Anyone else really thirsty in the morning?

[jbischke]

I know that it's typically to wake up thirsty since your body is at a pretty dehydrated point upon waking. However, I've been waking up fairly thirsty lately and am wondering if there's a way to minimize this. I drink a fair amount of fluids during the day (avg. probably 3-4 liters + a fairly high amount of fruits and veggies) and so I'm not chronically dehydrated...just more so right away in the morning.

Any possible solutions here? I'm thinking it might be due to dry air. Would a humidifier help? Should I drink a liter of water right before I go to bed?

Any thoughts?

[ticktockclok]

Drink a glass of water every hour. Especially if you work out.

[jbischke]

I drink pretty regulary throughout the day and at the risk of offeringTMI, my urine is typically light yellow to clear. However, when I wake up I am thirsty and feel dehydrated. It's not severe but enough to figure I should see if there was something more I can do.

[The Animus]

How is your electrolyte balance? This might sound counterintuitive, but are you getting an adequate amount of sodium in your diet? If your diet is heavily based in fruits and vegetables, you may want to make sure you get a small amount of salt as well to balance your electrolytes.

[Jim]

Originally Posted by jbischke

I know that it's typically to wake up thirsty since your body is at a pretty dehydrated point upon waking. However, I've been waking up fairly thirsty lately and am wondering if there's a way to minimize this. I drink a fair amount of fluids during the day (avg. probably 3-4 liters + a fairly high amount of fruits and veggies) and so I'm not chronically dehydrated...just more so right away in the morning.

Any possible solutions here? I'm thinking it might be due to dry air. Would a humidifier help? Should I drink a liter of water right before I go to bed?

Any thoughts?

Are you sure it's dehydration, or is it more of an issue of dry mouth?

If it's a dry mouth, you may want to have a sleep study done to check for sleep apnea.

Generally when you fall asleep, certain muscles can relax that will obstruct your normal breathing (through the nose). To compensate, you'll open your mouth and breath that way (hence the dry mouth).

Has anyone ever noticed if you snore a lot while asleep?

[jbischke]

Great questions guys.

In terms of low sodium, I guess this could be a possible problem. Over the last year I've been dealing with Benign fasciculation syndrome - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia which is often caused or worsened by electrolye imbalance. I've been consciously working to up my potassium intake (more bananas) and while I might not be getting enough sodium since most people have the opposite problem I guess I hadn't given that much thought.

In terms of sleep apnea, I doubt that's the case. I have a ton of energy for the most part and I've never had a long-term girlfriend who has mentioned anything abnomral other than a bit of snoring (which has gotten a lot better as I've made healthier diet choices).

The one thing that I do know is the case is that my nose tends to be "stuffy" quite a bit. I wear a Breathe-Right strip when I sleep which helps somewhat but I wouldn't be surprised if I breathe through my mouth a lot at night (any way to test for this?). If that's the case then waking up with a dry mouth wouldn't be suprising.

[The Animus]

Yes do try balancing your diet with a bit of salt. You can add some high quality sea salt to your lunch and dinner, while staying under about 2000 mg of sodium per day. You can try that for a week and see if that solves the issue.

If your diet is high in fruits and vegetables, and you're drinking a lot of water, and you exercise regularly, it's a good idea to make sure your sodium stores are replenished. You may be feeling thirsty because your cells need water, but if you don't have enough sodium to push the water into the cells because of the dilution.
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As for congestion, does your diet contain any irritants like dairy or wheat (including wheatgrass?) You could try to eliminate those and see if that clears up your breathing.

[Fortune]

Or maybe you are eating too much fruit and your blood sugar level gets too high. Thirst is a symptom of that as well.

[Inquisitive Raven]

If you're concerned about potential breathing issues while sleeping, find out if any of your local hospitals has a center for the study of sleep disorders, they'll be able to test for things like sleep apnea or just plain poor breathing.

An allergist might be able to help you pin down what's causing the stuffy nose.

[John Hill]

Good question. Most people don't drink anywhere near enough water and don't realize how quickly they can become dehydrated. Your body is 70% water and whether you are outside in hot or cold weather or inside in air conditioning you can still become dehyrated fast.

I have written numerous articles that address the issues of drinking water on my site in the health and fitness section, the link is below.

John

[jbischke]

I think it's probably a combo of dry air + mouth breathing. I guess the former could be solved with a humidifier (is that best?). As for the latter I'm not sure...my sinuses are a lot better since I've made diet changes but they still aren't as clear as I'd like them to be. I've used a Netti-pot in the past but have shied away from it because of not wanting to introduce anything potentially harmful into that area. Any other suggestions?

[Vanguard]

Are you taking any medications?
Anti psychotics such as Seroquel have side effects such as a dry mouth and constantly feeling dehydrated and involuntary movement such as eye twitching.

[Angela Leeds]

Originally Posted by jbischke

I drink pretty regulary throughout the day and at the risk of offeringTMI, my urine is typically light yellow to clear. However, when I wake up I am thirsty and feel dehydrated. It's not severe but enough to figure I should see if there was something more I can do.

LoL...my first question was going to be about the color of your urine.

My suggestion: get some good quality natural salt - not the processed sodium chloride crap...I recommend Himalayan Crystal Salt - and put a few good dashes in your morning glass of water. Do the same to an evening or afternoon glass. See if that helps...

You can also learn how to make "sole" with the salt. (Do a google...)

You may have a mineral or electrolyte imbalance that the salt may help correct. Just a thought...

[sepiagal]

I used to wake up with a really dry mouth and even a dry nose, unusually dry.

I had a riboflavin deficiency and that was the cause of my problem. The best source for ribo in the American diet is milk and fortified grains. (They don't add ribo to polished white rice because it would discolor it.)

Vegaetarians can be low in ribo because the best sources are dairy, some types of animal protein and fortified grains. Vegetables generally provide small amounts. Fasting can deplete the severely limited stores of ribo in the body.

Highly active people need more ribo. Certain meds can deplete or effect ribo levels.