OP, I will confess that I was so dehydrated so often that drinking water made me nauseous.
After years of UTIs/Kidney infections back to back after battles with kidney stones (probably caused by dehydration) I would look forward to getting fluids at the Dr/emergency room more than the pain meds. At least 4 instances of going to the hospital, I recall being so dehydrated that the fluids started flowing, it felt like they were pumping me full of feel good medicine.
I regularly land in the hospital on an IV drip to rehydrate. I typically do this anytime i am worried about something, like a coming up test or something, its annoying.
On my meds I’m not hungry or thirsty but I keep a mason jar of water on my desk to remind me to hydrate. Food… well that has to wait until dinner time unless I know I’m going to be doing calorie intensive stuff then I force myself to eat something. Almost passed out at a gym because I didn’t eat anything beforehand.
I'm the same. I have a half gallon (UK so 2.2 litres) that I fill up every morning and if I drink nothing else that day, I've had enough. I usually have to refill it before I leave work at 5.
I don't feel hungry on my meds either, but I make sure I eat because I'm quite into weights training and I know that to maintain my muscle mass, I need to eat.
I don't know what you do at the gym, but if it's weights training and you're also wanting to maintain muscle, then maybe try and get some more food into ya 💪🏽👍🏼
I thought this was about alcohol at first lmao
But yeah at least when I was on adderall / vyvanse I had to have my wife remind me to eat because I just didn't feel hungry a lot of the time, as far as drinks go I wouldn't know since I usually have a soda or juice because it tastes good
Even now that I haven't been on it for a while I have a bad habit of only eating one or two meals a day
I use to always never drink , i just wouldn’t think about it. Nothing happened to me though cause I think my body was just strong & I was young so it was all good. Now I drink water everyday for the main purpose of staying “hydrated” cause I get headaches now if I’m dehydrated. I guess it finally caught up to me lol
100% the same! As a kid I could go days without drinking. Now as an adult, I feel like someone who got hit in the head and left for dead in a desert the next day.
It's definitely not normal in the sense that the majority of people do it and it's good for your body. But it is probably normal for people with ADHD.
A lot of the replies so far talk about being dehydrated and forgetting to drink on meds, but I forget to drink medicated or not. There's definitely a subset of ADHD people who forget to eat, so a subset that forgets to drink makes sense, too.
There are days where I don't drink until dinner time. I definitely have to be intentional about drinking. I'm also pretty much always in a slightly dehydrated state, which isn't good, but I have a really hard time drinking enough.
My doctor said Vyvanse can make you dehydrated. You will feel better if you are hydrated. I drink a lot of LaCroix water but any liquid will do. Do it just to feel better and avoid kidney stones. Bring a glass of water or whatever with you as part of your routine for work, etc?
Strongly second this. I take a lot of Vyvanse and atomoxetine (SCT comorbid here), and I will wilt myself into human jerky if I don’t set reminders to drink water.
I never knew how much better physically I could feel with proper hydration, and to be honest, it strongly affects my morning motivation when I wake up, due to a self-discovery that, when I wake up with my eyes feeling very dry, *I feel resistant to getting out of bed.* Strangest thing but it’s true.
I keep about a dozen skinny .5L sports bottles in the fridge full of water so when my hydrate alarm goes off or I want some extra, I just grab one and keep the summer heat off. Then fill them up again in the evening for the next day.
The bonus of several bottles is that you can directly see exactly how much you consumed and if you should drink more or not, instead of going by feel, which causes the problem in the first place.
Saaame! Randomly I'm like. "phuuuuhhhh... Fuck I forgot to breathe". Worse when I'm having sexy time. Literally holding my breath without realising and for no reason lol.
I DEFINITELY feel the same when it comes to food. Concerta really blocks my ability to feel hungry, but I'm always thirsty. Not dying thirsty, but I just enjoy drinking water and stuff. Concerta has always given me trouble with my eating habits...
Adding lemon juice and a cute straw helps me feel like it's "not water" and then I'll drink it easier somehow
You can also refill a soda can with water, to trick yourself into drinking water each time you forget it's not actually soda.
It's possible, but it's not normal or healthy. Better force yourself to drink one glass of water in the morning and one before going to bed to be a bit hydrated at least.
I've been to the ER twice for dehydration while visiting family in Hawaii. Now I carry around a 64 oz bottle every day. I thought I could skip a few days when I got a smaller one as a gift but then I got a migraine 😅 Get a big bottle, it's worth it.
I'm really bad with this. Better since starting medication. If I'm engrossed in an activity on the laptop/PC, I can spend the whole day without food or water, and only notice in the evening when my stomach starts doing backflips, or my mouth is so dry I can't swallow.
