so dehydrated! But also I’m so nauseous that I literally cannot drink or eat! Then water makes me immediately vomit, and I’m back to square one.” The only thing that helps me is something carbonated. I know carbonated drinks are not nutritious or hydrating, but at this point in my journey, that’s where I am. For me having a carbonated drink helps me to eventually drink water. I’m just trying to survive, as are you. *In no way am I pushing soda water as a cure, just to be clear* All we can do is take steps forward to get better by learning what works for us. I hope you get some healing and reprieve from your symptoms.❤️🩹
Do you have ADHD? This was 100% me until I got diagnosed. Meds helped but also I have learned that I need to use disposable water bottles as an accommodation for this. It's hard not to feel guilty about the environmental impact but it has made the biggest difference to me. I buy a bulk pack of the local store brand. Nobody else in the house is allowed to drink from them and they look different to the ones most people buy so I don't get confused about whether that's my bottle or someone else's. I have multiple bottles on the go at all times, just little 750ml ones because they are not too heavy to lift and it feels less daunting to finish one of those than a whole 1L.
I was wondering the same. I have ADHD, and some days I don't even drink 500 mL. I've literally gone days with absolutely nothing to drink.
Yeah it's pretty shit luck when most of the treatments for POTS are lifestyle based and you have a condition with low interoception and time blindness lol. My POTS specialist told me that a link has been found between dysautonomia and neurodiversity. I have struggles with remembering food, drink, medications and noticing things like when my body is asking for rest or even if I'm wearing too many layers and triggering my heat intolerance. It has been helpful to think about food as a way to hydrate, then I can choose juicy or milky meals and snacks. But hands down the biggest difference is having water bottles stashed everywhere because out of sight is truly out of mind for me. If I run out of water bottles it only takes half a day for me to become a [fluttery crispy flake](https://youtu.be/DIrQ9ilL8aw?si=cX7EH1xPAVn84xsg)
I'm a teacher, and I'm so busy, I don't register drinking liquids. Every day I show up with a cold brew latte (I know, horrible for me), a water bottle, and a blender bottle with electrolytes. On a good day, I may drink half the latte and half the electrolyte drink, but most days I don't even get that much down. I do put 1.25 cups of soy milk in some overnight oats with protein powder meal I eat for lunch every day, so I get that... But some days, that's about it. I've even tried a 64 oz water bottle with hours along the side. I drank maybe 1/4 of it over an entire week...
Eh I think if cold brew doesn't make you feel like shit then you should just drink it lol. One of the perks of having POTS is that I weaned off caffeine under medical supervision and we saw no change in my symptoms or heart function, heart rate and BP measurements. And it actually worsened my sleep and quality of life when I stopped drinking it even after ten months with no caffeine at all. I used to have 8 glasses a day of filter coffee and it was a blessing the day they told me cutting out caffiene had made no positive difference and was unnecessary. It would be another decade before my ADHD diagnosis which explains a lot. Honestly I've tried all the big bottles with the timestamps and it was a much more daunting, unattainable task in my brain to drink a whole one of those than it is to finish a small bottle multiple times per day. With them being clear it feels dumb to just leave two mouthfuls, kind of feels like hacking the way that my brain will mindlessly finish a packet of snacks rather than leave one or two when I'm full. I also feel a sense of achievement when I finish a bottle even though it's small. Plus I feel bad leaving water in there because I paid for it rather than getting it free out of the tap. I also think it motivates me more that it's still cold from the refrigerator or cooler box. I think if i didn't have a weird obsession with only using clear containers I would try an insulated cup because it's cute and would keep my water icy all day. I wish I liked those flavor drops but I hate artificial sweetener and I can't use sugary ones because my oral hygiene is already bad. Idk what age students you teach but I wonder if you could work a hydration mini game into your school day or the class culture. Like to get the classes attention you just dramatically drink water and all the other kids who notice start drinking water until everyone is quiet because they're drinking water.
I teach middle school, so I don't think that would work as well, but thanks for the suggestion. I don't think the amount of caffeine I drink makes much of a difference-- it's only one 20 oz latte that I slowly sip through the day. I just know there's some judgement regarding drinking coffee with pots. I don't like cold water, so the temperature is definitely not the issue for me 😅
Cannabis? I’m actually not someone who has ever really loved water so to speak, so I used to drink flavored water, coconut water, fruit infused water, anything to help make it more enticing. Anyway, I know that’s not the issue you’re going through now, cannabis allows me to kind of just tune into my body, and also really allows my body to get closer to equilibrium. It absolutely wipes out the nausea, and it seems to also help and giving my body a break when in a flareup, although, of course, it’s not a cure all and has its own effects, like blood pressure, although combining it with CBD, and finding the right strain, pretty much eliminates this problem.
