Crohn's colitis and dehydration

I searched on the past posts but didn't find that answer I needed so I apologize if this is a repeat question/comment.

I have Crohn's colitis (disease strictly in my colon) and right now my disease is somewhat under control. I can feel myself starting a flare but for me it can take months to actually get there.

Anyway...on to my question. I feel that I'm getting dehydrated. It doesn't seem that I ever get enough to drink and ALWAYS thirsty. I don't know if I'm starting to get dehydrated because I'm beginning to flare. I also was in alot of pain today. Is that a sign of dehydration and do you think I need to go to the hospital to get "hydrated" before it gets any worse. Any comments or advice will help.

Thanks!

April

if you are feeling thirsty then you are already dehydrated. there is no real scientific evidence behind drinking 8 glasses of water a day, but it is a good start. i've also heard of dividing your weight, in pounds, in half and that is the approximate number of ounces of water you should drink per day. as for myself, i try to get at least 1/2 gallon per day. and remember, tea, soda, juice, coffee, beer, wine, etc etc is not water. those flavored waters and vitamin water are not water. water is water. most things are diuretics and will dehydrate you further. for a list of those things, look at what i just wrote. that doesnt mean you cant ever drink them, but know that you need more water and less of those things to stay hydrated.

Be careful with the Emergen-C.  It's got massive amounts of vitamin C in it, which is good for you in moderate amounts, but will cause diarrhea in large doses.

You may be thinking of electrolytes.  Potassium and salt get washed out of your body, but plain water won't put them back.  That's why some people recommend Gatorade.  After going into the hospital last spring with critical potassium levels, I started taking a potassium pill every day.  I don't ever want to do that again.  A potassium IV hurts.

Thanks again. I've had this stinkin' disease for 9 years and I still have so much to learn!

As IBDers we can very easily become dehydrated, it's important to drink plenty of water daily...plenty of water daily also helps flush toxins from your system too.

:)

Oops, Pedialight.

Is this still an active thread? It doesn't look like there is much activity. I was recently diagnosed with Lymphocytic Colitis. I think I am severely dehydrated right now. Feeling overall crappy, dry skin, etc. Exactly how much do I need to drink every day, and do I really need nasty Gatorade? Or is there something else? Thanks!

Gatorade sometimes makes symptoms worse.  I use electrolyte strips that dissolve in your mouth and go right into the bloodstream, don't have to go through the GI tract so absorbtion problems aren't an issue.  Sometimes water will just "wash out" your sodium and potassium more,  so these are good.

It makes sense that you are often dehydrated due to the fact that your Crohn's is Crohn's colitis and your colon is where you absorb most of your electrolytes. How active is your disease? Do you have a lot of inflammation in your colon right now possibly preventing the absorbtion? I would contact your G.I. right away and if it is severe go to your E.R. or an urgent care clinic. Pickle juice is a great hydration tool that many people in sports use to provide them quick rehydration without the bad sugars and a great vitamin source. I learned about it from my favorite foodball team and how they make all of their players use it at halftime of each game and after the game. It is a huge help considering that their stadium is one of the highest in altitude in the nation and they lose a ton of water.

Apparently this IS an active thread! Thank you all for your information.
Dinkydee - where do you get electrolyte strips?
Thanks.

Ultima replenisher has no sugar just stevia.

Hi, I know that this is an old thread, but I figure this will give a much needed conclusive answer to the topic of hydration. This is all based on the work of a medical doctor, F. Batmanghelidj, who dedicated many years to studying the effects of hydration/dehydration in the body, and how dehydration was the cause of a vast catalogue of illnesses and diseases. He worked out also how much water one needs, and how much salt one needs also; as without supplementing salt, you will not only become deficient, as the large volume of water will strip the salt from your body, but you will also become dehydrated, being unable to hold onto body water (that is water that is not held in the cells aka cellular water)

I have an article which explains this in detail, how much you need, why its important, it dehydration can bring about certain illnesses, like hypertension and asthma. I will link you to this article, which I recommend you study over and consider the points raised therein. But here are the essentials:

You need a certain amount of water depending on your weight. You need a certain amount of good salt depending on that amount of water. You need to supplement minerals (calcium, magnesium, zinc, selenium and potassium) which can be taken in naturally by eating mixed nuts (Brazil nuts have selenium) and bananas and figs contain potassium. I would not bother with potassium salt products aka lo-salt, but instead I go for Himalayan rock salt, or Celtic sea salt. The mineral content of those 2 are very high. And they also taste way better.

The calculations are simple. Weigh yourself in stone, multiply that number by 0.21 and that gives you the number of litres you need to drink per day. Or else weigh yourself in pounds, and divide that number by 2, and this gives you the number of U.S. fluid ounces you need to drink per day.

Next, for every quart (roughly 2 pints) you need to drink, you need 1/4 teaspoon (measuring spoons used by chefs) so you'll most likely end up on roughly 1/2 teaspoon. I take just over a half teaspoon per day, and I put it in a small empty pill container at the start of the day so as to get neither too much nor too little salt throughout my day.

So as an example of all that, I weigh 13 stone. 13 x 0.21 = 2.73 so I need 2.73 litres (round up to whatever approximate figure you want, this does not need to be precise) per day. And I need just over 1/2 teaspoon of salt per day. Do buy good measuring spoons, I got one before (a cheap one) that was 50% bigger than it was supposed to be, so be a little careful on that front.

Here's the article, all based on the work of Dr. B, so its not my opinions being expressed, but a condensed practical guide based solely on his work, to get people onto what is called the water cure. Whether or not it helps Crohn's, I do not know. Please let me know, any of its sufferers, if the water cure helps you in any way, as I found this discussion, researching Crohn's for the sake of my friend who suffers from it. God bless you all:

www.wearechange.ie/water-cure-explained