Skip to main content
Close Button
Donate
  • Replies 4 replies
  • Subscribers 32 subscribers
  • Views 321 views
  • Users 0 members are here
Options
Related
Hints and tips
  • To quote someone's message, first select/highlight the relevant text, and then use the Quote button that appears
  • To "mention" someone, type @ followed by the start of the forum name, and choose from the list; that person will get a notification of being mentioned

Never feel thirsty

Divinyl
1 month ago

I struggle big time with dehydration. I know it's a common problem for autistic people. It's something I've always struggled with since I was a child, during the hotter months always filled me with dread and still do.

This problem has led to frequent dehydration for me which leads to frequent hospitalisation. It's such a pain because it's a lot of hassle for all involved and it's also not very good for my overall health and causes a lot of unnecessary trauma.
I've tried loads to improve this problem but the trouble is no matter what I do I still don't feel thirsty. Even when my lips are bone dry I still do not feel thirsty, not even a little bit. 
Just before Christmas I was back in hospital and then one of my mental health team asked if I was dehydrating myself intentionally to self harm....
What!? No, it's nothing to do with mental health it's just autism! The professionals never understand and it's so frustrating. It also leads to a lot of self doubt. Almost like I start questioning myself even though I know I'm right and they are wrong.
I'll never understand professionals. They don't offer any support or help, they just cast unfair and often incorrect judgement and it hurts.
Lately I've got myself a water bottle with a drinking level guide on the side of it which measures how much should be drunk by certain times throughout the day. I'm hoping this will help me with my drinking.
If you guys have any tips to help with this problem I would be really grateful if you could let me know.
Thanks x.
  • 1 month ago

    Thanks for the great tips everyone. It is very much appreciated, thank you. This is something I really struggle with but do need to get it sorted out before it causes any life threatening issues for me. I've already got damage to the kidneys so it's best to stop any more damage from occuring if at all possible.

    I've noted down all your tips and suggestions and I will be sure to try them all and see what works best for me. Hopefully all of them will work for me. My bottle today is already working well for me so with everything else we well hopefully dehydration and hospital admissions will become a thing of the past.

    Big thanks , , .

  • 1 month ago

    the only way I know to combat this is to make yourself a drink in a bottle and keep it right next to you on a beside table. I have a large bottle with enough water contents and markings to tell me how much I have left to drink for the day. I’ve found this much more helpful than anything else 

  • 1 month ago

    I also don't feel thirst cues

    I agree with Iain, timers are good as are water bottles.

    Other things I find useful is using other indicators. You've said that your lips go dry, maybe when you notice this you can use it as a trigger to drink water. 

    The other important thing I find is having set times to go to the toilet (at least twice a day, preferably three but that can be worked up to) and use the urine colour to indicate how hydrated you are. If it's dark in colour, drink at least a full glass of water.

    I got a lot of dehydration headaches, that is also something I used as a cue, If I got a headache I had to drink a full glass of water.

    All of these other cues may be more delayed than the traditional 'thirst' cue, but they are still cues, and you can tune yourself into those instead.

  • 1 month ago
    Divinyl said:
    If you guys have any tips to help with this problem I would be really grateful if you could let me know

    Set yourself a reminder to take a mouthfull of water every hour and stick to the schedule during waking hours.

    Once you stick with if for a few days you will develop a Pavlovian response to the alarm and it going off will make you automatically want to take a drink.

    The advantage of doing it in small amounts like this is you don't need to feel thirsty to swallow it all.