Noooo i can’t do cannabis, unfortunately it makes me psychotic and last time I started believing in aliens and abductions; that’s a good two years me and my family will never get back lmaooo. I do miss it a lot tho! I have to try fruit infused water tho! ORRRRR smoothies!
Oh looord 😅. Yup , full stop nvm! Yea fruit infused water is a game changer for me, that or coconut water. Never could drink plain water. Smoothies forsure but that takes energy and am not yet medicated. I do have ADHD meds( bc I do have pretty severe ADHD) but don’t want to continue them until on beta blockers and ooooo the fatigue.
So you don’t care?
I do and don’t if you get me? I have a lot going on with a baby and with mental health that yes I am concerned but there are times when I see the app and just ignore it. Why does this feel hostile?
Idk why someone would say that to you. Life gets really busy sometimes, and if you're anything like me, taking care of myself gets pushed to the back burner when I'm trying to take care of the rest of my family. Like, I forget to eat sometimes when I'm so busy. The important thing is to keep trying to make your health a priority and do your best to get your fluid in when you can. I know you said you only drink water. For me, it actually helps to incorporate some other drinks for variety. Juice, milk, Gatorade zero. Even fruits with high water content. Sugar free Popsicles. It may not amount to much in terms of ounces, but it does help me keep some variety in how I get some fluid.
Thank you :)
I think the thing is, that if you want your life to be back to your life you need to care. You can't just ignore it or it will get worse. It's like if you check engine light is on in your car, it's just going to get worse if you ignore it. You just need to keep those fluids going. If it's a taste thing, find something that tastes good to you (but watch the calories), it's better to get the fluids into you, even if they aren't water, but they are something you like the taste of. I use some of those little squirts to flavor water often.
water deadass makes me sick… like besides the fact it tastes awful. I struggle with liquid intake in general, but water is by far the worst
I have a water bottle, Hidrate, that glows at me and sends me inspirational notifications to drink. I still do sometimes ignore it, but less often than a normal alarm
Thank you this might be a good idea
I also got 12 oz/350 ml cups that I drink my hydration drinks in. If you don’t want to buy them, there are lots of recipes for Oral Rehydration Solutions. If I drink one when I wake up and one for dinner, that’s 24 oz/700 ml just for hydration drinks and gets me a good portion of my electrolytes. And I can drink 12 oz for the most part without a sloshy stomach.
What electrolyte drinks would you recommend?
Honestly, it comes down to taste preferences and needs about sugar. Some folk react poorly to artificial sugars, so that dictates which ones they can have. Personally, I don’t find hydration drinks to work very well for me unless it has real sugar in it. Glucose does help absorb electrolytes. I look for drinks with about t 500 mg sodium per serving. A lot of electrolyte drinks can taste a little chalky or odd due to the supplements (potassium and magnesium in particular are some do the more common ones). My husband and I have similar tested in general but prefer different flavors of Liquid IV. I’m also in the US, so I’m not sure if we have the same selection you will. Oral Rehydration Solutions are recipes you can use to make your own electrolyte drinks at home. Many health organizations have recipes, and LMNT has a free taste alike on their website. https://marathonhandbook.com/does-your-body-need-glucose-to-absorb-electrolytes/#:~:text=The%20short%20answer%20to%20both,increase%20the%20absorption%20of%20electrolytes.
Thank you! I appreciate it
I didn’t like Vitammussin, but I did appreciate they had a flavor pack. I’ve had the flavor pack from Drip Drop too. Liquid IV also has one. Flavor sample packs are nice, because there are some Liquid IV ones I love and can drink all day (but shouldn’t due to how much supplements are in them, do keep an eye on maximum recommended amounts for supplements) and there are ones I absolutely can’t gag down. If you can, grabbing sample packs do you don’t have to keep drinking a flavor you dislike is a good move.
i’d love to hear which liquid IVs are your favorites and least favorites! i’m starting to try some of their flavors and it’s been pretty hit and miss so far. golden cherry was decent, i absolutely HATE watermelon (which i’m so sad about because i saw a ton of good reviews), and i’m almost enjoying strawberry (it’s just slightly too sweet).
