I need help desperately with hydration

[Replenished]

I'm really hoping somebody can offer me some ideas.

I have possibly diabetes insipidus or something similar that is meaning I am unable to hydrate/retain fluids. Even when taking desmopressin (anti diuretic hormone) and retaining fluids somewhat I still feel utter drained and depleted and my mouth is unbearably dry. I was waiting on go back to the endocrinologist even though they seem pretty clueless at this point but that won't be happening for a long while now anyway due to Covid-19.

I am up in the middle of the night posting this as I cannot sleep due to feeling so dry and depleted.

I just don't know what to do anymore. I've tried driving tons of water, I've tried drinking tons of water and electrolytes, I've tried drinking lots of milk, I've tried pretty much every different drink you could imagine. Orange juice is the drink I find hydrates me the best but still this is nowhere near adequate or enough to make me feel hydrated and it just meaning I am taking in an unbelievable amount of sugar.

What can I do? Is there something I could be deficienct in that could be causing this? I cannot carry on like this but literally don't know what to do. Standard blood electrolyte tests come back as normal.

What would be worth really dosing up on in terms of a supplement or mineral/electrolyte? Zinc? Pottasium?

There is really no doctor or anything that can assist right now. I hope somebody here can give me an idea.

Thank you

 

[Mary]

Hi @Replenished - I don't know if this applies to you, but persons with ME/CFS can have low intracellular potassium despite normal blood work. See this post. This happened to me. I have to take extra potassium daily despite normal blood work. Low potassium made me extremely tired.

And Wikipedia says that in regard to diabetes insipidus

However, there is a continuous risk of dehydration and loss of potassium that may lead to hypokalemia.

I'm focusing on potassium because you said that orange juice hydrates you the best, and OJ is high in potassium and diabetes insipidus can easily result in low potassium.

I'd suggest trying low-sodium V8 or some type of low-sodium vegetable juice instead of orange juice. It's high in potassium without all the sugar. I would try drinking several glasses and see if it helps. The low-sodium V8 has more potassium than the regular kind. It's helped many people here. Generally people who are low in potassium have started feeling better within a couple of hours of drinking 2 or 3 or even 4 glasses, however much they needed.

 

[Replenished]

@Mary thank you. Yes that is definitely worth a try, I will try and get some V8 today and I've ordered some pottasium tablets. Any idea what sort of dosage might be a good place to start?

 

[Replenished]

I couldn't find the low sodium v8 but I got the normal v8 and I do feel it is helping a little so thank you again @Mary
Still not retaining fluids but I feel a little less depleted and dry.

Anyone have ideas how I can retain fluids and get out of this complete predicament of fluid loss?

 

[Mary]

@Mary thank you. Yes that is definitely worth a try, I will try and get some V8 today and I've ordered some pottasium tablets. Any idea what sort of dosage might be a good place to start?

@Replenished - I'm really glad to hear that the V8 may be helping you a little! I can't advise you about what sort of potassium dosage to try, but I can tell you what worked for me. My potassium tanked badly after I started taking methylfolate 10 years ago - it increased my need for potassium quite a bit, which caused a functional deficiency.

So I started by taking I think 200 mg a couple of times a day and titrated up to 1000 mg a day, in divided doses. I've read it's important not to take a large dose all at once. Anyways, when I hit 1000 mg a day, the awful fatigue finally abated. I now take 200 mg with each meal and also 200 mg more in the middle of the night. I would often get cramps or muscle spasms in my feet in the middle of the night.

The RDA for potassium is around 4700 mg so the 800 -1000 mg I take is roughly25% of the RDA. And some argue that the RDA figure is too low. You'll have to see what works best for you.