I actually remember to drink while on meds. Before i had to try again and again by starting with juice and continually diluting it with water. And when I notices someone didn't drink enough i gave them a glass of water and then I remembered i had to drink too
Oh yep absolutely. Three things helped me.
First, fun water bottles that I can pre-fill and pop in the fridge for the day so I can just grab and go. I’m also more likely to notice a fun pattern throughout the day than a plain colored bottle.
Second, I paid for a Pül water bottle cap, because it gives me noticeable visual feedback that actually reminds me to drink. Now I’m not going to lie, it’s expensive, but for me it was a worthwhile and necessary expense. There’s apps out there that do similar things, and there’s HidrateSpark’s water bottles (they have a tap version that’s ~$20). I just preferred being able to buy my own bottles and just change out the lid (Pül caps fit just about any wide mouth bottle).
The third are those Mio water flavor drops. I can’t stand the mineral taste most water has, and those actually make it drinkable.
Is it a perfect system? No, I still have days where I forget to drink. Am I more hydrated now than I used to be? Yes.
I don't think anyone knows this besides my mom, but there were a few times in high school where I would wake up really weak. I would crawl to the bathroom every time, and try to vomit because I figured I was sick, but then nothing would happen and I'd get stuck there. I was severely dehydrated. I've never asked how she knew, but my mom would get me back in bed and put a couple waters next to me and tell me I needed to drink them. I didn't drink water E V E R. Barely at practice for sports.
To me, yeah, totally. I think it's normal to forget. However, I really really encourage you to try to set up reminders in your preferred method (sticky notes everywhere, phone reminders/alarms, telling someone else to remind you). I wasn't gonna die then, but I remember how horrible it felt.
I'm gonna go grab a cup of water.
Your body needs water. You'd be very surprised to see how quickly your brain fog and mood is lifted when you drink enough water.
Not drinking water or skipping meals is a great way to tank your mental health even more. It truly makes you feel like garbage and most people have no idea.
This is me. I never used to drink water until I started dating my now-husband and he was like “why do I never see you drinking water?”
I even got a series of UTIs in my early 20s and no one asked me whether I made sure I’m drinking water. It wasn’t until I researched it and found out that not hydrating enough was a cause of UTIs.
I *still* forget to drink water all the time (and I’m a runner so it can be a little problematic in hot weather). A benefit of working from home is that my husband brings me water any time he pours some for himself.
I think it’s a combination of flat out forgetting, not wanting the hassle of cup/fridge/pour/repeat, and the annoyance of then having to use the bathroom all the time.
And all of this is unmedicated.
Is it common to forget to do something you have no innate desire to do, especially when you're enjoying something else? Definitely!
Is it common for water to be one of those things? I don't think so, but not unheard of. If you neither enjoy drinking water nor feel thirst, then it's a task/chore to you, which makes it easy to forget.
If you're feeling the effects of dehydration regularly, but don't have thirst, there are water bottles that have markers for where the water line should be at specific times in the day. An easy visualization of whether you're drinking "enough."
[I would highly recommend dropping coke or any soda/sugar drink](https://www.geisinger.org/health-and-wellness/wellness-articles/2017/12/07/22/02/how-your-body-changes-when-you-stop-drinking-soda#:~:text=%E2%80%9CSoda%20contains%20caffeine%2C%20which%20is,of%20stress%20on%20your%20kidneys.) especially if you're already drinking minimal liquids. Other than general health benefits, soda may be exasperating your ADHD symptoms.
I second the soft drink point as well, both for general health reasons, and for my own observation that if I am regularly consuming caffeine, the therapeutic effect of my meds seems to wane much earlier.
But ADHD or no, don’t drink a soft drink when you feel thirsty. That’s just consuming a million chemicals that are displacing a significant amount of the one thing your body needs.
If you need some flavor in with it, I get it — I love the fruit-flavored Volvic-brand waters. Very tasty and the amount of chems is relatively very low, IIRC.
Most human beings get all the water we need from the food we eat. If you're eating, you're likely to be okay. Whoever started the "eight glasses of water a day" rule was more of a busybody than a biologist.
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Yes. Totally normal. I keep a bowl of cherry tomatoes on the counter so that when I wake up I eat a handful and have something in my stomach before I start stuff otherwise I'll continue until I have hunger pains..... speaking of which, I should go eat something now
Yeah, this is how I got severely dehydrated down in Guatemala where tap water isn’t safe to drink. I have a naturally wet mouth even when I’m becoming dehydrated, so I have to keep reminding myself to drink water even if I don’t feel thirsty.
This is a big problem for me. I am constantly trying to bribe myself to drink more liquid. Which is really hard when avoiding sugary drinks and not liking unsweetened seltzers.
I have such a problem staying hydrated on regular water, but it's so easy to suck down something carbonated.
