Staying Hydrated

Staying Hydrated

Dehydration is a common side effects of chemotherapy and radiation and can occur at any point during your treatments. It’s exhausting, it’s uncomfortable, and it can be hard to overcome. Here are a few quick tips that might help you out:

Carry it with you

Invest in a reusable water bottle you can drink from all day, and keep a glass by your bed.

Small steps add up

If it’s hard to keep water down, try ice or little sips of liquids. It takes a lot of ice to make an impact, but sometimes the easiest way to improve fluid intake is sucking on small pieces of ice. Small, frequent sips tends to be easier than drinking large amounts at a time.

Not a fan of water?

Alcohol and caffeine aren’t recommended as they may increase the effects of dehydration, but you can experiment with other liquids like herbal tea, a hearty broth, nutritional supplement drinks, or fruit and veggie smoothies.

Try fluid-containing foods

Fruits, vegetables, soups, gelatins, popsicles… these are all great ways to get the water and nutrients you need all at once! Pack Health has a fun video on this topic here.

Dealing with Dryness

In addition to staying hydrated, you may want to take some steps to deal with dryness. You can find specific tips here.

We mentioned Pack Health earlier - they still have a few spots available, so if these quick tips aren’t cutting it, a Health Advisor can help you find others that work for you. If you don’t yet have your own personal Health Advisor, click here to take advantage of grant funding and get your first year of membership with Pack Health fully sponsored, no payment info required.

You can find out more here.