Hydration that never quite works — you too?

islandtime50

islandtime50

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There's a hydration thing going on with me that I've never fully cracked. Anyone else in the same boat?

I'm a recovering utility arborist (among other jobs), which meant wearing genuinely thick chainsaw and fireproof gear while climbing hazardous trees near power lines to take them down. Short version: it's hot, gruelling work, and sweating and cramping arrive as part of the package. Coffee and alcohol get treated with care, and I've worked through plenty of hydration tablets, powders and so on over the years. Never quite solved it.

The tree killing is behind me, but I still run and train, and any real amount of coffee (1 homemade espresso) or beer (1 or 2 at most) shows up instantly in my calves or hamstrings. There's a bag of Hydralyte or similar from Costco in the cupboard, which I've leaned on a fair bit lately, though I'm not always sure it's doing as much as it should.

This morning I felt dry and crampy-ish, drank a couple of litres with electrolyte and then peed ... and peed ... fairly clear

Is anyone here handling this better than I am? TRT has started and some tirz is on the way, and I can already feel it, so surely I'm not alone in thinking about this.
 
Slightly lost on what you're asking… is the question about fixes for cramps tied to hydration?
 
woundcarping said:

Slightly lost on what you're asking… is the question about fixes for cramps tied to hydration?
Click to expand...
Sorry, that rambled a bit ...

Mainly I want to know whether others battle hydration too, or if most people have it sorted. And if they do, how the eff do they manage it?
 
OT, but I have to say, that's a seriously hard and dangerous job! The guy who did tree work for me was nuts (getting lifted in the tractor bucket, jumping tree to tree, that kind of thing). Months later I heard he was working elsewhere and the client came out to find him hanging in the tree. Something went wrong, he got caught up, and nobody was there to rescue him.
 
sfkid said:

Grab a zero sugar electrolytes powder. Getting a gallon or more down across the day becomes far less of a chore.
Click to expand...
Same here... LMNT zero sugar electrolytes packets are what I use, and they make getting 120oz of water down each day easier. With my appetite and thirst both way down on reta, drinking enough has to be a conscious effort.

​#-
 
islandtime50 said:

woundcarping said:

Slightly lost on what you're asking… is the question about fixes for cramps tied to hydration?
Click to expand...
Sorry, that rambled a bit ...

Mainly I want to know whether others battle hydration too, or if most people have it sorted. And if they do, how the eff do they manage it?
Click to expand...

Hydration isn't usually a problem for me. 23 years in, the long heavy-sweat days of tree work are largely behind me now that we have better equipment.

Caffeine doesn’t bring on cramps for me… is cramping the main thing you tie to hydration?
 
I'm not quite following the question: you bring up hydration but never mention your daily water intake.

What's the Tirz for — weight loss, or diabetes?

Have you had blood work done for kidney function and electrolytes? Is your blood pressure high, or low?

Every one of those points belongs in a conversation with your doctor first.
 
A scoop of Taurine powder in your day is worth trying. It should address your issue, costs very little, and mixes fine into an electrolyte drink.
 
sfkid said:

Grab a zero sugar electrolytes powder. Getting a gallon or more down across the day becomes far less of a chore.
Click to expand...

rixsternaz said:

sfkid said:

Grab a zero sugar electrolytes powder. Getting a gallon or more down across the day becomes far less of a chore.
Click to expand...
Same here... LMNT zero sugar electrolytes packets are what I use, and they make getting 120oz of water down each day easier. With my appetite and thirst both way down on reta, drinking enough has to be a conscious effort.

​#-
Click to expand...
Agreed, or thirded, though keep an eye on the sodium. Western diets run high in sodium already, and products like LMNT are loaded with it too. Some lower sodium alternatives might be worth a look.
 
Hydration is a struggle for me too. Water is something I genuinely like, I just forget to drink it, and some days I don't even reach the 64oz bare minimum.

Yesterday I put a recurring 30 minute timer on with a really soft chime and kept hitting “repeat” whenever it went off. Each chime meant a drink, and I managed to hit my 100oz goal (plenty of you are getting far more than that, I know, but for me it's a win).

The apple and Fitbit watches and trackers can apparently be set to buzz periodically reminding you to get up and move. Perhaps they also offer a vibrating timer for water reminders?
 
There's a 22oz bottle that comes everywhere with me. Each refill during the day gets a hash mark on a post it. My target is 6 of them daily. K and Mg both get tracked, supplemented through a multi vitamin, a daily scoop of hydration powder, and Mg glycinate before bed. Recently my appetite fell so low that I went several days short on sodium without noticing. My blood pressure dropped a lot and my HR fell to roughly 33 BMP. These days a spicy V8 features daily.
 
Apologies all, work ran long today.

This morning, before my run, I had a cup of water with pre-workout. Off to work went a 26oz herbal tea, 72oz of shake (protein powder, spinach, mixed berries, kefir, yogurt, ice, water, banana, vit c and iron) and 40oz of water with electrolyte. At home I've barely had anything since — which seems about usual.