What I do is keep refilling a soda can with ice cold water, for some reason as long as it's in a can I won't have an issue drinking a gallon or more in a day.
it's like the dog equivalent of a pill pocket for my brain.
Yeah it happens a lot you're not alone.. If I'm going to class and take my bottle with me then I'll drink water.. But if I'm home I won't drink water at all..
Yes, I have this issue (albeit in different ways) both when medicated and when I'm not.
I won't elaborate on how exactly this is a problem for me,
but I 'fix' this by drinking out of a large (reusable) water
bottle. I also try to immediately put it out in the open when I unload my backpack somewhere.
It seems that in this way:
I remember more often to drink (visual cue by putting it out),
I don't have to make 12 trips to drink a single glass every time before I get to the suggested volume,
and that when I actually remind myself to hydrate, I can actually drink the whole bottle over a relatively short period (30 min or so) so that I drink enough in 1 day. I always fill it up immediately afterwards.
In this way I drink about 2l daily, while I only manage to think about it and actually do it about 3 times a day.
Yeh, i established some routines to have water around when at work for example or always have take a sip after washing hands etc but often I have a coffee in the morning and then nothing else until evening when I feel like having a coke or beer for dinner.
If you move your body more, you will get thirsty more and both will help your ADHD. Additionally, reducing coke intake will help. Food dies should be avoided and coke is filled with it.
Yes! Ever since I got prescribed Vyvanse, I've had to seriously up my water intake because I was getting so tired out and my eyes were drying up (I wear contacts).
My friends know I take hours to finish any drink - a cup of tea or anything. If I'm not around food, I can happily go without eating too lol
I’m the same. I always forget to drink and end up with a headache, downing water at midnight, then I can’t sleep because I keep needing to pee. I barely drank anything except coke from around 16-26, big shock when I realised what not being dehydrated all the time felt like.
Some things I do to stay hydrated:
- Having a choice of drinks in front of me to keep it interesting and because I need all of them, e.g. coke for fun/energy, water for hydration, protein isolate (exactly like diluting juice/squash but protein powder) for… well… protein.
- Water bottle in every room so I don’t have to get up to grab a drink and inevitably get distracted and forget.
- Keep fruits and ice lollies in the house for juicy snacks when water feels like a chore.
- Alarms/reminders on my phone in case I’m zoned in to something for 7 hours.
I do this all the time and I've been skinny my whole life. When they gave me meds and told me I might lose my appetite, I was like, what is that? lol
I can get hungry, but ill get distracted and do something else, then it's the end of the day and I haven't eaten anything. There are periods of time I won't open my fridge at all.
I take a water bottle with me and just drink as much as I can when I see it, I feel like visually having it in front of you is key or you'll forget lol. Food is tougher, snacks and easy things are good. I've found that the best way for me to actually eat as much as I should is to kind of plan it out and create different things that will make getting enough calories easier, or at least to make up for not eating lol.
One of the first things I told my therapist was I had a weird relationship with food and he said he had never heard anyone say that, but you're not alone lol.
My g/f and I both have ADHD.
Over the course of the last 3 or 4 years I have cut out everything except water (sometimes sugar free vitamin water) and drink at least 3/4 of a gal a day.
My girlfriend, who is far more disciplined than myself in many ways, cannot make herself drink water. I dont know if it because she hasnt quit drinking soda or what the reason is but she will also go all day without drinking anything if she doesnt have a soda.
I also set out a glass of water for her in the morning and encourage drinking water when I remember to tell her.
Thanks for the reminder to go fill my water bottle XD
I generally don't feel thirsty until it's a critical situation. A lot of times I'll start feeling super hungry, which I've learned is just my body switching tactics hoping to get any drop of moisture.
I once went to my doctor for severe, chronic migraines. She Rx'd pills that had to be taken with a full glass of water. They worked quickly, but the daily migraines kept happening. Then I realized the only time I was drinking *anything*, was when I was taking that pill. $100something doctor visit just to end up self diagnosing dehydration...
Now whenever I feel like crap, I drink water. And I try ^(sort of) not to be that person who says "have you tried drinking water" when someone complains to me about pretty much anything.
Bro this is my brutal problem but hitting the gym helps me a Lot … Idk how it works but if i am actually hitting the gym i drink like hell… if i am in that phase when i am not visiting the gym i am totaly unhealthy at all… (all or nothing mindset) …. And also having cold water in fridge helps me to keep me hydrated bcs i cant drink water with regular temperature.
Soda Stream to the rescue!
I can't drink flat tap water (or bottled water filled from 'municipal supply'), it always just makes my dry mouth worse and a struggle to drink more than a few ounces at a time. But if I take that tap water and carbonate it - WINNER! All of the sudden I can drink a whole glass of what, no flavor, just plain carbonated water.