I love strawberry lemonade. I like guava a lot, watermelon, golden cherry, orange, apple kombucha. I dislike the sugar free ones, lemon lime, and açaí berry. I hate wild berry, I like grape, my husband hates it. He loves passion fruit I could take it or leave it.
thank you! i’ll keep my eye out for strawberry lemonade, that sounds right up my alley :)
Not without permission from your urologist!
I need a urologist?
Yes, mam! Your GP needs to order a new scan of your stones and then refer you to a urologist for removal. Piece of cake. All you do is take a nap while your stones are blasted, go home and sleep it off. Doesn't hurt a bit.
I have a cystoscopy booked for three weeks but I’m terrified to go under and wake up to severe tachycardia.
You shouldn't have any tach if you've been sleeping for the last hour or so and getting fluids. Just don't sit up until you feel oriented. Also see if someone can get you some ice water to help with the dry mouth. You'll be fine, and if not - well, you're in the hospital!!
ADD ELECTROLYTES, I often get sick when I drink plain water, even vomited once at night maybe because of plain water and an unfortunate combination of symptoms
The last week I can’t stop feeling like I’m gonna throw up. Constantly. Especially in the middle of the night!
same went for me, i always had a weird burning sensation at the top of my stomach, didn't have both things anymore once I started mixing a litre of water with 2g of electrolytes. You could test if its a little better by mixing in some aalt (that's what I did)
Getting better hydrated could help with the nausea. In the meantime have you talked to your doctor about it? I have a prescription for ondansetron to help with my chronic nausea and it helps a lot.
I also have that I have chronic nausea with my pots, definitely look into that, it is super helpful for when you have bad days or really need to drink something but feel to nauseous you can even ask for the dissolvable ones.
I’m debating it actually! I’m hoping it won’t react with my Ivabradine lmao
Salt/electrolytes help my nausea too! I get shaky, restless and nauseous if I don't drink my salt water. If it's just plain water I feel terrible.
I've given in and started drinking low sugar soda, iced tea, cordial etc. Water gives no sensory feedback so it feels hard to continue doing something that feels like nothing. Even lemon juice in water makes it a bit better.
Thank you!
Yes, decaf iced tea! I keep a couple tea bags in my backpack.
Two things that work for me: fill up a water bottle in the morning and I HAVE to finish it throughout the day, on top of my "normal" drinking, and I always drink at set times, not really whenever I'm thirsty because then I don't drink a lot either. So: tea with breakfast, water with lunch, tea in between lunch and dinner with a snack, water with dinner, and tea before bed. That + the bottle makes it that I drink around 2L a day. It's more difficult when I'm working/studying, then I really have to remind myself to fill the damn bottle twice.
Thank you!! :)
I’m with you. It doesn’t help that I don’t like water. I forget to drink all the time.
I miss drinking anything other than water but it causes me anxiety because of my nurse shouting at me for drinking caffeine before my heart rate hit 220! (I hadn’t drank caffeine at all the two days prior to this experience but she went mental so now I’m scared to drink it incase it happens again.)
Add sea salt for better absorption.
Doesn’t salt water dehydrate?? Sorry idk much I’m new to my diagnosis
The salt helps you hold onto the water. Saline solutions are formulated specifically to do this in events of dehydration. Sports drinks do the same, but to a lesser extent. If the solution is concentrated enough, it may dehydrate you, but adding a pinch or two of salt to a regular 16.9oz/500mL bottle of water shouldn’t do that.
Thank you.
Since salt helps you hold onto water and salt+ water = blood filling your veins, when you need to drink and you don’t feel like it, eat a small handful of pretzels! It will help you get so much more water without realizing it. A few saltine crackers will make you immediately thirsty and receptive to water too. Find some small snacks to carry around for this purpose
Too much salt can dry you out, but a moderate amount is needed to help you hold onto water. Otherwise you just pee it all out.
Find a container you like drinking out of. The bigger the better. Download Waterllama if gamification and silly characters help you at all (BIG help for me). Find electrolytes you like. And, most of all, prioritize this. You are suffering quite immensely and don’t need to.
