ysobel: (Default)
masquerading as a man with a reason ([personal profile] ysobel) wrote2013-08-30 03:54 pm

There might be a connection </sarcasm>

This morning, I woke up feeling actually *awake* -- usually, lately, regardless of how much time I spend asleep or trying to sleep, I am groggy and cranky and have trouble waking up.

Yesterday? I actually probably had enough water during the day.

There's also a thing the last few months where I've been needing to pee relatively scarcely. Like, I will get up, have my usual coffee and then the gigantic-ass cup of tea that I work through during the day, and seven hours later go "oh I probably ought to go to the bathroom".

(Not reliably, of course. If I *need* to go four hours without peeing, because of lack of facilities or whatever, it doesn't work.)

Now, the thing is, going to the bathroom is a freaking pain. Even if I am a) where the facilities are usable by me (true at home, true at two other places I know of in town, not true of a vast majority of places even if they have restrooms generally available) and b) with an aide that can help me, it's exhausting and uncomfortable and awkward and painful and I hatessss it, preciousssss. Plus, it's really hard to find competent aides that are willing to come over just to help with bathrooming and nothing else, and already my aide presence is socially stressful for me.

But I thought I'd struck a balance between "drinking enough to keep me from dehydration" and "not needing to pee too often".

Except, er, what I was thinking of as "dehydration" -- thirst, headache, etc -- is sort of more moderate dehydration.

Out of curiosity, I trawled around the internet looking for symptoms of dehydration, and they can include insomnia (check), unreasonable tiredness (check), irritability (check), lower/crappier moods (check), problems concentrating (check), yadda.

...oh.

Hm.

(Also, my brain tends to equate *having* something with *using* it -- so getting someone to fill my water glass so that I have water available to drink, tickies the mental "acquire water" checkbox regardless of whether or not I even drink it. Kind of like cats with food. So I tend to think I've been drinking more fluids than I actually have.)
jesse_the_k: text: Be kinder than need be: everyone is fighting some kind of battle (Default)

[personal profile] jesse_the_k 2013-08-30 11:48 pm (UTC)(link)
input/output: it's the whole damn "second shift for the sick" in a water glass.
pauamma: Cartooney crab wearing hot pink and acid green facemask holding drink with straw (Default)

[personal profile] pauamma 2013-08-31 07:55 am (UTC)(link)
/me looks at the symptoms you listed, blinks thoughtfully, and goes get a cup of water.
krait: a sea snake (krait) swimming (Default)

[personal profile] krait 2013-09-01 02:16 am (UTC)(link)
Oooh, excellent detective work - both the "oh hey those are symptoms of dehydration" and the "am I assuming water in cup equals water in me" links. Hope you can work out a new hydration regime that helps with the obnoxious symptoms.