You all know how I bang on about good hydration. Well some may have spotted a reply I gave to another OP about low blood pressure. On Saturday morning whilst drinking my second cup of de caf tea about 10 30 I started to feel a little odd so checked my BP which had sunk to 88/55 and HR dropped to 60 (PM kick in point). I drank a litre of water and things improved in an hour or so to my normal reading around 120/75.
Since I had a pre booked appt with GP for the Monday for another issue I raised this with her and she decided she wanted an ECG and do full bloods. I sent a copy of the ECG to my EP for his comments and he said it was perfect and I was probably dehydrated. (my thoughts exactly).
My point in posting this is that even when fully aware of the need to have good hydration we can all get de hydrated even at 10 30 in the morning! EP states 2 to 2.5 litres of water a day. Where have you heard that before.
Lets be careful out there. (Hill St Blues)
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BobD
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Thanks for that vital information Bob. My blood pressure has done the same at times and can be very worrying. I would think mornings are the worst time, as not drinking through the night, plays it part. I will be more careful with that in the future. Cheers.
Thanks for the timely reminder Bob. Glad you’re ok now. I’ve never been very certain as to whether we can include the decaf tea and other beverages in the 2.5 litres a day. Any thoughts on this?
Ah thank you. I keep a jug of flavoured water to hand (slice of lemon and mint etc) but don’t see how that can be a lot different from the teas I drink, especially as those are often turmeric and ginger or green tea. I think the main thing is to keep drinking water between those regular tea breaks!
I am a victim of dehydration recently Bob. Last PAF episode was 9 months ago, As I'm a keen walker I went out early one morning for a long walk( yes in this heat) but thought at 7am I would be fine, I did 5 mile and came back drenched , stupid enough not to carry water and within an hour of getting home my AF started and lasted 8 hours. It was Father's Day so needless to say I stayed at home as my heart was going like the clappers, while they all went to the Pub. My own stupid fault so from jow now on I will always carry water 🤑 .
How disappointing for you Nerja, to miss the day out with your family. I guess you wont be walking without taking water now! Always remember to have some as soon as you get up in the morning.
I start my day with a glass of water, then a glass of orange juice about 15 minutes later. About an hour or two after breakfast I have a glass of coconut water (must stop using that and have water, as it's now about the price of a cheap bottle of wine £4.50 - mind you I've not looked at the prices of wine lately). I really must drink more water, just having a glass now that you've sent the reminder. Oddly, and I'm sure everyone with say ugh - I prefer drinking warm water to cold.
I always drink my water at room temperature or above as chilled water seems to bring on a headache and I can't drink as much, only take sips. I take half a ltr to bed every night and finish it by morning as I wake up every two hours with the dry horrors (think I must sleep with my mouth open).🤣
Hi Jean. I like coconut water too but the price puts me off. Anyway just to say that I've taken to squeezing the juice of a 1/4 of a lemon into my pints of water and it seems to improve my digestion as well as taste nice. 🤗
Well said Bob. My husband recently fainted a couple of times. The weather was cold so can't blame the heat. He had a battery of tests, bloods, echo, stress echo, round the clock BP monitor, 2 week ECG and rhythm monitor (twice) and a tilt table test with Dr Boon Lim - the last was very interesting because it made him nearly pass out. Result: nothing wrong with the heart, a few very short runs of AF, but VERY low BP especially at night. 65/45.
The treatment is -fluids. He has to drink 2 - 3 litres a day, "front loaded" to the early part of the day, with added electrolytes (ORS tablets dissolved in it - a bit like Dyoralite), eat more salt and wear compression socks like flight socks.
No problems since.
He now spends a bit more time dashing to the loo. But that's another story!
3 litres of water a day for me Bob! I think my PAF episodes have all been dehydration triggered. Since I started drinking 3 litres I have not had ONE episode 👏👏👏
Good prompt for everyone Bob, particularly in the morning emphasis.
An alternative Practitioner emphasised to me to never drink cold water - the Chinese believe it is very detrimental to the digestive process, which we all know must be good to avoid the AF risk. Also, I read recently the best way to keep cool in hot weather is to take luke warm drinks not iced ones.
