One would think that living with challenged kidney function, I would probably be swilling fluids all day long in an effort to make sure they keep working. In actuality, though, I tend to walk around pretty dehydrated due to some bad habits. The outcomes from these habits can lead me to misunderstand what my body is telling me, as some familiar symptoms for one health problem are actually warning signs for another.
Case in point, symptoms that present themselves when one is at a mild or moderate level of dehydration sound quite similar to my baseline lupus symptoms. What is frightening for me, personally, is how I am also seeing some of the severe symptoms from time to time as well, telling me that this has gone beyond being a bad habit and has evolved into self-abuse.
Dehydration isn’t only a problem for infants and seniors, but is also a problem for those who live with chronic illness. Medications, depression, lack of exercise, and caring for everyone else around us first can lead us into dehydration before we realize it.
I have been dealing with my usual February crud, that generally lasts on average the entire month. I have no clue why it is every February and, since the month showed up before I could realize it, I’ve ruled out any self-fulfilling prophecy in action. It starts out slowly then begins its movement from head to chest/cough to gut, back to chest/cough, head, and so on. When I’m plugged up, I plead for drainage. When I’m suffering from drainage-overload I wish for a good drying up to give me a break from the Kleenex™, sore throat and a constant hack. It is during this ‘30-days in Hades’ sentence that I am reminded of my fluid intake habits, as I drink more fluids during this month than I do the rest of the year in total. Even though I can easily point to my lupus as the reason why I feel the way I do these days, it isn’t my lupus at all. I’m beginning to pick up on a theme. I’m not saying that my lupus is a fabrication, but that my behaviors really do influence my health both positively and negatively.
This is a topic I’ve addressed here before. It applies to my new year of pursuing better general health habits, though. By addressing my dehydration and putting it higher on the priorities list than in previous years, I may actually make more headway in my lupus management specifically and my quality of life, in general. As I think about my crud this month and notice my decreased kidney output, fatigue, foggy-headedness, poor skin quality, dry and burning eyes, muscle weakness, and headaches, I have to admit to that I have brought it all on myself with no interference from my immune system. In fact, I suspect my immune system has turned the tables on me and is cursing me for making life so challenging. I don’t blame it at all.
Although I know that this crud has to run its course, I have chosen some new ways in keeping my fluids up during and after this annual occurrence. These may not be new to those of you out there, but writing them here will help me stay honest. If you have any other suggestions, I’m open to hearing about them.
Starting this month, I will…
- …explore new teas and decrease my coffee intake. Since I get so cold during the damp, winter months, I drink a lot of warm stuff. Now that the sun/spring is on the way, I’m going to experiment with some homemade sun teas.
- …keep some type of soup in the refrigerator all the time for a quick breakfast, lunch, and snack.
- …keep my desk cleared so that I can easily see if I have something to drink while I work.
- …try to keep from being slack-jawed while I think. I have recently discovered how much I have my mouth open when I am working on something. Could be why I picked up a cold at the height of flu season…duh.
- …not use my sense of thirst to determine whether I need something to drink. I will use the empty glass on my desk or the clock.
- …when I go for ice cream, I’ll reach for applesauce instead.
and, finally,
- …will not keep track of how much I’m drinking, but evaluate how I feel every morning when I sit down to review my schedule for the day. Tracking my intake amounts only puts additional emotional pressure on me to ‘perform’ and I am just stubborn enough to challenge it (as I have in the past). By tracking how I feel and making sure I do these other previously-mentioned items, I am convinced that I will see some results.
What are some of the things that you do or have done that have worked to keep you ‘flowing’?