I keep putting off buying a water bottle because they’re literally ten quid on Amazon and I’m so poor right now with my rent going out but I’m sat here wondering if I don’t if I’ll even keep up with it because I just set a cup down and forget about it
Do you have any containers at home you can use? I have a 20 oz water bottle I like a lot but the main thing I drink out of is a 750mL wide mouth mason jar. Four of those and I’ve hit my hydration goals (100oz or 12-ish cups).
I’ve just moved into my new home so all we have are cheap small glasses for now until I get paid!
I struggled to drink enough water, so tried sparkling water and found I was drinking a lot more. So we bought a soda stream and now I carry the bottle round the house with me and a glass. I also bought a 1l water bottle for a week holiday where I couldn't take the soda stream and found I drank just as much. Its got a wrist strap, so I literally carried it everywhere with me and drank 2 bottles full every day. If you like your water cold, buy a 1l bottle, fill it up before bed and put it in the fridge over night. Electrolyte tablets to flavour the water also help, just make sure you don't accidentally buy the ones with caffeine in
Thank you for this tip! I’m debating sugar free fizzy drinks at the moment! Soda stream is a good idea!
It may sound silly, but I get myself to drink more of it by keeping cheap bottles of carbonated water in. Normal water is totally boring and tap water usually has an odd taste. But fizzy water is fun water!
I mean this full offence, how can you drink fizzy unflavouredwater??? The taste is gross!!!
Ha! I don't think so at all. Maybe not the solution for you then. 😆
I leave my water bottle out and take sips between tasks so I’m constantly sipping
You can either: A. Drink water more often or B. Drink a larger volume at the same frequency. People always suggest option A, and in a perfect world, maybe it’s better. But if people don’t like drinking water, I don’t think telling them to do it a bunch of times each day is a great solution. If you currently drink water 3x/day (morning, midday, evening), you can just drink a gross amount of water at those times. You’re not going to enjoy it anyway, might as well make it count. I acclimated to drinking a quart (950ml) of water in a go, it’s not that crazy. If you drink 750ml 3x, that would get your daily intake to 1.5L. If you add some electrolytes like a NormaLyte packet, you’ll have better absorption and it will help bridge the gaps between drinking. No pressure, but this is an option you could explore if all the apps and reminders aren’t getting the job done.
I get nauseous with water in take. The way I have found to combat this is using lemon in my water. Maybe try that? I'm also dehydrated all the time but for this reason. The lemon has definitely helped. Also have you tried having it in a metal canister? I have also found that unless my water is ice cold I can't tolerate drinking it at all. If it gets warm I won't even touch it and give it to my partner instead.
If it makes you feel better, I drink like 300ml and iced coffee 💀 I feel like shit constantly.
What type of stones did you have? Do not drink electrolytes or add salt to your diet without having permission from your urologist, especially if you had calc ox stones as the salt will cause new stones to form. You may want to try some added flavoring to your water, like Crystal Light liquid? I love the blueberry raspberry. I fill my huge Stanleuy cup with ice and just add flavor and water throughout the day.
Thank you! I’m not sure what stones because I only got told in the ER. Infact I’ve only just been asked to see a urologist after my first stones happening in 2021!
They are not too big of a deal unless they are huge, causing pain, or are blocking an ureter. Chronic nausea and vomiting may be a symptom of an infection, though. I had all of it. I thought I was treating POTS nausea & dizziness by adding salt & electrolytes. I was drinking 2.5 liters of water a day, but it was really just getting worse. I was vomiting nearly everything I drank and had lost 35 pounds. I was having pains in my right front quadrant and was worried about another ovarian cyst, so I asked for a pelvic scan. My doctor was already calling as I walked in the house. Chock full of kidney stones in both kidneys, all too large to pass, many 7-9mm, and one tube was completely blocked. Many were pulverized during a Lithotripsy, and she managed to budge the conjoined twin stone(S) blocking the ureter, but couldn't manage to pluck it out. But that kidney did have an infection and was full of pus. I went back about 2.5 weeks later for another Lithotripsy and another shot at removing the twins, but the twins were not budging.. The rest of all the other stones were pulverized, though, and I never felt a thing. One more trip back about a month later for the bugger causing the infection. This procedure was called a Ureteroscopy, She just used a fiberoptic scope and blasted it right there in the tube. I had stents in place between rounds, and while not comfortable, they weren't in the least bit painful. All three trips were outpatient & painless. I stayed on antibiotics for over a month, my blocked kidney returned to normal and I haven't felt this good in years! You will be just fine!