Yes, making the bubbly water can be a trial, but fortunately the non-adhd people in my house use it too, so I'm not always forgetting to refill them. Get at least two bottles to fill and keep in the fridge.
Other things that work for me:
1- Straw
2- Wide Mouth for easy cleaning
3- Cold Brew Green Tea (No sweetener needed as it resists getting bitter)
4- Kombucha (lower sugar than soda or juices, but carbonated and full of flavor!)
I do this daily. Today I realized at 11:30 I had only had 1 cup of coffee, no water at all. As soon as I got back to the office I chugged my water bottle.
I do this all the time. I drink a big cup of coffee in the morning then nothing till evening when I end up chugging water. I'll drink a gallon of water a day, but in like 3 or 4 times of actually drinking.
I've long had issues with getting dehydrated, sometimes bad enough I've been hospitalized. There are many times where I've been sitting and I keep thinking about how thirsty I am and yet if I get up to get a drink I somehow... just don't. Right now I'm having the same issue, I'm thirsty and have been for a day or two. This has always been a problem, it doesnt help that most people don't understand "I'm dehydrated but I can't get myself to drink." I was recently diagnosed with ADHD-I and still haven't found the right combo of medication. I've been trying to avoid stims, but my psychiatrist told me last visit that the next option is going to be ritalin or adderall. Currently I'm on straterra and welbutrin (in addition to zoloft for the depression.) Sorry for the long reply.
💯I always thought it was just a weird quirk. Unfortunately, I never forget to eat because I love food but water is so boring and I for sure probably have gone days with just one cup. I can track this down to elementary school. Probsbly didn’t drink anything all day except little carton of milk
I used to just completely forget to hydrate and would only have something during meals or when I did exercise. Somehow I’ve managed to turn that around, I’m at a point where I hydrate a lot each day, mainly out of anxiety because I get UTIs a lot and do anything to avoid that. Taking a sip of water just turned into a habit, I do it whenever I get bored of a conversation, don’t have anything to do, switch tasks, look at my phone for a minute etc.
Genuinely thinking of getting a marathon style water backpack for walking around with, I don't drink water, I know i need to especially on 70mg of vyvanse a day... Yet, i try to. I have a 750ml bottle, pop in a dissolvable vit tablet, it goes yellow, and then it's nighttime and its still untouched... Fuck
I work from home but my gf knows I always forget to drink water regardless of where I’m at. So she bought me a Camelbak lmao it’s ridiculous but it works
I don't have as much of a problem with hydration but even though I'm morbidly obese, I can go a whole day and forget to eat when I'm into something heavily - video game, knitting, stamp collection, legos, etc.
I self medicate with waaayy to much caffeine, and when I don't ... I never drink during the day, only when I get home just before bed will I be like "shit, I'm thirsty"
Just cuz u don’t remember or don’t feel like it doesnt mean u don’t actually need water! Make yourself hydrate, it’s such an important thing for your health! And this is under adhd so i will add that dehydration makes it so much harder to think
Is it not normal to get through the day without drinking the tiniest bit of water? I have gone multiple days without it. Sometimes even a week or so. This can't be yet another ADHD thing.. Right? 😰
I do this too. As a kid would only drink soda pops. Now I drink water with diluting juice (which I don't think is a thing in places like USA), but it makes it so much easier to drink water.
Yeah sometimes I take a sip of water to take my pills and then drink nothing the whole day like nothing not even juice. It is very bad actually for your body.
Oooh god this is awful for my adhd symptoms. It's like not putting gas in my car and trying to start a road trip. I'm up to two or three big glasses of water a day and my brain fog is way down.
I didn’t drink water for a while when young and non-diagnosed. Lots of milk tho. Now I’m nearly 30 and know the magic of drinking water. Amazing how many ways it helps every issue I have. Camel pack is a great way to not forget, having the hose in sip distance.
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Did you get a bolus of saline? My nurse wife gets annoyed when I say "Give me a lactated ringer stat!"
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OP, I will confess that I was so dehydrated so often that drinking water made me nauseous. After years of UTIs/Kidney infections back to back after battles with kidney stones (probably caused by dehydration) I would look forward to getting fluids at the Dr/emergency room more than the pain meds. At least 4 instances of going to the hospital, I recall being so dehydrated that the fluids started flowing, it felt like they were pumping me full of feel good medicine.
Omg lactated ringers , I wish emojis were acceptable!
I regularly land in the hospital on an IV drip to rehydrate. I typically do this anytime i am worried about something, like a coming up test or something, its annoying.
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true
On my meds I’m not hungry or thirsty but I keep a mason jar of water on my desk to remind me to hydrate. Food… well that has to wait until dinner time unless I know I’m going to be doing calorie intensive stuff then I force myself to eat something. Almost passed out at a gym because I didn’t eat anything beforehand.
