I get so thirsty at night
YOU might be sleeping with your mouth open. This causes the mouth and throat to dry quickly, resulting in thirst. Another cause might be diabetes.
Dear Doctor,
I get so thirsty at night that I have to sleep with water at my bedside. Some nights I feel like coughing, but cannot, especially when it is windy or when travelling. It started two months ago. What can I do?
David
Dear David,
YOU might be sleeping with your mouth open. This causes the mouth and throat to dry quickly, resulting in thirst. Another cause might be diabetes.
Excessive thirst can be a symptom of type 2 diabetes. But you could also be starving your body of fluids during the day.
Eating a salty meal such as Chinese food, Mexican food, or fast foods depletes your body of about 1 litre of fluid. So if you normally drink two litres of fluid a day, try to drink three glasses and see if that does not help.
If the thirst starts to take over your life — wanting to drink constantly throughout the day as well as at night — make sure you see your doctor and have a glucose tolerance test done. If the test is abnormal, your doctor will probably do some further tests to check for diabetes.
I get so thirsty at night that I have to sleep with water at my bedside. Some nights I feel like coughing, but cannot, especially when it is windy or when travelling. It started two months ago. What can I do?
David
Dear David,
YOU might be sleeping with your mouth open. This causes the mouth and throat to dry quickly, resulting in thirst. Another cause might be diabetes.
Excessive thirst can be a symptom of type 2 diabetes. But you could also be starving your body of fluids during the day.
Eating a salty meal such as Chinese food, Mexican food, or fast foods depletes your body of about 1 litre of fluid. So if you normally drink two litres of fluid a day, try to drink three glasses and see if that does not help.
If the thirst starts to take over your life — wanting to drink constantly throughout the day as well as at night — make sure you see your doctor and have a glucose tolerance test done. If the test is abnormal, your doctor will probably do some further tests to check for diabetes.