Dehydration

Im In the same boat, although I’ve found electrolyte water helps, such brands as propel & core. Also Drip Drop from Amazon or drug stores. 

I don’t drink nearly enough. Maybe 32 Oz a day?? I’m always super thirsty in the am. I should drink more. 

The minimum I drink is 64oz.  I had Ener-C to one of my water bottles for the electrolytes. 

Allison, 

It is a very individual problem although much more prevalent with us pouchers than the 'normal' public. 

It also depends on your body weight, activity level, diet and exercise as well as where you live (hot or cold county) and if you use heat or A/C...all of which are very dehydrating. People also forget that you can sweat more in the cold than the heat!

I had a lot of problems with dehydration as a small kid...I had my colostomy at 2 and it was closed a year later but I suffered from dehydration for over 20yrs afterward until about 10yrs after my k pouch. I used to call it 'my angels'. I would see tiny little dots of light whenever I strained or stood up and always thought that they were my angels looking out for me...funny what kids think!

It is a very common problem for us and we need more than just fluids but mineral salts too...to replenish what we lose over time.

You can try all of the commercial stuff but you may need a made-to-measure solution.

Mine turned out to be homemade lemonade. I squeeze a whole bunch of lemons  into a jug of filtered water (limes work well too), add sugar, honey or fake sugar to taste and a couple of pinches of sea-salt or other mineral rich salts. (lately, it has been pink Himalayan salt)...if I want something sweeter I add a tangerine too...I wash them well and throw the rinds into the jug and add a handful of fresh mint leaves...it is very yummy, I keep the jug full at all times in my fridge and top it off with water and ice daily. I make a fresh jug about every other day. You can mix it up with basil or parsley too.

I also drink a lot of herb teas (some are full of certain vitamins and minerals like rosehip (Vit C) or hibiscus (Vit C)).

I am a lazy drinker during the daytime but make sure that I have all of my fluid intake in the morning and at night...so that I only drink a couple of glasses of water at work.

I am a soup person too...all veggie...and homemade...I just steam whatever veggies are laying around in the bottom or the fridge...zucchini, carrot, pumpkin, tomato, onion, garlic, celery, parsley, cilantro...throw whichever into my pressure cooker and then buzz it with an immersion blender strait in the pot...I add sea salt, spices and a squeeze of lemon with a drizzle of olive oil and I am done...perfect winter meal, great re-hydrator and yummy.

If too many veggies give you the runs then throw a potato into the pot to thicken things up.

Sharon

skn69 posted:

Allison, 

It is a very individual problem although much more prevalent with us pouchers than the 'normal' public. 

It also depends on your body weight, activity level, diet and exercise as well as where you live (hot or cold county) and if you use heat or A/C...all of which are very dehydrating. People also forget that you can sweat more in the cold than the heat!

I had a lot of problems with dehydration as a small kid...I had my colostomy at 2 and it was closed a year later but I suffered from dehydration for over 20yrs afterward until about 10yrs after my k pouch. I used to call it 'my angels'. I would see tiny little dots of light whenever I strained or stood up and always thought that they were my angels looking out for me...funny what kids think!

It is a very common problem for us and we need more than just fluids but mineral salts too...to replenish what we lose over time.

You can try all of the commercial stuff but you may need a made-to-measure solution.

Mine turned out to be homemade lemonade. I squeeze a whole bunch of lemons  into a jug of filtered water (limes work well too), add sugar, honey or fake sugar to taste and a couple of pinches of sea-salt or other mineral rich salts. (lately, it has been pink Himalayan salt)...if I want something sweeter I add a tangerine too...I wash them well and throw the rinds into the jug and add a handful of fresh mint leaves...it is very yummy, I keep the jug full at all times in my fridge and top it off with water and ice daily. I make a fresh jug about every other day. You can mix it up with basil or parsley too.

I also drink a lot of herb teas (some are full of certain vitamins and minerals like rosehip (Vit C) or hibiscus (Vit C)).

I am a lazy drinker during the daytime but make sure that I have all of my fluid intake in the morning and at night...so that I only drink a couple of glasses of water at work.

I am a soup person too...all veggie...and homemade...I just steam whatever veggies are laying around in the bottom or the fridge...zucchini, carrot, pumpkin, tomato, onion, garlic, celery, parsley, cilantro...throw whichever into my pressure cooker and then buzz it with an immersion blender strait in the pot...I add sea salt, spices and a squeeze of lemon with a drizzle of olive oil and I am done...perfect winter meal, great re-hydrator and yummy.

If too many veggies give you the runs then throw a potato into the pot to thicken things up.

Sharon

 

Thanks for the tip on veggie soup, I do it with tomato’s but never thought about pressure cooking the veggies for soup. 

Thanks everyone for your advice.  I'll try the different electrolyte options.  I've tried some in the past like nuun, gatorade and some WHO formulations and they haven't worked.  I don't absorb salt well according to my blood tests and I add salt to everything I eat but it still doesn't help.

I'll try to lemonade too.  I think I remember Jan drinks chicken broth to help her.  It's an ongoing problem depending on my pouch everyday.  The worst is at night, I wake up to go to the bathroom usually twice and for some reason my dinner meal always turns into diarrhea.  So I need to have something handy in the middle of the night to sip on to replace what I've lost otherwise I get dizzy. I never had this problem for the first 7 years of my pouch but after I had my child something changed.

If anyone else has any ideas, please let me know.  Thanks so much!

Allison, what are you using in terms of bowel slowers and/or soluble fiber? If fluid is pouring out of you then some chemical and mechanical assistance to slow things down might help, and give your gut more time to absorb fluid.

Hi Scott,

I use psyllium fiber and when things are really bad I take pepto bismol but my GI doc said to try to avoid pepto if possible.

Allison posted:

Hi Scott,

I use psyllium fiber and when things are really bad I take pepto bismol but my GI doc said to try to avoid pepto if possible.

Did your doc give a reason why to avoid pepto? I take quite a bit of it and have for years

I have been making bone broths (vegan, herbal, chicken) I freeze and take out to  use them for a meal I just add in noodles, gluten free or extra spices.  If I don't add noodles or potatoes I just drink from a mug or maybe dip with naan bread.   Loads of vitamins in this. 

I wanted to just say to Sharon God Bless you.  What a inspiration to others for battling this disease since 2.  Great ideas to help us and we all need each other to keep going.  Thanks again.    

Thanks TF, you are very sweet.

Allison , could it be hormones at play wreaking havoc with your system? 

If things were fine pre-baby but not since it could be either thyroid or hormones that got juggled around with your pregnancy...could be interesting to have them checked.

There are some natural thickeners such as Majoul dates that work wonders, pomegranate juice or Sharon fruit  (not related to me 😊)

All astringent fruits help and you can drink their juice too...cranberry or Apple are great. Water them down or turn them into ice cubes and throw them into a glass of water...easy.

Peanut butter banana smoothie are great too because they give you both potassium and sodium if homemade and they taste great slightly salty.

Anything tomato based is a great sipping cocktail. Add you salt around the edge of the glass and you will feel chic instead of punished!

Sharon