Dehydration-like feeling next day after exertion?

Just wondering if that is something others experience as well?

Has the effect of exertion on water balance or relevant hormones in ME/CFS ever been studied?

 

Yes! I wake up with a "hangover" and headache, and drink water all day. It feels like I'm not getting enough water.

 

Exactly. I was about to say that people sometimes compare it to a hangover which is well known to be associated with dehydration.

 

I wake up with a dry mouth when I'm "crashing". Not so dry on better days. I always drink as soon as I get up and a small amount of water before going to sleep.

 

Yes. I, too, often feel "dehydrated" after exertion and get "water cravings" (I can't think of a better word, but it's not normal thirst.)

 

Me too.

This was a huge problem for me in the first year or two of being sick, especially at night. It slowly got better as the illness ‘settled’, but returns with PEM.

 

It's important to describe events when they are still fresh in memory.

I did exert myselves more than I should have yesterday and was expecting a crash. It didn't quite go as expected. I woke up early not feeling so well but also not sure if I was crashed or not. Only after walking for about 100m I was able to notice how much slower and weaker I was. Sleep was definitely much less refreshing than it has been the day before. Then I drank about a liter due to feeling dehydrated and shortly afterwards felt fatigued and went back to bed where I spent the next three hours. After this I'm still not feeling okay. I'm still thirsty and have drunk more. I hope it's going to get better from here, not worse.

PS: I'm also seeing signs of cognitive impairment. I just tried to find a phone number and write an email and it took me some time to solve this problem and do it right. For example: the phone number is on my phone, which yesterday was in a handbag together with my wallet, but somehow I searched through the wallet and examined its contents before remembering that I wanted that phone number. Then I looked at the handbag and the phone wasn't there so I had to find it first. It was right there next to the handbag. It was like I could barely focus enough on a task to understand what it requires.

 

agree with most posts above, also feeling really thirsty is often one of my 'warning signs' that I need to stop whatever it is I'm doing and have a rest (and a drink!). I'm not diabetic but wonder if there is any connection? (I remember Montoya saying in one of his talks that there were similarities with diabetes).

 

I've 'always' had problems with water management.

In middle school I regular drank a full pitcher of water with lunch, sometimes more.

In my later teens (probably a year or 2 before onset) I finally realised that I was 'unusual' in this regard, when I observed clear hallucinations when not able to drink as required. These had been happening for years in a more minor fashion, I just hadn't put it together with water.

I typically need to drink at least 4 liters a day, more normally 5-6 liters.

In the last couple of decades the picture has been 'complicated' as I developed type 2 diabetes, but the problems with my body being very inefficient with water, and therefore requiring much more than other people seemed to, have existed since at least my early teens.

It would be 'difficult' to disentangle the various threads of this at this time.

When in PEM I do tend to both drink more, and eat more - the two are probably directly connected and my increased need for water may not be down to PEM itself but down to an increase in food, and a different 'diet', caused by PEM.

 

When I feel dehydrated on waking up I drink water with a sachet of rehydration powder in it. It is intended for use after people have the runs but I use it just to help myself to feel better. I suspect I'm running low on electrolytes when I wake up thirsty.

 

I get this too. Drinking electrolytes helps.

 

Yep, I get that extra need for water and thirst too.

I have difficulty if I eat or drink too much liquid in one go but making sure I have a ½ glass of water when I rest seems to help.

I suffer on and off with the frequent urination business. It is very annoying and just what you don't need in PEM. It does seem worse with PEM.

I wonder of it was tied in to thyroid function fluctuations but it doesn't seem to be as far as I can tell.

Like @Midnattsol describes it's not because I'm drinking a very high volume of liquid.

 

Feeling severely dehydrated during PEM is a huge issue for me.

 

I frequently have dry mouth too. And many trips to the bathroom every day.

 

I get it too. I'd always attributed it to the immune flare I get after exertion, as I feel the same way when I have a virus coming on. No idea whether that has any basis in fact, though!

 

Yes, I have this. After exertion, I wake up with a dry mouth, have to pee every ten minutes. Basically a very bad hangover.

 

There is a very dehydrated feeling. Since getting ME over 20 years ago I always have a bottle of water by my bed. When I had severe insomnia I would be sipping on it all night long because my body really needed it.

I think the dehydration part of my ME contributes to the headaches I get as well but not the only reason.