I believe I am currently suffering from dehydration. Help?

Do you have health insurance? You can easily go to an ER to get IV fluids.

I had to go so many times while pregnant, and they just give you two bags of fluid and you feel amazingly better. It was easy for me to recognize, since I’d go into labor..When not pregnant, I get severe headaches and dizziness. I just make sure I get plenty to drink.
You might feel better, if you stay in and continue to drink a large amount of water though.
What symptoms do you have? Headache? Dark urine? Fatigue? How severe?
If they are so much that you are too weak to do things for yourself, I’d go to the hospital.

@casheroo: Yes, I have health insurance, but going to the ER is such a hassle and so time-consuming, that I only go for real emergencies, which this does not strike me as. Also, despite the insurance, there is a $100 charge for all emergency-room visits.

My main symptom is extreme nausea. I woke up with it, and there is no logical explanation for it other than dehydration. I am unable to actually vomit, but I have felt as if I had the worst car sickness ever for the entire day, and it is not subsiding. Despite my water consumption, my urine is very dark. I am also lightheaded and dizzy.

I am not too weak to do things for myself, just extremely uncomfortable. :( Thanks, though!

Dehydration is a real emergency. And people would kill to only have to pay $100 to go to the emergency room.

If you refuse to go then there’s nothing other than rest and rehydration. And possibly take a pregnancy test since those are all symptoms of pregnancy as well.

@casheroo: My period was two weeks ago. Such symptoms wouldn’t appear this early in pregnancy, right?

Dehydration can cause your kidneys to shut down and not in just a matter of days, in a matter of hours. Kidney dialysis is not fun. Go to an ER, please.

I concur. Go at once and keep us informed.

I once ended up very dehydrated after being ill with food poisoning.

I left it to go away and just kept drinking water, which turned out to be an awful idea.

I woke up in the middle of the night so weak I was unable to even sit up. It was terrifying.

That hundred dollar charge is ridiculous*, but I would go to the ER if you can’t take in fluids properly.

* NHS. Yeah baby.

Also, I didn’t feel too bad before falling asleep, just as you say, “car sick”. I slept for about two hours before waking up.

Oh yes, symptoms of pregnancy can start this soon. If that is a possibility, take a test. My “morning” sickness was worst at night.

drink gatorade or get a saline injection at ER, stat!

@richardhenry- It’s nice having universal healthcare, isn’t it?

@AstroChuck Yes. I don’t understand the arguments about the wait times or the inefficiency. Both because I’ve never really experienced any major problems, and because if it bothers you, you can go private. It’s just nice to have a fallback and a minimum standard of healthcare.

When I went into the ER for this particular occasion, I was waiting just under five minutes. Granted, you do kinda jump the queue when you’re ghostly white and can’t stand upright.

And to think so many of you limeys trash talk the NHS. You guys don’t know how good you’ve got it.

@Supacase I knew I was pregnant well before I was close to my period as well. I think because I had been pregnant before, I was able to recognize it immediately. But, I still had to wait to test. I think it’s definitely a possibilty.

@richardhenry I’m going to ignore you and your flaunting of NHS.

You need to go to the hospital now.
Look at your eyes in the mirror. Are they yellowish?
BTW, you can have a period and be pregnant.
Go! Hospital! Now!

@richardhenry I have never been to an ER and got out in under 8 hours.

@girlofscience Remember when Jack had to have Kate operate on him? Don’t make us do that to you.

Dehydration made me super, super sick—so sick that when I went into the emergency room (finally) they rushed me into a private room—and I got a bill for $6K. So. Think about that.

The problem is that it’s pretty hard to help yourself.

Have you tried drinking pedialyte? Plain water might not be enough to get your electrolytes back into sync.

Remember, rich, $100 is only £3

Complications of dehydration.

Dehydration can be very serious and can develop into a serious problem quickly. In children and older adults, especially; however, that doesn’t exclude healthy young adults from complications. @girlofscience, my son wound up in the hospital, due to dehydration – he was very sick with the rotovirus and watching him cramp up in pain because of the muscle cramps, due to dehydration was heartbreaking. He couldn’t cry, drool – nothing.

$100 and the time at the hospital isn’t a waste of time for good health.

My daughter In Law has been to the emergency room twice with dehydration, and once they admitted her to the hospital for a week of treatment. This is a serious condition. Get it treated at once.

What would lead you to believe that you are dehydrated? Are you suffering from vomiting or diarrhea? If you’ve been drinking (and retaining) fluids, I think you may be mistaken about what your symptoms may indicate. What are these symptoms that you’re talking about?

Her last post was an hour ago. Let’s hope she’s being seen by an MD.

Please let us know what happens. I hope you feel better soon.

I hope you’re okay. Get some medical help, stat.

Also, excellent work on the question tags considering your situation. Very thorough.

@chyna – Most recently we got out of the ER in three hours! The longest time was 11 hours, after which they admitted him.

It’s not always that bad. I’ve been in and out in less than 90 minutes before.

@AstroChuck, you must either live in a small town or a high employment area where people can go to urgent care.

