older women dehydration issues?

[Biciclista]

it seems that i just cannot drink enough during and after a bike ride to keep from being dehydrated the next day.
it often takes me 2-3 days before i really catch up.

My doctor told me the issue is that my body does not absorb the water fast enough (I am peeing it out ) anyone else have this issue? It's getting annoying.
At least this morning when i woke up with a headache i was tuned in enough to just get up and start drinking...

[OakLeaf]

Are you sure you're getting enough salt?

That's a perennial issue for me, as I've mentioned before. When I'm borderline hyponatremic, first thing that happens is I pee all the time to try to concentrate sodium in my blood, next thing is I get so nauseous I can't drink water. What you're describing sounds EXACTLY like what happens to me when I go into a ride/run balanced, but don't get enough salt during the exertion or immediately after.

Typically people sweat out 500-1000 mg sodium an hour during exertion. Sodium is the one mineral that humans can't get from plant and animal foods and MUST supplement.

[Biciclista]

i do drink NUUN.. i guess just not enough! and as the evening gets later, i hate to drink a lot, or i am up all night as well.

[Biciclista]

what's a podium bottle?
I rode 10 miles and drank a 16 ounce bottle of water. Then we stopped for lunch where i ate lots of salty things and drank another 16 ounces. put juice and water in it and rode home
finished the juice/water mix with a bottle of nuun. and drank tea later and had a nice dinner with salt on things. and yet, this morning the headache.

[Melalvai]

I keep putting in a word for V8 because it has potassium as well as sodium. Quite a lot of both-- more than gatorade (per volume). Also it doesn't have the sugar of sports drinks & gels etc. I suspect sugar may throw off the osmotic balance as well.

[snapdragen]

I'll second the V8, I used to down a couple of little cans right after finishing a long training walk (in my short-lived endurance walking career).

Mimi, I know it's a pain having to get up in the middle of the night to pee, but it sounds like you need to drink a bit more in the evenings.

[Biciclista]

nuun is not sugary, it is sweetened with sorbitol. I like some of the V8 drinks, just didn't have them yesterday.

[Biciclista]

sigh, Snap, i think you're right.



I still don't know what a Podium Bottle is. ok, ok, i'll google it. ok, i googled it. It just looks like a water bottle.

[shootingstar]

Hope you find a solution, Mimi.

There is a big difference between Vancouver (where I am now) and Calgary, Alberta (where I will go back soon). In latter city, I make sure I wear chapstick even in warm weather. I drink twice as much water compared to Vancouver.

I get paranoid of having my water bottle stolen at the wrong time during a bike ride .. and I have had this happen twice in each Vancouver, Toronto.

[Biciclista]

stolen? who would steal a water bottle? After some big rides I've seen lots of bottles on the road, they bounce off your bikes! but i would be afraid to be without water too...

[shootingstar]

ONe bottle had Kauai marked on it -I did get it from Hawaii. Another had the logo of a women's cycling group that belonged to.

[OakLeaf]

I wish I'd had you gals to figure it out for me when it first started happening to me 20 years ago. I spent literally 15 years thinking it was primary dehydration, including the time I wound up on an IV when it never occurred to the ER doctors either... :rolleyes:

[Biciclista]

um, Oakleaf, what do you mean?

[OakLeaf]

For years it never occurred to me that I needed more salt. I kept trying to drink more plain water and couldn't figure out why I was dehydrated. I'm just dense, I guess. :p

[Biciclista]

oh oh, of course, electrolytes. But at the hospital, the stuff they pumped into you was saline!

[OakLeaf]

I know, that's why it worked without anyone being the wiser.

[roadie gal]

I'm a big drinker. If I do an hour bike ride I'll go through most of a 2 liter Camelbak. On any run over 30 minutes, I'll carry water. You may not be getting as much as it seems if you just have one water bottle.

Along with some of you, I lose a lot of salt in my sweat. I now order a custom blend from Infinit Nutrition to get the extra salt I need in my drinks without the calories. I discovered them after suffering through major leg cramps when I was training for my tris.

[Biciclista]

Murienn, i always drink a little if i wake up at night; but not too much, I am also suffering from sleep issues so I was advised by my Dr to drink less at night. so i can't see doing that BEFORE a ride, but after, it makes sense.

[nuliajuk]

I find that I absorb water better if I sip it slowly over a period of time, rather than drink a whole glass all at once. If I drink a cupful in one sitting, it just seems to go straight through me.

[malkin]

Dehydration is always an issue for me too.
Of course summer is worse here because it is so dry. In the last days of our old kitty we were giving him subcutaneous saline, and we joked that I might steal some of it for an IV of my own.

