Water makes me sick, what should I drink?

BeauHg
BeauHg Posts: 9 Member
edited November 24 in Health and Weight Loss
I want to lose weight and need to find a substitute to the milk/soda I normally drink. I can’t drink water though. It’s strange because I can drink lemonade (too sugary) but it still hurts my stomach a little.
Drinking any kind of water makes me physically ill and has even caused me to throw up several times. What can I drink instead?
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Replies

  • callsitlikeiseeit
    callsitlikeiseeit Posts: 8,626 Member
    coffee, tea, diet sodas

    check with your doc to make sure its not some sort of weird something going on. it took me a long time to get to the point where i could drink plain water, and i still prefer SOMETHING in it, but drink it plain all the time too. try those lo calorie drink packet mixes (i usually use some sort of store brand peach or lemon tea mix). there are calories in them, so log them, but its usually only a few per package, and one package (for me) gives me 2 or 3 (average size bottle of water refills) depending on how diluted i let it get.
  • tiptoethruthetulips
    tiptoethruthetulips Posts: 3,372 Member
    How much are you trying to drink at a time?
  • FlyingMolly
    FlyingMolly Posts: 490 Member
    CoachJen71 wrote: »
    I can't drink water first thing on an empty stomach. Is it happening to you all day or on an empty stomach?

    Whatever this is runs in my husband’s family, and our son inherited it. He’ll get all shaky and listless and start puking; it’s scary! We’ve established a protocol where if he wakes up unusually thirsty, we immediately get him saltines and he has to alternate those with sips of water until he’s evened out, but once there’s enough food in his stomach he can drink all he wants. My mind went there, too!
  • SteamPug
    SteamPug Posts: 262 Member
    edited January 2018
    If this is something common enough to affect both you, your husbands family and your son, how have you not visited a professional to see what it is?

    Have you tried adding squash?
  • CoachJen71
    CoachJen71 Posts: 1,200 Member
    FlyingMolly wrote: »
    CoachJen71 wrote: »
    I can't drink water first thing on an empty stomach. Is it happening to you all day or on an empty stomach?

    Whatever this is runs in my husband’s family, and our son inherited it. He’ll get all shaky and listless and start puking; it’s scary! We’ve established a protocol where if he wakes up unusually thirsty, we immediately get him saltines and he has to alternate those with sips of water until he’s evened out, but once there’s enough food in his stomach he can drink all he wants. My mind went there, too!

    Hyponatremia is a possibility. You should get everyone a blood level after drinking water.
  • NYPhotographer2021
    NYPhotographer2021 Posts: 510 Member
    Can you add lemon to water and drink it? My mom can't drink water either...tap or from bottles. But if she adds drops of lemon into the water, she can drink it.
  • gracegettingittogether
    gracegettingittogether Posts: 176 Member
    I struggle with drinking water too. I can easily go for days drinking only tea, which is dehydrating. It's really hard when it's cold outside. Lately, I've not been good at all. Two things help for me; one squeezing lemon juice into the water, and the other is drinking from a straw. I still have to force myself though. It also helps, if I'm really nauseated by the thought of water to drink, to drink a flavored unsweetened sparkling water. Sometimes, after having one, it helps to sort of stimulate thirst, and then water is more doable.
  • BeauHg
    BeauHg Posts: 9 Member
    JidGod wrote: »
    What about water makes you feel sick? Water is in everything that you drink. Maybe you should check your water source to see if it is unclean.

    As for something to drink as a substitute, I would recommend sparkling water with a lemon or some other fruit squeezed into it. That way you can fool yourself into thinking that you're drinking a soda but it's a much healthier alternative.

    It’s from any water source I drink from. Tap, bottled, purified... any kind makes me sick
    And thanks for the advice!
  • BeauHg
    BeauHg Posts: 9 Member
    CoachJen71 wrote: »
    I can't drink water first thing on an empty stomach. Is it happening to you all day or on an empty stomach?

    All day, I’ve tried drinking it with an empty stomach, a full stomach, or just with a snack and nothing seems to work
  • BeauHg
    BeauHg Posts: 9 Member
    MegaMooseEsq wrote: »
    As noted above, all liquid, including soda, is primarily water. If this is only happening with tap water, I’d be really concerned there’s something wrong with it. I’ll put another vote in for seeing a doctor. In the meantime, you can hydrate with literally any beverage so long as it’s nonalcoholic.

