upvote
Look, I live in a desert climate, and it's essential to be well-hydrated. Yes, I could cut back at certain times; in fact it was 15 years ago when my PCP encouraged me to stop drinking fluids after 6pm.

I've also had a struggle with riding public transit for long, long stretches. Because you often do not have any opportunity to use a restroom on those journeys, sometimes for 2-3 hours. So it's a delicate balance of surviving 120℉ desert weather vs. "gotta go now!!!"

Furthermore, you should be aware that there are three classic symptoms of diabetes: polyphagia, polyuria, and polydipsia. That third one means "excessive thirst"! https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diabetes#Signs_and_symptoms

So the diagnosis did explain something I'd struggled with for several years already: my nose, eyes, and throat were often drying out, not from a lack of hydration, but from the climate and simply chronic dryness. And I linked this to the polydipsia phenomenon. And again, I am thankful that I never got hooked on psychoactive drugs, because they all exacerbate these symptoms.

I have begun using Ricola throat balm lozenges to alleviate the dry-mouth symptom, because this often occurs even when I'm well-hydrated, and since I also suffered from hyponatremia, I do not want to guzzle excessive amounts of water!

So yeah, it's a delicate balancing act, whether I'm on a local city bus or trying to sleep in my own bed; how much am I gonna drink and how often am I gonna be interrupted?

reply