Common Signs That You’re Dehydrated
If you’ve ever been out doing yard work on a hot, sunny day or gone for a long run with the sun beating down on you, you’ve undoubtedly felt dehydration. Dehydration occurs when you lose or use more fluid than you take in. For instance, if you go on a five-mile run on a 90-degree day, you’re probably going to lose more fluid through sweat than you can take in during the run. This is why it’s so important to adequately hydrate before the run. Every system in your body relies on water to operate at its best, which is why it’s so important to understand the early warning signs of dehydration.
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Why is Dehydration Dangerous?
It’s important to understand that while being thirsty is your body’s way of telling you that it needs fluid, thirst in and of itself is not dangerous. When discussing the dangers of dehydration, we’re focused on extreme cases in which the body has lost more fluid than it’s taken in for an extended period.
The electrolytes found in water, sports drinks, and other thirst quenchers provide your body with things that it needs. With this in mind, electrolyte imbalances are a major problem caused by dehydration. In their most extreme instances, these imbalances can cause seizures. You may also experience uncontrollable muscle movements and unconsciousness if your body’s electrolytes get too out of balance.
A lack of fluid also has the potential to damage your heart, brain, and kidneys. When the body doesn’t have enough fluid, it stops producing urine. This failure to produce urine means that the kidneys cannot flush the excess minerals and toxins that they need to remove to operate at their best. This can lead to painful kidney stones and even kidney failure.
Some cardiac issues are also caused by dehydration. Most notably, hypovolemic shock is the technical term for something that most people call low-volume blood shock. When the body doesn’t have enough fluid, the heart can’t pump blood to all the parts that need it. This issue relates directly to the final danger of dehydration, which is brain damage. In the most extreme cases of dehydration, people have suffered brain damage and even death.
With all of these dangers in mind, you undoubtedly understand the importance of recognizing your body’s ways of telling you that it needs fluid.
Urinary Signs
As we’ve already established, the kidneys are responsible for removing excess minerals and waste from your body. With this in mind, they’ll be one of the first parts of your body to alert you to dehydration.
One of the most common signs that you’re dehydrated is that you simply don’t urinate. When the body thinks that it needs to cling to every ounce of fluid that it has, your kidneys won’t prompt you to urinate.
The second common way deals with the color of your urine. When everything in your body is operating at its best, your urine should be clear or light yellow. If you’re dehydrated, you’ll notice that your urine is a dark yellow or even brownish in color. If you notice this once, it’s a good idea to go drink a bottle of water. If the problem persists, you should seek medical attention as soon as possible, as an extended period of discolored urine can be a sign that your kidneys aren’t working properly.
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Excess Fatigue
It’s important to understand that being tired and being fatigued is not the same thing. Feeling tired is your body’s way of telling you that you need to rest. Extreme fatigue, especially over a long period, is your body’s way of telling you that something is wrong. You may have experienced fatigue if you’ve pushed yourself for several days in a row and not been sleeping as much as you should. It’s your body’s way of telling you that you need to slow down.
Dehydration does alter your sleep-wake cycles, which leads to this fatigue, but that’s not the only way that this is a symptom. When your muscles don’t have the fluids that they need to perform at their peak, you’ll feel more fatigued overall. This is especially notable when you’re up and active. If you feel like you’re starting to get cramps and your muscles just feel “heavy,” it’s probably a sign that you need to get some fluids in.
Dry Skin
This sign of dehydration is one of the reasons that it’s referred to as a silent killer. We don’t always notice when we have dry skin or cracked lips, and when we do, we typically resolve the problem with some lotion or ChapStick. However, dry skin can be a symptom of dehydration. If you’re dealing with dehydration, you’ll also notice less skin elasticity.
This is why some experts recommend using the skin turgor test. This test is simple and involves pinching a bit of the skin on your lower abdomen between your fingers and pulling it away from your body slightly. If you’re dehydrated, the skin won’t snap back to its normal position almost immediately.
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Rapid Breathing and Heartbeat
If you’re working out, you want to get your heart rate up, and rapid breathing generally comes along with it. That’s another reason that dehydration is so dangerous. Since it can also present with these symptoms, many people incorrectly assume that they’re just getting a good workout when their body is trying to alert them to a problem. In fact, an elevated heart rate is one of the most common symptoms of dehydration.
It’s tricky to know when this is a symptom, especially during strenuous activity. If you’ve stopped your exercise or are taking a break but notice that you can’t catch your breath and your pulse is still racing, it’s a good idea to seek medical care as quickly as possible. In many cases, these symptoms present when you’ve been dehydrated for a long time.
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Neurological Symptoms
Finally, there are multiple dehydration symptoms that present neurologically. Headaches are an incredibly common sign that you’re dehydrated, and are dangerous because there are so many things that can cause them. For instance, if you have a lot of sinus pressure because you’ve been outside, you may blame your headache on that. However, it could be your body’s way of telling you that it needs fluids.
You may also notice “brain fog” during periods of dehydration. When your brain doesn’t have the electrolytes that it needs, it may feel like things happening around you are taking place in slow motion. You may also notice that you have problems processing basic things and trying to get your words out.
Dehydration can also lead to dizziness and feeling lightheaded, which is especially dangerous in older people who are more prone to serious injuries from falling. Even in younger patients, fainting and a loss of consciousness are common in extreme cases of dehydration.
What Should You Do?
Fortunately, dehydration is one of the easiest problems to combat. When you’re doing something physically demanding, whether it's working out or doing manual labor, keep a bottle of water close by. There are certainly plenty of thirst quenchers on the market, but water is widely considered the healthiest, safest option for staying hydrated. If you notice that any of these symptoms persist after you’ve hydrated, you should seek medical attention as quickly as possible.