I live in Sacramento. I didn’t say it was usual. You just have to know when to time your illnesses. ;)

I had to go to the ER for dehydration while pregnant, too. Let me just say that I have never in my life felt as good as I did after 2 bags of saline. Makes me think I’m never properly hydrated. I hope you’ve gone to the hospital, and are feeling better soon.

This comment brought to you by my concern for @girlofscience and the fact that I’m too lazy to scroll up to click “Follow this question.”

You should see a doctor. Dehydrations is serious. I was really sick last week along with dehydration. The doctor told me to drink lots of fluids not just water. Apple Juice and Gaterade help me. Good Luck.

She’s possibly describing symptoms of diabetes.

@Quagmire I agree my dad used to get thirsty all the time before he was diagnosed with diabetes. Get in touch @girlofscience we haven’t heard from you in 10 hours, let us know how you are x

Whoa, ok. Hi everyone. I really appreciate everyone’s concern.

I actually started to get sleepy and stopped using the computer very early on in this thread. I’m sorry to inform everyone that I did not go to the ER last night.

I tend to avoid using medical assistance for simple things I believe I can solve myself. I have actually never even gone to a regular doctor for anything other than yearly check-ups, mandatory physicals, and required immunizations. Whenever I have had a cold or random sickness, I think “time to go to Rite Aid” rather than “time to go to the doctor.” Over-the-counter medications and some TLC from my mom (as a child) or my boyfriend (as an adult) have always solved my health issues. In truth, the only doctors who have ever actually solved issues for me have been my gynecologist, ophthalmologist, and dentist. And well, some ER doctors, but only twice…

I have gone to the ER twice in my life. Once, when I was 6, I rode my bike into a wall, which caused a gaping wound, and I had to receive stitches on the side of my forehead. The second time, I was a sophomore in college. I woke up and stepped out of bed, and when my foot came in contact with the floor, I screamed louder than I ever have. Something about even the smallest amount of pressure anywhere on my leg caused me extreme pain. I sat on my other, non-painful leg, held my painful leg up in the air, and dragged myself across the apartment into my roommates’ rooms. One carried me down seven floors of steps (what a trooper!), and another drove to the hospital. Turns out I had an abscess that needed to be drained. I also received a great deal of morphine, which was phenomenal.

My symptoms last night did not cross my threshold for “emergency.” I had been dehydrated once before, and the nausea was more intense then than it was last night. At the time, I was at a research conference and staying with some friends of mine…all intelligent scientists (albeit not medical professionals). None of them believed a trip to the hospital was necessary, and they helped me to recover from my dehydration.

Last night, I felt uncomfortable, and as @syz said, maybe I didn’t even have dehydration. The symptoms resembled those I had had at the conference, so I made that assumption. The discomfort, however, did not seem ER-worthy to me. I drank fluids, and my boyfriend cared for me. I fell asleep and woke up a few minutes ago, alive.

Based on how I am feeling now, it seems @syz was correct in assuming that maybe it was not dehydration. It seems that I was at the beginning of a cold-type sickness, and I misinterpreted my symptoms. I no longer have any nausea, but I am extremely congested. I now have a very stuffy nose and a very sore throat.

Again, I appreciate everyone’s concern and suggestions. I hope the information provided sheds some light on my decision not to go to the ER last night.

@girlofscience THANKS for the update, I’m glad you managed to solve the problem yourself :0 ) ,
You had us worried :0 (
Glad it was only the start of a cold :)

Time to switch to chicken soup. Get well soon!

Boo to getting sick. I figured you had at least one person around you, so if things got dire you’d have someone there. Glad it was nothing serious!

@Marina: You got it! I am in the middle of a chicken soup + Law & Order: SVU marathon. Nothing better for a cold. Good thing it is Saturday and I didn’t have to miss work. And my boyfriend is able to be here to care for me! (Is it wrong that I prefer to be sick on the weekend?)

Drink as much fluids as possible! Drink a lot of drinks with carbohydrates.

Thanks for the update. After two very serious episodes at our house last year, one which resulted in a full week at the hospital, I am overly cautious.

Serious dehydration must have a serious reason. Very often it has to do with persistent diarrhea. Not only water is important but also minerals. Drinking as much fluids as possible wouldn’t be enough. Of course there are other causes and talking to a doctor is a good idea.

For future reference, plain water isn’t as good as it could be to cure dehydration. If you mix about a quart of water with about ½ to 1 tsp of salt, ½ to 1 tsp of baking soda, and 3 tbsp of sugar, the mixture will do a much better job of rehydrating you.

Also, if you can’t keep fluids down—one of the more paradoxically annoying symptoms of dehydration—you can make it work by taking very frequent small sips.

You should drink that mixture as quickly as you can keep it down until your urine is mostly clear. If you’re not urinating, that’s bad; if you’re urinating, and it’s a dark color, that’s better, but still far from ideal.

@cwilbur – that mixture seems kind of like Gatorade. Gatorade works great on my kids when they get the stomach flu. Much better than water, just as you mentioned.

It’s the same idea as Gatorade, but without the flavoring or marketing.