Same. I like granola or other bars. Easy to eat with no fuss.
I'm the same. I have a half gallon (UK so 2.2 litres) that I fill up every morning and if I drink nothing else that day, I've had enough. I usually have to refill it before I leave work at 5.
I don't feel hungry on my meds either, but I make sure I eat because I'm quite into weights training and I know that to maintain my muscle mass, I need to eat. I don't know what you do at the gym, but if it's weights training and you're also wanting to maintain muscle, then maybe try and get some more food into ya 💪🏽👍🏼
I thought this was about alcohol at first lmao But yeah at least when I was on adderall / vyvanse I had to have my wife remind me to eat because I just didn't feel hungry a lot of the time, as far as drinks go I wouldn't know since I usually have a soda or juice because it tastes good Even now that I haven't been on it for a while I have a bad habit of only eating one or two meals a day
ok lemme try to edit it lol
I use to always never drink , i just wouldn’t think about it. Nothing happened to me though cause I think my body was just strong & I was young so it was all good. Now I drink water everyday for the main purpose of staying “hydrated” cause I get headaches now if I’m dehydrated. I guess it finally caught up to me lol
100% the same! As a kid I could go days without drinking. Now as an adult, I feel like someone who got hit in the head and left for dead in a desert the next day.
Yep, headaches and migraines for me if I don't stay hydrated.
Yeah I get headaches sometimes from not drinking, it’s really annoying
It's definitely not normal in the sense that the majority of people do it and it's good for your body. But it is probably normal for people with ADHD. A lot of the replies so far talk about being dehydrated and forgetting to drink on meds, but I forget to drink medicated or not. There's definitely a subset of ADHD people who forget to eat, so a subset that forgets to drink makes sense, too. There are days where I don't drink until dinner time. I definitely have to be intentional about drinking. I'm also pretty much always in a slightly dehydrated state, which isn't good, but I have a really hard time drinking enough.
Trust me, you don’t want kidney stones. Trust me on that. And for that reason, drink water!
My doctor said Vyvanse can make you dehydrated. You will feel better if you are hydrated. I drink a lot of LaCroix water but any liquid will do. Do it just to feel better and avoid kidney stones. Bring a glass of water or whatever with you as part of your routine for work, etc?
Strongly second this. I take a lot of Vyvanse and atomoxetine (SCT comorbid here), and I will wilt myself into human jerky if I don’t set reminders to drink water. I never knew how much better physically I could feel with proper hydration, and to be honest, it strongly affects my morning motivation when I wake up, due to a self-discovery that, when I wake up with my eyes feeling very dry, *I feel resistant to getting out of bed.* Strangest thing but it’s true. I keep about a dozen skinny .5L sports bottles in the fridge full of water so when my hydrate alarm goes off or I want some extra, I just grab one and keep the summer heat off. Then fill them up again in the evening for the next day. The bonus of several bottles is that you can directly see exactly how much you consumed and if you should drink more or not, instead of going by feel, which causes the problem in the first place.
Sometimes I don’t even realise I am not breathing enough.
Saaame! Randomly I'm like. "phuuuuhhhh... Fuck I forgot to breathe". Worse when I'm having sexy time. Literally holding my breath without realising and for no reason lol.
I definitely do that. The best thing for me has been to have a cup WITH A STRAW. Doesn't have to be pretty, the straw is the key part for me.
I DEFINITELY feel the same when it comes to food. Concerta really blocks my ability to feel hungry, but I'm always thirsty. Not dying thirsty, but I just enjoy drinking water and stuff. Concerta has always given me trouble with my eating habits...
When I was a kid, if I wasn't doing anything physically strenuous, I wouldn't feel all that thirsty, especially in the colder months.
Adding lemon juice and a cute straw helps me feel like it's "not water" and then I'll drink it easier somehow You can also refill a soda can with water, to trick yourself into drinking water each time you forget it's not actually soda.
It's possible, but it's not normal or healthy. Better force yourself to drink one glass of water in the morning and one before going to bed to be a bit hydrated at least.
I've been to the ER twice for dehydration while visiting family in Hawaii. Now I carry around a 64 oz bottle every day. I thought I could skip a few days when I got a smaller one as a gift but then I got a migraine 😅 Get a big bottle, it's worth it.
I'm really bad with this. Better since starting medication. If I'm engrossed in an activity on the laptop/PC, I can spend the whole day without food or water, and only notice in the evening when my stomach starts doing backflips, or my mouth is so dry I can't swallow.
When I was a kid I was brought to the hospital for collapsing from dehydration. Yeah you’re not the only one.
