what helps serious dehydration?

what helps serious dehydration? I have been dehydrated often.

Since my ileostomy in 2010, I have been hospitalized @four times for dehydration. These all happened within the first two years or so. The ER doctor told me that if it is only diarrhea, I could try to hydrate with Pedialyte, BUT...if vomiting and diarrhea occur to get to the ER because there is no way you can rehydrate yourself with the necessary electrolytes.

Thanks for that advice about eating and drinking. I have been following advice not to drink whilst eating, which sounds like good advice, but never heard of eating something whilst drinking. Interesting. I might take it on board. The two things are different.

As for dehydration, I do not think I have had serious dehydration. I make up St. Mark's Solution, 1 litre every day and try to remember to drink it all during the course of the day, plus some extra water too.
Seems to do the trick for me.
When spending the day out, it is sometimes more convenient to take Dioralyte, but prefer not to because of all the stuff in there that we don't need.

SLF said...
I agree about IV fluids. I go about once every 6 weeks to stay on track. There's a new product called Drip Drop that has more sodium and electrolytes than anything else. Remember to eat when drinking. Drinking alone only makes it worse.

Excellent question - made me stop and think.
After a very painful period in hospital with kidney stones, realised the problem was partly the fact I have an ileostomy.
The hospital admission was after a very long journey during which I neglected fluids. Dehydration may have been the straw that broke the camel's back.
Research showed me that ileostomists can be prone to kidney stones because fluids pass quickly from the stoma so they more easily become dehydrated and prone to deficiency in minerals.
I discovered St. Mark's Solution and have felt better since using it.

polishdan said...
How do you know you are dehydrated?

Hi nene205. Here is a link that explains it:
http://www.gloshospitals.nhs.uk/SharePoint5/Patient%20Information%20Leaflets/GHPI0247.pdf

nene205 said...
What is St. Mark's Solution?

I'm fighting bad dehydration now while my body gets used to my new Ileostomy. My BP is low, I have headaches, dizziness, fatigued, urine output is low and my pulse is a little high. My home nurse is keeping a close eye on it. I got some sugar free electrolyte tablets yesterday to try and boost things and the low sugar gatorade.

I understand that what we need mostly is glucose and sodium. It is good that you are getting proper medical supervision anyway.

blksteeda said...
I'm fighting bad dehydration now while my body gets used to my new Ileostomy. My BP is low, I have headaches, dizziness, fatigued, urine output is low and my pulse is a little high. My home nurse is keeping a close eye on it. I got some sugar free electrolyte tablets yesterday to try and boost things and the low sugar gatorade.

Ah yes. This might be getting off the subject a bit but another food I found that helps thicken output is apple sauce/puree.
With the abundance of apples this year I started making apple sauce and apple cider vinegar from windfalls on our allotment garden.
Apart from being delicious, it help to thicken output. I don't know but this might also be helping hydration?

I avoid plain water, I'm drinking 3 bottles a day with the electrolyte tablets. The rest of the day is mainly G2 Gatorade (lower sugar)....I looked up Lucozade, I haven't heard of that one but looks like the same concept. I'll drink OJ first thing in the morning before I eat anything and occasionally milk once in the evening. I heard it's important to separate meals from drinking. If you drink when you eat it just washes things through you quicker.

Last night my BP was 85/63 when it was 101 two hours before. This morning its 103/65. It goes up and down trying to battle the dehydration. I eat a lot of salt to help as well, I read too much sugar may do more harm than good. I eat soft pretzels, salt and vinegar chips, I add salt to any of the food I cook. I also have a good liquid "green" multi vitamin called Alive. I'm sure anything from the BRAT diet will help slow things down, I just started eating rice and toast and will add bananas and applesauce and see if that helps :)

My normal BP range is usually around 115-125. My home nurse prefers to keep things above 100. In my doc's office today it was 117 but my pulse was 113. He told me I need to be drinking 3 liters of liquids a day...gatorade, pedialyte, etc. I got some lomotil to help slow my output down a little bit. I did have some peanut butter crackers while I was out today and that came out much thicker in my bag. My doc did ask me why I was using the lower sugar gatorade, he said the sugar helps absorb the electrolytes into the bloodstream so now I have a fridge full of low sugar and the regular gatorade

First of all, drinking too much too fast of the wrong drink will cause dehydration. You need to slow down your output (by taking imodium or something else) throughout the day--several hours apart. Slowing down the output help keep the fluids in longer. It may take awhile to find what works for you. Dehydration will cause cramps, dry skin, less urine output etc. Gatorade for me contributed to dehydration so I drink soda (pepsi). I take an average of 12 imodium per day & eat thickening foods. It took me 8 months to get dehydration under control as well as the electrolyte imbalance. Sometimes your blood pressure can be low from lack of salt as well as fluid intake. Monitor yourself to determine what you need. After I got my ileostomy (7/2014) I became a serious salt addict. Today I have electrolytes in balance but I have kidney failure because of the numerous dehydration episodes I had after geting ostomy. If you feel you are dehydrated (cramps is a bad sign) you are urged to go to the hospital asap & everytime you suspect it--no matter how much you hate going back to the hospital. Save your kidneys the trouble. Kidneys manage several things in your body. Once your kidneys start to fail your life is much worse. Cupcakes are a good way to thicken output along with imodium-but I dont care to eat cakes solely for that purpose cuz Im not much of a junk food eater (& still manage to be fat lol). Also, I just recently started Protontix (proton pump inhibitor) which does help me be able to cut down on the excessive diarrhea (better known as high output ileostomy) by reducing acid build up. Request lab work at least once a month to monitor things & adjust things accordingly. Before you know it you'll know all about lab work. Also, being dehydrated throws off your acid base (CO2). Sodium bicarbonate tablets (or baking soda powder) levels it out, restores your ph balance. Too much baking soda causes alkalosis-dont go there. Weird things happen to your body. The i.v. form causes alkalosis for me. Anyway, be careful what you do but pay attention to your body, monitor bp everyday-it is very helpful keeping an eye on that.

Glad to hear you are improving! My surgeon told me to stay away from gatorade - too much sugar, so it makes your output thinner/more frequent. Immodium works really well for me and I've been using it on an "as needed" basis when thickening foods aren't enough.

I tried to drink Pedialite, and couldn't stomach the stuff (perhaps it reminded me of bowel prep??). I am now rehydrating with unsweetened coconut water (per advice from my wound nurse), and it is great. The coconut water is full of good and natural electrolytes, without the dehydrating sugars.

5/2015 Acute Ischemic Colitis - emergency colostomy
10/5/15 Unscuccessful takedown and reconnection
10/12/15 Loop iliostomy