    Happens with any kind of water, not just tap, which is why I’m so confused about it
    It really makes no sense
  • nsprieg
    nsprieg Posts: 24 Member
    Water enhancers are getting quite cheap. You can get the Kroger or Walmart generics for $2.50-$2.68 on sale. Just be careful not to get the "electrolyte" sports versions. Yuck!
  • MegaMooseEsq
    MegaMooseEsq Posts: 3,118 Member
    edited January 2018
    gracegettingittogether wrote: »
    I struggle with drinking water too. I can easily go for days drinking only tea, which is dehydrating. It's really hard when it's cold outside. Lately, I've not been good at all. Two things help for me; one squeezing lemon juice into the water, and the other is drinking from a straw. I still have to force myself though. It also helps, if I'm really nauseated by the thought of water to drink, to drink a flavored unsweetened sparkling water. Sometimes, after having one, it helps to sort of stimulate thirst, and then water is more doable.

    Just an FYI, but tea is not actually dehydrating - drinks with caffeine do have a mild diuretic effect (i.e. they make you pee more) but not enough to offset all that liquid. https://www.mayoclinic.org/healthy-lifestyle/nutrition-and-healthy-eating/expert-answers/caffeinated-drinks/faq-20057965
  • FlyingMolly
    FlyingMolly Posts: 490 Member
    SteamPug wrote: »
    If this is something common enough to affect both you, your husbands family and your son, how have you not visited a professional to see what it is?

    Have you tried adding squash?

    It affects the adults so little they never even thought to mention it to me. :s The first time it happened to my pre-verbal baby it scared the life out of me and I just about set a land-speed record getting to his pediatrician's office. He had barely touched his breakfast, so I tossed a sleeve of crackers in the backseat with him just in case he might eat them, and by the time we got to the office he was 90% back to normal.

    It wasn't until my husband SAW it happen that he even remembered there's a reason he doesn't chug water first thing in the morning (he purposely triggered it to get out of school once or twice--he'd go home and have a piece of toast and enjoy the day--but otherwise hasn't experienced it since he was little).

    Everyone's tests are normal and it's super-easy for them to control once they know about it, but now that my son's 5 I found out he'd started thinking "a lot of water makes him sick," so he'd been purposely restricting his intake. We sorted that out, of course, but remembering that and reading this OP made me wonder if there might not be a pattern to the nausea (perhaps unnoticed so far) that could help a doctor to narrow down what's going on here. It seems really strange to me to just never be able to drink plain water under any circumstances, and that's coming from someone who has actually seen water make people throw up, is all.
  • quiksylver296
    quiksylver296 Posts: 28,439 Member
    edited January 2018
    Can you add Mio or other flavor-enhancer and drink it?




    I can't drink cold water on an empty stomach or I'll get sick. Any other time is fine, and room temperature water is fine. But cold + empty stomach = sick.
  • willnorton
    willnorton Posts: 995 Member
    La Croix ! its great
  • BeauHg
    BeauHg Posts: 9 Member
    vingogly wrote: »
    You ABSOLUTELY need to talk to your doctor if drinking water is causing you to vomit and you're having stomach pains. It could be many things, some of them serious - and it's not normal. Looking for a "magic" solution here rather than seeing a professional is gambling with your health.

    If you like milk and soda, drink diet soda and low-calorie nut milk. I like Blue Diamond almond coconut blend, unsweetened vanilla, 40 calories per cup.

    I’m not looking for a “magic” solution I’m just looking for good substitutes for water
    And it’s not like I haven’t talked to my doctor about it, this has been going on since I was young so it’s nothing new
  • toxikon
    toxikon Posts: 2,383 Member
    Mio/Crystal Light has lots of yummy flavors. :) I rarely drink "plain" water, I usually drink tea or Mio.
  • evastar
    evastar Posts: 32 Member
    Try sparkling water nice and cold, especially flavoured ones. I also use Crystal Light powder in water, or I drink diet pop :)
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