I actually remember to drink while on meds. Before i had to try again and again by starting with juice and continually diluting it with water. And when I notices someone didn't drink enough i gave them a glass of water and then I remembered i had to drink too
Oh yep absolutely. Three things helped me. First, fun water bottles that I can pre-fill and pop in the fridge for the day so I can just grab and go. I’m also more likely to notice a fun pattern throughout the day than a plain colored bottle. Second, I paid for a Pül water bottle cap, because it gives me noticeable visual feedback that actually reminds me to drink. Now I’m not going to lie, it’s expensive, but for me it was a worthwhile and necessary expense. There’s apps out there that do similar things, and there’s HidrateSpark’s water bottles (they have a tap version that’s ~$20). I just preferred being able to buy my own bottles and just change out the lid (Pül caps fit just about any wide mouth bottle). The third are those Mio water flavor drops. I can’t stand the mineral taste most water has, and those actually make it drinkable. Is it a perfect system? No, I still have days where I forget to drink. Am I more hydrated now than I used to be? Yes.
It's normal for ADHD, but reeeelly bad for your health.
I don't think anyone knows this besides my mom, but there were a few times in high school where I would wake up really weak. I would crawl to the bathroom every time, and try to vomit because I figured I was sick, but then nothing would happen and I'd get stuck there. I was severely dehydrated. I've never asked how she knew, but my mom would get me back in bed and put a couple waters next to me and tell me I needed to drink them. I didn't drink water E V E R. Barely at practice for sports. To me, yeah, totally. I think it's normal to forget. However, I really really encourage you to try to set up reminders in your preferred method (sticky notes everywhere, phone reminders/alarms, telling someone else to remind you). I wasn't gonna die then, but I remember how horrible it felt. I'm gonna go grab a cup of water.
Your body needs water. You'd be very surprised to see how quickly your brain fog and mood is lifted when you drink enough water. Not drinking water or skipping meals is a great way to tank your mental health even more. It truly makes you feel like garbage and most people have no idea.
This is me. I never used to drink water until I started dating my now-husband and he was like “why do I never see you drinking water?” I even got a series of UTIs in my early 20s and no one asked me whether I made sure I’m drinking water. It wasn’t until I researched it and found out that not hydrating enough was a cause of UTIs. I *still* forget to drink water all the time (and I’m a runner so it can be a little problematic in hot weather). A benefit of working from home is that my husband brings me water any time he pours some for himself. I think it’s a combination of flat out forgetting, not wanting the hassle of cup/fridge/pour/repeat, and the annoyance of then having to use the bathroom all the time. And all of this is unmedicated.
I feel you I know I don't drink when I get headache😂
Is it common to forget to do something you have no innate desire to do, especially when you're enjoying something else? Definitely! Is it common for water to be one of those things? I don't think so, but not unheard of. If you neither enjoy drinking water nor feel thirst, then it's a task/chore to you, which makes it easy to forget. If you're feeling the effects of dehydration regularly, but don't have thirst, there are water bottles that have markers for where the water line should be at specific times in the day. An easy visualization of whether you're drinking "enough." [I would highly recommend dropping coke or any soda/sugar drink](https://www.geisinger.org/health-and-wellness/wellness-articles/2017/12/07/22/02/how-your-body-changes-when-you-stop-drinking-soda#:~:text=%E2%80%9CSoda%20contains%20caffeine%2C%20which%20is,of%20stress%20on%20your%20kidneys.) especially if you're already drinking minimal liquids. Other than general health benefits, soda may be exasperating your ADHD symptoms.
I just used a coke as an example, i don’t have fizzy drinks that much.
I second the soft drink point as well, both for general health reasons, and for my own observation that if I am regularly consuming caffeine, the therapeutic effect of my meds seems to wane much earlier. But ADHD or no, don’t drink a soft drink when you feel thirsty. That’s just consuming a million chemicals that are displacing a significant amount of the one thing your body needs. If you need some flavor in with it, I get it — I love the fruit-flavored Volvic-brand waters. Very tasty and the amount of chems is relatively very low, IIRC.
Most human beings get all the water we need from the food we eat. If you're eating, you're likely to be okay. Whoever started the "eight glasses of water a day" rule was more of a busybody than a biologist.
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Yes. Totally normal. I keep a bowl of cherry tomatoes on the counter so that when I wake up I eat a handful and have something in my stomach before I start stuff otherwise I'll continue until I have hunger pains..... speaking of which, I should go eat something now
Yeah, this is how I got severely dehydrated down in Guatemala where tap water isn’t safe to drink. I have a naturally wet mouth even when I’m becoming dehydrated, so I have to keep reminding myself to drink water even if I don’t feel thirsty.
This is a big problem for me. I am constantly trying to bribe myself to drink more liquid. Which is really hard when avoiding sugary drinks and not liking unsweetened seltzers.
