Many prescribed meds cause dehydration

Many prescribed meds cause dehydration, and the sort of meds I'm thinking of are not the sort that cause increased urine output, such as diuretics. I'm thinking of the ones that increase thirst because they cause the body, principally in its  blood vessels, to retain too much salt/sodium, along with the water which sodium attracts to itself. Over time these meds impair the efficiency of the kidneys. Paradoxically, in fact, these meds reduce urine output, rather than increase it, and so, often, this problem may be misdiagnosed as urinary retention.

What are these meds? you may be wondering. - Well they are the drugs I frequently warn about on my website and in my blogs, namely most antidepressants, many prescribed steroids and HRT, anti-psychotics, anti-convulsants, NSAID painkillers and others.

By the time you feel thirsty, you are already dehydrated. And you may unwittingly increase the problem by drinking, say, coffee, which is widely considered to have diuretic properties. Alcohol too is a diuretic. If you are thirsty, you would be much better slaking your thirst with plain water. Salty drinks are clearly inadvisable, and sugary drinks also tend to increase thirst. You are not in need of vague 'liquid'; you are specifically in need of PLAIN WATER.

So a major, rather strange, consequence of taking these dangerous, over-prescribed drugs, is that while taking them you tend to be chronically thirsty (particularly if taking a high dose), and chronically in a state of dehydration, yet carrying around with you a lot of excess water, mainly in your blood vessels, particularly in your poor, over-stretched, weakened, increasingly painful veins. See my website for helpful information and suggestions relating to these problems.

If you are trying to get off amitriptyline, stay motivated by focusing on how much better you will feel without it.

If you are trying to get off amitriptyline, you are reducing it gradually, of course, because that is the safest way. But you will already be thinking more clearly, and your impaired memory will be improving. You're less thirsty, less constipated, steadier on your feet and less liable to faint, having fewer nightmares. Your breasts are becoming less swollen and less painful, your swollen face is returning to normal. You are feeling less bloated, your vision is less blurred.

 

There are so many side-effects of this dangerous drug, and they are so unpleasant and harmful - especially if you have been prescribed it in high dose - and the benefits from taking it are so few and, in my opinion, not worth the candle. You may find that the greatest blessing of all from getting off amitriptyline is that you will lose a lot of the weight gain that has been puzzling you. So you'll have more energy and feel ever so much better!

 

If your medication gives you a dry mouth or makes you thirsty

If your medication gives you a dry mouth or makes you thirsty, then it may be causing fluid retention, and fluid retention results in weight gain and sensitivity to salt (and many other unpleasant and undesirable side-effects). If you want to reduce the weight gain then the options are: reducing the dosage, gradually weaning yourself off the drug, changing the medication to another, and/or seriously cutting down on salt and salty food. The most commonly prescribed drugs that tend to have this effect are anti-depressants, especially amitriptyline.

I used to think I was sort-of addicted to coffee

I used to think I was sort-of addicted to coffee because I so often felt the need of a mug of it, but years later I came to realise that I had simply been abnormally thirsty. - It was prescribed medication that had made me so very thirsty.

Sometimes you are prescribed a drug and told that it may cause 'dry mouth' as a side-effect. Sometimes neither 'dry mouth' nor thirst gets a mention. - Anyway, if you are finding yourself drinking a lot more, feeling a lot more thirsty day after day than you used to, wondering, as I did, whether you are becoming addicted to coffee or tea or some other beverage, maybe you too are actually experiencing a side-effect of some medication you are taking. - If that is the case, there is a strong chance that you are gaining weight, and gaining weight quite quickly.

The weight gain is from extra fluid (salt plus the water that accompanies salt/sodium). This extra fluid is held in your blood stream, causing the veins to be a bit/lot more swollen/dilated/distended than previously. - You have become 'sensitive to salt'.

The good news is that if you avoid eating salt and salty food, you will not only lose a lot of that excess fluid and so lose weight and have more energy, and improve your health in countless other ways, but you will also find you are not feeling compelled to think about food and drink all the time, and you may stop being 'addicted to coffee'.