mystery

Twice in the last week, I have gotten so thirsty that I felt sick. It's weird. This never used to happen to me. When I lived in South Sudan, when it was hotter than it ever gets here, I forced myself to drink (because otherwise I would never have to pee, which seems unhealthy), but I never felt sick if I didn't.

This getting older thing blows. Or maybe it's my allergy medication? I should look at the side effects.

It started with hiking. I have to hydrate while hiking or I feel sick. 

Now it's extended to particularly hot days. Last Friday was 100 degrees F and I felt sick by the time I got to C0stC0 mid afternoon, and I had to buy a soda and fill it with half diet Pepsi and half diet lemonade.* Then I refilled it when I came back out of the store. Then I drank a large iced tea. Then I ate half a shave ice. Then I was finally not so thirsty.

It's also extended to traveling. I flew back from the Mitten on Wednesday, and after a nap in the afternoon, I found myself once again dizzy and sick with thirst. It took several cans of sparkling water to get me back to normal.

The strange thing is that I'm not very good at keeping water in my system. I have to pee about every five minutes if I drink that much water. My body isn't keeping it. So why does it need it? It's a mystery.

* I mostly avoid diet beverages and just go with sparkling waters, but if it comes down to choosing whether or not to put a million grams of high fructose corn syrup in my body or the fake sweetener, well. It's a tough call, but I'm going with the fake sweetener. If it's tea/coffee and I just need a teaspoon of sugar, I go with the real sugar.