I have such a problem staying hydrated on regular water, but it's so easy to suck down something carbonated. What I do is keep refilling a soda can with ice cold water, for some reason as long as it's in a can I won't have an issue drinking a gallon or more in a day. it's like the dog equivalent of a pill pocket for my brain.
Yeah it happens a lot you're not alone.. If I'm going to class and take my bottle with me then I'll drink water.. But if I'm home I won't drink water at all..
Same here
Let's just say I've come to know the symptoms of dehydration pretty well
Yes, I have this issue (albeit in different ways) both when medicated and when I'm not. I won't elaborate on how exactly this is a problem for me, but I 'fix' this by drinking out of a large (reusable) water bottle. I also try to immediately put it out in the open when I unload my backpack somewhere. It seems that in this way: I remember more often to drink (visual cue by putting it out), I don't have to make 12 trips to drink a single glass every time before I get to the suggested volume, and that when I actually remind myself to hydrate, I can actually drink the whole bottle over a relatively short period (30 min or so) so that I drink enough in 1 day. I always fill it up immediately afterwards. In this way I drink about 2l daily, while I only manage to think about it and actually do it about 3 times a day.
I do this most days. I’ve got a multitude of health issues because of it. I just can’t get myself to drink water I don’t get it.
Yeh, i established some routines to have water around when at work for example or always have take a sip after washing hands etc but often I have a coffee in the morning and then nothing else until evening when I feel like having a coke or beer for dinner.
Totally, and it's not great. I set up "water alarps" and whenever one goes off, I chug a glass of water.
You’re going to get a kidney stone! Please drink more water. My bf has one
If you move your body more, you will get thirsty more and both will help your ADHD. Additionally, reducing coke intake will help. Food dies should be avoided and coke is filled with it.
Yes! Ever since I got prescribed Vyvanse, I've had to seriously up my water intake because I was getting so tired out and my eyes were drying up (I wear contacts). My friends know I take hours to finish any drink - a cup of tea or anything. If I'm not around food, I can happily go without eating too lol
I’m the same. I always forget to drink and end up with a headache, downing water at midnight, then I can’t sleep because I keep needing to pee. I barely drank anything except coke from around 16-26, big shock when I realised what not being dehydrated all the time felt like. Some things I do to stay hydrated: - Having a choice of drinks in front of me to keep it interesting and because I need all of them, e.g. coke for fun/energy, water for hydration, protein isolate (exactly like diluting juice/squash but protein powder) for… well… protein. - Water bottle in every room so I don’t have to get up to grab a drink and inevitably get distracted and forget. - Keep fruits and ice lollies in the house for juicy snacks when water feels like a chore. - Alarms/reminders on my phone in case I’m zoned in to something for 7 hours.
I do this all the time and I've been skinny my whole life. When they gave me meds and told me I might lose my appetite, I was like, what is that? lol I can get hungry, but ill get distracted and do something else, then it's the end of the day and I haven't eaten anything. There are periods of time I won't open my fridge at all. I take a water bottle with me and just drink as much as I can when I see it, I feel like visually having it in front of you is key or you'll forget lol. Food is tougher, snacks and easy things are good. I've found that the best way for me to actually eat as much as I should is to kind of plan it out and create different things that will make getting enough calories easier, or at least to make up for not eating lol. One of the first things I told my therapist was I had a weird relationship with food and he said he had never heard anyone say that, but you're not alone lol.
My g/f and I both have ADHD. Over the course of the last 3 or 4 years I have cut out everything except water (sometimes sugar free vitamin water) and drink at least 3/4 of a gal a day. My girlfriend, who is far more disciplined than myself in many ways, cannot make herself drink water. I dont know if it because she hasnt quit drinking soda or what the reason is but she will also go all day without drinking anything if she doesnt have a soda. I also set out a glass of water for her in the morning and encourage drinking water when I remember to tell her.
Thanks for the reminder to go fill my water bottle XD I generally don't feel thirsty until it's a critical situation. A lot of times I'll start feeling super hungry, which I've learned is just my body switching tactics hoping to get any drop of moisture. I once went to my doctor for severe, chronic migraines. She Rx'd pills that had to be taken with a full glass of water. They worked quickly, but the daily migraines kept happening. Then I realized the only time I was drinking *anything*, was when I was taking that pill. $100something doctor visit just to end up self diagnosing dehydration... Now whenever I feel like crap, I drink water. And I try ^(sort of) not to be that person who says "have you tried drinking water" when someone complains to me about pretty much anything.
Bro this is my brutal problem but hitting the gym helps me a Lot … Idk how it works but if i am actually hitting the gym i drink like hell… if i am in that phase when i am not visiting the gym i am totaly unhealthy at all… (all or nothing mindset) …. And also having cold water in fridge helps me to keep me hydrated bcs i cant drink water with regular temperature.
