Wednesday, June 25, 2008

Attempting to Stay Hydrated

These days everyone knows how important it is to stay hydrated. So, instead of giving a lecture on the virtues of getting your 8 glasses of water a day, I'm going to explain how I get them. In treating Lyme it is especially important to stay hydrated because doing so can really take the edge off some of the symptoms. In my case, staying hydrated keeps my blood pressure from getting too low, helps regulate my heart rate and control tachycardia, and makes getting IVs much faster and easier. In an attempt to limit trips to the kitchen, I've come up with a system or routine. Most days, I'm in too much pain to walk comfortably from my bedroom to the kitchen but I go through water so quickly that I find myself having to get up all the time. Now, I have a rotation of two glasses and two bottles. During the day, I fill one glass and both bottles every time I go to the kitchen. Not only is water pretty much the only thing I drink all day, but I take so many pills throughout the day that it's become necessary to keep lots of it around. So, even if I wasn't actively trying to drink plenty of water, I think it would just happen as a natural consequence of taking 30 or so pills a day. I can't drink ice water because my teeth are too sensitive so I drink only cool water from the glass. The nice thing about bottles is that they can only get so cold then they go back to room temperature the longer they sit out. The bottles are especially useful  for when the glass has been sitting out too long, like during a nap or after 12 or 14 hours of sleep. Also, having bottles of water and that extra glass around at all times makes it convenient to make my Parsley and Burbur detox tonics throughout the day. Before bed, one of the bottles goes into the refrigerator so I can grab it quickly on my way out the door to whatever appointment I have that day. As you will learn, I do actually have appointments every single day. I realize that none of this is rocket science. But, when pain rules your life and every step you take has to be planned, getting a water routine down becomes important. I realize that this may not be especially interesting so I hope that it is at least useful.

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