Struggling to carry on

Sometimes it's a struggle to carry on and you are in the position of choosing between options as to what's best to do at the time. And sometimes additional problems present themselves. And understandingly you may sometimes choose what is not really the best option.

I wrote in February about meds which cause dehydration and how drinking plain water is what you need to do. - Extract - "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." - I had found this so helpful myself and I kept rigidly to my own advice. - But in the last month I have drunk two cups of extremely weak coffee and one cup of weak tea. - In my constant struggle with increasing pain and insufficient sleep, I did this in the hope that these drinks would 'wake me up a bit' from my great tiredness. I hadn't chosen a good option.

When we struggle, especially with very great difficulties, and we make a mistake, there may be the temptation to give up altogether. - Before that, I'd like to suggest asking for help, if you can. There are a lot of kind people in the world. Obviously I don't mean approaching anyone who is going to label your problems and difficulties with the catch-all daft label of 'depression' and want you to take anti-depressants. - You do NOT need even more problems to deal with! - Drink a glass or two of plain water and continue each day to drink plain water and avoid coffee and alcohol. This will help you in many ways and clear your head. If you think you need my input, then email me from my website and I'll do my best to get back to you.

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.

Misguided guides refused water to dying trekker, David Buschow, a fit 29-year-old US air force veteran and security guard from New York.

Hallucinating, vomiting and unable to stand, but guides refused water to dying trekker - Guardian

What a terrible story of foolish absolutist ideas! - So often people bully others with their misguided belief that mental effort can surmount the physiological limits of the human body. - Lacking necessary imagination and empathy they find the suffering of others all too easy to underestimate...)o:

Extracts:

""Dave is dead." The words came at the end of the second day of what was supposed to be a character-forming experience, a chance for 12 people to "experience the wilderness to the fullest".

Instead, the trek through the mountains and desert of Utah in the mid-western US left David Buschow, a fit 29-year-old US air force veteran and security guard from New York dehydrated and hallucinating, his eyes bulging and tongue swollen. Less than 10 hours after setting off from the group's overnight camp on the second day, Buschow collapsed and died.

According to the coroner's report, he died from "dehydration and electrolyte imbalance due to hiking in hot environmental temperatures with inadequate water and electrolyte replacement".

But, an inquiry has found, the three wilderness camp instructors accompanying the group did have water. They chose not to offer it to Buschow, preferring that he attempt to complete the day's task. Buschow died knowing he was just 100 yards from the spot where water had already been found.

On Friday the family of the dead man sued the school running the course and its guides, including Shawn O'Neal, who was with Buschow when he died. "He paid to experience wilderness. Instead of learning how to survive on his own, he was made to die," S Brook Millard, a lawyer for the family, told Associated Press."

"A Forest Service summary of that instructor's statement is chilling. "They were within 100 yards of the next water source," it reads. "Buschow dropped down again on the trail. Buschow was repeatedly encouraged to get up and continue to finish the walk - Buschow said he could not go on. He was encouraged again, telling him people can go further than what they think they can. Buschow requested that [the instructor] get water for him. [Instructor] said he would not leave him and that they would rest awhile. Buschow was laying down at this time on his stomach.

"Then, [the instructor] 'had a bad feeling and saw no sign of Buschow breathing, no chest movement'. Buschow did not respond to his name or shaking, he was turned over and his eyes were glassy."

The instructor yelled out three "hoots", the agreed distress signal, and the other instructors - one of whom was a trainee - ran to help. Two of them, together with two students trained in first aid, tried for half an hour to resuscitate him, while the third climbed a ridge to phone for help. When a rescue helicopter arrived an hour and a half later, Buschow was dead.

It has since emerged that two of the group members were offered and accepted water from instructors on the trek. Buschow was not given the option."

Signing a waiver seems a dangerous thing to do...)o: - My own sister suffered very poor treatment after signing one years ago in hospital.


Lose weight by eating less salt! Go on! - Try it! - You will feel so much better!
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