The battle for hydration.

I landed myself in the hospital yesterday. My headache was on its third day without abating, and I was starting to see flickers of darkness around the edges of my vision whenever I heard sounds. And given that I work in a call centre, well, it's hard not to hear sounds. I asked my supervisor if I could go to the hospital, and when she heard why, she drove me.

Turns out it was a migraine, which was vaguely surprising because I don't tend to get migraines anymore, and because even when I did, they didn't come with an aura. But they gave me migraine meds by IV, which helped about as much as the short nap did.

At this point I'd like to take a moment to thank the doctor in the ER by name. Dr. Sukosd, you're awesome. Not only were you amused by my, "Oh god, no," reaction to being asked if there was any chance I was pregnant, but while on the way to check on another patient, you looked in on me, saw that I didn't have a blanket, got me on, and told me to take a nap so that I'd feel better. Normally I feel lucky if doctors look at me like I'm a person and not simply a problem to be solved. You went above and beyond, and that's so very awesome. I am making a point of going to RateMDs.com to give you my praise, too.

Anyway, while I was lying there, after the med bag had finished and the saline drip had started, I noticed that my hand was warm. Normally my hands, and feet, are rather cold, because I know I have crummy circulation. But the hand that the IV was attached to was warm, right down to the fingertips, when it was lying outside the blanket and my other colder hand was under it.

Then it hit me. The saline. The hydration. I hadn't connected it before, but I have crappy circulation and I know I don't drink as much as I ought to. I knew dehydration often caused headaches in me, and I recognize what they feel like when they happen, but I really hadn't connected dehydration to the circulation issues before that moment.

So now I'm making a stronger effort to stay hydrated. I'm even going so far as to put a chart on the wall so I can mark down whenever I drink 250 mls of liquid, so that I can keep track of it and know when and where to make improvements, find out how much I usually drink in a day. I'm guessing I drink about a litre, maybe a litre and a half on most day, and I know that's only about half as much as I ought to drink.

And today's bad, since I woke up early, drank half a small bottle of 7-Up at lunch, then took a nap until 5. So about 250 mls over 12 hours. More than 12, really, since I don't think I drank anything between 11 last night and lunch... So yeah, between 11 PM last night and 5 PM today, I drank a cup of clear pop. I finished the bottle and am having some tea, and I plan to drink another mug of tea and some milk before bed, and possibly a smoothie if I can convince Daniel to make me one.

You'd think that staying hydrated wouldn't be so hard, but I've been in the habit of not drinking enough for years, so forcing myself to drink more takes a conscious effort. But it'll be worth it. It'll help me lose weight, help reduce my headaches, help my extremities not feel so damn cold all the time. It'll even help with my sinus problem, since, gross as it sounds, it'll thin everything out in there and help keep it from getting so cloggy.

*raises mug of tea* Here's to a healthier me!