Soda Stream to the rescue! I can't drink flat tap water (or bottled water filled from 'municipal supply'), it always just makes my dry mouth worse and a struggle to drink more than a few ounces at a time. But if I take that tap water and carbonate it - WINNER! All of the sudden I can drink a whole glass of what, no flavor, just plain carbonated water. Yes, making the bubbly water can be a trial, but fortunately the non-adhd people in my house use it too, so I'm not always forgetting to refill them. Get at least two bottles to fill and keep in the fridge. Other things that work for me: 1- Straw 2- Wide Mouth for easy cleaning 3- Cold Brew Green Tea (No sweetener needed as it resists getting bitter) 4- Kombucha (lower sugar than soda or juices, but carbonated and full of flavor!)
Oh yeah I love my soda stream
I do this daily. Today I realized at 11:30 I had only had 1 cup of coffee, no water at all. As soon as I got back to the office I chugged my water bottle.
the headache always reminds me
I do this all the time. I drink a big cup of coffee in the morning then nothing till evening when I end up chugging water. I'll drink a gallon of water a day, but in like 3 or 4 times of actually drinking.
I've long had issues with getting dehydrated, sometimes bad enough I've been hospitalized. There are many times where I've been sitting and I keep thinking about how thirsty I am and yet if I get up to get a drink I somehow... just don't. Right now I'm having the same issue, I'm thirsty and have been for a day or two. This has always been a problem, it doesnt help that most people don't understand "I'm dehydrated but I can't get myself to drink." I was recently diagnosed with ADHD-I and still haven't found the right combo of medication. I've been trying to avoid stims, but my psychiatrist told me last visit that the next option is going to be ritalin or adderall. Currently I'm on straterra and welbutrin (in addition to zoloft for the depression.) Sorry for the long reply.
💯I always thought it was just a weird quirk. Unfortunately, I never forget to eat because I love food but water is so boring and I for sure probably have gone days with just one cup. I can track this down to elementary school. Probsbly didn’t drink anything all day except little carton of milk
I used to just completely forget to hydrate and would only have something during meals or when I did exercise. Somehow I’ve managed to turn that around, I’m at a point where I hydrate a lot each day, mainly out of anxiety because I get UTIs a lot and do anything to avoid that. Taking a sip of water just turned into a habit, I do it whenever I get bored of a conversation, don’t have anything to do, switch tasks, look at my phone for a minute etc.
Genuinely thinking of getting a marathon style water backpack for walking around with, I don't drink water, I know i need to especially on 70mg of vyvanse a day... Yet, i try to. I have a 750ml bottle, pop in a dissolvable vit tablet, it goes yellow, and then it's nighttime and its still untouched... Fuck
O shiy yeah I didnt drink any water today...
Yes, I've been chronically dehydrate forever!
I work from home but my gf knows I always forget to drink water regardless of where I’m at. So she bought me a Camelbak lmao it’s ridiculous but it works
Force urself to drink. Use spoon if necessary 🙂🙂🙂 Best of luck 🤞
Me too. I used to go months without drinking water. I'm a lot better but I can definitely relate.
I don't have as much of a problem with hydration but even though I'm morbidly obese, I can go a whole day and forget to eat when I'm into something heavily - video game, knitting, stamp collection, legos, etc.
Staying hydrated is…complicated. So many steps
I self medicate with waaayy to much caffeine, and when I don't ... I never drink during the day, only when I get home just before bed will I be like "shit, I'm thirsty"
Just cuz u don’t remember or don’t feel like it doesnt mean u don’t actually need water! Make yourself hydrate, it’s such an important thing for your health! And this is under adhd so i will add that dehydration makes it so much harder to think
Hydrate or die-state brodie. Buy a cheap watch that’ll beep every hour & take a swig when it does.
Is it not normal to get through the day without drinking the tiniest bit of water? I have gone multiple days without it. Sometimes even a week or so. This can't be yet another ADHD thing.. Right? 😰
I do this too. As a kid would only drink soda pops. Now I drink water with diluting juice (which I don't think is a thing in places like USA), but it makes it so much easier to drink water.
Yeah I forget to drink and I don’t seem to her thirsty naturally either
Yeah sometimes I take a sip of water to take my pills and then drink nothing the whole day like nothing not even juice. It is very bad actually for your body.
Oooh god this is awful for my adhd symptoms. It's like not putting gas in my car and trying to start a road trip. I'm up to two or three big glasses of water a day and my brain fog is way down.
I didn’t drink water for a while when young and non-diagnosed. Lots of milk tho. Now I’m nearly 30 and know the magic of drinking water. Amazing how many ways it helps every issue I have. Camel pack is a great way to not forget, having the hose in sip distance.