[goldfinch]

Are you sure you are dehydrated? It seems you are peeing out excess water. Could it be the headache is from something else, like an electrolyte imbalance. Sometimes people hydrate too much and their electrolytes go out of whack.

[Skippyak]

I think drinking too much is a habit too. I would think you should look at other causes of repeated headaches and a 10 mile ride would not be a cause to need 32 ounces of water and salty food. I ride in Ut and it is hot in summer but I know I drink too much when I need to pee too much (like on a 2 hour ride). Dehydration is a term bandied around very loosely. I do tweak my own electrolytes depending on conditions and ride times, but for a nice rec ride of low mileage, it should not be an issue. I don't race or anything but bigger climbs and really hot days will need different approaches. I would not listen to a doc who tells me not to drink at night either, I can get up and pee and go to sleep. When I am out on my bike with no loo in sight, I am not so keen on peeing.

[tulip]

Since you live in Seattle....coffee is a diuretic, so if you drink alot of coffee, you could be doing your hydration a disservice. Do you drink alot of coffee? If you have a headache in the morning, it could be because you are experiencing caffeine withdrawal after a night without coffee. Also, if you are having trouble sleeping, coffee could be contributing to that, too.

[Biciclista]

hahahaha I do not drink coffee Tulip. Everyone in Seattle isn't mainlining coffee. LOL

when I wake up in the morning from a headache, it's one of three things: 1, I slept wrong, 2, allergies, 3, dehydration. When it follows a bike ride, it's usually dehydration. Since I was working out fairly strenuously for 1 hour followed by 3 hours in full sun, i suspected that was what it was.

[goldfinch]

Turned out for me that morning headaches were because I quit breathing at night. I hope that isn't your sleep issue!

[Biciclista]

i don't have those kinds of sleep issues. My sleep issue is failing to sleep. I Know i have sinus stuff going on...probably from allergies.

[Wasp]

it seems that i just cannot drink enough during and after a bike ride to keep from being dehydrated the next day.
it often takes me 2-3 days before i really catch up.

My doctor told me the issue is that my body does not absorb the water fast enough (I am peeing it out ) anyone else have this issue? It's getting annoying.
At least this morning when i woke up with a headache i was tuned in enough to just get up and start drinking...

Are you diabetic? Or have you had your blood sugar levels checked recently? Just wondering since you mentioned you can't seem to drink enough combined that with headaches and excessive urination.......just a thought.

[Biciclista]

I have been to the doctor recently and had complete bloodwork done. In fact, a couple years ago, I went to the doctor the day after a ride (tour de blast) and she had a fit because my BP was so low, I was dehydrated, etc. THat's why I know the symptoms and the basic problem.

[OakLeaf]

What was your serum sodium that day?

[Biciclista]

seriously? I have no idea! and that doctor has since retired. Her diagnosis seemed like a good one, as I felt better after drinking some sports drink..

[Skippyak]

Always pick up your blood results, it gives you time to go over them and digest them. I get mine done and pick up the results before the appt so I can talk about them if I needed to (which I haven't though). She told you (as I read it) that you are failing to concentrate urine, which would have a physiological cause that should not be a blow off remark. IMHO.
I just pee a lot because I drink a lot and I no doubt have appalling pelvic floor tone. I would love a fix for that that did not involve scary adverts for class action law suits.

[Biciclista]

It is common for older people to not absorb nutrients or water as well as they did when they were younger. If you read the earlier comments you will find that I am not the only person here like that; which was what I was trying to find out. I was hoping for commiseration, i am comfortable and satisfied with my doctors' diagnoses.

At the age of 61 I went to my doctor recently and told her i was tired of waking up 3 or 4 times a night to pee. She told me, stop getting up. I have learned that i can go back to sleep sometimes and now I don't usually get up to go more than 2 x a night.

I am in really good shape and enjoy good health. The fact is, my body is 61 years old whether I like it or not. We have to deal with the hand we are dealt.

thanks everyone for your thoughts.

[goldfinch]

Yeah Mimi, the urge is always to find an answer, a fix. It sounds like you are just fine and don't need to be fixed. :)

My very old dog drinks a lot of water and pees a lot. The vet says it is because she is very, very old with very old kidneys. But you aren't old like my 17 year old dog.

[Sky King]

Ha, we were having this conversation the other night. Training ourselves to not get out of bed to pee just because we woke up :)
Of course better to drink and go to the bathroom often than to not go at all (quote from my sis - the urologist)



It is common for older people to not absorb nutrients or water as well as they did when they were younger. If you read the earlier comments you will find that I am not the only person here like that; which was what I was trying to find out. I was hoping for commiseration, i am comfortable and satisfied with my doctors' diagnoses.

At the age of 61 I went to my doctor recently and told her i was tired of waking up 3 or 4 times a night to pee. She told me, stop getting up. I have learned that i can go back to sleep sometimes and now I don't usually get up to go more than 2 x a night.

I am in really good shape and enjoy good health. The fact is, my body is 61 years old whether I like it or not. We have to deal with the hand we are dealt.

thanks everyone for your thoughts.

[indysteel]

Ha, we were having this conversation the other night. Training ourselves to not get out of bed to pee just because we woke up :)

Ugh; I so struggle with this. If I wake up and it occurs to me that I might need to go to the bathroom, it then becomes an obsessive thought in my mind that I can only rid myself of....by getting up and going to the bathroom. So, any tips on how train oneself not to get up?

[IBrakeforPastry]

Ugh; I so struggle with this. If I wake up and it occurs to me that I might need to go to the bathroom, it then becomes an obsessive thought in my mind that I can only rid myself of....by getting up and going to the bathroom. So, any tips on how train oneself not to get up?

As long as there isn't a cat walking across my face, insisting that it's play time, I try to take a deep abdominal breath, exhale, and think "sleeeeeep" along with the exhale. I also try to gently roll my eyes upward to give them a little nudge in the right direction. If that doesn't work, I just get up and go to the bathroom :o By then, the cat knows I'm up, and a whole new battle begins.

[indysteel]

As long as there isn't a cat walking across my face, insisting that it's play time, I try to take a deep abdominal breath, exhale, and think "sleeeeeep" along with the exhale. I also try to gently roll my eyes upward to give them a little nudge in the right direction. If that doesn't work, I just get up and go to the bathroom :o By then, the cat knows I'm up, and a whole new battle begins.

Yeah; I've tried some yogic breathing to no avail. Over the past few years, I've had several issues that have just not helped at all in this regardl. First, I had a series of UTIs over the course of about six months that made me want to urinate all the time, especially at night. Second, I developed Graves' Disease, which made it extremely difficult to sleep/fall back asleep. Now, my brain simply refuses to relax when I wake up in the middle of the night unless I go to the bathroom. At least I can fall back asleep most nights. For a while, it was all over the minute I woke up. Last night, I managed to stay asleep all night. I can't remember the last time that happened.

[Biciclista]

believe it or not, one of the best things i have learned about going back to sleep is relaxing my tongue! (from my yoga teacher) i just put the tip of my tongue above my front teeth and tell it to relax. this relaxes the neck muscles. he also has me get into a pose with a pillow under my knees and my arms bent up... it has worked incredibly well.

[nuliajuk]

As long as there isn't a cat walking across my face, insisting that it's play time, I try to take a deep abdominal breath, exhale, and think "sleeeeeep" along with the exhale. I also try to gently roll my eyes upward to give them a little nudge in the right direction. If that doesn't work, I just get up and go to the bathroom :o By then, the cat knows I'm up, and a whole new battle begins.
At least your cat is mobile. Ours becomes this solid little concrete weight, sleeping sprawled on top of whichever of us most desperately needs to get up. When she sleeps, she almost goes into a coma. (This cat doesn't do anything by half)

[IBrakeforPastry]

At least your cat is mobile. Ours becomes this solid little concrete weight, sleeping sprawled on top of whichever of us most desperately needs to get up. When she sleeps, she almost goes into a coma. (This cat doesn't do anything by half)

Well, there's that, too. He doesn't burrow under the covers. He stays on top of the bedding, and snuggles up against me, pinning me in place. If I roll over quickly, he'll be flung off the bed. Tempting, but I'm too nice. I do all sorts of twisting and turning to not disturb His Royal Highness.

[malkin]

MOSTLY COMMISERATION!

When I wake up in the night I can just get up and pee without waking up all the way as long as I don't turn on the light. I was quite a sleepwalker when I was younger, so maybe it's leftover from that. If I am semi-conscious a few minutes after I get in bed, I turn on the radio which is set to the most boring nighttime station. When the powers that be switch the night radio to something more perky I either find a more boring station or listen to Alan Watts recordings on my ipad. Foreign language recordings will also work for me.

Maybe it is helpful that I've had intermittent sleep issues all my life, so I don't think of it as any big deal.

Dehydration sucks.
Unless I have an IV, or am in Hawaii, I will always fail the 'tent test.' (Pinch up the skin on the back of the hand; if it stays in a tent then you are dehydrated. Ideally it should snap back flat.)

[Biciclista]

Malkin, i don't know how old you are, but as you get older, your skin gets less pliant... might not mean you're dehydrated, just old (ducks)

[malkin]

*snort*

I've been flunking the hydration test for decades, so now in mid-50s, I am not 'just old' but old and dehydrated.