Wednesday 7 December 2011

Drinking plenty fluids

I suffer from headaches and no number or combination of drugs will cure them. I just have to ride out the three days it seems to take to shift them. I call them headaches as opposed to migraines as unless they are REALLY bad I don't feel nauseous and I don't have an aversion to light I've also never had any relief from migraine medicines.


Doctors have never established what causes the headaches although there have been several suggestions; posture, allergy to hormones or dehydration. I'm starting to keep a headache diary to try identify a pattern of behaviour that leads to a headache but the easiest diagnosis to challenge is dehydration surely.


I'm bad at drinking enough fluids. So what tips or hints do you have to help me keep up my fluid intake? Not helped by the fact that I don't like water ridiculous as it sounds it tastes funny both from the tap and mineral water. I always have dilute in my water. I also don't drink tea or coffee not sure if that helps or hinders.


I suppose the most obvious is to keep a bottle of juice on my desk and ensuring it is finished by the end of the day. But anything else I could try?

9 comments:

  1. oh no, how awful, someone I work with has very similar headaches she has to just suffer through :(

    I get the proper migraines with aurora and light pain which is often caused by food, so perhaps dehydration is a cause.

    I like hot water with dilute in the winter, does that make sense? apple is yummy when its cold outside, perhaps try that?

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  2. unless the bottle of juice is a gigantic jug, that won't be enough either!

    I don't know if you have it over in Scotland, but here in the US you can get little Crystal Light to-go packets (sugar-free powdered flavoring), that you can add to your water. If you really hate plain water, something like that might help fancy it up and make it drinkable. I've also found drinking from a huge swirly goofy straw has helped me drink more water.. I don't know what it is, but ever since I got this straw I've been drinking 8 cups of water a day no problem.

    good luck! :)

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  3. When I had very bad migraines, I kept a 2l bottle of water (sometimes mixed with squash or fruit juice) with me at all times and i had to drink it in the day.

    And I agree with Rhianne, hot squash is lovely (and the heat may also help if the headache is temperature related)!

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  4. I don't like water either, are we the same person? I'm never sure. Hot squash is very comforting, I drink it when I'm I'll to soothe my throat but that would work instead of tea too. I can offer no other help but hugs.

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  5. Dehydration headaches are awful, especially if you wake up with them. I've been getting headaches lately from sleeping badly. I think I need a new pillow.

    As for drinking water, I'm terrible at it, too. I have to keep a glass or water bottle on my desk in front of my face or I don't drink enough. Straws also do seem to help - I always drink a lot at restaurants, and I think it's because there's always a straw in my glass.

    Sliced fruit (lemon, lime, orange, strawberries) in water might help with the taste. I definitely would not recommend drinking lots of coffee, though. It'll just dehydrate you more. And if I were to drink tea instead of water, I'd go with herbal tea since it's naturally not caffeinated. (The caffeine is what dehydrates you.) I'd be careful of juices since they have so much sugar.

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  6. I struggle with fluids too. Things like diet lemondae count as they are caffiene free,
    and fruit and veggies also count.

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  7. I take flasks and always finish them. Since I have done that for a while I often think I don't drink much and at the end of the day realise I have finished it all - the trick seems to be in opening them - once opened always finished!

    I hope you feel better soon and find a solution through your diary.

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  8. You could dilute your water with a little cranberry juice to make it taste better. It shouldn't be as sugary as orange or apple juice. Hope you find something that works.

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  9. I used to suffer really badly from migraines... mine always involved sensitivity to light and sometimes nausea too. They were vile, hated them, hated them. I had a cocktail of drugs for them... and I did a food diary and cut out any triggers, like diet coke, red wine etc. I wasn't allowed to be on the pill too. The things that seemed to help were getting proper amounts of sleep, drinking lots of water, not being stressed... yup, all things that are actually pretty tricky! I found yoga really helped though...

    I got mine for about 3 or 4 years... and then suddenly they stopped. I still get an occasional niggle if I'm hungover, tired, 'emotional' or just to damn stressed. but nothing like they used to be!

    Not sure I was that helpful there... I'm good for venting about them though!!

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