Signs of dehydration? Should I go to the E.R.?

I think I have signs of dehydration. I have dry lips and dry mouth. I dont have to pee often. When I do pee its not a lot.  I have a white patch on my lounge. I have been sipping all day, but its not enough I suppose. Should I go to the E.R.? My doctor isnt aviable today nor does he have an answering service.

Do you have a medical clinic near you? We have a Care United in our town and they actually do iv fluids.  It has saved me a TON of money when my son needed iv fluids twice due to a stomach bug.  It's a clinic that is open at nights and on weekends, too. You may call around and see if that is an option.

I don't know much about the symptoms but my surgeon's post op care book says that one should urinate 3 times per day at least. I urinate WAY more than that!

Pam

 

I, on the other hand, generally pee only 4 times per day (upon rising, at lunchtime, when I get home from work, and before bed).

Lora

Sounds like you may be dehydrated. Try to drink more water a bit faster. Sips weren't cutting it for me. You won't hurt your pouch as long as you are not eating at the same time because water runs right through.  Your urine should be very light yellow to straw colored. not orange, dark yellow, or tea colored. If your urine production doesn't pick up, by all means go to an urgent care center.  It is very important to maintain a proper fluid and electrolyte balance.  If you do not start to make more urine after increasing your intake, I wouldn't jack around too much. You need to be seen.  Side note. pitched that silly sippy cup the minute i got home from the hospital. I needed to DRINK!  I think they scare us half to death about drinking too fast. My surgeon told me that while the nuts would tell me to focus on protein in the first couple of weeks, he was more keen on me being mindful of hydration. He said that as fatty as my body was i wasn't going to jump right to burning muscle for fuel. Made sense to me.

When i had those symptoms i went to the ER and got admitted overnight. i was in pain though too not from dehydration though. I would say go to the ER dehydration is not something you want to mess with. How far out are you? My surgeon told me anytime i have any issues i think need to be seen immediately to go to the ER.

When you say that you have been sipping all day, how much fluid intake is that? How long has your intake been at that level?

Not everyone needs a full 60 ounces to avoid dehydration, BTW.  I frequently don't get that much and in the 6 years since surgery I have never once been dehydrated (times when I have been ill and had bad diarrhea excepted).

Try drinking with a straw.  Many people find that helps get in much more liquid.  just because you are not peri much doesn't necessarily mean that you are dehydrated.  You may not be peeing because your body is holding on to the fluid in order to keep you hydrated.  (I was on a trip to Greece one time and it was VERY hot, so I was drinking quite a hit of water, but usi the bathroom very little (but still showed no signs of dehydration.)  I cannot tell you if you should go to the ER with those symptoms. Yes, you mention some symptoms of dehydration, but you don't mention some of the most typical ones (and I am someone who uses the ER only as a last resort when I am SURE there is something wrong (because I have been there a number of times when the ER was backed up with people who did NOT really need an ER but could have seen their doctor the next day or on Monday.)

Lora

Stop sipping and start drinking. My doc said there is no reason to sip, and we should being drinking normal by a couple of days out. While you may be starting to show a few signs I'd try to get more in before I went to the er. If you can'tget more in or your urine gets dark, you get nauseous or a headache or show worsening symptoms you may need to go. Only you can make that call

First question should be - is it an emergency?   Are you able to drink?   Can you increase the amount you can drink?   Our pouch really is not that precious - if you can physically drink normally - do so!

Going to the ER for dehydration is really for when you are sick and unable to do anything about it - if that's the case, then go.   If you need to just chug down an extra glass or two, then do that!

I sometimes think this board breeds a bit of hysteria when the truth is that very few of us have any problems after surgery and we just need to pull up our big girl panties and get on with what we know we are supposed to do.   I very often get less than 64oz of water but it doesn't necessitate the need to go to the ER - it means I need to get on and drink a couple of cups of tea, or a Snapple or two.

At the end of the day, none of us can really advise you on this - you need to make the sensible decision for your cir****tances as you are the only one who knows them!

The original poster said they are having a hard time voiding much of anything to me that is a true emergency! Not really peeing is a huge sign of dehydration as is color/etc. Some people may run their at the small drop of a hat but it is those same people that catch true problems early and don't end up hospitalized for weeks at a time in my opinion. I was told by my surgeon anytime i thought it was necessary to go to the ER i should regardless of what anyone else thinks like ER doctors which are mostly clueless about this surgery btw. In my case i wasn't in full blown dehydration yet but i have suspected ulcers so drinking was painful for me. I needed to go mostly for the pain and some sort of fluids to kind of jump start me until i could get in adequate fluids.. still in a lot of pain at times but those other times i force the fluids down as much as possible. Point is IF the poster thinks this is a problem they should go to the ER. Only you can be your best advocate.. if i didn't go i would still be suffering in pain probably.

If she is just not peeing much for a day or two, that is NOT necessarily an emergency.  It may just mean that the body is holding on to the fluids that she IS drinking.  She did not say how long this has been happening (might only be an issue since yesterday), or how much she is getting in, and without that information, it is impossible to even guess whether she is dehydrated or not. Also, mild dehydration is not an emergency (and MANY people here run to the ER, are given an IV for mild dehydration and then sent home... when they could potentially have treated themselves just by making a serious effort at drinking more).

Lora