I have already commented on some of my posts. Depending on where I look for information on what kind of lifestyle I should lead for Meniere, the information is not unanimous and often even contradictory. On the one hand there are the meals, depending on where you read which foods to avoid is different and if I pay attention to all the websites, I would have to live eating air. But the question that worries me the most is how many liquids we can drink per day. In many places they recommend drinking plenty of fluids, especially water. But in others I read just the opposite that we should not drink more than 1L of liquids a day adding water, dairy, juices, soups and even fruit. Do you know of any clinical trials on this aspect? I've always liked to drink a lot of water and before Meniere apart I drank several cups of coffee or decaf. Now I am drinking 0.75 liters of water with each meal (0.75x3 = 2.25L), I also drink one or two mint or chamomile infusions (0.5L) and with my pills and vitamins I drink another three glasses of water (0.75L). Also I eat fruits rich in water like sweet melon. In short, I consume between 3 and 3.5 liters of fluids a day and I don't know if it is good or bad.
It seems to me (and I say this here a lot) we are all kind of on our own with this illness. The only thing we all seem to have in common are the symptoms and even those vary in intensity from person to person. What I'm doing is keeping a log every day and writing what I drink and eat. If I see a pattern of symptoms getting worse every time I had a beer the night before (I have not so far) then... no more beer. If cutting out glutton seems to make my symptoms less then, continue to cut glutton. I'm off cafeine but still drinking tons of decaf. So far it does not seem to make any difference. Low salt seems like a no brainer since just about everyone suffering from Meniers seems to feel that helps. John form Ohio's regime seems to be helping as well so I'm sticking with it. Meanwhile I am taking a diuretic so drinking lots of water and taking magnesium and potassium. I think you just can't drink too much water but, that's me. I'm also taking some chinese herbal meds and I really think they help. I've been vertigo free for a month now and keeping my fingers crossed.
Thanks for answering, the truth is that I have not noticed any difference from drinking a lot of liquids, nor did I notice anything on the days when I drank very little. It's just that you don't know what to pay attention to anymore, I really believe that mint infusions have helped me.
When concerning water intake as an effective means of controlling meniere's symptoms - which is often recommended - or when concerning hydration in general, it's more so about maintaining a regular & healthy intake level. A healthy intake is somewhere between 2 - 3 litres subject to your weight & size, activity level & geographical positioning - warmer vs cooler climates, altitude & what have you. If I remember correctly a healthy water intake is somewhere on the order of 0.04 Ltrs per kg a day. That would be roughly half to one ounce per pound for those metrically chaotic. I'm 93kg & 193cm. I exercise for 1 - 2 hours 7 days a week & average 3.5 - 4 Ltrs in summer per day & 3-3.5ish Ltrs in winter. Avoid sudden increases, sudden decreases, & fluctuating or osculating intake levels. Sip water regularly throughout the day, rather then going 2 - 3 hours with no water, only to drink a large amount in a short period of time. Your urine should always be a light yellow colour (slightly darker first thing in the morning). If it is a darker yellow, you're not drinking enough. If it is colourless, you're drinking too much. See chart. And of course, if you’re constantly sipping water throughout the day, your urine should be a light yellow throughout the day also, if it verifies significantly in colour throughout the day, it is likely that your not drinking smaller amounts evenly throughout the day. If increasing or decreasing intake, do so slowly over a 72-96 hour period. If your water intake varies dramatically from day to day, or week to week, the body in return attempts to either retain or release water more aggressively than it otherwise would. For example, in attempt to place water into reserves to hydrate itself when water intake is low, a body receiving low levels of water for several days will retain more fluid, & will continue to do so for a given amount of time even while water intake increases - this can lead to problems as fluid may breach excess levels. I've noticed that if I suddenly increase my water intake over a 24 hour period from 3 to 4.5 or 5 litres per day, for example, my tinnitus, aural fullness & hearing becomes worse. However when I'm able to predict situations in which my water intake will require to be significantly increased, if I slowly increase water intake over a 3 - 4 day period prior to, say hiking at high altitudes, the same increase of 1.5 - 2 litres doesn't effect my symptoms at all. Likewise, if for any reason I fall asleep while dehydrated, & I sleep for 5 - 8 hours, if I scull .5 - 1 litre of water when I wake up in a short amount of time, my symptoms become worse within the hour. However if I wake up & sip the same amount of water over a longer period, my symptoms aren't effected at all. It’s not so much about drinking "a lot" or "a little", avoid extremes, simply relax & chill. Drink a healthy amount (which is spread out evenly throughout the day) & make sure your urine is a light yellow* throughout the day. *High doses of vitamin C may influence urine colour. John may be able to weigh in on that point.
I don't think I'm ever going to learn to proofread before I publish. Your vs you're, verifies vs varies, effect vs affect. Similar to the thuds heard when a blind man enters a forest, my brain produces error sound after error sound when I read my above comment.
Great explanation Nathan! I will follow these advice to the letter and it really makes me happy to know that I do not have to stop drinking water or my infusions, for me it would be very difficult to live drinking only one liter of liquids a day.