Personally, I drink a pint of very weak warm to hot (ie 80degress) ribena with a squeeze of lemon in the morning and the same in the afternoon, can't comfortably manage any more and my pee is the right very light shade of yellow.
Thank you Bob for your timely reminder. I am 99% sure the onset of my second bout of persistent AF follieing a successful CV was caused by dehydration. I struggle with drinking lots of water as I rarely feel thirsty but do now get my 2.5 litres in a day. I am currently in persistent AF , now in week 58 awaiting an appointment at Papworth.
Its now 6 years since my PEA arrest whilst having a cardioversion and I have always been of the opinion that was due to de hydration. I had been sitting in a hot MAU, nil by mouth for eleven hours prior to going down to the room for it and was already feeling dizzy. BP was 60/30 once resuscitated with CPR and I need 2 litres IV fluids before it crawled up to a safe level. THAT is why I am so keen on good hydration.
thanks for reminder Bob, I’m guilty of running around doing things and forgetting about it. Always feel a few bumps so now I fill 3 bottles of water and leave one in my car and 2 around the house as a reminder!
I wish someone had spoken to me about hydration when I was a teenager. I spent every summer on the cricket pitch, running in and bowling as fast as I could, often for hours on hot days. Then I spent all winter running round Rugby fields.
I hardly ever drank water. Nowadays players in both sports have water breaks, but putting water on your stomach was considered unwise in my day!
After the game we'd head to the bar and drink lots of beer - thereby causing even more dehydration the following day.
My dad was a prominent sportsman and I never once saw him drink water. He had kidney failure in his fifties. With the awareness I have now, how I wish I could go back in time and warn him!
Thank you so much Bob - I'm pretty sure my stay in hospital recently with AF was due to dehydration - staying out in the hot sun stupidly planting up my pots, and not drinking anything while doing it...
Thank you for posting this information , as like you, I know and believe in the importance of good hydration, however definitely need this reminder. My recent experience with drop in BP had some relationship to dehydration as hardly anytime after getting IV fluid my BP returned to normal.
Hill St Blues! Now that really is a blast from the past.
Fully agree though about hydration. I always start my day with a glass of water or water kefir and I suffer if I don’t keep well hydrated. I only have one kidney left, so I really do need to keep it well flushed.
Dr Sanjay Gupta posted a video about a trial ‘up north’ where patients with POTS were being treated using a saline drip. Apparently the body doesn’t always metabolise salt so easily via simple ingestion but the IV route is a winner in some cases. I do remember having an IV drip in hospital a few years back and feeling fantastic.
I’ve no idea how the trial progressed, but I’ve often wondered if it would help with people with low BP due to dehydration who find it hard to rehydrate even with isotonic drinks.
Thanks for the reminder Bob. I've noticed that I wake up with a slightly erratic heart beat since I've been taking the Magnesium Malate Powder which makes me sleep through the night without waking up (where I would normally take a drink as a matter of course). It settles down once I've had breakfast though and I was putting it down to the food restoring my electrolyte balance but maybe it is the drinks I take bringing my blood pressure back into a normal range. Maybe I should be copiously drinking as soon as I wake up, not a good time for me though as I like to get moving and eat before filling myself with fluid. I'll see what I can do though.
I have a 2 litre water container and I always get through the contents daily as well as herbal teas, juices and the coconut water that was recently suggested here by someone. In this weather it is all very welcome!
Water, deep breathing, sitting up and walking a bit are my go-to defenses when I feel a sense of unease or turbulence in the chest and heart. I think that has helped head off potential Afib episodes.
After being hospitalised with a bout of flu my daughter in law bought me a bottle with a fixed straw (think it's for toddlers) as I was too weak to hold a cup still. I still use it by my bed as it's handy during the night and first thing to take my tablets. If I'm feeling lethargic it's usually because I'm a bit dehydrated so a large glass of water with an ORS tablet usually does the trick. I've learnt that even with diuretics we need to keep hydrated.
In our "Preparing for ablation" fact sheet we suggest that people take with them a sports type drinking bottle for when they are laying flat for four hours post procedure.
Thank you. Didn't have anything like that at home and I was admitted as an emergency but I'll certainly remember it for the future although hopefully I'll not need it!
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