It's a bit over six months since major colon cancer surgery. A tumor sat there 8-10 years without me knowing; the last four of those were rough. My hydration problems go back considerably further than that, I suspect. Mostly I put it down to occupational hazard. Coffee, alcohol and creatine have all come and gone for me (creatine also seems to make holding water harder).

The zero sugar products worry me slightly, as they can be tough on the guts. Pre-workout is back in the picture, though normally at a fraction of the recommended dose (a full dose guarantees I need to pee before a run is over).

Plenty of blood work lately, and kidney function looks fine.

Getting back in shape is the main reason I'm starting tirz. Long term post colorectal cancer outcomes are another argument in its favour.

Me at the moment: 51, 6', 215lbs, 17% bf on my renpho smart scale, 2000 cal while watching macros — and none of that is new, these habits are a decade old at least (regular training and running, food tracking, the smart scale). Easing back in rather than cutting hard, so no aggressive calorie deficit for now.

To begin with, coffee goes again. Drinking is basically off already (two bud lights two Fridays ago left me dehydrated for the rest of that weekend, with dire workouts and runs to match).
 
islandtime50 said:

Apologies all, work ran long today.

This morning, before my run, I had a cup of water with pre-workout. Off to work went a 26oz herbal tea, 72oz of shake (protein powder, spinach, mixed berries, kefir, yogurt, ice, water, banana, vit c and iron) and 40oz of water with electrolyte. At home I've barely had anything since — which seems about usual.

It's a bit over six months since major colon cancer surgery. A tumor sat there 8-10 years without me knowing; the last four of those were rough. My hydration problems go back considerably further than that, I suspect. Mostly I put it down to occupational hazard. Coffee, alcohol and creatine have all come and gone for me (creatine also seems to make holding water harder).

The zero sugar products worry me slightly, as they can be tough on the guts. Pre-workout is back in the picture, though normally at a fraction of the recommended dose (a full dose guarantees I need to pee before a run is over).

Plenty of blood work lately, and kidney function looks fine.

Getting back in shape is the main reason I'm starting tirz. Long term post colorectal cancer outcomes are another argument in its favour.

Me at the moment: 51, 6', 215lbs, 17% bf on my renpho smart scale, 2000 cal while watching macros — and none of that is new, these habits are a decade old at least (regular training and running, food tracking, the smart scale). Easing back in rather than cutting hard, so no aggressive calorie deficit for now.

To begin with, coffee goes again. Drinking is basically off already (two bud lights two Fridays ago left me dehydrated for the rest of that weekend, with dire workouts and runs to match).
Click to expand...
Following along, but...

Could be the hour. Could be my ageing eyes. Either way bro, that white text is nearly unreadable for me. Just sayin
 
islandtime50 said:

woundcarping said:

Slightly lost on what you're asking… is the question about fixes for cramps tied to hydration?
Click to expand...
Sorry, that rambled a bit ...

Mainly I want to know whether others battle hydration too, or if most people have it sorted. And if they do, how the eff do they manage it?
Click to expand...
Hydration is not my strong point.... coffee is more my thing ;-)

Given those symptoms I'd play it safe and see your doc, get a blood sample for general health stuff, electrolytes especially, and maybe have them check some of the xx (no idea what it's called in english) like magnesium, zink and so on. B vitamins.
 
I know more gear isn't what you're after, but what about a hydration backpack?

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Personally I'd go with that one, and it's discounted right now. Thank me later:

d70aa2fc209a60de133884273835844735ffe1d2e7773a6857bee9717fa6b4fc.webp
 
islandtime50 said:

There's a hydration thing going on with me that I've never fully cracked. Anyone else in the same boat?

I'm a recovering utility arborist (among other jobs), which meant wearing genuinely thick chainsaw and fireproof gear while climbing hazardous trees near power lines to take them down. Short version: it's hot, gruelling work, and sweating and cramping arrive as part of the package. Coffee and alcohol get treated with care, and I've worked through plenty of hydration tablets, powders and so on over the years. Never quite solved it.

The tree killing is behind me, but I still run and train, and any real amount of coffee (1 homemade espresso) or beer (1 or 2 at most) shows up instantly in my calves or hamstrings. There's a bag of Hydralyte or similar from Costco in the cupboard, which I've leaned on a fair bit lately, though I'm not always sure it's doing as much as it should.

This morning I felt dry and crampy-ish, drank a couple of litres with electrolyte and then peed ... and peed ... fairly clear

Is anyone here handling this better than I am? TRT has started and some tirz is on the way, and I can already feel it, so surely I'm not alone in thinking about this.
Click to expand...
Maaannnn the other day I caught myself thinking…..IM SO TIRED OF THINKING ABOUT DRINKING WATER AND WORRYING WHETHER IM DRINKING ENOUGH!

That said, I don't have a fix yet. I drink when it occurs to me, and I aim for small amounts often. If I forget, I chug chug chug once I remember 😣

Here's a solid electrolyte hack for you tho! I'm blue collar in Vegas and FR gear is mandatory in the field, so thick clothes plus heat is familiar territory……dried apricots and figs are HIGH in potassium! Get those into your rotation! LMNT electrolytes if you're a heavy sweater. Massive sodium content, no artificial sweeteners, just a touch of stevia and no sugar.
 
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