http://www.care2.com/greenliving/why-am-i-always-thirsty.html
Why Am I Always Thirsty?
Q: I am constantly thirsty but I’ve been tested for diabetes and I don’t have it. What else could it be?
A: Kudos for you for knowing that excessive, chronic thirst is an indicator of diabetes. More kudos for having it checked out by your doctor.
Feeling thirsty or having a dry mouth is a fairly common complaint.
The most common causes are also the simplest to remedy:
1. The foods you eat are too salty. This is may be the case if you rely heavily on processed or packaged foods which tend to be loaded with hidden sodium
2. You are not drinking enough. Even though it may seem like you are drinking all the time, you many not be drinking as much as you think you are and you may still be slightly dehydrated
3. Decreased saliva. As we get older, our salivary glands produces a lower volume of saliva per day. This can be remedied by keeping chewing gum handy.
4. Medications. Anti-cholinergic medications (ex anti-histamines) and diuretics can make your mouth dry and/or make you excrete more fluids than usual. Look at the side-effect profile of any medications you are currently taking.
There more serious causes of chronic thirst such as diabetes insipidus (different than diabetes mellitus) and psychogenic polydypisa, but there are clues to these conditions in the basic lab tests that your physician normally examines, so likely he/she would have caught these.
Dr. Brent Ridge is the health expert for Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia. You can call and ask him a question live every Tuesday at 2 p.m. Eastern on Sirius Satellite Radio, Channel 112 (1.866.675.6675). You can also follow along as he learns to grow his own food and raise goats on his farm in upstate New York by visiting www.beekman1802.com.
Got a health question for Dr. Brent? E-mail him at drbrent@care2.com.
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20 comments
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I'm sorry you had that experience on the airplane, Nye F. They were okay with me; Iwalk with a cane and have to bring a bag with my health items, some of which are (gasp) liquids! They did make me take off my shoes, even though I had a problem with my foot at the time and uncovering it wasn't a great idea. I had to walk on my bad foot through the detector, using a cane they gave me (which was the wrong kind and made me really wobbly - I mean really, how hard is it for them to "inspect" the cane and then let me have it back?). They let me have my liquids in my health product bag but they didn't want to let me have bottled water. I argued that I had to have it in case I needed to take my medication. I had four bottles and they said okay you can have one and I said "For 10 hours worth of flights and layovers? No way! The only way I got to have it was when someone took pity on me and said that if I claimed to be diabetic I could have the water. So, disabled apparently isn't enough.
But at least they didn't try to take AWAY my cane or think I was stowing explosives in my rubbing alcohol (though they did test it for explosives - lol). I'm really surprised you had more trouble than me, usually it's those darn disabled youngsters like me who get all the trouble (like - okay, you SURE you really need that cane - you look so young and healthy!) *shakes head*
Oh yeah, I'm always thirsty by the way. Probably a side effect of one of my meds though.
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Diabetes runs in my family. My regular MD said I was not. I was always thirsty and my mouth was dry. Two years later I was diagnosed with Sjogren's Syndrome. Dry eyes and dry mouth. www.francinedenton.blogspot.com; www.tarrah.net/francinedenton or facebook. A blood test called ANA will show results on autoimmune disorders.
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Thank you for an informative article; it really helped.
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Diabetes insipidus is a hereditary anomaly and is not actually a "diabetes" but is so called because the symptoms mimic that illness. DI is simply an inability to concentrate urine, so the body loses water that it ought to be keeping, thus leading to thirst and a repetitive cycle. Avoid salty stuff and do not go drinking loads of plain water -- you will just flush out your own electrolytes and feel terrible. Instead drink dilute fruit juice or very dilute hi-juice squash -- the best is grapefruit as it is high in potassium.
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Too much genetically modified foods. I was the exact same way and I was also tested for diabetes and it was negative. But when I made a very big effort to get out ALL genetically modified foods including any and all farm animals fed Soy, Corn and Canola I was no longer dying of a thirst. I used to carry water with me every where plus I had to have a glass on my nightstand it was usually gone by morning. Genetically modified foods are very nasty cancer causing toxic waste, and even the crops need more water...
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WHY would you say "chew gum" very bad stuff!!
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Alkaline water makes a big difference too. Interesting comment about the thyroid. Makes sense! I had this issue too but never really connected it to my former dehydration issues. My Chinese doc said some people are just more dry than others and it can just be constitutional. He recommended more minerals.
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I'm surprised they didn't mention the importance of what you're drinking. One of the above comments listed tea and coffee as diuretics, and that's true. Caffeine will dehydrate you, so if you're drinking caffeinated tea, coffee or pop, you're dehydrating yourself. Same thing with alcohol.
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I have difficulty making myself remember to drink enough water. A friend suggested I add a few drops of electrolytes to the water bottles I always carry with me when I'm away from home (glass bottles only, by the way). She said it helps her a lot, I presume because it balances her pH and minerals. She says it helps the body absorb the water instead of just flushing it on through. (To me, it tastes too salty, and I hardly ever use it. However, she uses it more concentratedly than I like, and it tinges the water in her bottle an off color. Once when she was stopped for a minor traffic infraction, the cop saw the tinted water and would not believe her when she told him what it was. He'd never heard of elecrolytes, and to him it just had to be something illicit. Worse, the name of the product available in our natural food store is "40,000 Volts" - I am afraid to tote a bottle with that label in my car: Imagine what a policeman would do with something he imagined to be a high explosive, in this day and age! (Like the time I tried to wear a black back brace while being screened to get on an airplane! -- No, I am NOT a terrorist, just an elderly civilian woman trying to take care of my body.) O tempora, o mores!
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