Quick Tip: Dehydration

With any kind of Inflammatory Bowel Disease, dehydration can be a persistent issue. If your bowels don't work properly, there is a lot that can go unabsorbed, which includes water. Sometimes, patients will need extra vitamin and electrolyte boosts, but other times you can just simply be dehydrated! 

When I was a teenager, I learned that, once in a while, my exacerbated symptoms were simply from dehydration. That's when I started getting regular IV therapies, recommended by my physicians. I'm not talking about those nutrient-rich IV bags that can cost $200-$300 a pop at some luxury naturopathic spa either. I am talking straight, simple, saline - pumped into my veins to rehydrate. 

When I was younger and my Inflammatory Bowel Disease was at its worst, I would go and get a litre or two of fluids through an IV at the hospital. I basically had a standing order via the emergency room so that a nurse would set me up with an IV, I would just sit in the waiting room, and wouldn't even need to see the doctor, because it was a regular thing. These days I usually go once or twice a year tops, but protocols have changed so I am always assessed by a physician. 

The symptoms that I get that tell me I need to top up my hydration include an even faster heart rate, lethargy, dizziness, obviously horrifically dry skin, and consistent muscle cramping in unusual spots. It can be tough to tell, because I already have many of these symptoms, but usually there will be a specific event or the symptoms will worsen significantly over time until I realize I'm feeling dehydrated. I check with my doctor to make sure nothing else is going on, but if everything looks fine, then I'll go in for some fluids - like I did last night. 

I have been feeling dehydrated for quite a while - having avoided going in to Urgent Care for fluids for all of Covid - so I already knew it was about time to get rehydrated. Then, two weeks ago both my husband and I got food poisoning - which means even MORE loss of fluids. Not to mention a few drinks here and there, several severe flare-ups over the past two years, and occasional vomiting. This past week I felt more exhausted and lethargic, more headachy, a bit of a frantic heart rate at times, severe dry skin, and (while practicing yoga) had my triceps cramp up on me from very little activation. 

Time to go in. 

We are lucky here in Canada. I have been to Urgent Care several times now for fluids. At first they are skeptical: 'why can't you just drink more water?'. But once I tell them that: 

A. I have Crohn's Disease with chronic diarrhea

B. I have no large intestine, and 

C. Something happened recently that depleted my fluids drastically (ex: food poisoning this most recent time)

Then they understand completely. So I received 2L of fluid last night to help rehydrate my system - without paying an exorbitant amount of money. 

It's a quick tip for a straightforward way to improve some symptoms.