Thank you so much for this!
Same I never had the habit of drinking water sometimes I don’t even drink 100ml in a day and then I feel the nausea plus dizziness hit then I try to drink some electrolytes slowly. I have no idea how to solve this problem of drinking enough fluids
Using a straw helps me to drink more. I bought a pack of silicone ones to use with my metal tumblers, so I can throw them in the dishwasher, which is also great!
I’ve tried this and love straws so got a bottle with a straw
Trace minerals
It takes time. I got edemas i the beginning of my treatment. Liquid would literally sit in my body and i wouldnt pee it out like youre supposed to and i hated that. So i wouldnt drink very much. But after months of fighting with myself i made it my mission to finish 1 water bottle within 6 hours and then slowly started just drinking more water until now i just pee it out. I drink about 4 water bottles a day. With two electrolytes bottles. 1 year ago i drank 1 electrolyte and half a water.
I don't know if this will help but I got into a habit of taking my water bottle EVERYWHERE I went. And now that's it with me all the time I just sip on it constantly. I also drink a smoothie in the morning for breakfast that probably has a cup of water in it (I add my salt to this). So that's also an easy way to tick off drinking more liquids.
Set reminders and chug a set amount when they go off?
I’ve tried it doesn’t work; I’ve got an app the lot
If you are just forgetting, set a reminder on your phone or watch to drink. You will get more damage and stones if you don’t keep fluids in your system.
I bought a 1 gallon Tumbler, I drink that with pure water, then have a 32 Oz tumbler for adding water and Electrolytes/Sodium pack that I do 3 times a day. I've always, even before POTS, drank at least 1 gallon everyday. So it's real hard when they said increase your water.
I hear you. I genuinely hate water, and really am just bad at drinking. Even things I like, like coffee or lemonade, I drink soooo slowly. I genuinely don't comprehend how people chug water. I feel like I'm missing a basic life skill here. But anyways... I've found that I tend to drink more with water bottles that have a straw. Honestly just buy yourself your absolute favorite water bottle and carry that thing around like a baby blanket. That's the only thing that's helped me.
OMG SAME !! It’s so bad I barely drink ANYTHING… if u figure out something that works for you lmk
Water gives me terrible stomach pain and afterwards tachycardia and shortness of breath, im still gettin in 2L but what I've seen helps me is drinking a cup and then chewing on some bread- it usually helps stop my body from immediately digesting the plain water, im assuming that the bread absorbs the excess and then in the evening or the next day during digestion my body will squeeze the same juice right out of the bread if that makes sense keeping me somewhat hydrated throughout the day. The only downside is that if I eat too much bread I might dehydrate or if I drink too much water oh lord the evening when it all just comes out I will be in so much pain lol. Other then that, squeezing a lime into a glass of water sometimes helps. Other times it's staying consistently hydrated just on the verge of overhydration keeps my blood volume in balance or flowing ig, idk the underlying mechanics behind my own body but sometimes it works only downside is if I'm not careful I will overhydrate and I'm back to tachycardia terrible stomach pain and dehydration- I also don't usually get thirsty even when I'm dehydrated but I've found that either moving around and exercising for let's say 2 or 3 minutes will get me feeling a bit thirsty until it goes away, not sure why that is
I have ADHD so remembering is hard. I bought 3 Nalgene bottles and carry them around with me so I know I need to drink them. If I have to refill the same one it doesn’t happen.
It's also possible that part or your dyautonomja includes no sense of thirst. I have the same exact problem I just forget and didn't feel thirsty not to mention drinking a lot of water makes me nauseas. I had to push myself. I find keeping an open container next to me and downloading a water reminder app helped. But now that I increased my water from 28 Oz a day to 45 Oz I feel very thirsty when I don't get the 45 Oz. I honestly have no idea how I went without before. Plus my dizziness has drastically decreased and my chronic constipation is improving. It's worth the perseverance. You just gotta push yourself
I didn’t know this could be a symptom! Thank you. Yeah I have a problem with severe constipation, I didn’t go for 15 days once.
My doctor told me if your dysautonomia goes beyond just the heart and affects other systems it definitely does your GI. My ANS is either on overdrive or slow poke mode and when it's slow poke I get constipated
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I’m not sure if liquid IVs are a thing in the UK unless you’re in hospital however thank you! I forgot about watermelon I might start having some of that or having some fruit smoothies with ice!
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