Dehydration causing anxiety

[PoppyC]

I never knew that anxiety & panic attacks can be caused by dehydration until a friend just sent me an article about it. Did anyone else know this or am I the last to know???
I never drink much water - I dont like it. I am going to drink a lot more and see if it improves my anxiety or not.:yesyes:

[Kells81]

Really? what kind of things did the article say? Why does it cause anxiety? xx

[caren]

I never knew that anxiety & panic attacks can be caused by dehydration until a friend just sent me an article about it. Did anyone else know this or am I the last to know???
I never drink much water - I dont like it. I am going to drink a lot more and see if it improves my anxiety or not.:yesyes:

I didnt know that either? I certainly dont drink enuf water....more wine actually....where did you hear that? will give it a try and keep you posted! :-) x

[nomorepanic]

It also causes your blood pressure to drop as well.

If you have a low blood pressure drink more water.

[Vanilla Sky]

Im confused Nicola, so you mean dehydration causes your blood pressure to drop.. yes ? Then why would you drink more water to make it even lower ? Isnt very low BP not good either ? Paige x

[nomorepanic]

No sorry - I got that all wrong lol

I mean if you have a low blood pressure then drink water and it will raise it !!!

Sorry lol

[Allye]

Cool Nic - I have extremely low blood pressure AND know I do not drink nearly enough (or rather nearly enough healthy stuff)

Allye

[nomorepanic]

When I was really poorly a few months back I was freaking cos my blood pressure went to 60/50. I called Meg (a nurse) who used to be on here and she said drink water - you are dehydrated and I knew I was and it did work.

[eeyorelover]

Dehydration is basically when you haven't taken in enough water for your body to function so your body uses up it's reserves of water that are stored in the body.
Since our bodies are approximately 70% water every inch of us needs water in order to work correctly.
This includes our blood. 90% of our blood is water.
When the total amount of water in our body decreases to the point that the body starts to use it's reserve, blood volume decreases and this can cause hypotension, low blood pressure.

[PoppyC]

Thanks for replies. :)
I never knew any of this that dehydration can cause anxiety symptoms and low blood pressure. :ohmy: Why dont gps tell us this! The first I heard about dehydration and anxiety symptoms was when my friend emailed me an article about it last night.
My blood pressure is very very low but thats all the time - however I dont like drinking water.
As of today I am going to start drinking a lot more and see what the effects are.
Does tea count as part of water intake or not? :unsure:

[Danny_dingle]

No Poppy, tea most certainly doesn't count! :wacko:

Because it is caffeinated tea can actually make you worse! On the plus side, I love tea and coffee, but how I deal with the dehydration issues is to make sure for every caffeinated drink I have, I have a glas of water afterwards.

This has helped me tons, you should try it!

Danny xxx

[PoppyC]

What about decaf tea??? :unsure:
I hate with a passion drinking water - it makes me want to be sick :wacko:
What about fresh fruit juices - Do they count??? :unsure:

[nomorepanic]

Poppy

What about mixing some fruit juice or cordial with water?

I also prefer sparkling water though I know you are not supposed to drink 2 litres of that a day!!

[eeyorelover]

I can't stand water either so I drink fruit flavored water.
0 calories and some do taste pretty good.
Some say that tea does count but there are a few issues that need to be known about it.
Tea is a diuretic so you lose some of the water content in it. It only counts 2/3 so if you drink an 8 ounce glass only 6 would count.
There are tannins in most teas which cut down the body ability to absorb iron.
Also caffeine is definitely not good for anxiety and it also cuts down on the body's ability to absorb calcium.
I would suggest either green tea or decaf and that doesn't mean replace all your water intake with tea :)

[PoppyC]

Thanks for your suggestions Nicola and Eeyorelover :)
I have been drinking lots of water today- hopefully I will soon feel some good effects from it! :yesyes: